It’s Just Not Working

Have you ever hit that moment where you think, why isn’t this working?

You’ve done the work.
You’ve followed the process.
You’ve put in the effort.

And still… nothing.

In this episode, Sharon unpacks why silence is not failure, why quiet results don’t mean you’re not good enough, and why business often asks for more refinement, more consistency, and more courage before momentum kicks in. Using a real-life story, this is a grounded reminder that when something isn’t working yet, it doesn’t mean stop. It means adjust. 

In this episode we cover:
• Why “it’s not working” is often the wrong conclusion
• The difference between silence and real feedback
• Why we make slow results mean something personal
• How self-doubt gets louder when results are quiet
• Why one post, one conversation, or one attempt is not a strategy
• The power of follow-up, refinement, and staying in motion
• Why outcomes come from iteration, not perfection
• The practical question to ask instead of turning on yourself
• What it really means to be so good they can’t ignore you
• Why passionate people don’t stop at silence — they adjust 

Key insights:
• Silence is information, not rejection.
• Quiet results do not mean you’re not capable.
• Momentum is built through consistency, not one-off effort.
• The goal does not need to change just because the first approach didn’t land.
• If someone else can do it, the path already exists. 

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
Questions for the podcast? hello@sharonfrancisco.com

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👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hello and welcome to the Sharon Francisco show. This is just not working. Have you ever felt that when you've tried to do something? You think, why isn't this working? Okay, if you've ever felt that in business or in life, I want you to listen to this conversation that I had at the end of last year. Let's call her Julie. I don't want to talk about uh the real person I had the conversation with because I want to protect their privacy. But Julie was applying for a whole bunch of jobs and she chatted with me because she'd done almost everything she thought that she possibly could to get a job. She's a super, super smart lady and could do anything, really. She's very, very clever, but she was quite specific about the sort of job that she wanted and she was quite clear about what and she applied for a whole bunch. She got really clear about that and she found a particular one that she really loved and she actually put about three hours into the application, really worked really hard on it. She applied, as I said, she applied for others too, but she got it was cricket. She sent all this information out, applied for a whole bunch of jobs, including this one that she spent three hours on, and didn't get any information back. No responses saying you weren't successful or not even an interview. She felt really flat, and I guess anyone would in that situation. So she asked me, she said, What would you do next? And so I thought it's strange because you know, I obviously I know this woman, she's got lots of skills. Um I was surprised. So I thought I'd ask her a few questions. I said, So have you followed up? Like have you kind of talked tried to find somebody on within the business that you can reach out to, or have you connected with anyone on LinkedIn, or what what other things have you done to try and you know, uh with that three-hour application job, what have you tried to do to sort of figure out how to get in there? Or with the other jobs, what other things have you done? And I could see she said no, and I could see she was like, Why would I? Like, I've I spent three and she said, I spent three hours on the application. Like, isn't that enough? In her mind, she'd done everything properly, she had applied properly, she'd put in a whole bunch of effort, she'd done the process that was asked, like all the all the things that they'd asked for in the application. She did all that, she did a research, it was fantastic, but the results hadn't shown up. So then what? And I think this is where this can be very relatable to business because I think this is where business this in business trips us up exactly the same way. And I love business for the very fact that it's the best teacher for us in life, it really puts the mirror up and it can help us grow personally as we grow our business, as the things come up, it helps us grow through the things that we might be a bit fearful of or we need to expand our skills in. So we decide we want something. So, for instance, in business it might be more income, and I'm I'm using the figure of$10,000 a month. So if you were to pay yourself$10,000 a month or more clients or more stability or more freedom, you want to have more holidays. So whatever it is that you might be chasing in your business. So we think about what that should involve. So if we want more of all those things, maybe it's some more marketing, some more visibility, networking conversations, just maybe putting yourself out there some more. And if the results don't show up, what we seem to assume sometimes is like, oh, it's not working, we've come to the end of the road. This is what I want you to think, maybe through a different filter. Silence isn't feedback, it's actually just information for you to get that information back and to assess it. And it doesn't mean no. It just means it doesn't even mean that you're not good enough, or it doesn't mean that you failed. It just means your approach hasn't landed yet. And instead of adjusting the approach, we often adjust our belief of ourselves. Now, what do I mean by that? We often turn the when we're pointing out this, this, and this, we turn the finger around to ourselves and go, it's us, must be me. I must be terrible. Or I mustn't be doing it correctly, or whatever. So we tend to self-sabotage when we do that. We start questioning whether we have the skills, the drive, the energy, the desire, all the things that it takes to grow a business. When a much better question to ask, if it's not working, is what else could I try before I make this about me? And it might be about you. You might feel like you need to have some more skills or change it up. Because wanting$10,000 or to pay yourself$10,000 a month from a business is not unreasonable at all. It's not even arrogant or unrealistic. Because if you can make$2,000 a month, you can make$5,000 a month. If you can make$5,000 a month, you can make$10,000 a month. If you're already in business and you're making something, you've just got to do more of that and perhaps a bit more strategy and having a look at the way that you're doing it. But not putting it on you that you don't have the skill. It does require some, I guess, bigger thinking or grown-up thinking. It requires understanding that outcomes come from it come from iterations, not single attempts like a post it posting online and once isn't a strategy. One conversation isn't a system, and one application isn't a campaign. Results come from staying in motion, making sure that you've got that momentum happening. If what you're doing isn't working, you don't stop. You look at what needs more volume, more uplift. What needs better targeting, what needs a different message, what needs consistency instead of perhaps intensity. And this is where we need to quieten the noise in our head. Because self-doubt is loud when results are quiet. So we tend to turn on ourselves and think, oh, we're not good enough, or whatever it might be. So the goal hasn't changed. The goal is still 10 grand a month. So the question then becomes practical and not personal. What needs to happen for that to become inevitable? Is it more conversations? Is it better conversations? Is it clearer offers? More visibility, more follow-up, different rooms, whatever. Not because you're lacking anything, but because this is how momentum is built. If something else can do, if someone else can do it, I always think this, if somebody else can do it, why can't I? Same for you, if somebody else can do it, why can't you? And remember that's not a motivational line, it's absolutely a logic test. If others with similar skills and backgrounds and circumstances can do it and build it and make it, then the path exists. It's already been worn. You've just got to follow that worn path and figure out how you can fit into that. Your job is not to decide if you're worthy of the outcome. Your job is to stay in the game long enough to learn how to create that outcome. Be so good that they can't ignore you. That's not my line. It's a Tom Belieu line. Uh, he has a podcast, or I don't know if he still has that podcast. It was called Impact Theory. I was absolutely addicted to it. So Tom Belieu says that be so good that they can't ignore you. And if they do ignore you, get better. And that's just feedback. You just go, okay, I'm not well, that's not working. I just need to get better. And you're not getting bitter, not smaller, but better. Passionate people don't get results because they're special, they get results because they don't stop at the silence. So if they're not getting feedback or they're not getting the outcome, or they're not getting the job, they don't stop. They go, Oh, what's a different approach? How can I change this around? How can I get more passionate about that? They adjust, they follow up, they refine, they persist, and they just keep going. And with a whole bunch of passion and energy, that's the way we can do it. And they never confuse a quiet response with the final done answer. It's just like, okay, that's just feedback. What do I need to change? What do I need to keep doing? So hopefully that will help when you're hitting hard times in business and you think, gosh, this is not working. Sometimes just persisting is the key. Hopefully, this has been helpful. Talk to you soon. Bye.