The Best 6 Ways To Deal With Rejection As An Artist

The Best 6 Ways To Deal With Rejection As An Artist Transcript

00:00:00 – 00:20:26

What’s up gang. I’m Rob level. First off, thanks for watching this video. Today I’m going to tell you six ways to deal with rejection as a music artist. This is something that I believe literally every person experiences and has to learn how to deal with if they are creative. So this isn’t even just for music artists, but music is the most necessary form of art, isn’t it?

00:21:03 – 00:37:14

You can’t lie. Here’s the thing. Even if somebody seems like they’re really successful right now, if they real, not just seems but they are, you know, they had to deal with this in the past and they’re probably, to some degree still dealing with this right now. Successful people don’t exactly put the stuff that they’re struggling with out there.

00:37:15 – 00:58:07

They don’t always do that. Right. But passed a certain point. A lot of artists careers are managed to handle by people who aren’t them, and they need to get permission from their team and label to do stuff they want to do. And they are shot down if their idea is deemed off brand. You know, this is rejection too, and it’s a part of life no matter what level of success that you’re in.

00:58:08 – 01:17:15

Even Mark Cuban gets rejected on Shark Tank when people take a different deal. Are you serious? All right. That’s a form of rejection. If they don’t take his deal. Learning how to understand and handle rejection, will set you free from a lot of negative situations. And that’s what I want on this video. I also want you to know how to deal with criticism and how to get feedback, because a lot of times rejection is just feedback.

01:17:18 – 01:35:09

I’m not saying to become a monster who never listens to anything that anyone says, but you know, honestly, because they used to be me. And trust me, you don’t want to go that route because you’re so blocked off from everything. You need to learn how to take this rejection as something that’s going to propel you forward, rejection into progression.

01:35:09 – 01:52:07

All right. Because as an artist, our music is very important to us in having to be rejected. It is almost harder than ourselves being rejected. Like the music itself. Being rejected is like it’s it’s more painful, isn’t it? This is the worst. And while critical or negative feedback can really be hard to deal with, you’re going to need to be able to deal with it If you want to be as successful as people you look up to.

01:52:07 – 02:08:17

You’re going to have to not only deal with it, you’re going to have to be able to take it, take that advice and use it to make yourself better. That’s what a smart artist does. Lets go ahead and get into this. Rejection is kind of like anytime something bad happens in your life, it really, really sucks that go through.

02:08:17 – 02:20:11

But at the end of the day, you have to admit that you learn from it and that you grew in that you changed as a person in terms of what you could handle afterwards, and you just get stronger. It’s where the more struggle you go through, the better, right? Something good came out of something bad. It always does.

02:20:12 – 02:30:10

And here’s what this shirt says. See that curse and make it a blessing. This is one of mine, I made this, it’s actually a mess up that’s why it looks like that but I like it. You know, you need to have that mindset. Every curse is a blessing. You need to apply that feedback that people give you in your music.

02:30:10 – 02:43:17

Now, it may be difficult to hear it, but if you can get through it, you’re going to be better for it and all the lessons that you learn from it. I number one, it’s not all about you. A lot of times our music means so much to us that we don’t realize it doesn’t mean that much to other people.

02:43:27 – 03:02:26

That is okay. It’s not a reflection on you and how much your music matters. It’s just a reflection of them and their priority to take someone’s words too seriously. In a way, it makes you feel bad about yourself when they probably didn’t mean it like that at all. Thank you. Psychologists say that 80 to 90% of things that people say to each other every single day is usually about themselves.

03:02:28 – 03:21:11

Think about it. If you say, Hey, I like that shirt, if you see someone wearing a blue shirt, it’s not because you think that they look good. It’s because you like the color blue, right? Chances are. It’s 90% about you and your likes, 10% about the fact that they’re wearing a blue shirt. Yet a lot of people get a lot of their confidence from things that other people say to them.

03:21:12 – 03:37:12

That’s why it’s a really dangerous cycle. So I’m going to help you with it. So someone says that they don’t like your song or rejects you from a project or an audition or a meeting. It’s mostly about them. It’s not about you, it’s about what they are specifically looking for. At that time, the quality of your work doesn’t necessarily enter into that decision.

03:37:13 – 03:57:18

This is super important to keep in mind whenever you’re submitting yourself for things, getting rejected and feeling crappy about it, just because you didn’t qualify for the very specific thing that they needed at that point in time. It doesn’t mean that your work does not have worth. It does not mean that you aren’t going anywhere. You’re just not going on there project right now because you don’t specifically fit the thing that they need.

03:57:18 – 04:16:17

Number two, you’re bigger than this. One thing, remember, is that one rejection or even many rejections doesn’t really have anything to do with your self-worth and the meaning your life and your work has as an artist and the way that it affects our world. I mean, look at the lady who made Harry Potter. There’s so many different stories like this, but, you know, like she was rejected so many times.

04:16:17 – 04:37:20

People used to laugh at her when she tell them that she had dreams of getting published with this kind of book. Now, billionaire. Okay. She had a giant castle that was up. Right. So just keep in mind that it takes a lot of no sometimes for the biggest yeses to come along. Rejection is part of the process. That being said, it’s really easy to let one negative thing make you feel 100% worthlessness or even cause you or make you feel like giving up, which is not good.

04:37:20 – 04:53:08

And that’s again, another reason why I’m making this video. Think of that one negative thing as a pebble. Okay, But you’re the ocean. You have so much to offer in so many huge, interesting ways. One single pebble won’t change any of that or that reality. It’s just the pebbles. Even the even the greats fall. They’re so high up when they fall, they fall hard.

