Dipo Adebayo
3 min readApr 8, 2022

How to Overcome Failure & Rejection

I failed a key primary school test 2 times. I failed three times for the middle schools. For 3 years, I tried and failed in the universities. So I applied for jobs 30 times, got rejected. I went to even KFC when they came to China. 24 people went for the job, 23 people accepted. I was the only one who got rejected. I applied for Harvard, for 10 times, rejected. I think we have to get used to rejection. The only thing. Never Give up.
— Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group

Pause.

Read that quote again. And again.

Have you been there? Have you faced rejection after rejection?

There's Hope.

Imagine if Jack Ma had given up. Imagine he had thought: there must be something wrong with me, maybe I’m just not good enough. And then resigned himself to rejection and given up. He will have lost the opportunity to build one of the largest tech companies in Asia.

He will have lost the opportunity to provide valuable solutions to millions.

Struggling with some failure or disappointments? Here are 3 things to remember:

1. Don’t personalize rejection or failure.

Don’t let your disappointments become your identity. There’s nothing wrong with you, failure isn’t your middle name. Your disappointments do not define you. Just keep pressing on.

Don’t resign yourself to your failures and rejections. Don’t lose the opportunity to use your skills, personality, life experiences and intelligence to provide immense value to the rest of us.

2. Learn from rejection and failure, but don’t lean on them.

Ask yourself (and others, if necessary) “is there anything I can learn from this painful experience?”

If you need to take some time off your normal routine so you can think clearly, do so.

If you need to figure out what you’re doing wrong so you can make a change, do so. If you need to change the direction you’re headed, do so. But don’t give up.

3. Don’t give up when God has not given up on you.

Don’t give up when God has not given up on you; and He never will. Keep trying, Keep getting better, keep moving.

As surely as there’s a God in heaven looking out for you, everything will be alright.

God is on your side. He is your Father. Let His promises in the Bible be your confidence. You will be okay.

Victory is just around the corner. You. Will. Win.

If you enjoyed this article, you may like this too: The Gift of Rejection: https://link.medium.com/YXLxHVGm3ob

And this: Don’t let the Fear of Rejection stop you from asking for what you want: https://link.medium.com/g4GISYNx3ob

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Dipo Adebayo

I am a water engineer, softskills coach, writer & teen counselor. I write on hope and rising above shame, rejection, fear & failure. Follow on IG @dipoadebayo