This book was first released in 2015, and my review was made upon receiving a free copy of the book, however, I had been following Jia's journey before the book came out, and continue to use his story as an example when talking to, mentoring, and teaching some of the people I work with in building a network marketing business. Jia now has an app called Dare Me , and more over at his Rejection Therapy webpage, and you can watch his Tedx talk too.
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As kids, we face rejection on a daily basis - every time we ask our parents for something that we know is going to be turned down, we are taking a risk. By the time we move into adulthood, we have repeated that course of action millions of times, moving away from our "safe place" of rejection (our families) and out into the wider world of friends, teachers, and strangers. As adults, many of us have experienced that "no" so many times that instead of being inoculated to hearing a negative answer to our requests, we are paralyzed to even ask any more.
A man named Jia Jang took this paralyzing fear by the horns when he found himself living a successful life, by society's standards, but miserable because he was not living up to his personal dreams and expectations. He started on a quest to get rejected 100 times in 100 days. The idea involved making requests in varying levels of outlandishness, and getting rejected. His requests ranged from asking a stranger for $100, to asking to slide down a pole at a fire station, to getting a free room at a hotel, being the worst salesman ever, and so on. Through the course of this project, he refined his technique and received better and better results at getting to "yes".
Opening up to the ultimate rejection:
Jia wrote a book about the experience, and offered it to strangers for an unbiased review.
The book is called Rejection Proof, and I had an opportunity to review it; I gladly accepted. I want to say right up front that this book is a new tool in the training arsenal for my Young Living Essential Oil team. Jia wrote in an easy-to-read style. He did not talk about all 100 of his challenges, but he outlined the lessons he learned along the way. It really inspired me to jump out there, be less afraid, and "Let's see what happens!"
(The very best video clip comes on his book pre-order page, linked above, where he asks people to read aloud from his as-yet-unpublished book in a book store!)
Because of our learned fear of rejection, we don't even ask any more, making the answer an automatic "no." Young Living is the fourth work-from-home company I've joined, and the first I've been relatively successful with. However, there are some pieces of advice that I've heard in each of the four companies - but did not necessarily understand at the time. The first is: Try to get 100 no's. Right up there alongside, Network marketing is a numbers game - the more people you ask, the faster you'll get to 'yes.'
These principles work not only in network marketing, but also in life in general. How many times do my kids ask for something? How many times do I say 'no' only to hear them ask again 30 minutes later? This is where expressions about "squeaky wheels getting the grease" come from.
A couple of my personal "a-ha" moments included:
Rejection is an opinion
… rejection seemed less like "the truth" and more like an opinion. Other people were simply processing my requests, then giving me their opinions according to their best interests. That opinion could be based on their mood, their needs and circumstances at that moment, or their knowledge, experience, education, culture, and upbringing over a lifetime. Whatever was guiding them at the time that I entered their lives, these forces were usually much stronger than my presentation, my personality, or my request itself.
Rejection is human
… Every time they ask for what they want, they feel that the "universe" is making a unanimous judgement on their merits -- and coming up wanting. … The "universe" is made up of people with diverse and often polar-opposite personalities, incentives, and backgrounds. Their reactions to a certain request reveal much more about them than about the request itself. (Emphasis mine.)
… rejection is a human interaction, with at least two parties involved in every decision. When we forget this -- and see the people who say yes or no to us as faceless machines -- every rejection can feel like and indictment, and every acceptance like a validation. But that's just not the case.
Rejection has a number
If the rejectee goes through enough no's, it could turn into a yes.
This book offers humor and lightheartedness to a task and a topic that causes fear in most people - often paralyzing fear. But reading the book can help break through the clouds of that fear and help inspire, entertain, and give readers wings to soar as they take on their own fear-busting, 100-day rejection therapy challenges. My team leaders will be receiving copies of this book as they meet milestones in their essential oil journeys. I have only the highest recommendation for this book.
Head over to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound to a copy, and get the app too - It has a rejection option with 90 dares for free; paid options include: entrepreneur (30 dares), Love (30 dares), and a Combo with 60 dares.
Once you read it, come back here and give your opinion of the book in the comments below! I'd be delighted if you'd share this blog post on FaceBook, Twitter, Google +, or other social media sites! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion and review. I was not required to write a positive review, and have given my unbiased opinion on the product given. No money was given or received in exchange for my this blog post.
What better way to begin our new blog but to tell you why we wholesale members are so enthusiastic about Young Living?
1. When Gary Young says his goal is "oils in every home" he means it!
1. When Gary Young says his goal is "oils in every home" he means it!
Each corporate employee is given a $150 product credit to use each month in order to purchase essential oils and oil-infused products. This makes happier employees, and allows them to fall in love with essential oils too so they also can be a "product of the product."
