Wednesday, December 19, 2012
How to Laugh in the Face of Rejection
Today, I am honored to present you with a guest post by someone
whom I have been trying to convince to write for over three decades—my manager,
my mentor, my friend…Robert D. Smith. Enjoy! - Andy
Andrews
Is there something you've been putting off doing in your professional or personal life? I'm talking about that one thing you know you need to do, but you just can't force yourself to do it.
There's a reason why you're struggling, and it's perfectly normal—fear. But not normal fear. This is the one type of fear that holds more people back from doing what they want to do with their life than any other. The one fear responsible for billions of unfulfilled dreams, unhappy lives, and unchecked complacency: the fear of rejection.
It's easy to understand why no one likes being rejected. But what if it didn't have to be that way? What if rejection could actually excite and inspire you? What if it could be the fuel that propels you forward?
It can. Let me explain.
As you know, I've had the privilege of being Andy's manager for over 30 years
now. And, as some of you might know, Andy has not always been a writer. In fact,
he started out as a comedian. In those days, before the Internet and e-mail, my
number one priority was to get on the phone and hunt down people who were
looking to book a comedian. At this time, there were only about two comedy clubs
in the whole nation, so the market we really focused on was college
campuses. Every day, when I sat down at my desk (which was in a basement), I picked up the phone and did something that most people would think is completely crazy:
Instead of looking for one college to say
"yes," I was looking for 30 colleges to tell me "no."
I would actually ask, “You wouldn’t be interested in booking a comedian,
would you?”And you know what happened?
Without fail, every single time I went looking for 30 people to tell me "no," I never reached my goal. Somewhere along the way, some knucklehead would give me a "yes." :-)
In a short amount of time, Andy was the most booked comedian in the college market. He was even voted Comedian of the Year for two years in a row by the National Association of Campus Activities (and Entertainer of the Year once).
So "no"s do not scare me. I eat "no"s for
breakfast. And so can you.
Next time someone says "no" to something that your spirit knows is meant to
be, do not pause to think about quitting for even one second. Invite the "no"s.
Welcome them. With each "no" you're one step closer to getting a "yes"!
It is imperative that you get this
thought process down as soon as you can. Why? Because the "no"s never stop. By
the time Andy and I were trying to get The Traveler’s Gift
published, we'd already sold over 600,000 copies of the
self-published Storms of Perfection series on our own. Yet 51
publishers still turned down the manuscript…which eventually became a New
York Times best-seller and is now in over 25 languages.I didn't write those numbers to brag. I wrote them to show you just how wrong 51 "no"s can be.
Friends often come up to me discouraged by their inability to accomplish something, like getting a manuscript published, for example. When I ask them how many times they’ve been told “no,” I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say a number greater than four or five.
Until you get to 30 “no”s, I want you to do something—keep going! Try a new approach, make a few tweaks, change your presentation, but do not give up. Learn to laugh in the face of rejection; it is the fuel for your success.
Now stop reading! Get out there and find yourself some "no"s!
For more of Robert's content, head over to TheRobertD.com. Be sure to take a peak at his debut book, 20,000 Days and Counting. You'll find that a familiar person was responsible for writing the foreword.
Image provided by trublueboy
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