Have you ever been rejected? Everyone encounters rejection at some point in life. People don’t reply to your email. People say ‘No’ to you. You didn’t land your dream job. Even the most successful people have to deal with rejections.
Walt Disney was fired for lack of creativity
In 1919, Walt Disney was fired from one of his first animation jobs. His editor from the Kansas city Star fired him due to lack of creativity. That setback could have crushed his dream had he not persevere and continue to work towards his vision. Disney’s road to success was paved with setbacks and failures. Walt Disney once said:
All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.
Ironically, Disney later bought the Kansas City Star newspaper that fired Walt Disney when they purchased ABC.
Harvard rejected Warren Buffet
When we think of the iconic investor, Warren buffet, we associate him with success. At the age of 19, Buffet applied to get in Harvard Business School. He was interviewed by Harvard Alumnus who turned him down. It seemed to be a major failure at the time. Buffet thought:
What do I tell my dad? This is terrible.
The rejection from Harvard became a pivotal point that led Buffet to Columbia Business School where he was taught by Benjamin Graham, the father of value investing. The rest is history.
Dealing with rejection is painful and emotionally hard. It is human nature to seek approval or acceptance for our ideas, actions and behaviours. You might consider rejection as bad and want to avoid it at all cost. If you are not getting many rejections, chances are you are not moving forward in life. Most people will give up their dream after one or two rejections. People who are constantly pushing the envelope get so many ‘No’ that they become used to rejections. The key is to use rejections to fuel your drive.
J.K. Rowling received load of rejections from book publishers
A story that merits telling, and re-telling is that of the Best-selling author of Harry Potter book-series. J.K. Rowling received loads of rejections from book publishers when she first sent out her “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” manuscript. That didn’t stop her from writing to more book publishers. The book was turned down a dozen times before Bloomsbury agreed to publish it. The Harry Potter series has to date sold over 500 million copies. Successful people don’t dwell on rejections. They focus their energy and look forward to knocking on the next door that will open to them. They have self-belief and faith in what they can accomplish. Rowling has posted 2 of her Robert Galbraith’s novel rejection letters on Twitter.
My Experience of Rejections
Throughout life, I have received many rejections. There’s too many to share all of them in this article but let’s discuss the rejections that have shaped my trajectory.
Fear of starting my YouTube channel
Starting my YouTube channel is a good example of overcoming fear of rejection. Before starting to publish videos, I was afraid of what people would say or think of me. What if people don’t like my video? I procrastinated for a long time before putting myself out there as I didn’t want to be rejected by others. Rejection is part of life. Now and again, I get rejection from people who don’t like the videos on my channel. That’s expected because they may not fall in my target audience. If you are a medical student or a doctor working in the UK, you will hopefully find the videos on my YouTube channel useful. Putting myself out there has enabled me to connect with medical students and doctors across the World. I’m humbled whenever I receive a message from you telling me how the videos have helped you.
Medical school application rejection
My Med school application was rejected by three different Medical schools. At the time, the rejections were disappointing such that I started to ask myself: Am I good enough? I learnt from the rejections and gained experience that prepared me for my next medicine interview. This led me to go to Manchester Medical School. A rejection doesn’t necessarily mean you are not good enough. It often is because others failed to recognise your qualities and potential.
At Med school, I conducted a research over a period of 2 years. Publishing a research paper is a tedious process that requires a large commitment and patience. My manuscript was rejected by several editors before a journal agreed to publish our research. Have I given up after the first rejection, that research paper would not have been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Rejection is not final
Your attitude to rejection is crucial. If you want to succeed, get used to the rejections along the way and keep moving in the direction of your long-term goal. Use these rejections to fuel your motivation. I will leave J.K. Rowling to conclude this article with one of her quotes:
It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
