There is a lot of rejection around the world and the natural human instinct is to take it to heart, beat yourself up about it and for most, just give up.

So let's put a bit of a spin on rejection and why it can often be the better outcome than getting the result you want first time, yes as crazy as that sounds, it also makes a lot of sense!

I'm no love doctor and can't help you with ways of the heart, but I can help put your mind straight when it comes to sorting your head out with the world of rejection.  We've all been gone through all different levels of the rejection world, but let's use it for the positive vibes for a change and see just what it did to some people you may have heard of...

Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919 because he editor said Walt 'lacked imagination and had no good ideas', that was Walt Disney!
Lady Gaga was fired from her first major record label after just 3 months!
Michael Jordan was cut by his high school basketball team!
Elvis Presley was told by a concert hall manager that he should go back to driving trucks instead of singing!
If Howard Schultz gave up after being turned down by banks 242 times, there would be no Starbucks!
Albert Einstein was unable to speak until he was 4, read until he was 7 and expelled from school!
Steven Spielberg was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film & Television three times!
J.K Rowling had her first Harry Potter book rejected 12 times by publishers!

Each one of those people were hit by rejection, but they carried on, they tried again and again.  If you've been hit by rejection lately, take a step back, a quick break and start again, you could well be the next big thing!

A few years ago I rediscovered my 'chillout time' with the Xbox, now I'm not a competitive gamer, I don't scream and throw the controller at the TV if I concede a 90th minute goal playing FIFA, I'm not sure the TV would appreciate it and neither would I once the shouting had stopped!

I've also never really ventured into the world of online gaming and whilst playing Grand Theft Auto 5, I said I'd give it a go after completing the 'Story Mode' and go from there.

As the many people will know about the GTA train, it's a money making machine, the production costs were around £170m and that included marketing the beast.  While the game has a bigger budget than some films, the game itself took $800m in one day.  Whilst I'm not a mathematician (far from it!) its safe to say GTA paid for itself!

I'm sure people will agree, the GTA world is very different online compared to the normal game, all the players are loaded up with some serious hardware, speeding around in these flash cars and then there's me who's just standing there on a screen looking back at myself!

After taking out a few online players in a few different sessions and coming to my own death probably more times, it clicked to me that I am just not as in tune to this online gaming as most of the kids were who were sniping me from a distance!

While I will probably go back to trying to finish Assassins Creed Black Flag after this, my priority is definitely continuing to build the empire that is 'Learn Develop Live', but what about all those people playing GTA?  The majority of them are probably school kids, but what about the adults who could spend all day playing games?  Yes it's great that on GTA you have $5m, three properties, ten cars, a rocket launcher and a helicopter, but what about when you leave that online world?  Or when you move onto the next game?  What if the time you spent playing the Xbox was spent making something of your own?

​You have the power and energy to try and make something in the real world existence, I'm not saying throw your Xbox in a skip, but I want you to want more from yourself and make something that shows what you're capable of, not that you've got a pixelated private jet that you can only fly in GTA, what about having your own real jet of your own made of real metal.. why not??

​Originally posted - September 2016

I was at Borehamwood FC's Meadow Park last night to watch the Arsenal u23 team play in the newly formed Premier League 2.  I've been an Arsenal fan all my life which hasn't been easy at times I can tell you!  So, the chance to go and see the team you support surely can not be passed up.

It was a home match against the Everton u23 team and there was a bigger crowd than I thought there would be, it was free entry so that probably helped!

With Arsenal playing Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup tonight, it is tradition that Arsenal play a second string side with some youth players mixed it and with at least eight or so involved, it that explains why so many of the regular Academy first team players weren't playing against Everton... they were sorely missed!

The story about the game is that Arsenal played like a group of 11 individuals whereas Everton were a solid team, they ran all over them, constantly moving forward, calling for every ball, working for each other.  When the final whistle blew, it's probably best it only ended 5-0 to Everton and not more!

Now I'm not saying I could have played any better last night (bad knee and all that plus I'm not under the age of 23!)  But last night was a massive opportunity for some of these kids who may not often get a chance but last night they did.

So what is the message here if you haven't already guessed, you are smart people after all!  If you are given a chance to do something new or an opportunity at work comes up or how about something towards your dream? As Nike would say, 'Just Do It!'  

If you don't take that chance, I can promise you, you will probably regret it and if you take it, the least you'll get is a bit of experience you didn't have before.

If I didn't take that chance, I'd have never started 'Learn Develop Live!

A Stage 3 Induction session for my recent job of 8 months, the power of learning is obvious and can lead to many possibilities.

Being sat at a table in a small group and getting 15 minutes or so with a Director or Deputy gave us the chance to fire all sorts of questions at them in a no holds barred Question and Answer session.

It was interesting to learn how people got to where they wanted to be, the ideas they had and how where ended up today wasn't in the plan at all!

The point of this is to say, why don't you go learn something new?  Network a bit and see what opportunities you can open up for yourself.
Does it matter how big or small it is?  As Spiderman has said, "With great knowledge, comes great power".  Thanks Spiderman for your words of wisdom!
​
Broaden your horizons, build up your knowledge and see where you end up!