Rejection Challenge

This task from Blake Boles online course The Way of Adventure, is based on the Rejection Therapy game. Blake points you in the direction of Jia Jiang who completed 100 days of rejection therapy and documented it on his website.

The goal of this game is to overcome the fear of rejection, and not attach yourself to the outcomes of your request. Rejection is a part of life, and in order to grow and develop, you'll need to be able to cope with negative responses to your requests.

Have a listen to the TED Talk Jia gave on his adventures last year. It gives you a fantastic understanding of the importance of being comfortable with rejection. Jia also wrote a book on his experiences called Rejection Proof which sounds really interesting, and I'm definitely adding it to my future reading pile. I'll definitely write about the book when i've finished reading it, and share what I learn with you here.

According to the Rejection Therapy game here are the main objectives of the activity.

THE FIVE OBJECTIVES OF REJECTION THERAPY ARE:

1. To be more aware of how irrational social fears control and restrict our lives
2. Smash the tyranny of fear and reap the treasures (treasures include wealth, relationships and self-confidence)
3. Learn from, and even enjoy rejection
4. To not be attached to outcomes, especially when it involves the free agency of other people
5. Permit yourself to fail

Your challenge is to get rejected 10 times, just like Jia did.

Come up with 10+ small requests that you can make. Follow the rules of the original Rejection Therapy game for best effect:

1. A rejection counts if you are out of your comfort zone
2. A rejection counts if your request is denied. (if you end up receiving a “yes” instead of a “no”, that’s great!)
3. At the time of rejection, the player, not the respondent, should be in a position of vulnerability.
4. The player should be sensitive to the feelings of the person being asked.

Here are the 10 requests I plan on making, I'll update this page as I go with my results. They may not seem as exciting as Jia's as I'm certainly out of practice in this area, but hopefully this challenge will help me widen my comfort zone.

I'm not really going in with the goal of rejection, but with the aim of asking people I don't know for assistance. Once I'm comfortable with completing these requests, I may upgrade this challenge and ask some requests that are similar to Jia's.

1. Ask someone for directions
2. Ask someone for feedback on a piece of creative writing
3. Ask for a larger discount at on a product or service
4. Ask someone to talk about their weaknesses
5. Write a letter to a prominent person, and ask for a response
6. Submit a question to an author/speaker, and ask for a response
7. Ask someone what they do for a living
8. Ask someone for advice
9. Ask someone for a personal story
10. Ask someone to teach you a 5 minute lesson on their chosen topic

Results: Will be Updated as this Challenge is Completed

Go out and do something that makes your heart beat, just that little bit faster.

Kate