Why do you think we find this story motivating?
Colonel Sanders Embarrasses And Inspires Us To New Possibilities
Colonel Sanders’ story motivates us in two ways.
First, we see that it’s possible for a person to be rejected more
than 1,000 times in a row and still get up again – that’s extraordinary.
Some of his rejections were harsh and humiliating too. He showed us
that it’s possible to do that.
Second, it makes us see how much we can improve. Many of us don’t get
beyond a few tries before we give up on something. Some of us don’t
even try once! So when you hear that a 65-year-old man grabbed his suit
and a bucket of chicken every morning despite constant rejections, you
can’t help but think, “Gee, if this guy could do that, I could try at least a few more times… or 100 more times.”
In comparison to Colonel Sanders’ persistence, it’s a normal response
to feel somewhat embarrassed to have given up after only a handful of
rejections on several occasions (it’s ok though – we just need better
strategies).
Using These Three Strategies, It’s Nearly Impossible To Give Up
These strategies are for the moments when the “give up feeling” hits
you. Use them together, and you’ll have the most resolve in your
neighborhood.
1. The Challenge Mindset Turns Failure Into Motivation
Right now, you have a standard for how many instances or how much
time it’s “reasonable” to try things. Increase that standard. I don’t
believe it requires any special mind tricks. It requires conscious
thought and a firm decision that hearing “no” a few times isn’t going to
stop you.
Just kidding. While that is true, there is also a trick you can try. People love their tricks, don’t they?
A common reaction to hearing “no” is to take a step back, and lick
your wounds with some form of escapism (like ice cream and a movie).
This is a common “slippery slope” response that can result in giving up.
“Oh, I’ll just try something else,” you might think.
But there is an alternative mindset that will have you Colonel Sandersing up the place.
Think of “no” as a challenge (not as rejection). I’ve done
this to make myself a better writer. If I write something, and people
don’t seem to connect with it, I see it as a challenge to improve.
The challenge mindset leverages your competitive nature. Remember
when you first ran into that goomba playing Super Mario Bros. and died? I
bet you tried again because it was a challenge/goomba that you wanted
to overcome. Why then, would you – figuratively speaking I hope – curl
up into a ball when a person tells you no?
It’s because you’re taking it too personally. It doesn’t matter if
two million people say that you’re the worst person ever, because only you define you.
And when you take the responsibility of deciding who you are and what
you can do, rejection is a tiny disappointment instead of a devastating
blow.
2. As Long As You Keep Starting, You’ll Finish
“Poor finishers” are a myth because there are only poor starters.
Imagine you’re working on a project, and it’s going to take you 100
hours of work to finish it. Well, you can’t do that all at once because
you need sleep, so it will have to take place over say, 20 sessions of
five hours each. If you put in 35 hours of work into it, but don’t
finish the project, what would you say the reason was?
You stopped starting. You never started the 8th work session!
This is a slight, but absolutely critical differentiation for your
brain to make. Your brain has no idea how to “finish,” because it’s a
multi-step process to get to the point of finishing something. But the
brain does know how to start the first step.
Think of Colonel Sanders, and how on the morning after his 863rd
rejection, he got out of bed, put on his suit, cooked some chicken, and
started again. As long as you keep starting, you’ll never give up, so
make that your goal.
3. Shrink Your Thinking Until It Becomes Easy To Move Forward
Before writing this article, I was wasting time. Can you guess why?
It wasn’t laziness – it was because I wanted to do so much. And because I
was wasting time, I felt discouraged and wanted to give up on the day.
Instead, I gave myself a small objective to write 300 words, and I ended
up writing much more than that.
When you try to do everything, you do nothing. (tweet this)
Giving up can be the result of being overwhelmed. Shrink your objective until it no longer intimidates you, and you’ll never give up.
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