Free Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection by Jia Jiang

a safety measure. If rejection fear were an organ, it would be an appendix instead of a heart. Yet its effect is much more damaging than the occasional appendicitis, because the consequence of not trying for new things due to the fear of rejection can’t be fixed by a simple visit to the emergency room.
    In my case, my fear of rejection had silently held me back, for more than a decade, from taking a step toward entrepreneurship. I can’t help but wonder what this fear has done to millions of other lives. The list of regrets must be massive and heartbreaking. What exciting, interesting, and potentially life-changing ideas have people not pursued for fear of getting kicked out of the pack?

100 DAYS OF REJECTION: GIVE THE SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT ON A PLANE
    “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why…. I dream things that never were, and ask why not.”
    —R OBERT K ENNEDY
    As my 100 Days of Rejection went on, this quote had become my mantra. I used it to help override my instinct to back away from challenges. I was asking myself “Why not?” allthe time, and I realized that there were often no logical reasons
not
to do—or at least try—most of the ideas that I had. One day I asked restaurant employees to sing me the “Happy Birthday” song although it wasn’t actually my birthday. They did it! Another time I asked the local Humane Society if I could borrow or rent a dog for a day, promising I would do everything to provide the dog a fun day. They said no. Still another time I asked a Salvation Army bell ringer if I could ring the bell on his behalf. Not only did he say yes, we had a heck of a time doing it together.
    But one of my “why not” requests really stood out. I was at the Austin airport, rushing from the parking lot to the terminal to catch my flight, when an idea popped into my head. I usually tune out when flight attendants make their preflight safety announcement, sending last-minute messages on my phone or getting settled in my seat. What if I took the matter into my own hands and asked the attendants on my flight to let me read the safety announcement on their behalf? I was flying Southwest, my favorite airline and one known for its quirky and customer-focused culture. If they let me do it, surely the passengers would pay closer attention. What was the harm in asking?
    Still, I was a little nervous. While waiting to board the flight, I gathered myself, did some deep breathing, then approached a flight attendant. His name was Jeff.
    “Do you think I can do the safety announcement for you guys?” I asked him, mentioning that I was a frequent flier.
    For some reason, Jeff didn’t seem too surprised by my request. He explained to me that by law, all passengers need tobe seated with their seat belts on while the safety announcements are made. So unfortunately, since I was a passenger, I couldn’t make the announcement.
    Then Jeff took me by surprise.
    “But you can do the welcome thing if you can figure that out,” he said.
    I stood there for a second, a bit shocked by the offer. “Sure,” I said. “I’ll do the welcome thing. Awesome.”
    Jeff’s offer was actually better than what I’d asked for, because it gave me the freedom to say whatever I wanted without having to read or memorize a scripted message. But now I had a different problem. I would have to give a random, spontaneous speech in front of 130 passengers. I could feel the sweat forming on my palms as I went from feeling triumphant to terrified.
    After Jeff gave the usual message about seat belts, emergency exits, and lavatories, he signaled to me to come to the front. I went into the aisle and trudged toward him, row by row. The walk seemed endless. I did everything I could to block out thoughts of being booed or laughed at by other passengers, but those thoughts flooded me anyway. By the time I made it to the front, I was an emotional mess with a pounding heart, churning stomach, and weak knees.
    But then