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How To Overcome The Fear Of Rejection


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Rejection hurts us deeply because humans have an innate need to belong and feel wanted. If this fundamental need is not met, it feels devastating and is no less than a traumatic experience.

That explains why so many of us are afraid of being rejected by friends, family, or a romantic interest. In my case, the fear of rejection began with personal relationships and extended to professional life. 

In order to avoid rejection, I would refuse to share business ideas and kept to myself in conference meetings. As you can imagine, it was counterproductive, and the loss was entirely mine.

Over the years, I realized that this fear paralyzes and stops us from fulfilling our potential. It essentially gets in the way of our well-being, and that is when I began the journey to change this deep-rooted fear.

Here are some things I did to overcome my fear of rejection:

#1 Manage Negative Self Talk

The first and easiest practice I embraced was to keep my negative self-talk in check. We often find a dozen things wrong with ourselves without pausing to think how damaging this pattern is. Negative self-talk reinforces the blame on yourself and removes all motivation to take any action. So, start with believing in your potential by encouraging and supporting yourself.

#2 Shift Your Focus

When we allow the fear of rejection to sit and marinate in our brain, we are essentially thinking of everything that could go wrong. But, what if things work out? Focus on the reason why you want to take action and how good it would feel if you succeeded. 

Shift focus to think of rejection as a risk you are willing to take for the progression of your dreams.

#3 Face The Fear

A sure way to avoid rejection is to do nothing at all. But if you do nothing, it’s not possible to move towards your dreams and goals either. Create a list of fears starting from the smallest to the most terrifying ones. And, make it a point to work on the fear in small steps instead of allowing it to dictate your life. 

#4 Know That Rejection Is Not Permanent

There are plenty of examples of people who faced a string of rejections in their journey to the top. Yes, it feels horrible, and we question our self-worth at the moment, but it doesn’t indicate the end of your journey. 

It is one of the downsides in the grand scheme of things. Remember that it’s very human to feel down after rejection, but it is always possible to overcome it. 

A fear of rejection is something that we have all faced at one point or another in our lives. What steps did you take to help yourself overcome this fear?

 

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This reminds me of the whole "the only thing you have to fear, is fear itself" and it does fit here. Like people allow themselves to be their own worst enemy. Rejection is far from the worst thing in the world yet it is crippling to some. I have a friend like this. I will share these with her.

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On 9/9/2021 at 7:52 PM, Scarlett said:

This reminds me of the whole "the only thing you have to fear, is fear itself" and it does fit here. Like people allow themselves to be their own worst enemy. Rejection is far from the worst thing in the world yet it is crippling to some. I have a friend like this. I will share these with her.

I think everyone knows someone like this. It is a shame too because people who are like this hinder their success so much in life. Not just in relationships but job opportunities and discovering new skills. 

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I remember reading an article awhile back that spoke about the fear of rejection. It is said to be manifested by the disapproval of parents from when someone was a child. I am not sure how true this is but it makes sense when you think about it. Either way, there are ways around it and breaking the habit of it. 

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