June 5th, 2019 / Experiment.

This was a new experiment, a test on the side that hurts, and we often dodge or hide. A social experiment about rejection and failure: to be exact and concrete, I was seeking out for at least one rejection or/and failure per day, for 200 days in a row. Christmas, weekends and bank holidays included. In this country or another, personal or professional situations or relationships. Two hundred days chasing rejection and failure, uninterrupted.

Why 200 days looking for rejection

Because I know where the opportunity is because I know where the trampoline is to jump high. Because I know where creativity, disruption, and personal development are. And because I know that this will confront me with the battle between the mediocre “what I can do best to get the right thing” against the excellent “how can I transcend beyond my limits.”

Feeling rejected - 200 days looking for rejection and failure

I begin this search for rejection and failure because there is nothing that propels the human being more than rejection or failure. Besides that, in the worst case, I will enable many more opportunities. If every day I expose even a single rejection or failure, that means I’m risking something worthwhile. It will say that I am placing myself in the line of fire.

Experiment goals

I have not developed an excellent storyline for the 200 days of rejection and failure, but in conclusion:

Take the risk for more and better.
What are you able to achieve when you are looking for at least one rejection per day.
Where did you start, and where did you end up finishing the experiment?
I am living closely with rejection.
Show that failure is the prelude to real success and without pantomime.
Leave my comfort zone and expose myself to public and personal rejection, and grow with it all.
Modify my patterns of behavior and reaction against these two adversities.
Make rejection and failure two excellent core skills.
Find the value on the opposite side of the deceitful success that they sell us today.
Follow my intuition, pursue my authenticity, fight against myself. Find the best version of Isra García.
Continue acquiring inputs for my fieldwork in high performance and lifestyle hacking.
Have much more data, stories, anecdotes and cases about gold (with permission of self-discipline) in business and life, failure and rejection.
To this day, these are the objectives that I am pursuing and that I will monitor.

Success is a hoax

We live in an environment where it seems that almost everyone has the formula of success, books, lectures, podcasts, videos, articles, and unsolicited advice. I do not know a single person who has succeeded in life and in the work that goes on preaching how we should achieve. So I’m going to put myself back on the opposite side of success and see what happens.

I do not hide that it is something uncomfortable for me; nobody likes to be rejected or to fail in something and lose. However, you do not have to like it if that’s where your instinct tells you to go, and your amygdala tells you to run away.

Initial steps

Start now is the first and most crucial step. Look for rejections, look for failures, the bigger, the better.

Each day I will write down the rejected ones that I receive or failures that I commit. With all this, I will make a list that I will share periodically on my Instagram account. Once a month, I will publish a results report here on my blog, which subscribers will receive in their email inbox. At the end of the experiment, I will record a video with the conclusions, and a few weeks later, I will summarize everything in an episode for Disrupt Everything podcast series. I may even upload a new video every 40 days.

Now, with your permission, I’m going to look for the first rejection/failure of the next 200 days. There is work to be done.
Any ideas and suggestions about rejections that you can expose me to? Please, leave them in the comments, and I will value it with all the attention and seriousness possible.

PART 1 – experiment looking for rejection and looking for failure for 200 days

I arrived in Melbourne, the first stop of my journey around the world. Today marks 55 days since I started this new lifestyle and professional experiment, 200 days looking for rejection and failure. Little more than five months are looking for any form of rejection and failure. When I speak of any refusal, it has to do with my work and personal life. The goal was to dare to do things that I would not do on a regular occasion. Forcing me to provoke situations that I usually try to avoid. The idea of exposing myself to failures and rejections that embarrass me, frustrate me or cause any internal threat, just that idea, it was worth trying.

These are the first 50 days:

Day 1 – 25/11

Rejected for trying to sell marketing services to an Orange teleoperator.
Fail when trying to eat upside down on the inversion table.

Day 2 – 26/11

Rejected when asking someone to pay for my purchase and to give me then the ticket to get the car out of the parking lot.
Fail when taking on too many tasks for a single day.

Day 3 – 27/11

Interrupting a television report to ask the reporter if he could promote my agency while he was filming the Jamiroquai concert report in Madrid.

Day 4 – 28/11

Trying to drive the Madrid / Valencia AVE.
Went running and tried to high five an older man.

Day 5 – 29/11

Rejected by a local policewoman who was working when asking for her number.

Day 6 – 30/11

Rejected when asking the cleaning lady that was working at the school where I was teaching if we could change clothes.
Rejection when getting in the car of a stranger that I stopped on the street.

Day 7 – 01/12

Rejected when trying to pay in a parking lot with dollars.
Rejected when trying to answer a call from the operator of the clinical center of SANITAS.
Also when trying to drive my car through the ambulance parking lot of ‘Casa de Salud’ in Valencia.

