Why (and how) I'm trying to get 1,000 rejections in 2026

A few weeks ago, I saw someone on social media talking about the “1,000 rejections challenge” that she started in 2025. At first, I thought it sounded horrible. I spent almost all of last year chasing “yeses,” and each rejection I received came with its own little sting.

Sure, I accomplished some things in 2025, like launching this newsletter and a freelance writing business, but I didn’t get close to making up the lost income from being DOGE’d and losing my federal job. The full time job market was even more brutal. Truthfully, I ended 2025 pretty dejected about my career prospects.

But after seeing that girl’s TikTok about all the cool things she’d applied for and actually gotten, and the excitement at all the rejections she’d received, I realized this might be something cool to try myself in 2026.

I posted about the idea and tracking my progress here on Substack, and a ton of you were excited about it (hello and welcome to all the new subscribers joining Throughlines from this note!).

So, here we are. Let’s get into it!

Entrepreneur Jia Jiang introduced the concept of “Rejection Therapy” to a larger audience in 2015 with this TedTalk about his “100 days of rejection.” Jiang desensitized himself to the pain and shame that rejection often brings and, in the process, discovered that simply asking for what you want can open up possibilities where you expect to find dead ends.

This newsletter itself exists in part because I wanted to try out some “exposure therapy” by exposing myself to the uncomfortable feeling of writing emotionally vulnerable essays and publishing them for the whole Internet to see. As many other writers will attest, this action is terrifying. But it gets so much easier the more you do it.

Why wouldn’t that same logic work for rejection?

Also central to my decision to do the 1,000 Rejections Challenge was my ADHD diagnosis that I received last year. With that diagnosis came quite a few discoveries, including that people with ADHD are more likely to experience rejection sensitivity. I was like, oh, so not only can I not pay attention to anything, but I also am predisposed to having a harder time with rejection? GREAT. COOL.

Whether or not you have a ✨mental condition✨ that predisposes you to heightened rejection sensitivity, you probably aren’t a fan of rejection either.

So, in 2026, we’re turning our perception of rejection on its head. We’re celebrating each “no” because it represents our effort to better ourselves, to make more money, to put ourselves out there creatively, and to build the life we really want.

I encourage you to start this challenge with me, and whether your goal is 1,000, 500, or even just 10 rejections, we can all celebrate our rejections together and become more confident in 2026!

The challenge is entirely customizable to your goals this year. Personally, I will be prioritizing the following actions:

• Writing residency applications

• Job/freelance work applications

• Poetry publishing submissions

• Cold outreach (to other authors, potential employers, or anyone I’d like to learn from or work with)

• Social plans (I have a habit of waiting to be invited to things rather than initiating myself)

• Posting vulnerable or “cringe” writing/social media (I am still sometimes battling the idea that everything I write is cringe and that posting poetry/personal essays online is embarrassing, while I never feel the same way about others’ work. I know some of y’all can relate.)

I’ll be tracking all of this in a spreadsheet—you can grab a copy of it at the end of this post. As you can see, my rejection count is already at 6 with some job and residency applications rolling in from things I applied for last year. Starting off strong.

Beginning in February, at the end of each month you’ll receive a “Rejection Report,” which will include:

• My rejection count for the month/year (woo!)

• Any feelings that came up around the rejections I received, good or bad

• A description of any acceptances or “yes” results I may have gotten (yay!)

• Reflections on the process: what’s working, what’s not working, what surprises I’ve found along the way

• An invitation to celebrate your own rejections and have a conversation about what the process has looked like for you so far

I’m using spreadsheet to track my 1,000 rejections, complete with an auto-updating goal tracker, a to-do-list, and of course a place to document all your rejections and acceptances. As a little extra for my fellow writers, I also included a tab with a list I made of 30+ writing residencies with upcoming deadlines and other important info. Grab your own customizable copy here:

1,000 Rejections Tracker

I’m so excited to see what new opportunities arise for all of us this year!

Here’s to a more positive, proactive, and rejection-filled 2026 😉

Let’s get through this together.

xoxo Ashley