I often think about some of the biggest inflection points in my adult life up to this point:
- Stumbling into the journalism program
- Meeting two entrepreneurs in my freshman dorm
- The team I joined at my first Startup Weekend
- Moving off campus as a sophomore
- Spending a summer bartending and serving
- Joining the founder of a startup
- Moving into a massive house with 6 roommates as an adult
All of those circumstances had a dramatic impact on who I met, how my thinking evolved, and how my professional journey has played out. Honestly – I don’t know what life would be like without any one of those things happening.
But what’s truly amazing is that each of those situations was a direct result of rejection.
- Stumbling into the journalism program
- [I took an independent study after failing to make the improv team]
- Meeting two entrepreneurs in my freshman dorm
- [I was rejected from the dorm I actually applied to]
- The team I joined at my first Startup Weekend
- [I pitched my own ideas and received zero votes]
- Moving off campus as a sophomore
- [My application to move into the sophomore housing was rejected due to a clerical error]
- Spending a summer bartending and serving
- [I was rejected from multiple internships]
- Joining the founder of a startup
- [I was not given a second interview from Deloitte or McKinsey]
- Moving into a massive house with 6 roommates as an adult
- [The housing options I was looking for were no longer available]
Rejection never stops stinging. We often fall in love with a result before it’s even promised to us, and then the rejection feels like an actual loss.
But rejection opens up space for new opportunity. Are you ready for it?