Rejection: A Door To Career Clarity – Part of Chapter III of the upcoming book Find Your Passion

Rejection: A door to career clarity – Part of Chapter II of the upcoming book “Find Your Passion”

It’s February 16, 2018. I’m sitting in my bedroom. I’m waiting for the results of the third interview. It’s for an HR apprenticeship at an EU Institution. I open my inbox to see if they emailed me back. I applied because I wanted to make some money in order to pay for the fees of my coaching training. Didn’t want to spend my savings. I wanted security. “Dear Mr. Jim Panos. Thank you for your time throughout the interview process. Although you have an impressive profile, we will not proceed further. Nevertheless, we would strongly encourage you to apply again for our upcoming apprenticeships.” “Screw you!”, I screamed. Yes, it sucked. I felt worthless for the rest of the day. Besides the decent stable paycheck, I’ve also lost an opportunity to work in HR, which is close to the field of professional coaching and training. Plus, I wouldn’t need any financial support from my parents. I would depend on myself! Independence was so important to me. Still is.

On the other hand, what I didn’t realize that day was the new opportunities that came up for me. Every time a door closes, a new one opens! At the end of the day, the world and life offer infinite opportunities. Although it’s a great thing to have options, it can easily become overwhelming. Because you need to choose. That means excluding other options. Otherwise, you can be paralyzed by the infinity of possibilities. You’ll choose nothing, do nothing, and be stuck. That’s why clarity and self-awareness are crucial for you to move toward the right direction for your passion, and goals in general. Clarity on your passion, your ideal career, and who you want to become.

The next day, I had a new insight. This role would have actually been a distraction for me and my goals. I wanted to run my career coaching business to inspire professionals across the globe to discover their passion and turn it into a career with more impact, more income, and more fulfillment. I didn’t want to become a C-level executive in an EU institution. My parents wanted this kind of role. High status and a high steady paycheck. That’s what most people want right? Self-worth and security. And I thought I needed the latter one too. I realized that I applied for the money, the security, comfort, and my desire to be financially independent. But did any of all the above really matter to me? Nope. Although they are human needs, they were not the highest ones. I was ready for the highest ones. I wanted to go for self-actualization and transcendence! Wanted to make a big impact on the world to make it a better place, especially at work. And I also wanted to do something that makes me enjoy the process, the journey.

Had I been accepted, I wouldn’t have done my world-class coaching training neither would have I started my own career coaching business, working with my first high-paying clients; nor would have I written this book. I’m so happy I didn’t take that path, because now this book can be even more valuable during these challenging times we’re going through. I would have never created a unique career fulfillment program, the “Dream Career Accelerator”, to support professionals to clarify their dream career and accelerate their transition, saving for them so much of their valuable time, money and energy. Yes, the “butterfly effect”, remember?

Last but not least, rejection makes you build two important skills. First, the skill to persevere. That’s right. Persistence is a skill, and rejection is one of the best teachers out there to train you to cultivate it. Second, the more you get rejected and persist, the more you build your resilience. You stretch your “resilience muscle”. As a result, you grow more and more, ending up being bigger and greater than rejection itself!

So, let’s reframe rejection and failure, shall we?

Reframe:

Failing/Getting Rejected ≠ Being a Failure.

Failing/Rejection = Learning/Wisdom.

More Failures = More learning = Success.

Love your “Nos”! The more “Nos” you get, the closer you get to your “Yes”.

The more you get rejected, the more persistent and resilient you become.

Feel free to connect with me on social media by visiting my personal site JimPanos360.com, or check out and pre-order (50% off) the “Find Your Passion” book to transform your career and life here.