From the countless “We are sorry to inform you…” emails piled up in our inbox from recruiters, to getting turned down by your high school crush, rejection is something that we’re all too familiar with. But it’s through these times of adversity that we grow the most.
Over these past few months I’ve learned a great amount from Hustle & Grit, a personal development course “disguised” as an entrepreneurship class, offered at Ivey Business School. From learning how to juggle within 2 weeks to hearing life lessons from amazing speakers, this class was no short of excitement and surprises. Over the past 2 weeks, we were tasked with an assignment called Rejection Olympics; a series of tasks meant to push us out of our comfort zone that we as students must complete. Out of the many options to choose from, these were the 4 challenges I set out to attempt:
- Offer to pay for someone’s order
- Make a pie with whatever ingredients you have at home
- Invite someone to do a virtual escape room with you
- Ask someone to compliment you
- & a BONUS one because why not? Ask someone for a job
Although the discomfort level with each task varies, they were all a step outside of my comfort zone nonetheless. After completing all of the tasks these past two weeks, I’ve learned to be open to uncomfortable situations as the outcome can be beneficial for you and others. Here’s what I learned …
Start. Even when you don’t feel comfortable.
Often times we wait for the perfect moment with the right materials and enough preparation to get started on something. Challenging myself to bake a pie was a difficult enough task as I was never a huge fan of baking. To do it with only the ingredients I had at home at the time was an even more daunting task. With 3 nearly rotten Gala apples, lime juice to sour it, an oddly shaped tray, and an empty bottle of Jacob’s Creek Moscato as a rolling pin, I got to work.
After 3 hours (yes, it took me a whole three hours) of exhausting preparation, I managed to make an apple pie that got the stamp of approval from my housemates. This experience taught me that not everything has to be perfect for you to get started. As we learned in class, successful people start before they feel ready, and it’s more about learning from the journey rather than focusing on the destination. However, in this case, I cannot say I truly enjoyed the journey. Even though I didn’t have the right ingredients or equipment (clearly), I learned that everything really is figureoutable. There isn’t only 1 path that leads to a desired destination; there are always going to be alternative paths you can take and creative ways to make it work. This lesson can be applied to starting a business and taking that first step even when you’re uncomfortable.
Take the opportunity to spread positivity.
Standing in the Starbucks line, preparing to go up and offer to pay for a stranger’s coffee is not something I normally do on a daily basis. After chatting with the lady in front of me and offering to pay for her order, I found out she had luckily (or unluckily?) forgot her wallet. What a lucky coincidence that my small moment of discomfort led to a positive outcome for someone else’s day. I learned this again, after asking my housemate for a compliment for 7 consecutive days, agreeing to give her a compliment as well. It started out with surface level compliments but then got deeper as the week progressed. The relationship that resulted from this challenge was meaningful and we got to express opinions that we normally wouldn’t. My mom has always told me to show appreciation where appreciation deserves to be shown. I’ve made it my 2021 new years resolution to not shy away from giving compliments, taking the opportunity to spread positivity whenever I can.
There’s no harm in asking.
Inviting an old high school friend to partake in an online escape room sounds a little out of the blue considering I haven’t spoken to this person in a while. Prepared to get rejected as it’s nearing exam season and everyone’s frantically studying, I was surprised that she agreed to hop on a 30 min Zoom call activity. As we got through the Harry Potter escape room and caught up with each other, I realized how a simple ask could lead to a fun unexpected evening. Sometimes we forget to enjoy things that don’t seem “productive” or we’re afraid of “wasting our time”, but taking a break from our busy lives to build relationships is important. On the same note of not being afraid of asking, for my bonus task I ended up subtly implying that I was interested in a full-time position at a company I’m currently interning for. As my boss was extending the internship contract, he replied by confirming they were open to hiring me full-time after graduation. A simple question that led to a new potential opportunity taught me that there really is no harm in asking. The possible benefits really do outweigh the costs most of the time.
To conclude, this assignment, along with the rest of the course has been an invaluable learning experience. This past semester I was able to find comfort in the uncomfortable and hope to carry it through in all aspects of my life moving forward.