Episode 334: What You Don’t Know in Business (And Why That’s Not a Failure)

The Category Where Everything Changes

When you make a mistake in business, shame usually shows up with it. The kind that whispers, “You should have known better, moved faster, figured it out sooner.” But here’s what I want you to sit with today: some of what you don’t know in business simply cannot be known until you need to know it. That’s not a reflection of your ability. That’s just how learning works.

This is the Game On Girlfriend® podcast — and if you’re here, you’re probably the woman who already has a level of success and knows there’s more. More wealth, more freedom, more truth. As your wealth consciousness coach and strategic advisor, I’m here to help you get there — not just through strategy, but through the deeper work too.

In this solo episode, I’m walking you through three distinct categories of knowing — and making a real case for why the third one is where growth actually begins. Along the way, we get into what self-forgiveness actually is, the quiet cost of giving your attention away for free, and one specific challenge I want you to complete before this episode ends.

Pull up a chair. This one’s for you.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The three categories of knowing — and why the third one is where everything shifts
• Why business mistakes carry so much shame, and why that shame isn’t earned
• What self-forgiveness actually is — and what it isn’t
• The real cost of giving your attention away for free
• A specific challenge to complete before this episode ends

Listen to the Full Episode

Watch the Full Episode

What You Don’t Know in Business — And Why You Couldn’t

About three weeks ago, my daughter was dancing in her bedroom and knocked over a glass mirror. Glass. Everywhere. So I walked in, helped her check for cuts, and gave her one instruction: grab the paper bags, not the plastic ones. She looked at me and said, “I didn’t know that.” My response was immediate — why would you?

She’d never broken a mirror before. There was simply no reason for her to know.

Here’s why that matters for your business. What you don’t know in business often carries way more shame than a broken mirror — but the principle is exactly the same. So let me walk you through three categories of knowing, because understanding these can genuinely lift something off of you.

What you know you know. Your skills, your experience, your lived history. Solid ground.

What you know you don’t know. Your clear gaps — the things outside your lane. These are manageable because you already know they exist.

What you don’t know that you don’t know. This is the third category. And honestly? This is where the real work happens. It’s where coaches love to play with you — because this is where things open up that have never opened before. It’s also where those unexpected business situations live. The client who does something you’ve never encountered. The social media situation you didn’t see coming. None of it was something you could have studied in advance.

“There are certain things you cannot know until you know them. And that’s when the fun really starts.” — Sarah Walton

My daughter is also learning to drive right now. Every single week, she hits another “I didn’t know that could happen” moment. And that’s exactly the point — there’s a reason the permit process takes six months. You cannot study your way into all of it. You have to experience it, bump into it, and let it land.

Business works the same way. Yet somehow, we’ve bought into this idea that we should already know — that getting it wrong the first time means something is wrong with us. That is a fallacy. And today, I want to set you free from it.

The Forgiveness Most of Us Aren’t Actually Practicing

I’ve been talking about forgiveness a lot lately. The reason is simple: I think there’s a real misunderstanding out there about what it actually means.

Most people talk about forgiving other people. But who are we to forgive someone else? That idea has a quiet superiority tucked inside it. Like, I’m better than you, and I forgive you. I don’t actually think that’s possible. Because the only forgiveness we can truly do is forgiving ourselves. And I want you to imagine what the world would look like if we all worked on forgiving ourselves.

“Forgiveness isn’t a destination. It’s an ongoing choice.” — Sarah Walton

That inner voice — the one asking why didn’t I know better, why did I wait so long, why does everyone else seem to have this figured out — often lives right inside that third category. It’s running in the space of what you don’t know you don’t know about how you talk to yourself. Once you can see it, you can start to address it. And once you address it, you can actually forgive yourself for not having known — and move forward from a much cleaner place.

There’s also something worth noting here about codependence. When I hold onto the belief that I can forgive you, I’m also holding onto the idea that my well-being depends on something you do or don’t do. That’s not freedom. The only behavior you can change is yours. And knowing that, really knowing that, is one of the most liberating things there is.

Your Attention Is Your Most Precious Resource

Here’s where I want to get really direct with you.

We are distracted. Not occasionally — but as a constant baseline. And the cost isn’t just time or productivity. It’s presence. It’s the actual texture of your life.

Think about the moments that have stayed with you over the years. A late-night conversation that still makes you smile. A trip that felt fully alive from start to finish. A quiet exchange you still remember in detail. What those moments share is simple — you were completely there.