Day 8 – 02/12

Rejected when trying to conduct a Zumba class in a sports center.
Rejected when trying to exchange a newspaper for a Loewe bag in El Corte Inglés.

Day 9 – 03/12

Rejected after sending a project offer three times more than the usual.
Rejected when wanting to get piggyback by a woman I found on the street.
And rejected when trying to travel in the trunk of a taxi.

Day 10 – 04/12

Rejected when requesting the phone number of two girls who were talking to each other in a gym while they were resting from their exercise. – Alicante Arena.

Day 11 – 05/12

Rejected when asking to go on a date with a guy.
Rejected by the cleaning service by proposing to get in the garbage truck with them to do a shift.

Day 12 – 06/12

Rejected by a politician I wanted to interview.

Day 13 – 07/12

Rejected when contacting the Hollywood actor, Justin Baldoni to appear in my next book.

Day 14 – 08/12

Rejected by ten people who I tried to high five while I was running in Barcelona.
Rejected when trying to convince a waiter not to pay when leaving a cafe after a meeting.

Day 15 – 09/12

Rejected when trying to sign with another name at the notary.
I was rejected when asked to sit in the boot during a Cabify trip through Barcelona.
I have been refused by a publisher when asking to write a book about philosophy.

Day 16 – 08/12

Rejected when applying for a marketing management position at Virgin.

Day 17 – 09/12

Failure when asking for money at a traffic light to donate to a non-profit organization.
Rejected when applying for a job at a funeral home.

Day 18 – 10/12

Rejected when asking for work as a head waiter in a bar in Barcelona.
Rejected by an operator of the town hall when asking if I could sleep at his house.

Day 19 – 11/12

Rejected when wanting to interview a woman who was waiting for the green light at a traffic light.

Day 20 – 12/12

Rejected when requesting a place to be a primary school teacher.

Day 21 – 13/12

I refuse to work as an intern in an advertising agency to which I had created a false profile.

Day 22 – 14/12

I refuse to enter a school to give a class as a teacher.

Day 23 – 15/12

Rejected when wanting to try a bottle of champagne at the gourmet club.
Refused when wanting to replace the cashier at El Corte Inglés

Day 24 – 16/12

Rejected when sitting on the table in a restaurant.
Refused when trying to bring a horse to the middle of the dancefloor at Guateque Valencia.

Day 25 – 17/12

Rejected when walking into a pizza franchise and trying to buy the place dressed as Batman.
Refused when asking a guy that was walking by for his phone number, just as I’d left an afterparty at 2 pm.

Day 26 – 18/12

Rejected when trying to enter an export office and pretend to be a worker.
Refused when kissing a girl on the lips.

Day 27 – 19/12

Rejected by my neighbor when asking to jump from one terrace to another to access my house.
Refused when asking for ideas to look for more rejections (idea: @lamanoloca_nico)

Day 28 – 20/12

Rejected when asking someone to take a package for me to the other side of the city.
Refused when asking a woman to come to dinner with me.

Day 29 – 21/12

Rejected when trying to pass my car’s ITV without doing any tests.
Refused Rejected when wanting to buy my colleague a coffee on the train.

Day 30 – 22/12

Rejected when sitting down at a stranger’s table and wanting to dine with them.
Refused when getting on the stage at a show dinner to perform.

Day 31 – 23/12

Rejected when asking if I could pay for my snack by washing up the dishes at a restaurant.

Day 32 – 24/12

Rejected by a woman when asking to buy her sandwich off of her on the train to Valencia.
When wanting to enter the Navarrese herbalist 10 minutes after it was closed.

Day 33 – 24/12

Rejected when asking a motorist to take me to the other side of the city.
When asked to cook and prepare Christmas Eve dinner for my family.

Day 34 – 25/12

Rejected when asking the ambulance if they could take me to my house in Alcoy.
Refused to be served my food when I arrived three hours late for Christmas dinner.
Rejected when ordering 30 pizzas from a Telepizza.

Day 35 – 26/12

Rejected when wanting to participate as an actor in the Valencia circus.
When sending a letter to be a contributor at Vogue.
When trying to take over from the concierge in my building for a few hours.

Day 36 – 27/12

Rejected when trying to enter the Melendi concert in the Wizink center without entry.
When knocking on a random front door and asking them if I could stay to eat.

Day 37 – 28/12

Rejected when trying to buy a present with cryptocurrency.
When applying to a salsa contest.

