The Courage to Keep Reaching After You Have Been Hurt
All of the work on rejection converges on a single capacity, the one that separates a shrinking life from an expanding one: the courage to keep reaching ou...
Category
Rejection and Self-Worth
How to Quiet the Inner Critic That Speaks Up After Rejection
When rejection strikes, it rarely comes alone. It arrives with a companion: an inner voice that seizes the moment to prosecute you, to pile shame upon inju...
How to Cope With Real Rejection
Much of the work on rejection is about reducing the power of imagined rejection. But real rejection happens too. Sometimes the person does not want to be y...
You Cannot Be Liked by Everyone, and That Is Good News
There is a hard and freeing truth waiting at the bottom of the fear of rejection, and once you truly absorb it, rejection can never mean quite the same thi...
Rejection Sensitivity: When the Alarm Is Too Loud
Everyone dislikes rejection, but some people live with an alarm turned up far higher than others, going off constantly at the faintest hint of possible rej...
The Difference Between Feeling Rejected and Being Rejected
The single most useful skill for anyone who fears rejection is learning to separate the feeling of rejection from the fact of it. These are not the same th...
Surviving a Breakup or the End of a Friendship
Some rejections are large: the end of a relationship, the fading or fracture of a close friendship. These deserve their own words, because while the same p...
Why Rejection Hurts So Much
If you have ever wondered why rejection can leave you feeling almost physically injured, why a cool reply or a cancelled plan can ache for days, the answer...
Rejection as Redirection: Finding Meaning Without Forcing It
Once the immediate pain of a rejection has been felt and has begun to pass, there comes a point where you can do something remarkable with it: you can find...
How to Build Self-Worth That Does Not Depend on Approval
At the center of the fear of rejection lies a single vulnerability: your sense of worth rests on other people's acceptance. When your worth depends on bein...
How to Ask for What You Want Despite the Fear of No
Nearly everything good on the other side of connection requires reaching out and risking a no: friendships require someone to make the first invitation, cl...