Why does rejection feel like the end, when it’s really just the start of something new? In this episode, Saeed Al-Ghafri dives deep into the experience of rejection—why it hurts, how it shapes us, and why it’s never truly a failure. Drawing on real-life examples and personal stories, Saeed breaks down a powerful 3-step framework to help you fully feel rejection, flip the narrative, and bounce back stronger with intention and resilience.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Timestamps
If this episode inspired you, share it with someone who needs encouragement. Remember, rejection is just a stepping stone—keep embracing growth, stay resilient, and keep moving forward. Stay grounded, keep growing, and always move forward.
(0:00) You know what really is worse is not the rejection part. It's all about that consequence feeling. (0:07) I think it should be a new beginning.
Why? Because a lot of people confuse rejections (0:14) with them failing. Sit with the feeling of rejection. Feel it.
Don't fake it. You're (0:23) going to face rejection. The question should be, how will I bounce back? How would I respond back (0:29) from that? The first rejections I got felt as if I'm really unworthy.
Marhaba and how's it going (0:42) everyone and welcome back to Yuwab. I'm your host Sayed Al Ghafri. Yuwab is all about real (0:49) conversations.
Thank you for being with me and thank you for sharing this episode. And if you (0:56) are here, it tells me that being resilient and growing and your authenticity are your main (1:04) priority. You know who among us did not get rejected? This is exactly what we will be talking (1:14) about today.
This is something that every human being really face, whether in business relationships (1:22) or your usual normal relationships or also life itself. Rejections are really part of our life (1:32) and it will really happen to you. Whether you like it or you don't like it, you are going to (1:38) be rejected. You know, think of a child. You know, in schools, usually a child or children usually, (1:46) when they have a beautiful idea, they work really hard for it, they get rejected. I've been rejected (1:52) when I used to be a kid in school.
I'm sure a lot of kids have been rejected for a specific idea. (1:58) Even when you grow up, as a person, you get rejected. You know, imagine that person, you know, (2:06) wanted to get married and really worked hard for that proposal, etc.
And maybe they will get a (2:13) rejection after all that work. Or maybe a business deal, you work so hard for it. Sleepless night (2:21) and it doesn't happen.
And think of that person who worked really hard for that job interview, (2:27) you know, and they've been rejected. You know, what really is worse is not the rejection part. (2:36) It's all about that consequence feeling.
Because, you know, when you get rejected, (2:40) it's really tough and deep on you and you get that negative feeling after that. You know, it (2:47) feels as if you've really lost everything you worked so hard for. What you built for, you know, (2:57) think of that interview.
I mean, every time you think of it, you look back and say, I worked so (3:02) hard for it. Why was I rejected? You know, that feeling and those emotions are really, really deep. (3:14) And that's why they say rejections really hurt. It does hurt. You know, it's all about those (3:25) emotions that comes after that. You know what I like? You know, children, when they're rejected, (3:33) I see that in my kids.
They really bounce back really, really quick. Unlike adults, you know, (3:41) being an adult, usually that emotions from that rejection sits with us really deep, (3:51) sometimes for a very long period. And you don't want that.
(3:56) Why? Because you are going to make your life miserable and even those around you. (4:04) You know, you get that feeling sometimes when you're rejected that it's really the end of the (4:10) world. And for me, I think it should be a new beginning.
Why? Because a lot of people confuse (4:18) rejections with them failing. And these are two completely different things. Yes, you've been (4:27) rejected, but you haven't failed or you haven't lost in life.
It's just one battle or one stage. (4:34) And that's the most important thing. Yeah.
So it's not about losing forever. All right. It's just (4:41) a last chance.
And then you're basically going to bounce back much more stronger. (4:47) Listen, I've been rejected a lot in the past and I've gone through those really deep feelings, (4:55) feelings that honestly I wasn't very comfortable with, but I did sit with it. And you know what (5:02) happens when you sit with those feelings forever or for a long period? You are basically going to (5:09) lose a lot of opportunities out there.
