He was rejected over 1000 times!

Rejection is something I experienced on a regular basis as a young boy when I struggled to read and write, as I was born to Polish parents. I was also last pick in Games lessons as I was very uncoordinated, extremely tall and skinny for my age.

This rejection left me with mental scars which I have worked hard to heal, and with techniques I now teach, I have finally overcome these feelings. I now have the confidence to run my own international business and stand up and speak in front of hundreds.

A long term plan

I started my business late in life and now at the age of 63 I am revving the business up and I have a plan to be speaking on stage at the age of 80 – that’s a 17-year plan! Most people my age are planning for retirement, but because I have found something I am really passionate about, I have no desire to retire.

In my Mental Resilience Masterclasses, I describe Colonel Sanders who has inspired me to carry on especially when things aren’t going so well. He was 65 and living on very little when he decided things had to change. I came across this article about him which describes his situation really well.

Broke but he had a dream

“Once, there was an older man, who was broke, living in a tiny house and owned a beat-up car. He was living off of $99 social security checks. At 65 years of age, he decided things had to change. So, he thought about what he had to offer. His friends raved about his chicken recipe. He decided that this was his best shot at making a change.

He left Kentucky and travelled to different states to try to sell his recipe. He told restaurant owners that he had a mouth-watering chicken recipe. He offered the recipe to them for free, just asking for a small percentage on the items sold. Sounds like a good deal, right?

He was rejected over and over again

Unfortunately, not to most of the restaurants. He heard NO over 1000 times. Even after all of those rejections, he didn’t give up. He believed his chicken recipe was something special. He got rejected 1009 times before he heard his first yes.

With that one success Colonel Hartland Sanders changed the way Americans eat chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken, popularly known as KFC, was born.

Remember, never give up and always believe in yourself in spite of rejection.”

Powerful words

These final words are really powerful ‘Never give up and always believe in yourself. This reminds me of a plaque I have with the following words on it which I read twice a day, every day. The words say:

‘Go for your Dream and Never give up. Believe in Yourself and the Best is yet to Come’

I believe that what you say to yourself every day determines your future. If your words are positive you will achieve more in life than if your words are negative. 4 years ago, I was decorating with no clients and my inner dialogue was completely negative.

The power of your Inner Voice

Then I discovered the power of inner dialogue and I changed my self-talk from negative to positive then suddenly everything in my life started to change for the better. This has continued for the past 4 years with continued growth in my business.

Earlier this week I presented an award at the Nottingham Sports Awards and yesterday I was interviewed live on BBC Radio Nottingham who are fascinated by my life story. These things continue to happen as I maintain a positive inner voice and believe in myself.

Thoughts for the week.

1. How do you handle rejection?
2. Do you have memories of rejection in your past life?
3. Your inner dialogue determines your future – is yours positive or negative?
4. You need to have more than 50% positive thoughts in the day to succeed.
5. Colonel Sanders demonstrated a remarkable self-belief and never say die attitude, even at the age of 65.
6. He was rejected so many times, but he believed that one day he would get a yes and the rest is history.

Well that’s if for this week I hope you have a wonderful weekend and stay positive.

Warm regards

John

Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience available here
https://www.jdmindcoach.com/product/off-the-wall-how-to-develop-world-class-mental-resilience/ (Special offer. Put in code 10POUND when prompted to receive a signed copy for £10 including postage and packing – UK only)