Rejection! Is it best to be rejected?

Last year I read a book. Rejection Proof is about a Chinese guy who lives in America. When he was 17 years old he went to the States as an exchange student. He entered a prestigious university, got an MBA and joined a Fortune 500 company, bought a big house, got a dog and was living the stereotypical American dream.

However, despite all of this he was not happy. He didn't want to be a company guy who dutifully went off to work everyday, he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Even though he was making over $100,000 a year he wanted to start his own business.

One Independence Day while he was watching the fireworks, he decided that he would give up is $100K a year job and start a company that created apps.

Of course when you start a company you need to get some kind of start up capital so you can start the company.

He had hired a development team. He had a whole list of investors who were interested in investing in his company. However he made a presentation to a potential investor who he thought would invest in his company.

The answer was no however. He wanted to give up. He had heard the word no once and his whole dream was falling down around him.

But when he thought about it, he realised that the word no is part of business. He realised that in business you don't only hear yes but you hear no as well. Because of this he decided to challenge himself. Over a period of 100 days he would challenge himself to be rejected everyday.

For example, he went to a fast food restaurant and instead of asking for another drink refill, he asked for a burger refill. At a donut shop he asked for five donuts that looked like the Olympic rings.

Of the 100 challenges he set himself, my favourite one was that he went to a guy's place who he didn't know and ask him if he could play soccer in his backyard. The guy was so surprised that he granted him his wish.

He kept on hearing no over the 100 days and grew immune to it. I know in the past if I had heard the word no I would go home, go to bed and not come out for three days.

My friend and I have this kind of challenge going at the moment. It isn't a no challenge per se but it is a challenge in which we try to get out of our comfort zone. For example as we are walking down the street we smile at someone walking the other way or we make everyday chit chat with someone in a convenience store.

For an ambivert like me, this kind of challenge is really scary. But if I can complete it then my social and business life will become better. I'll do my best.

If you are interested, have a look at this website.

Also you can find out more information from this book.