Rejecting The Fear Of Rejection

What's keeping you from picking up the phone and calling that prospective customer or investor? What makes you sweat bullets and stammer as you start a sales presentation? What causes you to sleep in, when you know you should be attending a networking event that morning? Come on. You know what I'm talking about. You're scared.of being rejected.

Look, it's OK to admit it. The fear of rejection is a natural feeling, and all successful entrepreneurs experience it at some point. That's because we naturally long to be liked and accepted. We want to know our ideas and actions merit favor from important people. So we fear the "what ifs"-you know, what if they say no!

Sean M. Lyden is the principal and senior writer of The Professional Writing Firm Inc., a Kennesaw, Georgia, company that specializes in ghostwriting articles. Lyden writes frequently on motivation, management and marketing issues.

This article was originally published in the February 2001 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Rejecting The Fear Of Rejection.