04:53:08 – 05:08:19

The amount of time that you stay down, that’s up to you. Okay. Oh, God. Really quick. If you could hit subscribe button for me. I really appreciate it. Growing this channel allows me to help more artists like you and me so that we can keep getting further, faster together. That’s it. Let’s go back to video.

05:08:19 – 05:27:16

Number three don’t give up all of your power when someone rejects you or your music. You know, it’s easy to say that they are completely right. My stuff is garbage and I’ll never be anything. And when you do that, you’re giving them an awful lot of power in your life. You’re basically acting like that person is an expert in all music, opinions and decisions and taste or the leader of what everyone will like.

05:27:16 – 05:48:25

And they’re not. Most people have no educated opinion on music. They’re just using their basic common sheep ears. All right. Which has its own place in feedback, trust me. But by letting one person’s opinion destroy you, you’re tearing yourself down. You see what I’m saying? I mean, I’ve done this a tremendous amount of times. Very painful, you know, but their opinion, whether it’s rejection, criticism or feedback on your music, it’s just their opinion.

05:48:25 – 06:07:19

It starts and ends with them. The minute you let someone make you feel bad about your music that you worked hard on, you’re making a mistake. Number four, keep your perspective. Okay? Your perspective. Now this one is more about dealing with criticism. What it also applies to rejection. I want you to think about the person giving you that opinion.

06:07:19 – 06:26:05

Do you respect that person? No, because I got to say, I deal with trolls and people. You know, there’s people online, right? And there’s people who are negative in comments and stuff like that. Here are ways to deal with that. Unless you know and respect the person who’s giving the feedback, criticism, negativity just don’t care, right?

06:26:05 – 06:39:29

If you don’t respect the person, why would you care about their opinion if it’s just negative? Who is this person? Who cares? So when you’re dealing with this, remember to look at the source and decide whether or not that opinion deserves to hold as much weight as you’re letting it. Because there are people who tell you that your music is bad even when it’s not bad.

06:40:04 – 06:55:15

They just want to make you feel bad. Sometimes they are saying it because they’re jealous, you have a passion and you’re following it and they wish that they would have taken and tried to do it too, so that jealousy and negativity bubbles up inside of them and their life just sucks. I mean, it happens. It just bubbles up and they spit it all out over you and try to make you feel bad.

06:55:15 – 07:12:10

But really, though, these people are just bums, right? Trying to bring you down to their level so they feel less alone. Don’t fall for this. Don’t fall for this. Number five, stop seeing people as the enemy. When someone is rejecting you or giving you feedback or criticism on your music, it’s very easy to feel attacked and like you’re on the defensive.

07:12:10 – 07:27:27

I used to be like that all the time, but this means that you’re having to defend your music and defend yourself to this person. But why? If someone is taking time to listen to your song or give feedback on it, or you submitted your song to a contest or whatever and you got rejected, the people rejected you, the people who gave you the feedback, they’re not necessarily your enemy.

07:27:27 – 07:42:22

Probably are not your enemy, right? They’re very likely. They could likely be your friends and your family, or they’re part of an organization or an institution that you may still want to be a part of one day. Right. Taking out your angry feelings on either of these kinds of people is not going to do you any favors, both personally and professionally.

07:42:23 – 08:00:23

It’s much more valuable to shift your manner of thinking so that these people do not become your enemy or an attacker in your universe. Think you probably know what I’m talking about right now. This is very common. Instead of that, like imagine yourself in their shoes, they’re taking time to listen to a song and giving their honest feedback the same way that you would do for a friend who needed a second opinion on the music.

08:00:23 – 08:15:18

Now, if you took the time to listen to a friend’s song and then gave them your honest feedback about it and they blew up at you and yelled at you and told you that you didn’t know anything and that you’re I mean, that would be a crazy reaction, right? Don’t be the crazy person when you don’t need to be that at all.

08:15:18 – 08:30:01

Plus, the feedback might actually be useful if you’re looking for the silver lining in it. All right. Maybe they give you an idea you didn’t have before. Number six, I know you’ll watch a lot of my videos, but stop thinking that you know everything. I’ve read over 750 books now, and I still don’t know jack. Everyone can still learn.

08:30:01 – 08:43:06

Everyone is getting better every day. And the moment you cut yourself off from real feedback, you’re cutting yourself off from the change in the ability to get better. And I wish I knew this sooner. Why would you do that to yourself? The only way that you’re going to make it is if you get better and better every single day.

08:43:07 – 08:59:21

Every single day. Just you just get closer, You push further and this counts for rejection, too. If you get rejected from something, it’s probably because you’re not ready to be there yet. Okay. To be honest, if you’re not ready to be there, you don’t want to be there. You’ll just make mistakes because subliminally, you know, you’re not ready and you’ll find ways to mess it up.

08:59:28 – 09:19:19

All right. Take the lesson. If someone gives you feedback that your song sounds outdated, old like its from the nineties, they’re probably just trying to do you a favor. And why would that even come to mind if it wasn’t something they really felt they’re going to try to help bring you into a more contemporary sound so that you go further, faster, stop thinking you know everything, or that you are the expert because you’re not.

09:19:19 – 09:40:18

No one is. That’s what’s cool about opinions too. Everyone has one, but no one has it exactly right. It’s subjective. It’s people’s opinions based on their taste. But that doesn’t mean that they may not have some really cool ideas to take what works for you and leave the rest behind. But don’t let it make you feel a certain way or get you down about your potential, because that’s literally the opposite of what they’re trying to do.

09:40:24 – 10:08:07

Right. Hope this give you some inspiration and some motivation. Don’t reject yourself, okay? And not all rejection is bad. Please remember to subscribe. I got plenty more videos coming for you. Three new videos a week. I’m Rob level This is Smart Rapper keep hustling gang and I’ll see you top.