In business and life, rejection is a part of life: Handle it

You’ve heard it or felt it in many ways. Rejection comes when you didn’t get the job or sell the product, lost a love, or weren’t welcomed into a social group.

It can be a lesson, a test, or an opportunity. The trick is to figure out which one, says Gary Ryan Blair, the well-known Goals Guy who coaches business people and salespeople.

If it’s a lesson, maybe your work wasn’t good enough and you can improve to avoid a no the next time. Rejection is temporary.

It could be a test, says Blair, of your character or your ability to be truthful to yourself. Often, however, it’s an opportunity to show what you can do.

Rejection is an inevitable part of life. To cope with it, don’t take it personally. Focus on your ultimate goal, and be ready for another chance at success. Remember that words can be the most devastating or the most positively encouraging things you ever hear. Gary Haas of SinglesFocus.org says rejection in relationships should be expected because not everyone is compatible. But there are a lot of single people out there and half of them are of the opposite sex. Think: “Next!”

If you approach socializing, business, or salesmanship as a process, you can accept that you are going to get more nos than yeses. You just keep at it and focus on the end result.