Seen At 11: Embrace The Sting Of Rejection And Watch It Pay Dividends

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Everyone has felt the sting of rejection at some point in their life, but what if we learned to embrace it, and use it to our advantage?

One California man has done just that, and is seeing the payoff of rejection rewards.

Jia Jiang's requests might seem outrageous -- like the time he asked a stranger to borrow $100.

He also tried to score a hotel room at no charge -- it was part of a 100-day rejection challenge that set him up to be turned down each and every day.

He tried to get a haircut at PetSmart, and once asked for unlimited burgers.

There's serious reason for the challenge. Jiang said he was always afraid of rejection, so he decided to face it head on. In the process, he said it lost its power over him.

"The whole challenge idea is you go look for rejection instead of running away from rejection," he said. "The fear of rejection is a lot worse than the real rejection."

Psychologist Dr. Jeptha Tausig said Jiang is on to something -- that people can miss out because they fear rejection.

"It limits someone's willingness to risk, to try things, to put themselves out there," Dr. Tausig explained.

Jiang said the more he was rejected, the more determined he became to reach his goals, and said it can work for others.

"You're going to start using rejection as motivation, and eventually it will become your friend," he said.

Along the way Jiang also found some pretty surprising yeses.

A police officer let him sit in his cruiser and an airline gave him the okay to make a flight announcement.

He said the challenge also showed him the world is a kinder place than you might think.

"If you open yourself up to the world then the world will open itself up to you," he said.