Rejection Proof by Jia Jiang

I received this book from Blogging For Books for this review.

If you were not afraid of rejection, what would you be capable of?  That's the question Jia Jiang set out to answer with his 100 Days of Rejection Project.  Using desensitization theory, he set out to reduce the pain he felt from rejection by being told "no" every single day for 100 days.  Over time, he hoped the sting of rejection would lessen.  What he hadn't counted on was that he would learn a great deal about himself and about human interactions.

Born in China, Jia Jiang came to America with dreams of being an entrepreneur.  Brimming with ideas and ambition, he often felt held back by his insecurity and fear of being rejected.  He decided to face his fear by purposely being told "no."  He deliberately made odd, silly, and unusual requests with the hope of being turned down.  He even recorded his interactions and the responses.  From those video recordings, he was able to analyze his interactions and was able to learn from them.

He did get the nos he was hoping for, but he got far more yeses than he ever expected.  Jian also discovered that amazing things can happen simply by asking.  As he learned more about rejection, he felt that the world which had always been full of nos was suddenly filled with possibilities.  Not only did a whole new world of opportunities open up for him, but he actually did become less afraid of rejection and he gained a new found confidence.  He shares his experiences and the discoveries he made about rejection in his book Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection.

Written in a very conversational style,  Rejection Proof is a short book, but offers some valuable advice about rejection.  He provides insight and offers advice that's much more helpful that the traditional prescription for rejection: don't take it personally.  I admire Jiang for facing his fears and doing so in such a public way.  I also appreciate that he used it as a learning experience and shared what he learned.  I really enjoyed reading Rejection Proof and highly recommend it to anyone who might need a boost of confidence.