Bruno Mars on Rejection

“I got signed to Motown Records. That didn't really work out, but I had to learn. It's such a learning process, and a lot of rejection.”

-Bruno Mars

Peter Gene Hernandez, known by his stage name as “Bruno Mars,” is a Hawaiian singer song-writer.

So far, he’s won 15 Grammys and secured 9 No. 1 hits for his music. Although he is hugely successful now, he’s had to face a lot of rejection and criticism along the way.

In an interview with Evan Carmichael, Bruno spoke about dealing with criticism and rejection along the path to making his dreams come true.

Bruno Mars: "“You have to understand that, that's just a part of the you know, what it takes.”

“You need to be rejected over and over and everyone telling you you're not good enough.”

“To kind of break through that...That's what it takes.”

For many people, the fear of rejection stops them from pursuing goals or try something new. As social creatures, this makes sense since we evolved to belong and to be part of a community.

In the past, belonging meant security and survival, whereas rejection could mean being outcast and even lead to danger.

However, for many cultures and societies today, although being rejected may hurt in the moment, it doesn’t necessarily lead to danger anymore.

“No matter what, don't be ignored by the world.”

-Jia Jiang

In a personal experiment, Jia Jiang committed to 100 days of facing rejection to make himself “rejection-proof.” He did this by making requests that would specifically get a “No” from others.

In the end, not only did Jiang actually get some yeses, he also learned some valuable insights, such as:

1. Rejection is a [resilience] muscle. If you don’t constantly work outside your comfort zone, you’ll lose it and you’ll become weak and timid.

2. Rejection is a numbers game. Fight through enough no’s and you will eventually find a yes.

3. Avoiding rejection is worse than receiving it [because] When we shy away from rejection we reject ourselves and our ideas...and as a result...are ignored by the world.

Jia’s biggest take away?

No matter what, don’t be ignored by the world.

For Bruno, he seems to have realized this at quite a young age and since then, has taken the world by storm.

“It's a little funky, but you got to realize that everybody nowadays has an opinion. Everybody's a critic...You're going to drive yourself crazy if you really take those things seriously. Just...Not everyone's going to love ya.”

-Bruno Mars

That’s true; not everyone is going to love you and that is OK.

Remember: YOU get to decide whose opinion matters most to you.

If you are ready to empower yourself to show up and shine in our world, then contact us for a free consultation.