Day 38 – 29/12

Rejected when trying to park in the parking lot of the police station of the national police in Valencia.
When asking the Porsche salesman to take the Porsche Spider all weekend.
When applying to be a university professor at the University of Alicante (idea: @sergiocuestamares)

Day 39 – 30/12

Fail when leaving without paying the bill in a restaurant (idea: @unmundoparami77)
When paying with Ethereum at a pharmacy.

Day 40 – 12/31

Rejected when asking the person who was sitting next to me at the train station to marry me – woman (idea: @richarfelipe)
When asking a woman to take me to the train station.

Day 41 – 01/01

Rejected when trying to convince two strangers to dine with me (idea: @borjasilleras)
When asking a bus driver to let me drive from one stop to another (idea: @borjasilleras)

Day 42 – 02/01

Rejected when entering a store in Barcelona, choosing a yellow jumpsuit similar to Kill Bill and trying to convince the saleswoman to give it to me because it is the pledge of my dreams – even if I love black (idea: @borjaSilleras)

Day 43 – 03/01

Rejected when asking the taxi driver not to charge me the trip (idea: @dagzcostudio)

Day 44 – 04/01

Rejected when trying to pay at a gas station with monopoly money (idea: @ alberto.gil84)
When jumping the queue at the bank (idea: @ pipeossa001)

Day 45 – 05/01

Rejected when receiving a letter from Banco Santander when I asked them in writing to sponsor my next adventure (@ evamariachacon212)

Day 46 – 06/01

When requesting a position as a firefighter in Valencia.

Day 47 – 07/01

Rejected when sending an invitation to the Pope to have breakfast with him.

Day 49 – 08/01

Rejected when buying a share n in a project in exchange for my work.
When giving a restaurant a plan that explained how they could charm their customers.

Day 50 – 09/01

Rejected when asking a radio station to broadcast my podcasts (idea: @irijoalema)
When wanting to have an X-ray with the nurse.
When wanting to drive a Cabify and take the driver as a passenger.

Elements to consider after the first 50 days

Some rejections come with an Instagram account. This is due to the requests I received through the same platform. They have been suggestions made by the people who responded to my request to provide failures or rejections that I could face.

I have made a dashboard where I have been writing down the following parameters: rejections, failures, triumphs, attempts, failed situations, anomalies, and observations.

There are less significant rejections and others a little more meaningful. I don’t care much about this; what was important was not to give up, not even for one day. I was not allowed to spend a single day facing the “no” and the failure.

Lessons learned from 50 days of rejections

The lessons that I have learned up until now:

The more you face rejection, the less value you have of rejection. The same happens with failures.

More rejections and failures mean that you tried more than ever, and therefore, you doubled or tripled the opportunities to do something meaningful.

As you can see in the results, I have gone from simpler rejections to some more complex and elaborated ones.

The more difficult and transcendence of the rejection, the better the feeling knowing you have tried it.

More rejections lead you to more attempts and more attempts to increase the probability of getting a satisfactory result.

If you are looking for rejection, you will be looking for the opposite thing that most people in this world are looking for. You will stop doing what everyone does, and you will begin to see things from a different and useful perspective.

Being rejected so many times these days has thrown my ego to the ground, which is good news. Instead, my attitude, my desire to continue trying, daring, and resilience have been strengthened.

You could ask yourself if I write down the successes that I have as a result of risking and trying, the answer is no. What I want is to expose myself to situations where I do not have control, where I can not predict the outcome. Where it would not be reasonable for a person to do what I would do in that situation, that’s the kind of rejection I’m looking for.

One more thing

You will hear people say that seeking rejection is not being rejected, or that failing on purpose does not count. Well, that’s their story, not yours, that’s the answer to why they don’t grow, and you become five times quicker. No one can judge the value of something if they haven’t tried it.

PART 2 – looking for rejection and failures after more than 100 days

This part shows what happened after 103 days searching for rejections and failures. It was an experiment on minimizing the risk of being rejected and ridiculing the fear of failure. Here are those failures and rejections:

Day 51 – 10/01

Failure when trying to exchange a painting in an exhibition for a conference.
When trying to give a speech about ultra productivity in an office at a bank.

Day 52 – 11/01

Rejected when trying to get a taxi driver and a Cabify driver to talk to each other.
When requesting to travel in business class without paying the extra cost with Qatar Airlines.

Day 53 – 12/01

Rejected when trying to get into the X-ray machine for international baggage in Melbourne.

Day 54 – 13/01

Rejected when trying to be hired as a mobile phone salesman at the Melbourne airport.
Failure when trying to buy a suitcase from the lady who was sitting next to me on the plane.
Failure when trying to exchange my site on a plane (in the middle) for another person who was in the aisle.

Day 55 – 14/01

Rejected when trying to enter the cockpit of a tram driver in Melbourne.

