The Rejection Book: Good luck, bad luck, who knows?

As someone who's seen his share of rejections (as well as the inverse) lately, I can certainly identify.

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same"

This is the main theme of the book "Hannibal and Me: What History's Greatest Military Strategist Can Teach Us About Success and Failure", written by Andreas Kluth of The Economist. If you enjoyed the OP's post, and love history (or just great storytelling), get the book. Promise you won't regret it.

Some wisdom from the book (from notes I took):

Those who experience tremendous success early in life are likely to have hit a peak. The wandering types who experience success later in life are more likely to sustain success for longer. [The book has an entire chapter analyzing "Towering Peaks" vs. "Wanderers"…a must-read for those who feel behind.]

Always keep the end goal in mind. Don't confuse tactics with strategy. Succeeding in the wrong things will lead to failure.

Dealing with disasters: A “Fabian Response” is one that accepts reality for what it is and then goes with the flow of things that cannot be changed until there is something that can be changed. In other words, accepting reality and then not doing anything - until there are viable alternatives. The key wisdom here is that sometimes the best plan of action is inaction. But don't confuse this with giving up. In this case, inaction is tactical, a part of a plan to succeed.

Keep as clear and calm a mind as possible in pursuit of success, and in response to failure. Always maintain EQUANIMITY. In fact, don't worry about success at all....just focus on doing your best.

Success can be imprisoning in many ways, and needs to be feared. Here are some reasons why: 1) Success is often followed by less discipline and focus. 2) Distractions, such as too many opportunities, or just plain overload of low-value work. Often the source of the success in the first place is forgotten or demoted because of these distractions. 3) Hubris that makes one think he is invincible. 4) Affects social relationships due to paranoia that others aren't as trustworthy anymore, are acting different, etc. Successful people waste time & energy dwelling on these. 5) The confidence and relaxation that accompanies great thinking and creativity (and thus responsible for the success) are replaced with anxiety and self-doubt. This kills the freedom of the mind. 6) Stubbornness and inflexibility that comes with being an authority/expert, which also kills the freedom of the mind.

http://www.amazon.com/Hannibal-Me-Historys-Greatest-Strategi...

I too was a man full of rejection:

1. I was kicked as a co-founder of a successful startup. 2. Upon finding a full-time job, a year later I was fired and have a lawyer to write demand letters for me which I never comply. 3. Found another job to work remotely that require me to have a Macbook Pro, but being financially short I converted my only desktop to a hackintosh. Then months later they send somebody at my house and upon discovery that I don't have a Macbook Pro I was fired. 4. Found another job, months later I was being shouted to leave the office and was fired. 5. Found another job, I was really happy I was into mobile app development, and 2 weeks away from release and shipping of the app, I was fired and the app didn't get shipped.

Right now I'm hoping to get into developing my own product, only if I have the strength to move on, and this post gives me a little bit of hope, I say 'Good luck, bad luck, who knows?'

The official Rejection Therapy website is here: http://rejectiontherapy.com/rules