What last year’s “no’s” are trying to tell you
Welcome to the Dojo!
Happy New Year—and welcome to 2026.
If you’re starting the year with a mix of motivation and exhaustion, you’re not alone. For many founders, the end of the year brings reflection… and sometimes frustration. Missed opportunities. Rejections. Deals that almost happened.
I want to share a story and a framework that’s been on my mind lately—and that I believe can help you start this year with more clarity and confidence.
On the Mat
- Let’s Train: Reveal. Refine. Redirect.
- Ask Feras: How do I keep going when it feels like I’m failing?
- Sharpen The Blade: Handling rejection in pricing
Let's Train
As we step into 2026, it’s tempting to treat last year as something to close the book on. Especially if 2025 included rejections, slow growth, deals that didn’t close, or plans that didn’t quite work.
But here’s the reframe I want to offer you as the year begins:
Rejection isn’t failure. It’s direction.
Looking back on my own journey, some of the most important shifts in my businesses didn’t come from wins — they came from “no’s.” Rejected proposals. Missed deals. Feedback that stung more than it should have.
Over time, I noticed a pattern.
Rejection reveals.
It exposes weaknesses in your offer, message, or approach. Early on, I lost deals not because the work wasn’t good, but because I wasn’t showing value clearly enough. Those losses forced me to tighten how I presented, positioned, and packaged what we did.
Rejection refines.
It clarifies who you should be serving — and who you shouldn’t. When prospects asked, “Have you worked in our space?” I learned quickly that surface-level knowledge wasn’t enough. Studying industries deeply and speaking their language changed everything.
Rejection redirects.
Some of the best outcomes in my career came after Plan A failed. A hire that didn’t work in one role later became instrumental in another. A closed door forced a pivot that opened a much better one.
Reveal. Refine. Redirect.
That’s the loop.
If you’re building a consulting business — or trying to scale the one you already have — chances are you’ll hear more “no’s” this year. The goal isn’t to avoid them. It’s to use them as data.
As you plan for 2026, don’t rush past last year’s disappointments. Review them. What didn’t work? What needs refining? What’s trying to redirect you?
The martial arts parallel still applies: you don’t quit after a failed throw. You reset your stance — and step back on the mat.
Ask Feras Recap
🔥The Challenge
“Feras, I’ve been reaching out to dozens of prospects and getting nothing but silence or flat rejections. How do I keep going when it feels like I’m failing before I’ve even started?”
🛠️ What I Told Them:
I know that feeling personally; after being a "big shot" tech VP, I started my first business in 2003 and spent my first day knocking on the doors of local restaurants to sell basic websites. I was met with five rejections in a single day from owners who told me my service was a "waste of money," leaving my partner and me devastated for two days.
Instead of quitting, we wrote down every single objection we heard and developed better answers to memorize for the next pitch. It took seven weeks of grinding before we finally landed that first $1,400 client, but that validated that I could actually sell. Rejection is simply part of the journey; you have to use every "no" to refine your message until you find the "yes" that kickstarts your momentum.
Sharpen Your Blade
As we head into a new year, one practical area where rejection often shows up is pricing—especially for consultants.
If you’ve struggled with pushback or second-guessing your rates, I recorded a focused video on hourly pricing: when it works, when it doesn’t, and how to use it without undercutting yourself.
Let’s make 2026 the year you stop interpreting “no” as failure—and start using it as direction.
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