Rejection is part of life. Failure is just one step closure to success. Unless you have failed, you have not tried well enough. We have heard all these statements and more. But, when we fail, or we get rejected, none of these statements and learning is of any help. However, one has to learn to accept Rejection and Failure in stride and use it positively to steer you wards the growth mindset. Well, that is easier said than done. Maybe ‘SPRING- Bouncing Back From Rejection’; the new book from AMBI PARAMESWARAN, author of ‘Sponge’ and ‘Nawabs, Nudes, and Noodles’ may help you bounce back like a spring. Spring is pulled, pressed or pushed but comes back to its original shape once the external force is withdrawn.
Read Ambi Parameswaran book SPRING, and you may never see Rejection and Failure in the same light. It will clear your perspective that you are not the chosen one, Rejection and Failure is far more common and non-fatal than one may believe it to be.
This is Ambi’s 10th book. It is the result of a student at Bhopal asking Ambi not about the success but about failure in life and how to prepare for it.
REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES AND ACTIONABLE SUGGESTIONS
Ambi shares stories from the lives of famous people who failed or/and were rejected before they tasted success. People like Walt Disney, The Beatles, Thomas Alva Edison, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and many more. He borrows from their experience to tell, how they tackled failure and Rejection.
The stories make interesting reading and a lot of them one had heard earlier. Interestingly Ambi opens up to share few episodes from his life like being rejected by HUL twice for the job and unsuccessful pitches and being set up for failure. He shares the feelings and questions that went through his mind during these experiences and how he handled them. These personal stories make the book a lot more relatable.
The book does suggest some plans on how to deal and navigate life around Rejection. The basic idea to reflect on your Rejection to and move on. I endorse it, as it is very similar to PaRAM that I share in my Brand-I workshops. Pause, Reflect, Absorb the learning and Move on without the baggage.
I personally love the idea of ‘Rejection Resume’, something one could use as introspection and realise how they tackled Rejection and Failure in life and if there a pattern.
BOOK CONSTRUCT
The book is smartly set in three sections. Each one of the section and chapter is complete in itself. You can start the book on any chapter and read in the sequence you want. However, recommended you read in the order Ambi has planned.
Section-1; Anticipating and facing Rejection, seven chapters. This is clearly the most engaging section with a lot of stories and inspirations.
Section -2; Processing and Recovering from Rejection, five chapters. There is one chapter especially addressing Rejection in Bureaucratic jobs and Government employment. Here are the templates and processes.
Section -3; Learning and Progressing Post Rejection, Four chapter- and here I found the book stretching a bit and iterative.
‘SPRING’ draws from various books and articles its understanding of Rejection and Failure. It presents a very optimistic and maybe the right way to handle Rejection. I believe everyone will benefit from reading this book. More so, people at the start of their career or just entering it may benefit the most.
You can watch me discussing the book with the author- Ambi Parameswaran . It was recorded for MXMINDIA.COM
FINAL SAY
I am a fan of Ambi’s effortless yet hypnotic writing that makes you continue reading. The book is free of jargons, and its simplicity is its strength. The stories are presented in such a way that you feel Ambi is sharing them over a cup of coffee.
Not leaving it to chance, Ambi repeats time and again that Rejection and failure are guaranteed. He repeats till it starts getting normalised in your mind. However, The question remains how you will handle it and leverage it. There are suggested templates in the book, they are just directional and not prescriptive in nature.
Hopefully, the book will help you find your internal Spring and adapt your own unique process of handling Rejection and Failure. And it would be great if you could SPRING FORWARD every time, not allowing Rejection to define who you are.
SPRING-Bouncing back from Rejection. Published by Westland Publications. Pages 202. Hardbound copy 599 INR.
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