2. Young Living Essential Oils Corporate walks the talk when it comes to giving to others
Young Living Corporate pays 100% of the administrative costs for the D. Gary Young/Young Living Foundation. This allows every penny, nickel, and dime donated by distributors and friends to be put to the various projects and needs supported by the Foundation. Not one dime of distributor-donated funds is put towards covering admin or paperwork needs.
3. Young Living Essential Oils walks the talk when it comes to making care calls and supporting "Team YL".
Silver and above leaders are assigned to regional leadership liaisons. Many of these liaisons make monthly, or even twice-monthly care- and follow-up calls to assigned leader-members to check in on them, see if they can be of service, and be helpful in general. This fosters a company-wide, top-down environment of responsible leadership, and fulfills the Policy and Procedure mandate to support our downline members.
4. Young Living goes green - even when you're not looking!
The used raw material remaining after distillation is complete for a particular oil is put into compost bins in order to provide fertile and ready soil for future crops. Young Living is truly dedicated to keeping our essential oils and products as clean and beyond-organic as possible.
5. Young Living Diamond Leaders are truly DIAMOND leaders!
In 2014, Young Living growth and expansion was so fast that corporate had trouble keeping up!! This meant long wait times when calling customer service for help, and shipping was backed up by several weeks! This was NOT the culture Young Living set up, and our leaders rose to the occasion! A number of diamond leaders (whose names I have not yet discovered :) stepped up to the plate, went to the corporate call centers to take over while call-center-employees headed over to help out in the shipping warehouses. Talk about servant leadership and setting the example! No job is to low for our leaders to take an active role and encourage downline members!
6. Explosive growth meant Young Living Corporate offices expanded from one to FOUR office buildings in fewer than five years!
These buildings were not all that Young Living expanded in order to keep up with demand! They also built at least two new packing and shipping warehouses and hired additional staff. And demand continues to rise!
7. Young Living is the only company that can show you the lay of the land.
No other essential oil company in the United States owns any of it's own farms. Yet Young Living members and the general public can visit Young Living-owned farms for farm-days, family events, Young Living-sponsored leadership events, and more each year! You can get your hands into the soil, take a tour, enjoy special festivities, and ask questions in any of the nine company-owned farms around the world, and better still: Corporate encourages you to go!!
8. Young Living is the only company with 30-years' training and knowledge.
Gary Young began exploring alternative and holistic options more than 30 years ago. Young Living as a company has been in business for 21 years, as of 2015. No other company can talk about being in business for more than twenty years, much less having training going further back than that! This experience matters, as you will see!
9. Young Living puts that 21-years of business to good use.
No other company can offer distributors and retail customers more than 300 essential oils, blends and oil-infused products to use for whole-body health and balance. This is on top of the generous compensation plan.
10. Young Living corporate never makes comparison to other companies - and has set the bar for company expectation.
Not only does Young Living not make comparison to being "like" any other company out there (the folks with the most to show for their work, don't need to brag about it), but it is written in company policy and procedures that members are not to speak poorly of, or "bash", other companies or their distributors. The culture and moral values of a company's top leaders trickles down in many ways. This way of behaving sets a tone company-wide for how everyone is expected to act towards other groups.
What would YOU add to this list?
Some additions from commenting helpers...
11. Young Living's Seed to Seal guarantee counts for a lot more than you might think!
When Young Living says our oils are "Therapeutic grade", what exactly does that mean? It does not mean that our oils are "certified" anywhere or by any organization. There are no such distinctions, as yet, in the essential oil universe. However, it does try to give an easy way to sum up Young Living's Seed to Seal Promise. Young Livings maintains strict quality controls of every phase of the essential oil process, from before the seed goes into the ground, until the oil is in the bottle ready to be shipped to your door! Make sure you check out www.seedtoseal.com to see the whole process!
12. Even more quality control goes on behind the scenes!
Young Living sends random samples out for third-party testing to further insure purity and a top-notch product arrives on the Brown Van when delivered.
"One of the hallmarks of our Code of Ethics is that it is enforced by an independent administrator empowered by DSA members to resolve issues. The Code Administrator can impose a variety of remedies in the event of a Code violation including calling for refunds, ordering a mandatory repurchase of inventory or other measures as needed. When media reports or other sources make the Administrator aware of allegations that could be Code violations, the Administrator may conduct an investigation into the practices of our members and suggest how issues may be resolved."
Young Living has agreed to abide by these standards and the DSA code of ethics.