And this is something you don't want to. You know, and (5:16) sometimes when you just bounce back quickly, you see that these opportunities become much more (5:21) available for you. You know, at the end of the day, it's not the end of the world.
And honestly, (5:30) when you look back and honestly, when I look back at these moments, I'm like, if it wasn't for these (5:35) moments, I wouldn't be the resilient Said today. So let's really break it down. What does it actually (5:46) means or actually means that you are bouncing back? What does it mean? Or how can we bounce back (5:54) as we go? Let me share with you a story of a person I coached recently.
(6:01) This person, honestly, I worked with after a job interview. (6:09) This guy, sharp guy, intelligent. And I remember when I coached him, I was like, (6:17) what's wrong with you, man? He started telling me the story.
Now the story started this way. (6:22) He applied for a very important job, really something that he always wanted to have. (6:28) And honestly, the guy did read a lot about the company to the point that he went through their (6:33) financial statements, he compared them with other companies.
And honestly, he made a small comparison (6:40) between this company and that company, and the company that wanted to hire him and what he should (6:46) basically advise them to do. He even read about everyone in the company, their profile. So (6:53) just in summary, the guy honestly did his homework very well.
(6:59) What happened? He went through the first interview, it went really great. (7:05) The second interview went awesome. The guy was very much into like, I'm going to be (7:13) hired in this company.
Come the last interview, he did not receive the same feedback he got from (7:23) the first and the second interview. And again, he was rejected. Now, it felt really bad on this guy.
(7:34) An intelligent guy, when I looked at his record, experience, etc. He actually did a lot. (7:43) But because of that rejection, he was sitting with that feeling that he lost.
He was still having (7:51) the job, he still had his previous job. It's not like he was really not without a job. But (7:57) that feeling did really hurt him the biggest.
Now, I'll share with you what I did with him. (8:08) And actually, it's important that we bounce back as quick as we can. Yes, sit with that negative (8:15) feeling, because that's going to motivate you to understand what to do next time. Now, this is (8:23) a three step framework that I always use. And I always coach people for. Step number one, (8:32) sit with the feeling of rejection.
Feel it, don't fake it. Now, let me tell you what most of the (8:43) people do. They rush into this positive vibes, feeling kind of a thing.
And they ignore the (8:51) fact that they've gone through a difficult moment. I'll tell you what happens. At night, (8:57) or when you're alone, you're going to feel that sting.
Because you know, grief is part of any (9:05) growth. You have to feel it. It's very important.
Allow for the emotions to basically surface. (9:12) Don't really keep it. You know, it's like basically keeping the gas in a sparkling water (9:19) can.
You know what happened when you open it? It's just going to burst. Let the emotion surface. (9:27) And then move forward.
Let me give you an example. I see a lot of people, you know what happens? (9:34) They go through a difficult moment, or maybe they're rejected. And then they just hide those (9:43) emotions.
And then you see them changing the subject when they're in front of people, (9:49) laughing about it. But once they leave that scene, they're just crying. Or maybe they have (9:57) that emotional burst after that.
Why? Because they did not feel it. (10:06) Now, what happens is that when you feel it, it really prompts you to the next step, which is (10:13) once you basically sit with that feeling, you know exactly the reason for you being rejected. (10:21) And this is the most important thing.
Now, you may be having the feeling as if you failed, (10:29) really. Now what you need to do is flip the narrative. Rejection is really part of your life.
(10:39) And honestly, when you look back, and this is the same guy that I coached, (10:43) he has been amazing. A lot of achievements. Now when you say stuff like I failed, (10:53) you're just gonna be conditioned with that failure.
But when you flip it, (10:59) you are gonna live that moment. And then what happens is that you're gonna have a much more (11:07) better fit, and time and alignment for next time. Now, I remember one time, I coached one guy, (11:19) this is a second person that I coached.
