[hotmind]

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 ask for than you can imagine. The world is yours for the taking, but you have to create opportunities and ask.

I agree with Thomas S. Monson when he said "In reality, we are all travelers - even explorers of mortality", and taking risks where rejection is a real possibility is necessary to personal exploration and conquest.

[nprincigalli]

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" :)

[Goosey]

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 ;))