但更多的是拒绝信。

如果你经过精心计划并为之努力，在你期望录取信的时候收到拒绝信会让你觉得遭遇了难以逾越的挫折。可是你不应该有这样的感觉。

弗吉尼亚州大学政治中心（University of Virginia’s Center for Politics）主任拉里·萨巴托(Larry Sabato)表示: “问问任何成功的人，他们是如何到达顶端的。他们如果据实相告，就会承认在他们大红大紫之前，一路上遭受了许多失败。”

以沃伦·巴菲特(Warren Buffett)为例。他被认为是世界上最成功的投资者和最富有的人之一。在他年轻的时候，他打算上哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)。但这个计划以一封拒绝信告终。然而他将那次拒绝视为一生中一个转折性的事件。他进入了另一个以前没有考虑过的商学院。他说，他在那里他找到了决定了自己职业生涯的一些导师。巴菲特对《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal) 表示：“在我的一生中发生的所有我当时认为是巨大打击的事件，最后都变成了有益的事件。”

史蒂芬·斯皮尔伯格(Steven Spielberg)导演了32部电影，成为电影票房最高的导演。但是他最初向南加州大学(University of Southern California)电影学院递交的入学申请遭到拒绝，而且不是一次，而是两次。于是斯皮尔伯格从电影行业的低收入工作开始，直到他说服了一个电影工作室给他一个机会。

萨巴托说：“请记住这一点：你无法赢得你没有参加的比赛。持之以恒。继续尝试。每一次经历，甚至是不成功的经历，可以帮助你下一次做得更好一点。”

如何爬起来继续前进

如果你最近在你的学业或事业中受挫，请考虑乔伊斯·E·A·罗素(Joyce E.A. Russell)的以下建议，规划自己的下一步行动。罗素为《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post) 撰写“职业教练”(“Career Coach”)专栏，并在马里兰大学的罗伯特·H·史密斯商学院(Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland)任教。

不要掩饰自己的失望情绪

罗素说：“失望是正常的。”她建议，在受到挫折时，到户外活动活动。 “即使只是散步或跑步也会让你的大脑腾出空间。你不要立即开始行动规划。先放一放，然后再找时间重新认识这个问题，问问自己，‘我能从中学到些什么？’”

评估挫折

罗素说：“你应该自己尝试找出你没有成功的原因。但你也应该问问在你申请的领域工作的人，从他们那里得到反馈。” 如果你无法联系决策者找出为什么你的申请没有成功，可以尝试联系那些被你所申请的项目录取的人，征求他们的意见。

不断完善自己

罗素说：“成功的运动员和成功的商人有很多相似之处。”他们不仅坚持不懈，而且他们坚持努力，不断进步。“如果你一再递交申请，但是你的简历看不出有什么突出之处，那么你还是不会成功。成功的商人和运动员总是不断完善自己，不断地努力提高自己。”

Even the most accomplished people suffer setbacks. Here’s how to bounce back.

For many young adults, it’s the time of year for decisions. Colleges, graduate schools and many fellowships will soon be sending out letters accepting applicants.

They’ll send out many more rejections.

If you’ve made careful plans and worked hard, getting a rejection when you expected an acceptance can feel like you’ve suffered an insurmountable setback. But you shouldn’t feel that way.

“Ask any successful person how they got to the top,” said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, “and if they’re honest, they will admit suffering loads of losses along the way before their big break happened.”

Take the example of Warren Buffett, considered one of the most successful investors and one of the wealthiest men in the world. His plan to attend Harvard Business School as a young man ended with a rejection letter. Yet today he sees that rejection as a pivotal incident in his life. It led him to another business school he hadn’t previously considered, where he found the mentors he says shaped his career. “Everything that has happened in my life that I thought was a crushing event at the time,” Buffett told the Wall Street Journal, “has turned out for the better.”

Steven Spielberg’s path to directing 32 films and becoming the top-grossing director in movies began with not one, but two rejections from the film school at the University of Southern California. So Spielberg took low-paying jobs in the film industry until he was able to convince a studio to take a chance on him.

“Just remember this:” said Sabato, “You can’t win a race you don’t enter. Persevere. Keep trying. Every experience, even — or especially — an unsuccessful one, helps you to do a bit better the next time.”

How you can move forward

If you recently suffered a setback in your education or career, consider these tips from Joyce E.A. Russell and plan your next move. Russell writes the “Career Coach” column for the Washington Post and teaches at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

Don’t gloss over your disappointment

“It’s natural to be disappointed,” Russell said. Upon receiving a setback, she recommends, get outside for physical activity. “Even if it’s just a walk or a run, it’ll free up your brain. You’re not going to immediately start action-planning. Separate from it, then find when to come back to it and say, ‘Can I learn something from this?’”

Assess the setback

“You should try to identify for yourself the reasons you weren’t successful,” Russell said, “but you should also get feedback from people in the field you’re applying to.” If you don’t have access to the decisionmakers to find out why your application wasn’t successful, try to contact people who have been accepted to the program you’re applying to for advice.

Keep training

“There are a lot of parallels between people who are successful as athletes and people who are successful in business,” Russell said. Not only are they persistent, but they are continually working to get better. “If you keep applying, but your resume doesn’t look any different, that’s not going to get you there. People who are successful in business or as athletes are constantly training, constantly trying to improve themselves.”