Day 56 – 15/01

Rejected after asking to be interviewed by Australian television at the end of David Ferrer’s match at the Australian Open.
After entering a restaurant’s kitchen to help cook Ramen.

Day 57 – 16/01

Rejected when trying to get on the back of a woman’s motorcycle in downtown Melbourne.

Day 58 – 17/01

Rejected when asking to work at H&M for the day in Melbourne.
When trying to sneak into a private Louis Vuitton party.

Day 59 – 18/01

Rejected after wanting to interview a businesswoman from Melbourne.
After asking to work as a waiter for five hours in a restaurant.

Day 60 – 19/01

Rejected when trying to get into an opening for an art gallery in Hobart (Tasmania)

Day 61 – 20/01

Failure trying to stay overnight in the car park of a hotel.
Rejected when trying to get three different people (2 women and one man) to go with me to the cinema in Devonport.
When trying to convince someone to lend a bike to me before a regular customer, in a Devonport store.

Day 62 – 21/01

Rejected after asking a fisherman for a fishing rod.
When hitchhiking by five vehicles in Hawley Beach.
Failure to get one of the most prestigious projects of the year.

Day 63 – 22/01

Rejected when trying to get a cafe in Orford (Tasmania) to make me Miso soup
When requesting to join a Japenese family on their trip.

Day 64 – 23/01

Rejected when trying to work from a boutique hotel with my computer.
Rejected by a family in Tasmania when asking them If I could sleep in their garden.

Day 65 – 24/01

Rejected when applying for a job as an intern at a Melbourne law firm.
When trying to exchange the concierge for me at the house where I was staying.

Day 66 – 25/01

Rejected when asking for a vegan option in a McDonalds.
Rection to accept the conditions of one of the essential projects of the year.
Failure to know how to handle well the negotiations of one of the most prestigious projects of the year and losing it.

Day 67 – 26/01

Failure to know how to manage a journey well.
Rejected when trying to stay longer at a festival and changing the transfer.

Day 68 – 27/01

Rejected when wanting to change my ticket to fly an hour earlier to Sydney.

Day 69 – 29/01

Rejected when asking to interview on Bondi Beach Radio.

Day 70 – 30/01

Failure on a test to work for a day at a marketing agency in Sydney.
Rejected when wanting to exchange an hour of checking parking tickets for a nights sleep in the carpark.

Day 71 – 31/01

Rejected trying to sleep in a McDonald’s car park in Newcastle (Australia).

Day 72 – 01/02

Rejected when applying to work at Newcastle McDonalds during the day.

Day 73 – 02/02

Rejected when leaving SOP.
When applying to work for Seth Godin.

Day 74 – 03/02

Rejected when asking to borrow a hair clipper from a hairdresser to shave my head.
When sitting down at a picnic with an Australian family.

Day 75 – 04/02

Rejected when asking for food from people I met on the street (but success at the same time because some of them gave me food)

Day 76 – 05/02

Rejected when singing on the street, next to a guy who played the guitar in Byron Bay, and is booed by people (rejection and failure at the same time).

Day 77 – 06/02

I put petrol in all of the cars that stopped there for 1 hour. Rejected when the ninth vehicle arrived.

Day 78 – 07/02

Rejected when asking to be an assistant librarian in Burleigh Heads (Gold Coast, Australia)

Day 79 – 08/02

Rejected when asking for a job as motorway maintenance in Australia.

Day 80 – 09/02

Rejected when asking to enter a law firm in MacLean to work with WIFI.
Failure (as an agency) when executing coordination with another agency that did the tactical part of a project.

Day 81 – 10/02

Rejected when coordinating some young guys who were cleaning cars in Kempsey (Australia)

Day 82 – 11/02

Rejected when asking to board a boat of a family in Bulahdelah (Australia)
Failure to try to enter the Ki Gompa monastery (India) – petition denied.

Day 83 – 12/02

Failure when presenting a non-finished website when the idea was to present it finished.
Rejection when exhibiting at TEDx Presario (San Francisco)

Day 84 – 13/02

Rejected when trying to bribe a check-in attendant for the flight: Sydney – Tokyo
Rejected when asking a woman to change her business seat to mine in the economic and emergency exit.

Day 85 – 14/02

Failure when appearing on Radio Shibuya and try to speak live.

Day 86 – 15/02

Rejected when asking to disguise me as anime in a Tokyo SkyTree performance.
Rejection when applying for a job in Ogilvy Tokyo.

Day 87 – 16/02

Rejection when asking an actor for their Sailor Moon costume in Akibara (Tokyo) to dress me in.

