Don’t Reject Yourself: Let Them Make the Call

"I don't stand a chance."

I’m staring at my laptop screen, hovering my cursor over the "Send" button.

Last week, I was preparing to pitch a podcast. I pulled up their host submission page, and right at the top was a bold, unblinking warning: We have a very low acceptance rate.

My brain immediately went into default defense mode:

• "They’re looking for bigger names."

• "Why bother wasting their time?"

• "You’re just going to get ignored."

  
  

I froze. Hand still on the mouse, ready to close the tab and pretend I never opened it.

Here’s the ridiculous part: I hold a PhD in business. But if I’m being honest, I hold an even bigger PhD in failure.

Over the decades, I’ve been rejected thousands of times. I’ve packed my life into suitcases to move across four countries, built companies from scratch, pitched tough retail buyers, and made the painful call to shut a business down. I'm no stranger to hearing "no." I usually process it, shake it off, and keep moving.

Yet there I was, a veteran at hearing no, almost letting a single sentence on a website talk me out of taking a shot.

I caught myself. I took a breath, hit send anyway, and figured the worst they could say was no.

They wrote back almost immediately: "We'd love to have you."

It was a sharp, needed reminder for me as much as anyone else.

How often do we do the rejecting for other people before they even get a chance to see our work? How many emails, pitches, applications, or big ideas die quietly in our drafts because we talked ourselves out of them first?

Don't reject yourself. Let them make the call.

What’s one request or pitch you’ve been holding back on this week? Go make the ask.