This Isn’t Working: Creating Sustainable Success and Redefining Work Through Your Mental Operating System
Written by Eric Deniger — multiple-time Inc. 500 CEO, U.S. Army veteran (Operation Desert Storm), and founder of Focused Systems. Eric spent 25 years building and scaling companies before turning those systems into the frameworks used in this article. Read Eric's full story and credentials →
How we use this: Every framework in this article is drawn from the same Neuro-Logical Levels and systems-based coaching methodology Eric uses with real clients. See what professionals are saying →
This Isn't Working: Creating Sustainable Success and Redefining Work Through Your Mental Operating System
Meghan French Dunbar's This Isn't Working is a timely and honest examination of why traditional work culture is failing so many people — especially working women. The book explores the widespread issues of chronic stress, guilt, burnout, and overload, arguing that these problems are not individual failings but symptoms of broken systems and outdated workplace norms. Dunbar challenges the aggressive, competitive, "always-on" culture that dominates many industries and instead advocates for healthier, more sustainable approaches to work and leadership. Drawing from interviews with leaders who have built better workplaces, she offers a path toward redefining success — one that prioritizes well-being, boundaries, and meaningful contribution without sacrificing health or personal life.
How This Isn't Working Strengthens the Focused Systems Mental Operating System
This book aligns strongly with Focused Systems' core belief in Systems Over Willpower and building sustainable high performance. Many high-achieving professionals (particularly women) are operating in environments and with internal systems that are fundamentally unsustainable. This Isn't Working reinforces that burnout is often the result of misaligned or missing systems rather than a lack of effort or capability. True success requires redesigning both external work structures and internal operating systems. The book supports several key areas of the Focused Systems approach:
Master Your Mindset: Dunbar's work helps shift from guilt-driven overworking to intentional, values-aligned effort. This connects directly to Above-the-Line ownership and using 6-Step Reframing when societal or workplace pressure pushes toward unsustainable patterns.
Install Daily Systems: Sustainable success comes from establishing daily rhythms that conserve energy, enforce boundaries, and prioritize what truly matters. The Focused Systems Planner and Personal PAL (S³) are powerful tools for creating these protective systems.
Clarify & Align: Redefining success starts with clarity about what you truly want. This pairs well with reviewing your Personal Mission Statement and ensuring your work aligns with your deeper values rather than external expectations.
Long-Term Thinking: Focused Systems is built for performance that lasts decades, not until burnout hits. This book provides strong reinforcement for designing work and life systems that support both ambition and well-being.
When you combine Meghan French Dunbar's insights with the Focused Systems methodology, the goal shifts from "How do I keep pushing through?" to "How do I build systems that allow me to thrive long-term?"
How to Install This Isn't Working Ideas Into Your Focused Systems System
Here are practical ways to apply the book:
Redefine Success on Your Terms — Use your Planner to clearly define what success looks like for you, beyond societal or workplace expectations. Connect this to your Personal Mission Statement.
Build Protective Daily Systems — Add non-negotiable boundaries and recovery practices to your Personal PAL (S³). Examples include protected time for rest, clear work cutoffs, and energy management habits.
Audit Where You're Overloading — During Weekly Reviews, honestly assess areas where guilt or external pressure is driving unsustainable effort. Identify what systems need to change.
Reframe Guilt and "Shoulds" — Use 6-Step Reframing when feelings of guilt arise around setting boundaries or doing less. Shift from "I should be doing more" to "What actually serves my long-term success and well-being?"
Create Supportive Structures — Build accountability for sustainable practices through your Weekly Huddles or Mastermind. Share your boundaries and recovery systems so others can support them.
The Focused Systems Difference
Many people read books about burnout and feel temporary relief before slipping back into old patterns. In Focused Systems, we turn awareness into structure. When you install the principles from This Isn't Working into the Focused Systems Planner and your daily operating system, you create a way of working that supports both meaningful impact and long-term well-being — without requiring constant heroic effort. You don't have to choose between success and sanity.
With the right systems, you can have both. Ready to build a more sustainable way of working?
Get the Focused Systems Planner here.
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