A girlfriend once broke up with me by saying I didnât have any charisma. I was 22 years old and I had no idea what she meant.
But she was very serious. I still have nightmares about the disappointed look in her face.
How could she do that? How could she stay this long with someone without charisma?
Of course, that was neither my first nor my last rejection.
When you choose to share opinions online, you will have rejection in spades. Ask my friend Jae Hermann, sheâll tell you better than I ever could. Which is what makes her such a badass.
Yesterday, I submitted a story to The Startup. They rejected it with a single note.
Two days ago, it was Publishous. At least, the editors were kind enough to explain in detail why my story didnât fit and how I could make it better. The editor-in-chief even went as far as suggesting I break the story down into two and resubmit once I apply the recommendations.
It still hurt. But it was more of a slap than a gut punch. I decided to re-work on that story.
However, when it came to The Startup, I wasnât very surprised.
I chose a topic I wasnât every comfortable with, I wrote in a tone that - in hindsight - sounds too direct for my style and Iâm not exactly an authority on the subject.
The lesson here for me is two fold.
First, Iâm happy I tried this. I have been getting comfortable with poetry and wallowing in my sadness â Woe is me. Writing is hard!â
lol
So, the fact that I was able to write, send, get rejected and still publish the story on my own page is a win. Now, I get to use all this information to write the next story.
Second, writing is a volume game playing by people with thick skin. I cannot win if I publish one piece a week. So, I might as well suck it up and start submitting even more.
If youâre not getting any rejections in life, youâre probably knocking the wrong doors. I really believe that.
When youâre honest, and you do the things that only you can do, most people wonât be able to stand it. Usually, youâre the problem.
Like in this case, my piece wasnât well written. Itâs all on me. I can do better.
But sometimes, you just need to knock on enough doors to finally get someone to open.
So yeah. Thatâs what I wanted to share with you today.
You can read the article here. Iâd love to get your feedback on how to improve the next piece.
Also, Iâll be going live in 3 hours to talk about this as well as other things.
You can set a reminder here on YouTube. If youâd like to join the livestream, use this link.
Talk to you soon!
p.s: do you have any questions youâd like me to answer on the livestream? Hit reply and let me know.