In our Sketch Your Inner Self program, we explored several TED Talks and turned them into Sketchnotes. The one that hit home for me was What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection by Jia Jiang.

The topic resonated with me so deeply that I bought his book, Rejection Proof, immediately. I practically binge-read it!

In my opinion, both the talk and the book are hidden gems. Jia’s “research” helps us understand rejection on a much deeper level. One line from the book perfectly captures the essence of his journey:

“I started my rejection journey with a very straightforward goal: to overcome rejection so that I could become free to take more risks… But in the end, the biggest surprise of my journey was how much overcoming rejection would change my inner world—the way that I experience both the world and myself. Inside, I have found a sense of freedom and peace.”

To be honest, I hadn’t heard of Jia Jiang until this program, so a huge thank you to Kumar Ahir (@letsketchin) for including it in the curriculum. Since diving into this topic, I’ve already started handling rejection better—both at work and in my personal life.

I highly recommend you check it out. You can see my Sketchnote of the talk.

What other topics should I learn about and Sketchnote next? Drop your recommendations in the comments!