Stop Tracking Responses, Start Tracking Proof
Let's face it, the waiting's harder than the work itself.
You sent applications last week and heard nothing back. Your brain's measuring failure, but the data says something else.
When silence feels like failure
This week was heavy with silence for a lot of people I work with—the waiting kind.
You're used to getting feedback. You're used to knowing if you're on track. You've run teams, closed projects, and delivered results that mattered.
That feedback loop was always there.
Now you're in a system where silence is just how it works, and your ADHD brain reads that silence as rejection.
That hits different when you're already carrying the weight of a pivot.
The part your brain gets wrong
A client reached out last week. She was six weeks into her search. She'd been consistent with applications. Her resume was strong. Her messaging was clear.
She was doing everything right.
But the silence was crushing her.
She told me she felt invisible, like nobody was even seeing what she was sending.
I asked what she'd been tracking.
"Applications sent," she said. "And responses."
And there it was.
The dopamine problem
ADHD brains need feedback loops to stay motivated. When you're measuring success by external validation that doesn't come, your dopamine drops every time you check.
That's exactly what was happening to her.
She was measuring success by something she couldn't control.
Every time she checked her inbox and saw nothing, her brain took a hit. Every time she refreshed LinkedIn with no reply, another drop.
She was working hard, but what she was tracking wasn't helping.
When that happens, you start doubting everything.
"Bad resume?"
"Applying to the wrong roles?"
"Did I sound desperate in that message?"
The uncertainty spirals, and paralysis kicks in.
So I walked her through a simple reframe.
❌ Stop tracking responses.
✅ Start tracking proof.
Proof you showed up. Proof you moved. Proof you're building traction, whether anyone responds or not.
Then we rebuilt her system around three things:
1. Messages sent
Every outreach. Every follow-up. Every comment that started something.
2. Branding work
Resume alignment. LinkedIn positioning. Message cohesion.
3. Conversations started
Not responses received. Conversations you initiated. The part you actually control.
Two weeks later, she stopped spiraling.
She wasn't waiting for validation anymore. She was collecting evidence she was in motion.
Three weeks after that, she got the offer.
Not because the new metrics made hiring managers respond faster, but because they protected her dopamine long enough to stay consistent.
That's the whole thing.
Here's what helped her
Stop tracking outcomes you can't control.
Don't track:
❌ Responses received
❌ Interviews landed
❌ Offers extended
Track these instead:
✅ Branding work
✅ Messages sent
✅ Comments posted
✅ Conversations started
✅ New connections made
These are controllable. Every single one moves you forward, whether anyone responds that week or not.
Write down what you did, not what happened after.
Every Sunday, write down something like:
Five comments posted
Three applications shipped
Two LinkedIn Skills updated
One new conversation started
Your brain needs evidence you're moving forward. Give it data it can actually trust.
Set two times a day to check responses. Morning and evening. That's it. The rest of the day, focus on the actions that move you forward.
Silence doesn't mean failure. It just means the timeline isn't yours.
The thing to remember
Silence is data, not judgment.
Your brain wants to make it mean something about you. That you're not good enough. That you said the wrong thing. That no one cares.
But hiring timelines are messy. Recruiters are buried. Decision-makers are out. Budgets freeze. Priorities shift.
None of that has anything to do with whether you're qualified.
You can't control their chaos. You can only control what you put out there.
So track the part that's yours. The rest is just noise.
Pick one metric you can control and track it daily. Messages sent. Conversations started. Branding work done.
Let that be enough.
