The Road to 1,000 Rejections: January Report

pssst: wondering why I’m writing about rejection? Start here:

Hello and welcome back to Throughlines!

I hope that wherever you are in the world, you’re staying warm. This past week a winter storm hit a large swath of the country, including the DC area. I will say that after growing up in Minnesota, DC’s snow and ice removal abilities are TRASH.

Speaking of Minnesota and ICE (see what I did there), please take a look at last week’s essay on Minneapolis—I included a long list of ways to support Minnesotans in their time of need. I’d love it if you considered donating to any of them.

I also will be donating all Throughlines revenue from January and February to some of the below GoFundMe accounts.

I know that nonprofits like the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee are getting a lot of (much needed!) support, but I want to also make sure we’re putting money in the hands of individuals and families who really need it to stay afloat right now.

I’ll be posting receipts for all paid subscribers at the end of February. If you’d like to help support this effort, you can update your subscription below. Thanks so much in advance ♡

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Now, let’s get into the reason you’re all here: The 1,000 Rejections Challenge.

It’s funny (and a bit humbling) to me that my most-read Substack post to date is one that I wrote sort of on a whim, in response to a trend I saw on social media. Trying not to read too much into that 🫠

But the people have spoken: in the span of two weeks, hundreds of you have downloaded the 1,000 Rejections Challenge tracker that I created. From that data and all the comments I received from people committing to this 2026 challenge, I know I’m in good company here.

If you haven’t joined the challenge yet, there’s still time! Or, if you’re just a lurker along for the ride (respect, I get it), allow me to give y’all the January update.

1,000 Rejections Challenge: January by the numbers

Rejection count: 11

“No Response” count: 10

Acceptance count: 2

Pending (interview stage) count: 1

To make things slightly easier on myself (I am going for 1,000 of these, after all), I’m counting my “No Response” towards my goal. So, for progress purposes, I have 21 rejections and two acceptances. That brings my Goal Completion to 2.1% (yikes) and my Acceptance Rate to 18.18% (yay!).

This challenge has already brought me some new & exciting opportunities 🎉

I had little to no expectations when I started this challenge, but after the first few weeks, I am loving this new reframe of rejection. I don’t feel the same dread while applying for jobs, and I’m having fun dreaming up new random things I can apply for.

Notably, though not a rejection or application, this challenge already led me to a new frontier: Throughlines has officially made the news!

A reporter from CNBC reached out to interview me about the challenge and wrote this fun article on how people are reframing rejection in their careers. (If you became a subscriber from that article, hello and welcome!)

I landed a new contract writing job that randomly came my way from a recruiter who had my resume from a job I had applied to (and been rejected from) months ago. This experience emphasized the importance of compounding effort: putting yourself out there and getting those rejections may lead to an even better opportunity in the future. Although the role is only guaranteed for the next couple of months, it’s really interesting, technical, and fun in a way I’ve not experienced before as a writer!

I received a very exciting acceptance into a writing residency earlier this week. I applied to a bunch of writing residencies last fall, most of which I’ve either been rejected from or not heard back from. But earlier this week, I screamed when I saw that “Congratulations!” in my inbox. My lips are sealed until I get a little more information, but I can’t wait to tell y’all more about this.

The most “out there” thing I applied for so far is to be a “Content Creator” at SXSW. They wanted people to have over 10k followers on any given platform…am I anywhere close to that? Not at all. Do I have several hundred subscribers on Substack? Yes. Maybe that counts for something, who knows! I think I can get way more creative than that, though—stay tuned for next month.

A little reminder before you go forth and apply

I want to emphasize that January has felt strangely productive for me, but the fruits of my labor this month come after almost a full year of rejections. I was DOGE’d last February—yes, almost exactly a year ago—and although I did manage to snag some freelance projects, I did not have a month this “good” in all of 2025.

This era genuinely feels like an entire year of hard work is starting to pay off, and without getting too “woo-woo,” I do believe that the mindset switch around chasing rejections is helping, if only with my own very tenuous mental state.

So if this whole post made you feel some type of way, please remember that 1) we are still so early in the year, 2) we are in one of the worst job markets ever recorded, especially in the DC area, and 3) everybody has different goals.

Maybe you’re trying to make more friends. Maybe you’re trying to ask one person for help every week. Maybe you’re trying to book a role in a commercial or a TV show.

Whatever you’re trying to do, I encourage you to go after it and embrace all those rejections with as much fervor as you do the “yeses.”

And for those of you going on this journey with me, sound off in the comments: How are things going for you so far? Where is your rejection count at for 2026? Let’s celebrate the uncomfortable together!

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Rejection is hard. Let’s get through it together.

xoxo Ashley