P28: Turn Rejection Into Your Next Move

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Welcome Back!

Today, it’s all about refusing to let rejection be the end of the story.

Let me start with two examples.

The first one: Last month, I submitted an op-ed pitch to The Chronicle of Higher Education called “Stop Calling Them Soft Skills: Why Structural Skills Are the Hard Currency of the AI Era.”

According to their submission guidelines: “If we don’t respond within a week, the answer is no.”

I didn’t hear back.

I could've felt defeated, sat on the article (again), or sent it to another publication. On April 12, I chose a different approach.

Inspired by Todd Henry’s Die Empty philosophy, I published it on Medium. Then, I shipped five more articles over the span of three weeks. Pieces I’d been quietly shaping, revising, second-guessing for weeks, months, even years.

Generosity was my only goal. I had no idea if anyone would read or respond.

Then this happened:

The best part? Real people engaging in the conversation.

One comment in particular stayed with me, which brings me to the second example.

It came from a reader named Neil, responding to “Proactive Foresight: The Skill That Makes You Indispensable,” one of the pieces I published.

Here’s part of what he shared:

What he named—being punished for being proactive—is a form of rejection. The kind that leaves emotional residue when working within systems that reward compliance over clarity or curiosity, and short-term wins over long-term wisdom.

I see it across industries and higher education all the time. And because I’ve experienced it myself, I empathize with and admire Neil’s grit to persevere.

I share both stories, mine and Neil’s, because rejection looks different for all of us.

And whether it stops you or catapults you forward, that part is up to you.

PIVOT POINT

Use rejection as the catalyst for your next best move.

THE SHIFT

Sometimes the only way to know where your contribution belongs is to find out where it doesn’t.

First, you need to reframe rejection.

To gain clarity—to find the signal in the noise—it’s helpful to adopt a tiny experiment mindset. Then, rejection is merely the feedback from the experiment.

In her book, Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal Obsessed World, Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff explains that meaningful progress is movement that originates from where high curiosity and high ambition intersect:

For example, my pitch to The Chronicle was a tiny experiment. It failed. No big deal.

Publishing it on Medium was another. It could have failed too. But instead, it connected with individuals like Neil. With thousands of others who’ve read it. With dozens who’ve highlighted paragraphs or have expanded the conversation with their comments.

None of that would’ve happened had I not pivoted to a tiny experiment mindset.

Viewing rejection as a personal failing can be devastating.

Viewing it as data from a tiny experiment? It’s just that—data.

PIVOT CHALLENGE

Rejection rarely comes with clarity. More often, it’s silent, sharp, or disorienting. Either way, it leaves clues.

Your job is to pay attention, look for them, and follow where they lead.

This week, I challenge you to turn a past rejection into a tiny experiment: a low-stakes, high-learning move that can become a quiet catalyst for momentum.

It doesn’t have to be big. It just has to begin.

Here are a few ideas:

• Reframe a rejection you took personally and ask, “What is it teaching me now?”

• Reopen a project you paused to explore where it might lead next

• Share an insight or idea with someone new, just to see what it stirs

• Start something you’ve talked yourself out of, just to learn where it may take you

Then think like a scientist:

Journal the data. Reflect on the patterns. What insights are starting to take shape?Rejection doesn’t have to get the last word. It can be inspiration to find the next move.

And remember: a tiny experiment is progress.

Until next week,

P.S. Check out The Structural Skills Project, my most recent tiny experiment.

P.S.S. If this resonated or if you are looking for inspiring speaker for your group, send me a note and let’s chat.

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