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Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

rejectiontherapy.com

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Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#11

Post by nprincigalli »

hotmind wrote: post #6
rottencupcakes wrote: post #3

> This may be true, since neither death or rejection are bad. They are portals to other places. Would it be wrong to take the meta-contrarian position on this one? Rejection, like death, kind of sucks.

You're right. Rejection is hard, and people are terrified by it (why do you think cosmetic surgery is so prevalent?) And yet, rejection usually consists of a simple and benign "no". Why are we so sensitive to the word no? Can this be healthy, that we would hide in the shadows all our lives than ask for what we want and need? The amazing thing about Rejection Therapy is that people are more likely to give you what you…

Without asking, you are already living the path of the "no". If you realize that, it becomes a lot easier to change your mindset.

I'd even say it's not about being hardened by rejection, but rather standing up for yourself. Speak up. Dare to ask something. Dare to want something. Then learning that taking risks increase your chances of getting a "yes". The famous "you lose 100% of the shots you don't make" :)

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#12

Post by zacharypinter »

astrofinch wrote: post #8

God damn such a good idea. Let's build a list of rejection ideas and maybe avoid paying $16. Here are mine. * Ask a random person for their phone number without introducing yourself, explaining why, or anything. * Ask someone to give you their seat in some public area (e.g. bus, restaurant). (Note: what if they actually give it to you? o_o) * Be a beggar. Ask people for money. * Ask someone of your preferred gender o…

Though the point and goal is obviously to get rejected, I prefer the rejection ideas that have a chance of nice outcomes if not rejected. So, the mail a famous person a book idea over asking for a seat.

Some additional ideas:

* Ask for a raise

* Ask your employer to send you to a conference

* Ask the conference holder for free admission to the conference

* Ask for a neck massage (even better if you don't know or just met the person)

* Offer to buy lunch for somebody you admire but have never met

* Ask a friend to do your laundry

* Create a reddit post saying it won't make it to the front page :)

* Leave your wallet at home one day. Ask starbucks for a free coffee, ask a coworker to loan you the cash for lunch, etc.

* Got any debt? Call your debtors and ask for it to be lowered.

Update: Looks like the parent comment has been updating their suggestions as I was typing, so there's some unintentional dups here.

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#13

Post by hotmind »

astrofinch wrote: post #9
hotmind wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm working on a podcast where I personally execute all the suggestions on the cards, then discuss the outcomes. So yes, the suggestions on the cards will be made available without purchase, via the podcast. Thanks for the valuable input Zach!

Could you email me your list of rejection ideas? [my username] at gmail dot com I promise not to post them in this thread, and if you do I will reply to your comment saying thank you. You could think of it as a publicity stunt.

No.

Rejection isn't so bad, is it?

Seriously though, I'll do you one better. Email me a mailing address and I'll send you a physical copy of the suggestion cards absolutely free.

I can only do this for you though (I'm broke).

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#15

Post by lehmannro »

The ideas brought up on that site are frequently gamed in the pickup scene.

Crash 'n' Burn is the practice of trying impossible sets (ie. girls) with the assumption of being rejected. If you are sure you will blow it big time, you can as well do and learn something from it.

Another tangentially related technique against rejection angst is the Three Seconds Rule which mandates you talk to some stranger before thinking for too long (which is really a different, short-term approach to the Rejection Therapy game).

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#16

Post by astrofinch »

hotmind wrote: post #13
astrofinch wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you email me your list of rejection ideas? [my username] at gmail dot com I promise not to post them in this thread, and if you do I will reply to your comment saying thank you. You could think of it as a publicity stunt.

No. Rejection isn't so bad, is it? Seriously though, I'll do you one better. Email me a mailing address and I'll send you a physical copy of the suggestion cards absolutely free. I can only do this for you though (I'm broke).

Mailing address emailed! Thanks in advance!

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#17

Post by jacobolus »

astrofinch wrote: post #8

God damn such a good idea. Let's build a list of rejection ideas and maybe avoid paying $16. Here are mine. * Ask a random person for their phone number without introducing yourself, explaining why, or anything. * Ask someone to give you their seat in some public area (e.g. bus, restaurant). (Note: what if they actually give it to you? o_o) * Be a beggar. Ask people for money. * Ask someone of your preferred gender o…

> Ask someone to give you their seat in some public area (e.g. bus, restaurant). (Note: what if they actually give it to you? o_o)

There was a famous sociology experiment by Milgram that had students doing this on the metro.

http://www.slate.com/id/2235474/

> People were surprisingly compliant—a total of 68 percent either got up or moved over in the "no justification" condition. The more justification that was offered, however, the less likely people were to stand up. Curiously, Blass notes, the most striking thing for many of the participants was just how difficult it was to ask for the seat ("I actually felt as if I were going to perish," recalled Milgram). It's not hard to imagine why; asking for help on a subway exposes one to both the risk of a certain stigma—and to the possibility of rejection.

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#19

Post by Goosey »

nprincigalli wrote: post #11
hotmind wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right. Rejection is hard, and people are terrified by it (why do you think cosmetic surgery is so prevalent?) And yet, rejection usually consists of a simple and benign "no". Why are we so sensitive to the word no? Can this be healthy, that we would hide in the shadows all our lives than ask for what we want and need? The amazing thing about Rejection Therapy is that people are more likely to give you what you…

Without asking, you are already living the path of the "no". If you realize that, it becomes a lot easier to change your mindset. I'd even say it's not about being hardened by rejection, but rather standing up for yourself. Speak up. Dare to ask something. Dare to want something. Then learning that taking risks increase your chances of getting a "yes". The famous "you lose 100% of the shots you don't make" :)

Very insightful! I have long been trying to integrate the "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." way of thinking (this is the Gretzky quote, btw :)), but I never fully reasoned it out all the way: Not only am I passing up the chance, but I am receiving the same result as if the chance resulted in failure. In this way I now realize avoiding rejection is the same as being rejected. Powerful stuff.

Edit: Another anecdote that pops into my mind is Edison needing 10,000 tries to make the light-bulb. This means he failed 99,999 times. But we remember him for the success he had. (Queue pedants correcting the details of this anecdote ;))

Re: Rejection Therapy - The Real Life Game

#20

Post by [deleted] »

astrofinch wrote: post #8

God damn such a good idea. Let's build a list of rejection ideas and maybe avoid paying $16. Here are mine. * Ask a random person for their phone number without introducing yourself, explaining why, or anything. * Ask someone to give you their seat in some public area (e.g. bus, restaurant). (Note: what if they actually give it to you? o_o) * Be a beggar. Ask people for money. * Ask someone of your preferred gender o…

[deleted]
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