And he has been really, he's been working on a specific (11:28) business deal, I remember very well. Now part of the deal that he needs to basically go and get that (11:35) specific requirement. He's been working very hard actually for that specific deal, very hard.
(11:43) What happened is that this person has been rejected to get that requirement. And ultimately, (11:52) he lost the deal. You know what happened next time? He knew exactly why he has been rejected.
(12:01) So next time he knew exactly what to do. And he was explaining to me that he didn't know at that (12:07) time. But he did not give that requirement a specific attention.
And he outsourced it. (12:16) You see what I'm saying? What he did next time, he did it by himself. And he actually got the next (12:25) he wanted.
So the second step here is flip the narrative. This takes us to the third step. (12:34) It's very important when you do that, do it with intention, you know, and keep asking yourself, (12:44) why does it really matter? Why does it matter for me to go next time? What should I do next? (12:52) What are the efforts that I need to put so that I can nail that deal? When you do anything in (13:01) life with intention, it gives you a much more better meaning.
And honestly, you're going to (13:08) nail it next time. Now, just to give you a little bit of what's been happening, you know, comebacks (13:15) in history have been really amazing. Whether it's in basically business or sports, (13:23) look at Harry Potter's author J.K. Rowling. They've been rejected by 12 publishers. Where (13:32) are they today? I honestly love Harry Potter. Look at Michael Jordan, one of my best basketball (13:38) players has been cut from his high school basketball team.
He's a legend. He's not playing (13:45) today, but his clothing and shoes lines are sold every day. All of them have been rejected, (13:54) but they've used rejection as a fuel.
Now, what about you? If you're still stuck (14:03) from that rejections, what are you waiting for? Trust me, you are really missing a lot. (14:12) Why be miserable? Why live that emotions? Why let everyone else be miserable as well? (14:20) You know, just live it quickly, bounce back, and use it as a fuel for you to win another major (14:30) deal. You know, some of the lessons I've learned when it comes to rejections is that (14:37) rejection is really not a proof that you are unworthy or you are really no one.
(14:45) Rejection is a step that happens to anyone in their life. Maybe you lost a battle, (14:53) but it's not the end of the world. You are still there.
You are still in the arena. (15:00) And you know, it doesn't mean like you lost everything and everything is finished for you. (15:07) It really, you should think of rejections as a way to build you much more stronger.
(15:14) You know, the question that you should ask yourself (15:18) is not, will I face rejection? Because you're going to face rejection. The question should be, (15:24) how will I bounce back? How would I respond back from that? Now, I'll share with you a personal (15:31) story. When I left the corporate world, it was very tough on me because I've been in the corporate (15:42) world for over 20 years.
And I honestly can't do anything else except the corporate world. (15:51) So when I tried to do things by myself, I got really rejected compared to when I used to be (15:58) in the corporate world, where things were much more smoother for me. You know, the first (16:04) rejections I got felt as if I'm really unworthy, which is normal because I've been successful.
(16:11) I've achieved a lot. Why I'm rejected now. I did sit with that process and it was a painful one, (16:21) even very deep.
But guess what happened? I've learned a lot and I've learned how to bounce (16:30) back. In the corporate world, I used to outsource a lot of the work to my employees or to people (16:38) that I work with. When you are by yourself and not the corporate world, specifically for me, (16:46) what I did is now I took it to myself to basically fix it and do it.
And I did bounce back (16:54) pretty much stronger. And this is the most important thing when it comes to rejections. (17:02) It's all about bouncing back. So here is a reminder for you. Rejections are not (17:12) the end of the world. It's an invitation for you to rise.
(17:18) Listen, I know this episode resonated well with you. And if you know someone who's going (17:26) through a rejection and they're living that negative moment, share it with them. (17:32) You are really doing them a favor.
Comebacks are amazing and always possible. (17:41) All right. Until next time, stay grounded, stay growing and keep moving forward.