“The attention that we are giving away for free is our lives.” — Sarah Walton

For women entrepreneurs, distraction has a particular shape. It shows up as scrolling through what everyone else is doing, feeling behind, trying on strategies that don’t feel like you—and ending up more depleted than before. Or worse, copying someone’s hyper-aggressive approach and feeling even further from yourself.

“That level of self-devotion so that you can give the world your gifts is something the world is gravely missing right now.” — Sarah Walton

The Category Where Everything Changes

When you make a mistake in business, shame usually shows up with it. The kind that whispers, “You should have known better, moved faster, figured it out sooner.” But here’s what I want you to sit with today: some of what you don’t know in business simply cannot be known until you need to know it. That’s not a reflection of your ability. That’s just how learning works.

This is the Game On Girlfriend® podcast — and if you’re here, you’re probably the woman who already has a level of success and knows there’s more. More wealth, more freedom, more truth. As your wealth consciousness coach and strategic advisor, I’m here to help you get there — not just through strategy, but through the deeper work too.

In this solo episode, I’m walking you through three distinct categories of knowing — and making a real case for why the third one is where growth actually begins. Along the way, we get into what self-forgiveness actually is, the quiet cost of giving your attention away for free, and one specific challenge I want you to complete before this episode ends.

Pull up a chair. This one’s for you.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The three categories of knowing — and why the third one is where everything shifts
• Why business mistakes carry so much shame, and why that shame isn’t earned
• What self-forgiveness actually is — and what it isn’t
• The real cost of giving your attention away for free
• A specific challenge to complete before this episode ends

Listen to the Full Episode

What I’m offering here isn’t a productivity framework. Instead, it’s a reorientation. Showing up to your work with integrity and real intention. Taking care of yourself well enough to bring your actual self to what you’re building — and to every person you are here to serve.

Your Challenge Before This Episode Ends

Before you close this one out, I have a specific ask.

Think of three actions. The most devoted, most loving, most attentive version of you — what would she do today? Write them down right now. If you’re at the gym, I want a voice memo in your notes. If you’re walking, pull over for a second and write them down. And please don’t self-abandon by forgetting you wrote them.

“This is your life. You don’t get a do-over.” — Sarah Walton

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Screen Zen — The app Sarah uses every day to block social media during non-work hours. Available in the App Store and Google Play.

Related Episodes You’ll Love

Episode 333: Soul Debt: What Overgiving in Business Is Costing You — and What Comes Next — This episode and Episode 333 are natural companions. In Ep333, I name something I’d been carrying for years — soul debt, the overperforming that builds when you want something badly enough to push everything else aside. I talk about what healing actually looked like, what I finally released, and what I’m stepping into next. If the conversation about self-forgiveness and self-devotion in today’s episode called to you, Ep333 is where that thread begins. Listen here

Episode 331: How to Quiet the Noise and Hear Your Intuition with Diana Firth — In this episode, I sit down with Diana Firth to talk about what it actually takes to stop fighting the noise and hear yourself clearly. Diana built a whole framework around spiritual simplicity — clearing away what’s competing for your attention so what matters can finally come through. If the conversation about presence and distraction called to you today, this one takes that thread a lot further. Listen here

Episode 319: Why Your Business Feels Stuck (And the Limiting Beliefs Keeping You There) — That third category of knowing — what you don’t know you don’t know — is often exactly where limiting beliefs live. In this solo episode, I go directly into the beliefs that run quietly underneath your business decisions, keeping things stuck in ways that are hard to see from the inside. If today’s conversation opened something up about what might be operating below the surface, this is the next listen. Listen here

Ready to Step Into Your Next Era?

If something in this episode named a truth you’ve been sitting on — about what you haven’t known yet, or what it might cost you to keep running on distraction — let’s talk.

I offer free 30-minute discovery calls. We’ll talk about where you are in your business right now and whether working together feels like the right next step.

Connect with Sarah

• Instagram: @thesarahwalton
• LinkedIn: Sarah Walton
• Join the Game On Girlfriend® community — subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube
• Free resources for you

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About Sarah Walton

Sarah Walton is a wealth consciousness coach, strategic advisor, and the host of the Game On Girlfriend® podcast. Her mission is simple: to put more money in the hands of more women. She helps women entrepreneurs build profitable, sustainable businesses without burnout — working through both the mindset and the strategy sides of growth. Because when women have more financial power, they don’t just keep it — they use it to take care of their families, support their communities, and build something bigger than themselves. Through her programs — including the Abundance Academy and The Art of Receiving — along with her online courses and one-on-one coaching, Sarah works with women who are ready to build profitable businesses and use that financial power to make a real difference in the world around them.