Rejection hurts. A lot. But it can also be a great motivator and teacher too.

You may start beating yourself up about being rejected in your personal or professional life and engaging in self-criticism.

However, rejection also has a way of teaching us, redirecting us and ultimately making our lives better.

But what if you recast rejection as redirection?

What if you thought of it as helping you not waste your time on situations and things they weren’t meant for you?

Don’t let rejection define you. Let it motivate you.

Many times when we face rejection, we over personalize it. We focus on the feeling of rejection more than its cause. It is important to separate what happened to us from who we are. Being rejected from something doesn’t define you. Everyone gets rejected.

Rejection isn’t always personal. Oftentimes when someone rejects us, it has nothing to do with faults on our part; it just means we weren’t a good fit for that person, job or opportunity.

Rejection IS redirection. Now keep repeating it until you really believe it.

In my career, there were several times I did not get the job I had hoped for. Or a promotion. Or a speaking engagement. At one point the rejections just kept coming. It shook me to my core.

But then I began to change the way I viewed rejection. I started to see it as an ability to reassess and learn.

My perspective became clearer. Every job I didn’t get opened the door to new (and better) opportunities. Every mistake I made, guided me to look within and learn, grow and ultimately make changes.

I kept seeing this quote on Instagram, which I kept going back to, “Every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better.”

If you really want to succeed, never give up. 💪🏽

When it feels like the world keeps getting in your way, ask yourself. “What is this trying to teach me?”, “What lesson can I lean from it?”

So instead of taking rejection so personally, instead thank all of the people, places and things that rejected you.

They led you to become the person you are today. They made you stronger, wiser and more resilient.

Rejection is the strongest redirection.