This piece by Robert Glazer in his Friday Forward was sent to us by Bob Burg, and I had to write about it. 

Two True Stories About the Same Year
by Andrea Waltz 

Robert Glazer told two completely different stories about the same year, 2025, and both of them are true. 

One version is filled with rejection. 

Hundreds of podcast pitches turned down. 

Dozens of companies passing on bulk book orders and speaking opportunities. 

A bestseller goal missed. 

Angry emails. Unsubscribes. 

Sounds pretty discouraging and defeating.

Then he tells the other version. 

Tens of thousands of books sold in weeks. 

His strongest book launch ever. 

A top ten spot on the USA Today bestseller list. 

More speaking engagements and podcast appearances than ever before. 

Messages from people he had never met saying his work mattered to them. 

Sound like an obvious success.

Remember: same year. Both stories are true. Glazer summarized his wild year in saying:

"The only way to open the door to more success is to invite more rejection."

That sentence is about as on point as you can get for us, right? 

It's also the part too many people try to skip. We want the second story without fully living through the first one. Most people also aren't as open about sharing that first part of the story - which I loved.

It's the perfect reframing of rejection. 

The nos are not a sign that something was wrong. They were a byproduct of putting himself in enough rooms, conversations, and opportunities for the yeses to develop. 

In a funny, weird way - and I'm no math wizard here - but all the unsubscribes, annoyed replies made his success statistically possible!

The people who get the most yeses are the ones who stayed willing to hear no long enough for the math to work in their favor.

"While there’s a time for studying what's worked for other people, there are moments when you have to go all in on what makes you unique." - Alex Banayan