Day 89 – 17/02

Rejection when entering the fishing area in the fish market of Tokyo.
Rejection when trying to take the last day of the bike rental for free.

Day 90 – 18/02

Rejected when wanting to enter a temple when it was closed, in Kyoto.
Rejection when wanting to serve a coffee to a customer at a Starbucks in Kyoto.

Day 91 – 19/02

Rejected when trying to cook in the Ryokan kitchen where I stayed in Kyoto.
Rejection when requesting to be part of a television contest – Spain.

Day 92 – 20/02

Rejected when trying to rent a woman’s kimono to wear it.

Day 93 – 21/02

Rejected when trying to enter a public women’s bathroom in Osaka.
Rejection when asking for work at the hotel that hosted me.

Day 94 – 22/02

Rejected when offering to make an Okonomiyaki in a Japanese brazier.
Failure when making an Okonomiyaki.

Day 95 – 23/02

Rejected when getting on a table at the Starbucks in Dontubori (Osaka), and trying to give a speech in Spanish.

Day 96 – 24/02

Rejected when trying to hold hands with a Japanese woman who was waiting in the street.
Rejection when trying to sing at a karaoke bar in Japanese with Japanese people.

Day 97 – 25/02

Rejected when trying to enter a private temple to meditate.
Failure when trying to make a Matcha tea.

Day 98 – 26/02

Rejected when entering a hotel that does not allow tattoos.
When trying to enter a bathroom that doesn’t allow tattoos.

Day 99 – 27/02

Rejected when asking a driver to take me to Kagoshima.

Day 100 – 28/02

Rejected when asking the hotel receptionist where I was staying in Kagoshima if I could stay at his house the next night.
When applying to be part of the Franciscan order.
Failure to find a bike to ride around Kagoshima.

Rejections and failures, more or less expected, but rejections and failures in the end

Sometimes rejection is imminent – I am aware of that – I think that makes it even more powerful. Throwing yourself into obvious rejections and failures that involve taking a step forward and exposing yourself is the core of this experiment. Being in the “zone,” every day is another crucial point for me. Being rejected and failing every day, counting, retaining, and writing those rejections and failures, helps to gain resilience and determination. Also, doing it in other countries such as Australia and Japan has led me to live experiences that I would not have lived otherwise.

I am open to new rejections and failures, if you have any ideas, please share them in the comments. I will study all of them, and if they are coherent, I will try to carry them out. As promised, there are still 97 days left.

PART 4 – Feeling tired of trying to be rejected, fed up with so much failure

Last week I was on the 200th day looking for failures and rejections. At last. It has been the most extended experiment I have done to date, also the heaviest, hardest, and most complicated. Because not stopping a single day without exposing yourself to failures and rejections, for 200 days, is exhausting, especially mentally speaking. The good news is that I have finished, I have reached the goal of the experiment 200 days of failures and rejections.

An experiment that comes from my restlessness to face what surpasses me causes me rejection or that I do not understand. The initial inspiration for looking for failures and rejections comes from Jia Jang and his 100-day experiment.

In these 200 days, everything has happened, as you can see in the list of failures and rejections of the last 100 days. But above all, I have not stopped being in touch with at least one rejection per day, not once. I have faced all kinds of ridiculousness and shame. I’ve launched into the craziest thing I’ve found. I have challenged the logic of normality. I have challenged myself more than I ever would have challenged myself if I had not done this experiment.

As a result, I have obtained many apprenticeships, many failures, and many more triumphs that it would not have taken me if I had not been in daily contact with the possibility of failing and being rejected. Here every rejection and failure:

Day 101 – 01/03

Rejected when trying to do a power yoga class in the hall of the hostel.

Day 102 – 02/03

Rejected when requesting to accompany two police officers from Narita airport to patrol the airport.

Day 103 – 03/03

Failure to follow the instructions of a British Airways flight attendant who said I could not fly today from Tokyo to London when trying to buy the ticket less than 24 hours before the flight.
Rejected when asking the person who was in customs to take a picture with him.

Day 104 – 04/03

Rejected when asking to be operated on that same day.
When applying for a place in the champagne course in Reims.

Day 105 – 05/03

Rejected when trying to get a Porch 911 as a courtesy vehicle.

Day 106 – 06/03

Rejected when applying for a place to study career at a university.

Day 107 – 07/03

Rejected when requesting access to a fault without being a faller.
Failure to submitting to a piano contest.

Day 108 – 08/03

Rejection when requesting a hearing in the Moncloa.
Failure to try to interview King Don Felipe for the podcast.

Day 109 – 09/03

Rejection when wanting to participate in leading a demonstration.
Failure to try to maintain 5 hours without moving.
Rejection when asking to be operated without anesthesia.

