A life coach claims a bizarre ‘rejection therapy’ experiment has been a game-changer for boosting her confidence and mental health – even if it seems quite daunting at first
Rejection is a daunting prospect. Whether it’s a ‘no’ from the job of your dreams or the brush-off from your secret crush – these incidents can hurt.
But one life coach claims a bizarre experiment can help you deal with knock-backs a little better after testing it out herself.
‘Rejection therapy’ involves purposely seeking out rejection in an effort to build up confidence. TikTok creator Charlotte Jane did this across one month, filming herself everyday as she took part in bizarre self-help challenges.
One of her more popular vlogs took place midway through the challenge on day 14, when she asked a random woman for a bar of chocolate. Posting to her account @charlottejanecoach, she said: “I’ve just spotted a woman at Manchester train station with some chocolate.
“I’m gonna go and ask her if I can have a bar of the chocolate, come with me to see what she says.” Pointing the camera away from the stranger, Charlotte asked her if she could have a Twirl.
The stranger said yes and went on to chat about her upcoming travel plans. Afterwards, Charlotte turned to the camera once more and said: “Oh my god she said yes – what a legend! That is my third yes of this challenge!”
This video racked up plenty of comments, with TikTok users suggesting it had encouraged them to feel more optimistic about strangers. One person wrote: “What I love about people doing rejection therapy is that more often than not people are more willing to say yes than we assume.” Another added: “You’re so brave I wouldn’t be able to ask for it even if it was mine.”
Rejection therapy came from Canadian entrepreneur Jason Comely, who created ‘suggestion cards’ that encourage users to step outside their comfort zones. Charlotte didn’t appear to use these, but instead came up with specific challenges based on her surroundings.
She’s now completed the challenge and took to TikTok just yesterday to reflect on the 30 days. “Really enjoyed the experience of doing the rejection therapy challenge and it’s helped me grow so much as a person,” Charlotte said.
“I didn’t realise before how much I cared about what people thought of me, but I definitely had that fear at the beginning of the challenge and as it progressed I got more and more confident. Then I was aware I wasn’t as fearful about being judged by other people.
“It’s definitely made me more resilient, able to ask questions and go for opportunities where I would have otherwise been too shy to just put myself out there… There are some really lovely people out there and I’ve had the pleasure of coming across those people through doing rejection therapy.
“If you’re wanting to push yourself out of your comfort zone and grow as a person, I really recommend doing something like this. Start small and you will notice such a difference… and yes, it will be scary to start off with but where there’s a feeling where you’re scared of something… those are the things that we actually really need to lean into.”
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below
