Rejection isn’t the end of the world

When I look back on my upbringing, I was a child to a single parent and my father was not there to help me during my formative years. I always felt rejected by the fact that my father was never around me to support me in so many areas of and moments ofmy life. I felt that I was left with only one option and that was to lie about my father and why he was not around me. I told variations of the same story, that he was out of the state, or he was in military, or he died. I was never able to face the truth in my early years. I came to learn as a teenager that he was happily living with his new family, without any concern about me; actually I envied his new family and their happiness. I had seen my friends in happy relationships with their parents…especially with their father. Later in my life, I came to the bitter conclusion that I would have to move on in my life, as he was not surely a father to me anymore. But it was not always easy to deal with this rejection in my life, so I made my own five rules to change this rejection into success, especially in business. Following are my five rules which helped me move on and achieve success both personally and professionally: 1: It’s a part of life; you can’t force someone to like you. 2: Don’t let it destroy you. Go on and get your success. 3: Make yourself busy with activities that you like. [For me it was dancing, drawing, and cooking] 4: Dust yourself off and try again and again to gain knowledge. 5: If one person does not need you, it does not mean no one needs you. This is not the end, make it a new beginning. This rejection in my early life surely helped me grow in various ways. For example, in business you have to network and meet new people, and explore new opportunities. As an interior designer, I am selling my professional services to people, and if they are not interested or if they reject an offer, I have made learned how to handle this kind of situation with strength and understanding. Although our team recently celebrated seven years in business this October, that month was been truly rough for my business. Our team had been shortlisted continuously for many projects that we were qualified for but didn’t manage to win any. During that time it was hard not to take it personal or not be down about it. I had to look back to my childhood and how I had copped with rejection in the past a lot during that time. I reiterated my five rules and realized that I am a strong and motivated person with a strong sense of faith. I know that if the opportunity was meant for me I would have it. So this month I’ve been focused a lot on rule number 4 Dust yourself off and try again, I’ve been working on developing new marketing materials; looking at what our competition is offering and how we can provide a better service. I am also looking at how social media can help us achieve our marketing goals of obtaining new leads and retaining our existing clients. We have also decided to go after work in different sectors to strength our portfolio and to diversify our company. We’ve started networking more with existing client groups as well as others. I also joined a local Toastmasters group to improve on presentation skills, since our team is getting to the interviews but just not getting the jobs, I thought it would be great to polish up on those skills. I have also become more sensitive in every matter of my life. And I am more skillful in creative arts. In other words, I have stretched myself and reached my goals by running my own Interior Design Company
“Maraye Design Studio”. I have learned to be strong and tackle all kinds of situations in my personal life and in my business life. All because of rejection.