Day 110 – 10/03

Rejection when asking a woman to go on a date
Failure to try and keep a gym open 30 minutes more.
Rejection when ringing a bell and asking if they could leave their parking space.
Failure to walk 200 meters with my hands.

Day 111 – 11/03

Rejection when asking a local policeman for his uniform to wear it to a party.
Failure when trying to sneak behind a bar.

Day 112 – 12/03

Rejection when wanting to eat with Tupperware in a restaurant.
Failure when trying to enter a Navy Seals course in the USA.
Rejection when entering a route of private power parties.

Day 113 – 13/03

Failure when not getting nervous about general anesthesia.
Rejection when asking them to record the operation and then show it to me.
Rejection when entering with regular clothes to the operating room.

Day 114 – 14/03

Failure to try to work after an operation.
Rejection when applying to be a daycare teacher in a daycare.

Day 115 – 03/03

Rejection when asking to remove the plugs from my nose myself.

Day 116 – March 16

Failure when trying to complete 15 tasks in one hour.
Rejection when presenting myself to the FAME program (Spanish version).

Day 117 – 17/03

Failure when asking for a pass for the Tibet.
Failure to convince my doctor to use the inversion table.

Day 118 – 18/03

Rejection when asking my neighbor to make me lunch and dinner.
Rejection when inviting the concierge to my house to see the mascletá.

Day 119 – 19/03

Failure to send 15 business proposals to 15 different companies.
Rejection when asking for access as a neighbor to a cut off the street in the center of Valencia due to Fallas.

Day 120 – 20/03

Rejection when trying to access the balcony of the town hall in a mascletá.
Failure to pretend to be a politician.

Day 121 – 21/03

Failure when trying to be rejected as a volunteer in an NGO.
Failure to try to get a sponsorship of a great brand.
Rejection when entering a process to be Head of Digital at an international sports brand.

Day 122 – 22/03

Rejection when wanting to run the grocery store under my house for a day.
Rejection when sending a request to the armed forces.

Day 123 – 23/04

Rejection when trying to enter a construction site with the builders.

Day 124 – 24/03

Rejection when entering the kitchen of a sushi restaurant and work throughout the night shift.

Day 125 – 25/03

Rejection when asking the bus driver if I can drive.
Failure to try to pass a piscotécnico test.
Rejection when trying to help my neighbor paint her apartment.

Day 126 – 26/03

Rejection when applying to be the director of a company that I started to collaborate with.

Day 127 – 27/03

Rejection when trying to approach an ex-girlfriend.

Day 128 – 28/03

Rejection when trying to fix a love relationship.
Failure to try to access a women’s bathroom.

Day 129 – 29/03

Failure when trying to buy Burning Man tickets.
Rejection when trying to raise prices to a client.
Failure trying to be admitted to the Comillas University.

Day 130 – 30/03

Failure to appear dressed as a clown in a skype meeting (failure because I didn’t dare to do it)
Rejection when applying to be a jury guard.

Day 131 – 29/03

Rejection when asking to be able to taste the food of the next table where I was having dinner (idea by @tumigatoyuncafe)

Day 132 – 30/03

Rejection when ordering a bottle of Perrie Jouët and while the uncorked it and served it in the glass, I asked the waitress if they could give me the bottle for free because I did not have money (idea by @stekky)

Day 133 – 03/03

Rejection when wanting to play with the Jazz band that was in La Fábrica de Hielo (Valencia) and booed.
Rejection when asking the police to take me home.

Day 134 – 01/04

Rejection when trying to draw with some girls that were on the train next to me.
Rejection when trying to flirt with a girl while her boyfriend had gone to the bathroom.

Day 135 – 02/04

Rejection when buying a beer for a man who was at the bar and we did not know each other.
When asking a woman to ride a horse.

Day 136 – 03/04

Rejected when trying to be a waiter at the hotel.

Day 137 – 04/04

Rejected when offering a law enforcement officer a cake.
When presenting a proposal for a TV program on Cero.
When presenting a sponsorship proposal for El Viaje.

Day 138 – 05/04

Rejected when asking for an interview with Seth Godin.

Day 139 – 06/04

Rejected when asking my team to go partying after a team building session.
when asking for an interview with Gary Vaynerchuck.
Failure to reach two commitments that had been established for this day.

Day 140 – 07/04

Rejected when trying to work for an architect’s office.
When sending 30 business proposals and not receive any response in three weeks.

Day 141 – 08/04

Rejected when applying for a job at Diario de Ibiza.

Day 142 – 09/04

Failure to be attentive in a course I was doing.
Rejected when asking to be in a more advanced group on the course

Day 143 – 10/04

Rejected when wanting to postpone an interview.
When asking for a taxi to the villa where I was staying.

