I’ve dealt with rejection nearly everyday. Whether it’s pitching our products, asking a woman out on a date, or attempting to snag a first-class upgrade on a flight hope, it happens.

I often get asked by my friends and colleagues how I deal with that rejection, so I decided I would sit down with a Scotch Whiskey and pen a blog post about the topic.

The most important thing to realize about rejection is that it happens to everyone at some point in their life and if it hasn’t, that person obviously isn’t living!

Even after nine years of promoting our clients’ brands, products, services and events with custom condom packaging; after nine years of selling millions of Funny Condoms™; after nine years of starting conversations on college campuses about sexual assault with Consent Condoms™…we still get turned down when we pitch our services to potential clients. We don’t get turned down often, but when we do it still stings a little because we know how effective our campaigns are for our clients.
Rejection happens to everyone (have I mentioned that?). But rejection shouldn’t matter if you have a goal firmly set in your mind and are working towards achieving it everyday. Below is a list of the things I do to move on:
  1. Get Over It - It’s time to move on. Last week I had someone hang up the phone on me, so what did I do? I called them back, twice. You’ve got take life's’ rejections with a grain of salt and add a dose of humor.
  2. Review Your Goals - Setting goals will help you see past your short-term defeat and focus on the end result.
  3. Pitch Better - Record your calls and your pitches (if you can). After your presentation, review them and take notes on how you can improve your next presentation. Even better, have a friend review your pitch and provide you with suggestions.
  4. Don’t Take It Too Seriously - I mean, c’mon, life is way too short to take anything seriously (except marriage and potty training). There will most likely be another opportunity to get rejected again, ha!
  5. Plan, Do, Review - Ok, this is simple. If you fail to plan then you plan to fail. You’ve got to go after what you want with a strategy or you’re likely not to achieve what you want.
  6. Appreciate The Rejection - Be thankful for getting turned down because now you have an opportunity to improve yourself
  7. Ask For Feedback - Share your experience with a colleague, a friend or even a stranger. Other people’s perspectives can assist you in seeing things from their point of view and help you plan better for next time

What was suppose to be a paragraph or two, turned into a seven point list on how I deal with rejection. I hope it was helpful and if it wasn’t let me know, I certainly won’t take it too seriously.