How to Overcome Fear: Rejection Therapy

Given our perfectionist nature, ABCs like me could stand to practice Rejection Therapy. Actually, I think we could all use a little Rejection Therapy, always.

Rejection Therapy for Learning Mandarin

Getting over the fear of rejection was so instrumental to my ability to learn Mandarin when my son was born. When I was young, my parents would tease me when I occasionally ventured to speak in Mandarin. Every time I got embarrassed and vowed never to speak it again. I wish I had seen this video back then and had the courage to disregard the giggles and just keep trying.

I hope my kids can take advantage of their gift of youth and time to get good at this now, so they will be primed for success in the future.

Thank you Jia!

I have referred people to this TED Talk so often that I needed a quick link to it here. Jia Jiang, I feel like I could really benefit from a pep talk like this from you every day. Seeing this regular Chinese guy with a slight accent, up on the TED stage, is so inspiring to me. When I feel self conscious, shy, or hesitant about something new I’m about to try, I channel my inner Jia Jiang and try to go for it.

The Bottom Line

What do you have to gain by doing the same thing every day, hiding from challenges?

Nothing.

What’s the potential upside in trying things that are hard or slightly uncomfortable?

• You learn more about yourself and what you are capable of.
• You learn if something worked well or if you need to tweak your approach.
• You gain experience with a story to tell – perhaps even a success story.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Thomas Edison

You have so much to gain by seeing how far you can go without running away.