Appreciate The People Who Reject You

In the past three years, many people have been fired or demoted. Call it whatever you want (downsized, reengineered, rightsized, etc., etc.), the bottom-line is they were rejected. If they're not careful, this kind of rejection can be a devastating blow to their self-esteem. However, it can also be a critical turning point for the positive in their career. The choice, as always, is completely up to them. Being rejected provides a great opportunity for proving other people wrong.

Ten years ago this month, the most important moment in my eighteen-year career occurred. I was flat out rejected by three people whom I trusted and thought I knew well. They were Paul Owens, Dick Wehner and Art Zinselmeyer, the principal, athletic director and assistant principal at the school I taught at. For two years they had piled on the responsibilities, appointing me to assistant varsity soccer coach, student council moderator, teacher in the math department, teacher of a course on leadership and advisor to many of the students. I assumed they respected my work. However, when I interviewed for the head coaching position I came to find out that they thought I was far too naïve and irresponsible to be able to coach a high school soccer team. While I was devastated for about a month, I came to see this as the most important thing that could have ever happened to me. I saw it as my chance to prove myself. I could never have predicted what was to unfold over the next ten years, but the reality has far exceeded my dreams at that moment. The key was that I constantly focused on my strengths and not my weaknesses, I constantly worked to enrich my mind and my skills, and I constantly maintained faith that I could add value to other people. So from the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you to Paul, Dick and Art for rejecting me and not believing in me. You did more for me than you will ever know!

Is there anyone in your life who rejected you whom you would now like to thank?

Rather than getting angry and frustrated with the people who reject you, get down on your knees and be thankful. They did a great deal to accelerate your career. The next time someone rejects you, look him or her right in the eye and think to yourself, "Thank you. I really appreciate what you have just done for me."

Recommended Resource: The Greatest Miracle In The World by Og Mandino

Take care and have a great month!

Dan Coughlin

Accelerate Update This section is always current to the current month

I suppose every book changes an author's life to a certain degree. My first book, which was self-published in 1995, was called Inside Out: A Catalyst for Conscious Living. It's out of print now for a number of good reasons. The layout, which yours truly did, looks like something a first grader could do today. And the ideas are very theoretical, which doesn't fit my approach anymore. However, I read the book a few months ago, and I was pleased by how clearly I had explained my early thoughts on improving performance.

My second book, Corporate Catalysts: How to Make Your Company More Successful, Whatever Your Title, Income, or Authority was published in 2005 by Career Press. That book was a step forward in clarifying my ideas on improving performance and understanding how to write a whole book. It's one thing to dream about getting a book contract and another thing to write a 70,000 word manuscript.

My third book, ACCELERATE: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Momentum, which was published in May 2007 by Kaplan Publishing, has changed my business dramatically. Up until that book was published, I mostly did projects for four companies: McDonald's, Marriott, GSD&M, and Toyota. In the past 12 months, I've worked with business owners, executives, and managers within dozens of small, medium, and massive organizations in more than 20 industries ranging from boats to banks to software to financial services to trucking to lighting to home healthcare to hospitals to optometrists. It's been an exciting adventure.

If you want to see my speaking calendar for 2008, which we'll try to update every two weeks, please click here.

Currently, I have 66 speeches scheduled for 2008. If you would like for me to speak at one of your events in 2008 or 2009, feel free to contact me at dan@thecoughlincompany.com and I will be glad to see if we can make it work.

If you want to see my speaking topics and a video of footage from some of my keynote speeches, please click here.

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