Day 144 – 11/04

Rejected when wanting to extend my conference 20 more minutes.

Day 145 – 12/04

Failure when trying to find a taxi to get to the airport on time.
Failure to arrive on time to an event.

Day 146 – 13/04

Rejected when trying to be admitted to a stock exchange course.
Failure to fulfill my responsibilities within a project.
Rejection when trying to participate in a collaborative project.

Day 147 – 14/04

Failure to finish the full training for today.
Rejected when wanting to pay later in a supermarket (Mercadona)

Day 148 – 15/04

Rejection when trying to be admitted to the Ultraman test in Hawaii.

Day 149 – 04/16

Rejection when requesting a platinum American Express.

Day150 – 17/04

Rejected when trying to get on an airplane without a passport.
Failure to get to the plane on the last call.

Day 151 – 18/04

Failure when trying to pass Heathrow’s security control with extra liquids and boats.
Failure when trying to charge my mac in a seat in business class.
And also failing to drive my team in the right direction in a project.

Day 152 – 19/04

Rejected when wanting to get into a police car in Cape Town.

Day 153 – 20/04

Rejected when asking to work in a shoe store in the center of Cape Town.

Day 154 – 21/04

Rejection when continuing to work on a project.

Day 155 – 22/04

Rejected by the INEM when wanting to implement the program of excellence.

Day 156 – 23/04

Rejection when wanting to enter Afrika Burn at 3 am after the doors are closed.

Day 157 – 24/04

Rejection when requesting to participate in one of the sessions in the cryptocurrency camp in Afrika Burn.

Day 158 – 25/04

Rejected by a girl I’ve liked for over a year.

Day 159 – 26/04

Rejected when wanting to play on stage, “you are the only one” at Bridges for Music.

Day 160 – 27/04

Rejected when asking to change the menu at the camp for a paella that I intended to cook.

161 – 28/04

Rejected when wanting to receive a massage at the first aid tent at Afrika Burn.

162 – 29/04

Rejected when I asked several people to leave the stage where my friend Javi was playing.

Day 163 – 30/04

Rejected when asking to fly on one of the flights from Tankwa Karoo to Cape Town.

Day 164 – 01/05

Rejected by a client when handling a project the way I proposed.

Day 165 – 02/05

Rejected when asking for vegan food at McDonald’s.

Day 166 – 03/05

Rejected by a South African model when asking her out on a date

Day 167 – 04/05

Rejection by a guard when parking in a place reserved for diplomats.

Day 168 – 05/05

Rejection by staff when trying to travel in business class

Day 169 – 06/05

Rejection when asking at a hotel if they could heat a meal I bought at a takeaway service.

Day170 – 07/05

Rejected trying to enter a mosque in Zazníbar.

Day 171 – 08/05

Rejection when wanting to do a yoga class on the terrace of the hotel where I was staying.
Failure when trying to organize the day to take advantage of tourism in the city.
Failure to get up early

Day 172 – 09/05

Rejected when trying to get out of a project.
When trying to organize an event in a hotel in Ibiza.
Failure to try to get someone out of a project.
Failure to operate a team.

Day 173 – 10/05

Rejected when trying to spend a free night in a hotel.
When asking for tips in a bar.
Failure to try to work in a restaurant in exchange for a meal.

Day 174 – 11/05

Rejected by a girl I met on El Viaje and who gave me a spark. I could not tell it more clearly. Rejected when describing her, I’d go wherever she said.
Rejecion by an Uber driver in Dar Es Salaam.

Day 175 – 12/05

Rejected by the Government of Namibia when trying to enter the country without the minimum requirements.

Day 176 – 13/05

Rejected when wanting to spend the night inside the cabin of an airline in an airport.
Rejection by a “Holy Man” to spend a month with him in the desert.
Failure to book a flight that was for the day after, and the one after that.

Day 177 – 14/05

Rejected when trying to order food at home in Windhoek (Namibia)
Rejection by 38 cars when trying to hitchhike at Windhoek airport.

Day 178 – 15/05

Rejected by the person I’m in love with.
When ordering home delivery service here in Namibia.

Day 179- 16/05

Rejected when wanting to enter a restaurant.
When wanting to enter a girls gym in Windhoek.

Day 180 – 17/05

Rejected when wanting to get into a taxi.
Rejected when applying for a master program.

Day 181 – 18/05

Rejected when applying as a teacher in Waldorf.

Day 182 – 19/05

Rejected when jumping in a private pool.
Failure to integrate with a group of people.
Rejected when wanting to kiss a woman.

