Many people let the fear of rejection derail them. They allow this fear to shut them down and stop them from pursuing things. They can allow it to guide their life, oftentimes road blocking them from taking action, trying new things, and even chasing dreams. They spend time worrying about what others will think, possibly see them as inadequate, and maybe even unlovable.
A great way to overcome this FEAR is to simply examine your life and be mindful of when this fear can arise. Ask yourself “how many people have rejected me in my life?”. Be realistic in your answer. More times than not the number we come up with is very few. This is when reframing what’s gong on in your mind comes into play. Refuse to focus on the very FEW people that may possibly reject you (or have already rejected you) and instead place an emphasis on the MANY (thousands of people actually) who will support you or who have already supported you! Reframe your thoughts and let the MAJORITY rule in your thinking!!!
Here’s an analogy: Let’s pretend that you’re an apple tree in an orchard along side cherry and peach trees. Many people love to pick the fruit from the orchard and many love your apples in particular. They even recommend that others come and pick apples off of you. They love you! But…there’s this one person that doesn’t like apples. In fact, they’re highly allergic to them. Out of all of the fruits they could pick they don’t pick you, but they love to pick peaches and cherries!
This is a great time to for the apple tree to EXAMINE its thinking! It EXPECTED that EVERYONE would love the apples on it. However, just one person loved all of the other fruit EXCEPT the fruit on its tree. It’s time for apple tree to ACCEPT itself and realize that its enough that many people like what it has to offer and not care or convince the one person to like it’s fruit. Simple analogy-simple truth.
Another point to consider is that MOST PEOPLE are too concerned about what’s happening to them and in their world that what you’re doing or becoming really goes unnoticed by them…you mistakenly think they care when they don’t!
Those people who may reject and criticize you, often times do for four very basic reasons.
- Braggarts – They will always need to strive to be numero uno or top banana…that’s just part of their DNA.
- Self-protectors – They are usually scared of others success and see them as a threat.
- Ignorant People-they don’t know anything about you and make assumptions without facts.
