100 Days of Rejection

Around 10 years ago, I experienced one of the first big rejections in my life. I was devastated and I didn’t know how to handle it then. Maybe it was an omen but that same day Jia Jiang’s TED talk, 100 Days of Rejection, dropped on YouTube.

Jia talks about his ultimate dream of becoming an entrepreneur come crashing down after multiple rejections from investors. He was heartbroken, so he started “rejection therapy” where he would seek 100 days of rejection to overcome his fear of rejection. He did things like asking a stranger for 100$ or going door to door asking if he could play soccer in their backyard. Mostly ridiculous requests where most people would say no. Yet, some people started saying yes. And one of his requests went viral.

I rewatched Jia’s talk today. It’s endearing how much I’ve grown and changed since then. I still remember the sadness and despair I was feeling that day almost a decade ago, when I got rejected.

Nearly a decade later, I experienced many rejections in my life. I created a CV of failures as a monument to them. Watching Jia’s talk was hugely inspirational for me and laid the foundation for my relationship with rejection. For awhile, every rejection I’ve received whether it be romantic interests, university applications, or jobs, I’d think about Jia’s 100 days of rejection.

If you have 15 minutes, I highly recommend you watch it. This talk changed my life back then, and maybe it’ll do the same for you.