Even if we say that rejection is a normal thing to deal with, it’s not exactly easy to overcome or deal with it. This is especially true regarding relationships and self-improvement, on how you’re afraid to date and make new friends because of that fear that people will always reject you. Most often than not, it’s all your mind but even upon knowing this, it still doesn’t make dealing with rejections easier. However, there are ways you can deal with rejection better. In this article, we’ll be talking about ways to deal with being rejected.
1. Remind yourself why you want to overcome rejection
Whatever your motivation is for overcoming rejection, whether you’re just exhausted from feeling fat, feeling inadequate, or being unable to talk to the person you like, focus on the reminder of why you’re doing this. The way to overcome your fear of being rejected is to focus on your desire to stop feeling that way. If you’re getting tired of never feeling good enough or not being confident enough to develop potential relationships and friendships, realize that you are worth more than the people who reject you. It may be hard, but you always have a choice in how to perceive the certain rejections you are dealt with. When it comes down to it, you will never be defined by the number of rejections you deal with.
2. Change your perception of rejection
Being rejected may feel like the worst thing in the world until you realize that you can use it to your advantage. As cliche as it sounds, several rejections are how you learn and become better. You always have a choice in whether or not you’re going to use the negative experiences you gain from rejections to learn from them and build your confidence. No matter what you feel, whether it’s feeling fat or feeling like you’ll never be enough, these aren’t concrete validations tied to your self-worth. At the end of the day, you define who you are and when people reject you, it can be perceived in one of two ways – either you dwell on your rejections or you use them to become a more confident and secure individual. You should also realize that every person that rejects you is a person that fails to see your uniqueness and remarkable abilities. It’s not your loss, but it’s more of theirs for letting go of the opportunity to know you.
3. Avoid having a victim mindset
It takes a lot of practice to be stronger than your ability to be affected by the rejections in your life, but you have to avoid having a victim mindset. Nothing is wrong with you and your flaws are not stronger than the best parts of you. Rejection will never be your identity so instead of thinking that you’re the victim in every rejection that you deal with, reverse that thinking and realize that you’re a survivor. They may have rejected you, but you have the upper hand since you did all you could do in that opportunity Rejections don’t always mean that you lost, but it can also mean that with each rejection, you become stronger and more confident.
4. Realize that rejections happen to everyone
There’s not one person in this world that hasn’t dealt with rejection in some form in their lives. It’s one of the most universal feelings in the world and there’s no way to avoid rejection completely. It will always be painful and frustrating to deal with, no matter what form it comes in. While rejections in friendships and relationships are much harder, the realization that it happens to everyone should make this painful experience much lighter to bear. It doesn’t make it any less painful, especially when someone you like rejects you or someone you’ve wanted to build a connection with, but the realization that it’s a normal part of life might make it bearable.
5. Recognize your self-worth
When it comes down to it, it takes consistent assurance of your self-worth to not let your rejections defeat you. No matter what, you will never be defined by the number of times you’ve been rejected. Someone rejecting you doesn’t mean you’re not good enough or that there’s something wrong with you. Sometimes, it can also be an indication that they aren’t the right fit for you, both in terms of friendships and relationships. Not a lot of people know this, but rejections aren’t always personal and sometimes people choose to reject you to lead you to someone better than they are.
6. Determine what scares you about rejection
Being rejected might be frustrating and painful, but the reality isn’t always as bad as we imagine. By figuring out what scares you about rejection, you can assess that fear and realize that the outcome of rejection isn’t the worst thing that can happen. If you fear being embarrassed and talked about, this fear comes from the lack of confidence and what you can do is work on yourself to get over this fear. If your fear comes from feeling lonely, you can always choose to surround yourself with a supportive group of friends to feel less lonely, even if they do end up rejecting you. If you fear not being with the person of your dreams, realize that maybe you weren’t meant to be with them in the first place and that someone better is meant for you along the way. It’s these simple shifts in perspective that can do so much for overcoming the feeling of being rejected.
How To Take The First Step
1. It’s better to take the leap than have regrets
At the end of the day, you’ll have more regrets when you don’t make the move in developing certain connections rather than taking the leap of faith and talking to them first. The best thing you can do is try to not overthink things and get ahead of yourself. You can’t automatically assume everyone is going to reject you and until you try, you’ll never know the answer. For all you know, they could like you back or they could want to develop a friendship with you but you’ll never know this until you actually make a move. Even when it’s incredibly easy to dwell in the fear of being rejected, stop getting ahead of yourself if it hasn’t happened yet.
2. Find a common interest
It’s much more challenging to maintain a conversation rather than to start it so if this is you, the key is to find a common interest between both of you. This will give you the nudge to take the first step instead of fearing rejection and getting ahead of yourself. Unless they state otherwise, they’re not rejecting you so you have to stop assuming this firsthand.
Takeaway
In conclusion, I hope this article was able to shed insight into everything you needed to know on ways to deal with being rejected. No matter what you’re feeling, I hope you know that rejections aren’t a reflection of your worthlessness as an individual. Instead, you can shift your perspective and see that rejection is similar to any other fear where it all happens within your mind,. This isn’t to say that this fear isn’t real, but by shifting your thoughts, you can view rejection as a way to improve your confidence rather than something that tears you down
I can recommend to read the article about how to build self-confidence