Day 183 – 20/05

Rejected when wanting to enter a plane when the doors were closing.
Failure when asking not to participate in cleaning tasks because I had to leave before anyone else.

Day 184- 21/05

Failure to manage the team I was leading.
Failure to fast that day.

Day 185 – 22/05

Failure to arrive on time to an event.
Rejected when wanting to extend my participation at an event.

Day 186 – 23/05

Rejected when proposing to the driver to drive me to the train station.
Rejected when trying to pass through the line of diplomats in the Egyptian customs.

Day 187 – 24/05

Rejected when trying pay by card at a restaurant in Cairo.
Rejected when asking to pay after breakfast at a restaurant in Cairo.
Failure to arrive on time for a necessary appointment.

Day 188 – 25/05

Rejection when requesting an extended VISA in the USA.
Rejected when requesting a discount as a resident of a hotel in Gizah.

Day 189 – 26/05

Rejected when a few tourist points didn’t accept my offer as a guide for 80 USD.
Failure to eat healthily and eat clean.
Rejected when running without a shirt around the city of Luxor.
Rejected when trying to order alcohol in Egypt.

Day 190 – 27/05

Rejected when trying to enter a mosque to pray in Egypt.

Day 191 – 28/05

Failure to set up an event.
Failure to launch a project.
Rejected to accept my proposal to take a project forward.

Day 192 – 29/05

Rejected when asking for a scholarship to study.

Day 193 – 30/05

Rejected when taking a photo of the museum in Egypt when it is forbidden to take them.

Day 194 – 31/05

Rejection, by my partners, to carry out a project which I had been working on for months.

Day 195 – 01/06

Rejected when trying to save a person from being fired.

Day 196 – 02/06

Rejected when entering a store, without explanations.
Rejected when wanting to swim in the sea.

Day 197 – 03/06

Rejected when entering FAYER because I did not have an identity card.
Rejected when entering a restaurant because I’m in y running clothes.

Day 198 – 04/06

Rejected when trying to fly with two suitcases.
Rejected when wanting to enter the DJ booth.
Failure to arrive on time for three meetings.
I refuse to advance an interview.

Day 199 – 05/06

Failure to fast that day.
Rejected when applying for a public speaking contest.

Day 200 – 06/06

Rejection when asking to pay for a new car in cryptocurrency.
Failure to fast that day.
Rejected when sending a proposal for a new book.

They have rejected me in every way possible. Rejection in restaurants, in jobs, in universities, academies, clubs. I have been refused by women, friends, men, professionals, and family. I have found rejections expected, unexpected, unthinkable, distinct, and surprising. Also, I have been able to observe my reaction to every rejection or failure. The more days passed, the more I realized, the better I reacted, and the faster I moved, either towards more failures and rejections or a new achievement.

Rejection is like an excuse; the idea of being rejected is worse than it seems. Just like the let downs. Have I gotten in trouble? Yes of course, but it has been great, it has been so worthwhile to see myself in uncomfortable, ridiculous, shameful and uncontrolled situations, which has irremediably made me grow in a precise way in what I most needed to evolve.

Think of each of the items of failures and rejections that you find in this list and the previous ones. Now, realize that for each of these items, I have learned to overcome an unexpected problem or a particular situation. I have obtained a minimum of more than 200 apprenticeships. One for each of the rejections I have thrown myself into, head first.

Conclusions about looking for rejection and failure

To tell you more everything that I have lived and completed during these 200 days facing rejection, I have recorded a video that shows you all about the experiment and experience. The video was going to be logged in Cairo. In the course of The Journey (Part V – Africa) just back from a cruise on the Nile River, but when I began to collect failures and rejections, I realized that I was missing ten days. That’s why I publish the final report and the video, today which was finally recorded yesterday, on the way from Puebla to Mexico City, just a few hours after the event I participated in.

It was a success to start this experiment, which also mentally exhausted me. I have had to pull my self-discipline on many occasions to look for a rejection or failure to date. It has helped me to completely annul the feeling of failure, rejection, indifference, or even the sense of ridiculousness. Seeming, being or speaking absurdly appears to me to be the new “normal.”

Also, even the scorecard is incomplete because I started it at a specific time, and I no longer followed that commitment. It is a good sample for two things, first because there are more than 150 days registered, and second for you to see that I do not always comply and I finish doing it all. And still, the experiment, the results, my life, is still as it should be, not perfect, but neither imperfect.

I have three questions (or tasks, as you want to see it) about facing failures and rejections: What would happen if you had to face a rejection every day for 20 days?

How would you react, and what you would change? What rejections would you expose yourself to?

Photo credit: Alex Michalik // Sarahhasia.

What I learned from 200 days of rejection and failure – a lifestyle experiment