"Get out of your comfort zone."Take no for an answer."Do something every day that makes you feel uncomfortable."
If you've spent any time on social media you'll be used to seeing these motivational memes.And you might have been seeing more recently thanks to the "rejection therapy" trend The most basic version involves pushing yourself to make a silly request or ask a question that'S almost certain to get turned down. Do it enough times, the theory goes, and you'l desensitise yourself to rejection and boost your confidence.
Others take it further, performing wacky, harmless stunts that wil attract attention-and possible judgement from strangers-in public.While it's not an officially recognised form of therapy,some people will tell you it's changed their lives.
But,professionals tell BBCNewsbeat,it's not for everyone One person who swears by rejection therapy is Sophie Jones.
The 22-year-old from Warrington says she was inspired to tryit because she was always scared to speak up at work or make plans with friends she says she quickly learned that you might not always get the response you expect "I've realised that people do not like to reject other people," she says "It is very rare thatl've got astraight-up'no from somebody-lalways get an awkward laugh or, like, a 'why?'"
Sophie actually jumped in at the deep end when she first tried rejection therapy in May this year.She filmed herself dancing in a public park something that would normally have terrified her As her comfort zone quickly expanded she began to care less about what others thought of her judgement from people," she says "My whole mindset has changed."
Sophie now regularly posts videos on TikTok of her challenging herself in increasingly eye-catching ways That's included painting herself green and walking around busy areas, and her most popular upload, where she stands in the middle of an aeroplane and loudly tells the other passengers to "have a good flight", got 16 million views.
The awkward silence afterwards would once have mortified her, but not any more"l just really don't stay up at night thinking about what the people think about me any more, which is obviously really lovely," says Sophie Dr Louise Goddard-Crawley is apsychologist specialisingin attachment and relationships She says she's cautious about rejection therapy "understand the idea of intentionally seeking out rejection to lose the fear of it," she says "It can help to build resilience. But it doesn't rejection.lt could have the opposite effect and make you retreat alittle bit more into that comfort zone." Clinical psychologist Dr Jake Easto points out
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