2 Weeks as a Rejection Olympian
Two weeks ago I received an assignment for my Hustle & Grit class to complete a Bingo card — of rejections.
For some context, this isn’t an ordinary class you’d see at business school. It advocates that competent business leaders are ones that have undergone personal development, which of course cannot be taught in a classroom.
No, it is taught by trying to order tandoori chicken from Dominos. Seriously.
As many who know me could guess, I started later than I’d planned. I was slow finding an accountability partner, which I used to justify not starting any tasks. This attitude set me back early. By the end of the first week I only had three completed (easy ones, I might add) when I’d planned to have two whole Bingos done. After hearing the progress of my classmates in class and a conversation with my accountability partner, it was clear that I had to amp up the pace for the last week.
I threw out the old schedule. Plans are supposed to help, not hinder. I began thinking “How can I get closer to my goal right now?” I decided to start with the easy ones. It felt like a bit of a cop-out at first, like I was avoiding the worst of the rejection, but I figured doing something is better than worrying about nothing. Much to my surprise, the tasks I’d select was like a creeping tide: slowly, the scary ones seemed quite doable. In hindsight I would even argue that I did some of the harder ones early. Having to look at someone face-to-face as they awkwardly stare at you because you’re asking for $1 off a $12 breakfast order is much harder to do than having to ask for an online class for free.
I gained momentum. Quick. I was calling my bank to lower my interest rate and withdraw loans for paper plane flights as if my student loans depended on it. I was connecting (or trying to connect) with people I knew but never spoken to and CTV Toronto News anchor Nathan Downer in the same day.
Eventually, I got to the last two squares: negotiate a lower phone/internet bill and try to buy something not for sale. I didn’t intend to finish the card as there was one square on there that I was dreading: lowering my phone or internet bill. I have a bit of history calling Rogers — as the technical person in the house since fourteen, I’m responsible for magically restoring the internet when it goes down. For one particular summer, I was on hold with Rogers customer service reps for hours each time I called, calling them about twice a week. This left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. However, I realized that the other missing Bingo square was done and I had simply forgot to mark it off. With one square preventing a full completion, I couldn’t back down.
Which brings me to one of the largest, though unexpected, takeaways I’ve gotten from this assignment: finish strong.
It’s so easy to look at those last two Bingo squares and think “Eh, I almost got there. Good enough.” But after working so hard, you owe it to yourself to finish strong. This was not a call I could have made without a week of prior rejection and inspiration, but now I look back at my previous videos and think I could have done better. This final push has amped me up and set the pace for future personal challenges.
Some major takeaways:
- The fear of rejection will be greater than the rejection. There were times before completing a challenge I’d feared I’d be told off. Much to my surprise, I survived the experience. At a certain point, rejection became representative of effort, and I think that this is such an important perspective to have. So many people base effort on success that they’ll blame and frustrate themselves when they don’t achieve said success. Do not fear rejection, it is a prerequisite of progress.
- People are helpful! Contrary to my fear, I found that people actually were helpful when they didn’t need to be; the cashier at Domino’s did not need to pitch me their tandoori chicken alternatives. But he did. In fact, sometimes people were so geared towards being helpful that they missed the ridiculousness of my request. Expect my skis soon, Toys R Us.
- Rejection gets boring. I initially thought about doing “counters”, or the same space multiple times. But after asking for more compliments or making another wrong order, it lost the initial excitement. I felt very similarly when working on cold sales calls this summer — the first calls were always quite nerve wracking, but once I was on my third or fourth call I’d be much faster and confident in my responses. It goes to show that not only does resilience need to be built, it needs to be maintained. Even if you’re a manager, act the role of a telemarketer for a day. You’ll learn, or relearn, humility and grit.
- Its fun if you make it fun! Especially following the one week mark, I felt pretty discouraged. Everyone was much further ahead than me and I had so much other work to do. It was not until I began speaking to my friends about this assignment did I see it in another light. They began giving me crazy ideas for what to do for certain squares and asking for the videos I’d record. Even my brother asked me if he could drive me to the coffee shop and film my rejection. Involving other people helped me put things into perspective — even if my fear turned out to be true, and I got berated by an upset employee, I’d have been able to laugh it off with my friends and family. Once I started thinking like this, I spent much less time preparing what I’d say or how I could recover from failure.
- Take shots. Saving the best for last, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this challenge it is this. I was fairly pessimistic about most of these squares. I did not think that I could get my internet lowered, or that my family would be able to help in my career, or that the gigantic plush giraffes at the front of Mastermind are purchasable. After this challenge, however, I am walking away with a better and cheaper modem, a connection to a friend of my uncle’s in need of help with his startup, and a $900, 7-foot giraffe in my Mastermind shopping cart. Every couple of months, ask for that raise. Reach out to your network for opportunities. Call your suppliers and ask for lower prices. It won’t always work, but it will eventually.
