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Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

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Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#11

Post by joe_the_user »

holdenc wrote: post #6

There's another name for rejection therapy -- it's called sales work. Typically it's the kind of sales work hackers dislike. But plenty of people have built good careers around a sunny tolerance for rejection. Real estate agents, insurance sales people, cold callers, door-to-door sales people -- all of them experience many rejections for each closed sale. One successful sales person told me that "it's just a numbers…

Yes, it's a simple if not easy path.

I'm not a "sale type" but I've actually been doing some part-time canvasing lately just to have the 'getting over the rejection hump' experience.

It's easier and more pleasant for me since sales still isn't my job.

Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#13

Post by David »

joe_the_user wrote: post #12

Is there something special about getting one rejection each day? I've been doing part-time canvasing and I can accumulate far more than 30 rejections in the less than an hour. But I still have no-rejection days. Does it matter?

It's not about being rejected every single day. It's about learning to accept rejection more easily, which it sounds like you're doing fine on with part-time canvasing. (Or perhaps you could cope easily before that.)

I'd take a bet that you're not the type this was designed for. For some, being rejected at all is a huge blow to ego, confidence, and self-esteem, which can have serious effects on mood and productivity, for instance.

For these people, getting rejected more often means that each rejection is less significant and reinforces the knowledge that rejection happens. That is much healthier, and I'd hypothesize that it can increase one's average level of happiness. (It also gives an individual much more control over himself -- or takes it away from others, at any rate. Same thing.)

Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#14

Post by David »

jpwagner wrote: post #10
paulgb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reward is realizing that the pain of being rejected is negligible.

but there is no pain if you don't have any expectation!

That's the goal, anyway. Some of us aren't there yet. Rejection of any kind, even for something that wasn't expected in the first place, can be painful.

Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#15

Post by akkartik »

quickpost wrote: post #2

The original post on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1754790

Eliezer: "Did anyone else glance at this, think "rationality level too low, I cannot trust anything these people say" and give up?" (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1755741)

My response is to quote Nassim Taleb: "Be gullible in the small, and skeptical in the large." http://akkartik.name/blog/9400292 It's an extremely rational strategy.

Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#16

Post by trustfundbaby »

jpwagner wrote: post #4

is it still worth the effort to try things that you don't actually want? seems to me that not only will you not feel the pain of rejection, you also won't be able to reap the benefit when there's an unexpected yes.

I think the idea is to ask for things you want. True ... you might not want them badly and the rejections might not bother you, but I look at it like a vaccination ... little doses of rejection make it so you are not afraid to be rejected when you go after the things you really want

Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#17

Post by stellar678 »

joe_the_user wrote: post #12

Is there something special about getting one rejection each day? I've been doing part-time canvasing and I can accumulate far more than 30 rejections in the less than an hour. But I still have no-rejection days. Does it matter?

I think a big part of the value is experiencing rejection in a variety of scenarios, not just experiencing similar rejection repeatedly.

Re: Here's Why Someone Would Seek Rejection for 30 Days Straight

#18

Post by catch23 »

holdenc wrote: post #6

There's another name for rejection therapy -- it's called sales work. Typically it's the kind of sales work hackers dislike. But plenty of people have built good careers around a sunny tolerance for rejection. Real estate agents, insurance sales people, cold callers, door-to-door sales people -- all of them experience many rejections for each closed sale. One successful sales person told me that "it's just a numbers…

did a small biz startup sometime ago. doing cold calling sales pitches to small restaurants will make you immune to rejection in a week.
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