risk-fear of rejection
 

This has come up for me lately. I am in the artistic field, and rejection is part of the game. However, it's difficult not to take it personally because what I am selling is something very personal. A wise person who was in sales once told me just view a No as a stepping stone to a Yes. I understand that in my head, but not in my heart. Why is the fear of rejection so ingrained in us ACAs? And far MORE importantly, what can we do to alleviate it?

I found this to be very very helpful to me.

http://ww.geocities.com/forbidden_area/esteem.html (link intentionally broken, please add in extra 'w' needed)

Cold call salespeople really know about rejection. I heard that the old door-to-door salesmen were taught that they had to knock on a hundred doors to get one "yes". At a sales seminar I once attended we practiced accepting "no's" without giving up. We paired off and just kept asking the other person the same question and they always answered No. You don't even have to ask a question to get the effect of this exercise, just keep up the "no's". The idea is that after a while you realize that they aren't rejecting you, they just aren't saying yes. Funny, but they may have been trying to make a better sales person out of me, but they also helped me learn to detach from the outcome. "No's" are still a little scary for me, but it is getting a little bit better all the time.

p.s. When I really feel rejected I remember that my higher power loves me unconditionally.

Thanks, Ginger. I'll check it out. xx

I love this! So true. xx