I get asked the question “want to run naked through the sprinklers with me?” on a regular basis. My two year old has no concept that this isn’t appropriate behavior for someone my age. Though he knows my answer will be always be “NO” he continues to ask me the same question again and again with a glimmer of hope it will change to a "YES".

Years ago when I first began my career in recruiting, my manager gave me a great desk paperweight that said:

“What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?”

Recruiting and sales are what I refer to as a “rejection” business. You hear a lot of “NO’s” before you get the coveted “YES”. It is very easy to let FEAR of rejection take over and get in the way of our ultimate success. Making a zillion phone calls and hearing the word “NO” over and over again can get to you after awhile - if you let it.

I have spoken with a lot of folks that didn’t make it in recruiting or sales because they couldn’t pick themselves up each time and try again. The fear of rejection was too overwhelming for them and that’s okay, it’s not a career for everyone.

Many of us that are embarking on a new career search can feel the same way. It’s easy to get down in the dumps when you are on an active job hunt. Continually feeling rejected by companies, hiring managers and recruiters can be very frustrating and disheartening. And unfortunately the job hunt can be more of a necessity than a choice.

Let’s be honest here, it’s tough to be told that you aren’t being considered for an opening or that someone else got the job or even worse, not hearing anything at all. When my husband was actively looking for a new position, he would always say that “radio silence” was the worst for him. He couldn’t stand it! Anyway you look at it is easy to take it personally and get down. The trick is to get back up and try again until you’ve succeeded!

I can’t begin to tell you how many times (and still do), I would get off the phone from a recruiting cold call and stare at that desk paperweight:

“What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?”

I knew (know) if I didn’t make that next cold call, I would have no chance of hearing a “YES”. I can’t tell you the specific number of calls I had to first make that ended in a NO, but I can tell you that it felt really great to get my first “YES.” I will never forget that feeling of “success”!

So let’s run naked through the sprinklers together (figuratively speaking please)! I’d love to hear from you:

“What would you attempt, if you knew you could not fail?”