Rejection Immunity: How Creatives Can Bounce Back and Keep Growing
- Adilla
- Sep 3
- 4 min read
Rejection is hard. Especially for creatives, when rejection feels accidentally personal, as for every art they create, they put a piece of themself in it. So, the idea of someone rejecting their creative outcome feels like a rejection to them. If you feel this way, it’s time to shift your perspective.
Table of Contents
How to Accept Feedback Calmly?
Whenever you receive feedback, do you ever feel like a part of you shatters from the feeling of your creative work not being accepted fully? While we understand that it is an uncomfortable feeling, there are ways to better accept feedback without affecting your mental wellness.
Ask Reflective Questions
As you receive your feedback, prepare these questions in your mind or in a note somewhere for your reference:
What insights did this experience offer me?
How can I approach things differently in the future?
What strengths did I gain from this setback?
You are less likely to take the feedback to heart when you ask yourself these questions when accepting feedback.
Separate Self-Worth from Outcome
Practising self-compassion and understanding that rejection does not define your intrinsic value. When you are kind to yourself and acknowledge that rejection is a continuous journey as an artist, your self-worth remains intact. Each rejection is merely a stepping stone in a broader journey. By cultivating a deep sense of self-compassion, you empower yourself to rise above the sting of disappointment, refusing to internalise it as evidence of your inadequacy.
Direct Your Focus on Action
Focus on your actions and how you can improve. The feedback you receive can help identify areas for growth and encourage you to develop new skills you may not have considered before. Additionally, you can set new goals that challenge your current abilities and potentially ignite your passion and drive for creativity.
3 Ways To Build Rejection Immunity
Rejection immunity, or building the resilience to rejection, is the ability to bounce back from setbacks, which strengthens you for future challenges. By building this resilience, you would better receive feedback when it comes to you.
Cultivate a Growth Mindset
Whether from just rejection or challenges that come your way, see them as opportunities for growth or a chance to learn something new. By changing your perspective from seeing them as personal failures to an occasion for knowledge.
Lean on Your Network
Your support system will be able to help build that immunity for you, too. By sharing your experience with them, they can offer both encouragement and a different perspective to help you better reflect on your experience.
Celebrate Small Wins
Taking the time to recognise your progress and celebrate even the small steps can help maintain your positive momentum, making it less likely for you to dwell on the negative feelings that arise from critical feedback.
Key Takeaways
Rejection as redirection is a path to personal growth and better mental wellness.
When creatives build their rejection immunity, they can improve their artwork and focus on growth rather than their failures.
Something as simple as shifting your perspective can do wonders for your thought patterns towards a more positive and supportive mind.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can rejection guide creative growth?
Rejection guides creative growth through the feedback that they receive. Not only does it redirect their attention towards improving, but it also builds ‘thick skin’ when encountering comments. While not all feedback is good, you will still be able to refine your artistic outcome.
What does “rejection as redirection” mean for creatives?
When it comes to creatives, the idea of “rejection as redirection” is an opportunity for them to try something new or change the way they perform their creative work. For example, trying different art styles like Western cartoons to Japanese animation style, or trying out stories that reflect their culture, or experimenting with creating for other cultures. It can mean many things for creatives, depending on the ‘rejection’ they receive.
How do creative professionals bounce back from rejection?
Creative professionals bounce back from rejection by embracing the journey of a creative. They have learnt that rejection is a normal part of their work. They will seek more detailed feedback to understand the rejection better and improve their work.
Author Bio
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.
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