By Resilience Speaker, Jamie Mason Cohen
1. It builds grit: To put yourself out there over and over and be met with rejection or even worse, indifference, can create disappointment or build grit. It’s a choice one way or the other each time. The mental energy it takes to pull oneself up each time can’t help but make you mentally stronger to deal with obstacles in other areas of your life.
It prepared me for becoming a professional speaker because the process is similar.
2. Negative Visualization: The opportunities that don’t happen are sometimes the biggest life breaks: If I would have stayed in New York and my visa didn’t expire, I may have stayed there over the long term and not moved back to Toronto. By doing so, I may have never met my wife, Karen.
3. The Skills Developed along the Journey
One project, in particular, Mr.B, was almost made twice — once at the CBC in Canada, and once at Broadway Video in New York. It was never made. See image below with Mr.B in prison visitation room.
In the process of working on it for two decades, on and off, I learned how to pitch an idea, how to write a treatment, how to better judge whom I would partner with when to let go, what kind of creative ideas match my values, and how to interview people.
