Perfectionists often struggle with taking action consistently and that has serious consequences in business. Consistent action is a critical part of any business’s success and the cost of not doing that matters.
This is such an important topic to understand, which is why I’m sharing about it in today’s episode. I want to make sure that if this is a problem for you, that you become aware of it and how it’s affecting you and your business so you can do something about it.
I also want you to feel encouraged and supported as you listen in. This isn’t about feeling ashamed or beating yourself up because you have this problem. Instead, this is about understanding the true cost of inaction and finding a solution that works for you in a way that is sustainable and empowering.
You can become someone who is productive, who does what is needed, and who is confident about putting yourself out there. I talk in detail about what this looks like, how to tell if this is going on for you, and what the solution is.
Find the full episode transcript and show notes at samlaurabrown.com/episode489.
What To Do Next:
- Join the waitlist: Perfectionists Getting Shit Done (aka PGSD) – samlaurabrown.com/pgsd
- Follow me on instagram for more perfectionism advice: @perfectionismproject
If you’re ready to get out of your own way in your business, you want to join my program Perfectionists Getting Shit Done. Click here to find out more about the program and join the waitlist today: samlaurabrown.com/pgsd. and join the waitlist today: samlaurabrown.com/powerplanning.
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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Introduction
Hi, and welcome to another episode of The Perfectionism Project, a podcast full of perfectionism advice for entrepreneurs. My name is Sam Laura Brown. I help entrepreneurs release their perfectionism handbrake so they can get out of their own way and build a fulfilling and profitable business. I’m the founder of the Perfectionists Getting Shit Done group coaching program, which is otherwise known as PGSD. And for even more perfectionism advice to help you with your business, you can follow me on Instagram @perfectionismproject.
Episode
[00:00:29] Sam Laura Brown: Today, I am coming to you with a little bit of tough love, and there are a couple of reasons that I want to do this and talk about this particular topic. So first of all, the thing that I’m going to be talking about today, which is the importance of taking consistent action in your business and the cost of not doing that, is is so important.
[00:00:51] And if you have not been paying attention to this, you need to be. So I want to make sure you have your eyes open and that you know that this is a problem for you and that you actually need to do something about it. So that is the first reason. The second reason is that when it comes to being a coach and how I coach, I am someone who is happy to say the hard thing, happy to be direct and to just say it like I see it.
[00:01:19] from such a place of love and compassion and service. I want you to feel encouraged and supported a hundred percent. And the best way to do that is to have a coach that you can trust Will point out things that you might not be seeing, but need to see, and is willing to do that no matter what, and is able to do that in a way that won’t produce shame and getting stuck in a shame spiral, but we’ll be able to be like, Hey, this is something important.
[00:01:50] It doesn’t sound like you’re aware of this. Let’s talk about it. So when it comes to coaching and like my coaching style, A lot of our PGSDers love that I am a coach who will say what needs to be said and call them out on it because for me as well, like when I’m getting coaching, I love knowing that if my coach sees something that needs to be seen and that I’m not seeing that they will actually say something about it, like that gives me such a sense of safety.
[00:02:21] and really helps me feel fully supported. So I want to make sure that comes across on the podcast because I feel like maybe it doesn’t. And I am very encouraging. I will be a hundred percent your biggest cheerleader. And I think a very important part of coaching is also sometimes you just need that tough love.
[00:02:42] You need a little kick in the pants. You need someone to say, Hey, what you’re doing isn’t going to work and you need to do something different. Don’t keep trying that it isn’t working. It’s not going to work. Do this instead. So with this episode, I just really feel called to talk about this topic. And especially if you’re not thinking about this for yourself, to bring your attention to the importance of this.
[00:03:08] So as I said, we are talking about the cost of learning. of not taking consistent action in your business. The cost of not being able to do what you need to do. The cost of having ideas but not executing them. The cost of procrastinate learning and procrastinate researching. The cost of spending all of your time tweaking your messaging working on your branding, making beautiful graphics, updating your Instagram bio or your Instagram aesthetic or whatever social media platform you’re on, making things beautiful.
[00:03:42] The cost of not being able to get shit done and Obviously, this is a topic I talk about a lot. This is one of the main things that I help perfectionist entrepreneurs with, because in the beginning, especially of your business, so depending what skills that you have, you might be able to make some money and still have this be a problem.
[00:04:01] But especially in the beginning, like this was my biggest issue. I was smart. I had learned what needed to be done. So I started my business as a blog. I knew all the things I knew them to a level that I could probably actually teach them to someone else. And yet I was so scared. Of putting myself out there.
[00:04:21] I was so scared of being laughed at, of being ridiculed, of being judged. I was so scared of wasting effort on the wrong things. I was so scared of making the wrong decisions, like wasting my time and just feeling like a complete failure. I was so scared of those things that I wasn’t able to take action.
[00:04:42] I wasn’t able to do the things that I knew I needed to do to build a business. And it cost me. It cost me a lot of time, a lot of pain, a lot of frustration. And it was only when I figured out how to actually be productive as a perfectionist, how to follow through with my plans without burning myself out.
[00:05:05] How to create a growth mindset and identity of being someone who is productive So that I could actually be productive and do what was needed Like there was a lot of work and it’s simple work and it’s easy to learn But there was work that I needed to do And there are other people in the world who didn’t need to do that work.
[00:05:23] They were confident when it came to putting themselves out there or telling friends and family about what they were doing. They didn’t have any issues with procrastination or overthinking or burning themselves out. They could take a marketing program, get told here is what you need to do and just do it.
