Recently Michael Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The newspapers reported a striking theme in his acceptance speech that I thought writers everywhere might want to hear about. Notably, Michael thanked people who weren’t necessarily friends or family. Instead, he recalled the coach who cut him from the Varsity Basketball team when he was in high school. He then thanked the All-Star team member who coordinated a “freeze-out” on Michael. Then he thanked the media who said he’d never be a Byrd or Magic Johnson. He went on to say thanks to a player who said he could’ve “covered” him if Michael had stayed in Basketball instead switching over to minor league baseball. (Michael went on to return to Basketball and faced this other player twice in the NBA Finals, and Michael went on to score—so I guess he wasn’t “covered” after all.)
The reason this is so notable is that Michael chose to thank those who played a role in making him a better player. Instead of caving in, giving up, getting down on himself whenever he faced criticism, each of these scenarios drove him to work harder to prove himself capable—i.e., he proved those who “rejected” him wrong. In short, he thanked those who hurt him but that pain also made him a better basketball player.
So here is my challenge for writers everywhere. When we receive a rejection on our work, whether from an editor, an agent, a reviewer, a critique partner, a reader, a friend, an enemy—perhaps the best way to react is the way Michael Jordan reacted. He “retaliated” by making himself a better player. Along those lines, using whatever criticism we receive to improve our skills is the best way to handle rejection of any kind. Chances are even the harshest critique has something to teach us, if we can get beyond our hurt feelings and look for areas to improve.
And that’s all I have to say on the subject. 🙂
PS I haven’t forgotten about my contest! I’ll be drawing a winner at the end of the week, so those of you who haven’t entered yet, leave a comment about the old title of Look to the East on last week’s post. Happy Reading!
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