Unreasonable ‘asks’ can transform your perspective on life.
That’s what happened to Maggie Chen. She decided to do a one-week rejection challenge.
On a Sunday she asked the pilot of a full plane traveling to the Netherlands for a tour of the cockpit. He oddly said yes and taught her enough to be a pilot.
In Amsterdam on a Monday she went to a cash-only hot dog stand with no cash. Both she and the shop owner spoke different languages. She drew pictures to communicate. He gave her the hot dog in exchange for her chocolate.
In Germany on a Tuesday she became excited over a vintage shop. She asked questions and ended up becoming an exporter of their products.
At a Dutch fries stand in the Netherlands on a Wednesday she asked the shop owner if she could work there for a few hours to learn their delicious secrets. She got to eat a mountain of free fries and made a new friend. Both of them spoke different languages.
The next day in the Netherlands she went to see the Anne Frank House. Sold out. Crap. Rather than accept her fate she waited until the crowd died down. They then let her in and she got breathtakingly better access to the attractions.
The day after she asked ten random strangers to compliment her. She says 7/10 were happy to compliment her in a legit way.
The benefits of Maggie’s rejection experiment were:
- Made new friends
- Learned new things
- Got lots of free stuff
- Became more confident
- Got over her fear of rejection
- Stopped taking no for an answer
- Accessed new business opportunities
- Gained a willingness to try new things
- Got restricted access to amazing places
- Saw positives in herself she hadn’t seen before
Do this: try a one-week rejection experiment.
Most people aren’t willing to get rejected. Sad.
If you want to make more money online you have to get good at getting rejected. Took me 8 years to learn that.
The problem is most people aren’t willing to ask for what they want in life. They make up excuses rather than face possible rejection. Tragic.
If you want something you have to ask for it.
You have to do the work so you deserve the opportunity, too. The downside is you get rejected. The upside is you get exactly what you want.
The painful cost of *NOT* getting rejected
You might be thinking “piss off Tim, I’m not listening to an Aussie redneck.”
Fine. But know this:
The pain of getting rejected eases over time.
The pain of regrets from never asking for what you want only gets stronger over time. Choose wisely. If you feel stuck or lifeless, this might be why.
Killer techniques for dealing with rejection
Now you know this is a fundamental life skill. Let’s level up.
When one door is closed, don’t you know, another is open
1. Become bizarre Jerry
Jerry Weintraub was a rando off the street.
He liked Elvis Presley. He wanted to manage him.
So he rang up Elvis’s manager, the Colonel. The Colonel told him assertively in a harsh voice that Elvis wasn’t going on tour at 60 years old.
Oh, and he reminded Jerry that he was a random dude with no experience managing one of the biggest stars in the world.
Jerry made the same phone call every day for a year. (Dumbass? Maybe.)
The Colonel wanted to get rid of him and told him to show up at a hotel with $1M. Jerry thought the challenge was real. He rang banks, friends, anybody, trying to get the money.
One local business guy loved Elvis and gave Jerry the $1M to see what would happen. Jerry showed up at the hotel to meet the Colonel. He handed over the check for $1M.
The Colonel went into shock and agreed to let Jerry take Elvis on tour.
Jerry’s technique you can use: “When the man says no, pretend like you can’t hear him.”
Stick it to the man and show what you can do.
2. “No” isn’t what you think it is
Writer Ayodeji Awosika says getting rejected by a no secretly means be more creative. Smart people use no as a filter to get rid of those who give up easily.
They want the impatient majority out of their lives.
If you accept their no and go away, you failed their test. But, if like Jerry, you keep trying you’ll usually break through the locked door with ease.
3. Use badass reframes
Alice Lemée works with one of the most successful Youtube filmmakers of all time. Her advice is to say these reframes in your head when a rejection happens — lots will occur, don’t worry.
“They hate me.” → “Rejection isn’t personal.”
“It’s a closed door.” → “One closed door opens another.”
“They said no.” → “What would I learn if I asked ‘Why not”?
Change the story of rejection in your head to keep going.
4. No = “Not Yet”
Marketing guru Sheila Gonzalez says confirmation bias screws with our ability to handle rejection correctly.
Our mind loves to accept the first answer as the reason for our rejection problem rather than look for a second, third, or even fourth opinion.
Stupid lazy brains 🙂
The moment you ask for an opportunity may not be when you’re ready for it. Keep working on your skills until a no becomes a yes.
Get rejected while you have the energy to start over.
5. True success looks like this
Behind every success you’ve ever read about are silent rejections that often don’t get shared.
They’re conveniently skipped to make the person’s intelligence seem higher.
Once you know rejection is the way to get the best things in life, you start seeking it out like Maggie Chen did.
6. Overcome rejection instantly with this mind hack
Entrepreneur Lawrence King taught me the 5 by 5 rule.
“If it’s not gonna matter in 5 years — don’t spend more than 5 minutes being upset about it.”
With perspective, rejection is easy to overcome.
7. Getting rejected has more upside than getting a yes
Wait, what?
The pain of rejection is bullsh*t. There, I said it.
Life transforms when you realize that getting rejected is better than getting a yes. Why? The experience you get makes the rejection worth it. Your confidence increases. Your skin gets thicker.
With enough rejection you become unstoppable. Don’t miss out.
Every time you get rejected you experience massive growth.
Bringing it all together
Maggie’s one-week rejection experiment shows us what’s possible. The life you want will be delivered to your front door when you get rejected more.
Or do a Jerry and pretend you can’t hear no. It’ll change your freaking life.
My secret to making a lot of money online: I’m a successful writer because I get rejected a lot.
Get rejected more to achieve your goals faster and make money online.
