Classroom-2-Boardroom: On Rejection: "When they go low, we go higher(er)"

5-minute read: Believe the no, don't believe the why behind the no.

Hi friends 👋🏾

Happy Tuesday.

Welcome to Issue 7 of Classroom-2-Boardroom. This is a 5-minute read- no more, no less.

👉🏾In today’s Issue, we’re diving into something quite unpopular- failures/rejections. 👈🏾

Yes, behind the rainbow is a rainfall. Behind almost every success are multiple rejections/failures we don’t talk about. 🤒

This Issue was, once again, inspired by my favorite superstar and Forever First Lady- Michelle Obama. ✨

On Rejections: “When they go low, we go high”

When I got featured on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square, I wrote in a LinkedIn post that “this past year is one that I’ll remember for so long. 🙅🏾‍♂️

I have only lived for 21 years but the multitude of rejections and lessons packed within one year made it feel like I’ve lived for more than that.”

Life is full of ups and downs—and I know you know. 💁🏾‍♂️

But more so, startup life is full of downs and more downs, lows and more lows.🤷🏾‍♀️

There’ll be days of weariness, the days of fear, the days of questioning if it’s even worth it, the days of doubting your purpose, questioning your mission 🤒, the days when waking up feels like a task rather than a blessing. 🤦🏾‍♂️

My friends. On those days, your courage will be tested and your strength will be challenged. ☹️

Life will throw unripe lemons at you while you’re still eating shattered glass. 🥹

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When you make the unusual decision to go from classroom-to-boardroom, Elon Musk said it (starting a company) is like eating glass and staring at an abyss. 🫡

Reid Hoffman said it’s like jumping off a cliff and assembling a plane on your way down.

In this life, it’s not IF, but WHEN you get rejections. It’s not WHY but WHEN they tell you no.

Your industry credibility will be questioned by investors. ☹️

Your heart will be broken by employees (and co-founders). 😞

Your mind will race faster than your lips because something somehow just hit you from nowhere. 😟

👉🏾When you choose to follow the startup path—you’re choosing the path with more failures than success; the path with few friends, many acquaintances, and lots of naysayers. 🤦🏾‍♂️

On this path, there are a lot of things you can avoid. 💁🏾‍♂️

But one thing that’s relatively constant is that certain people or things around you will, more often than not, choose to go low. 🤒

And right there and then (again and again, and again) you’ll have to choose between going high(er) despite the lows or going low because of the lows. 😞

At this point, you’re probably thinking—okayyy Dulra. 🤒

How do we still go high, despite all these❓ Is it possible to go even high at all❓

My answer: Yes, it’s still possible to go high (and even higher) - the same way it’s possible to do odd things, despite the odds against you. 😊

But what is going high? I leave it to Michelle.👇🏾👇🏾

“Going high is taking an abstract and sometimes usually upsetting feeling and working to convert it into some sort of actionable plan, to move through the raw stuff and in the direction of a larger solution.”
-Michelle Obama.

To be clear though, going high doesn’t mean not feeling your emotions. 🙅🏾‍♂️

No no.

In fact, going high means recognizing and accepting your emotions but also recognizing and accepting that your emotions are not KPIs or OKRs. 💁🏾‍♂️

Our minds are like the ocean. Emotions are like waves on the surface of the oceans—natural but temporal. ✨

🤌🏾 Though they show us what’s happening on the surface, they do not represent what’s happening beneath.

Don’t confuse the waves on the surface of the ocean for the stillness at the bottom 😇.

So my friends, let your emotions move through you, not move you. 🎯💯

Again, as Michelle puts it, “going high is about doing what it takes to make your work count and make your voice heard, despite the despites”

It is a way of responding to adversity with grace, dignity, and strength. It is about choosing to be the best version of yourself, even when others are trying to tear you down. ✨🔥

👉🏾Going high is important because it allows us to maintain our integrity and our sense of self-worth.

It prevents us from becoming bitter and cynical. It also sets a positive example for others.👌🏾

When we go high, we are not pretending that everything is okay.

We are simply choosing to focus on the things that we can control and to move forward in a positive direction. 💯

I’ve also realized that going low comes from what others do to you but going high comes from what you do to yourself. 👨‍👩‍👦

Going low is usually a reaction to a stimulus while going high means stimulating how you want to react.🫡

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My friends, as you navigate going from classroom-2-boardroom, your ideas will be rejected, many times, and again, and again, and again. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Wrong idea; right people. Right people; wrong idea. Wrong idea; wrong people. Too early; not now. Too late; missed the hype. 🤒 ☹️

When Dot started, these were many of the words we had to deal with.

Will you hear the same words? Maybe, maybe not. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Will you hear variations of it? Sorry but yes. 🙅🏾‍♂️

👉🏾But remember my friends, when they go low…?

In the next issue, I’ll share a few helpful strategies to help you constantly go high (er). 👌🏾

Lastly, quote of the week…you guessed right my friends.👇🏾👇🏾

When they go low, we go high (er).

-Michelle Obama.

Until next time,
Don’t Forget to be Awesome,

Dulra ❤️
Founder/CEO, Dot.