Every rejection email is proof you were in the game. The people with zero rejections never played.

A rejection only exists because you put yourself somewhere you could be told no. A clean record usually means nothing was attempted, not that everything worked. None of that makes the no feel better; it just means the count is measuring participation rather than worth.

Keep them somewhere instead of deleting them. Once a month, look at the pile and ask what the next application will do differently. Volume and adjustment together are what eventually move the ratio.