[00:05:41] And I wanted to be that person. And I felt like I should be able to be that person because I had the intelligence to understand the strategy that I had learned. But emotionally, I wasn’t able to do the things I needed to do because of that perfectionism, because of my perfectionist thinking, I wasn’t able to take the action I needed to take and it cost me so much.
[00:06:03] And so what I want to talk about in this episode is really a bit more about what this looks like, how to tell if this is going on for you and what the solution is. And also I want to invite you, so we’re not in the open enrollment yet, But in a couple of weeks time, actually, I think at the time of release for this, it will be next week.
[00:06:22] Anyway, October 18, we are opening the doors to my coaching program, Perfectionists Getting Shit Done. It is all about how to take consistent action in your business and never burn out again. That is what you will learn inside the program. It has worked for a thousand perfectionist entrepreneurs and me being the first of those, and I am so confident if you can relate to what I talk about on this podcast, it will be deeply helpful and transformative for you.
[00:06:50] The results that have come out of the program are incredible. People who have been in business for months, if not years, feeling so behind, so fed up with themselves, so tired of themselves that they are so busy. With their business, thinking about it all the time, working on content, working on things and yet not getting the results who then come into the program, learn how to actually get that perfectionist mindset on their side.
[00:07:15] Like what you need to do as a perfectionist to become productive. They do that. They learn that and their business takes off. It’s no longer a hobby. It’s actually a real business. And so I want that for you. This is so important. And so doors to Perfectionists Getting Shit Done. This is our final enrollment for the year.
[00:07:33] Doors will be opening for one week only, so if you’re not on the waitlist for the program, go to the link in my show notes. It’s samlourbrown. com slash PGSD. To sign up for the waitlist, you’ll get all the details about it. You’ll get all the dates, all the specifics. If you have any questions, reply to that email and ask them because you don’t want to miss this.
[00:07:56] You don’t want to keep waiting. This can’t keep waiting to work on and learn how to be productive, how to take consistent action in your business. That doesn’t mean you have to be a productivity robot. Though I know we like to dream about that, but it’s not about being someone who has to have the same work day every day, or who has to like go on social media every single day.
[00:08:17] It’s not about that. It’s about being able to rely on yourself, being able to trust yourself, being able to make a plan to do something that’s hard or courageous or challenging or something you’ve been dreaming about for so long. Like in PGSD, we help people launch podcasts and YouTube channels or apps or online courses.
[00:08:35] Like so many perfectionists have ideas and projects they’ve been sitting on. But they haven’t been able to pull the trigger on either because they don’t have enough time. They’re scared of burning themselves out or they haven’t got the confidence to actually do it. They’re so scared of failure and making mistakes.
[00:08:50] We help you do that inside Perfectionists Getting Shit Done. It is so important that you learn How to get shit done, how to take action in your business so that you can actually get it off the ground, have the consistent income that you want to have, be able to financially rely on your business, be able to go full time in your business if you’re not yet full time, be able to create the freedom that you want, the flexibility that you want.
[00:09:14] It’s so, so, so important. And it cannot wait. This won’t magically solve itself. It’s not a matter of trying to be more motivated, trying to be more disciplined. Waking up early and having a more productive morning routine, that isn’t the solution. So in this episode, I want to talk about the five things that are really going to help you.
[00:09:33] This is what you will learn inside Perfectionists Getting Shit Done. And as I mentioned, a few signs that this is something that you really need to be doing. paying attention to and that you can’t keep hoping will just solve itself or if you take another marketing program you’ll finally just be able to do the things you need to do that is not going to solve the problem.
[00:09:55] So I want to share to begin that there are four main reasons why perfectionists don’t take consistent action in their business. So the first is fear of failure and wasting effort on the wrong thing. The second is fear of being laughed at or ridiculed when putting themselves out there. That was the major one for me.
[00:10:14] Like, oh my God, I was debilitated by my fear of people in my life finding my blog and being like, oh my God, what do you think this? Like, what do you think you’re trying to do? Number three is burnout caused by perfectionist all or nothing’s been keen. And also fear of burnout, such a big thing. A lot of entrepreneurs who come into PGSD have burnout and fear of burnout.
[00:10:39] This like fear of burning out again that stops them from actually wanting to take a full effort and be all in on their business because they equate that with burnout and they haven’t learned yet that there is actually a way to be all in on your business. Without burning yourself out and without having to push yourself to the absolute limit.
[00:10:59] And number four, the fourth reason that perfectionists don’t take consistent action in their business is because they are using productivity tools that don’t work for their perfectionist brain. And what happens when those four things are going on is that perfectionists treat their business like a hobby.
[00:11:15] So it never gets off the ground. They market their business sporadically. So it’s really hard. to get customers or clients. Even if you have a beautiful sales page and branding and a website and like you’ve got your messaging on point, you push off launching whatever it is you want to do, whether it’s online course, an app, podcast, YouTube channel.
[00:11:37] You feel behind because you started years ago but haven’t gotten anywhere. You create content that never gets published, even though it took hours to make. And you overwork or leave things until the last minute and then completely burn yourself out. When this happens, your business can’t grow. No matter how beautiful the branding is.
[00:11:56] No matter how perfect the messaging is. No matter whether you have the best marketing strategy that the top experts are teaching. If you aren’t able to To do what needs to be done, your business can’t grow. And if you treat your business like a hobby, that’s all it will ever be. And I just think like, when I get asked, do you really believe that anyone who wants to build a business can build a successful business?
[00:12:27] Like, do you really believe that anyone can do it? And what I believe is that. Anyone can do it, but not everyone will do it. Not everyone will be able to build a successful business. And a big piece of it comes down to this, especially if you’re a perfectionist, that if you aren’t able and don’t do the mindset work required and learn the practical things.
[00:12:57] To be able to take consistent action, to be able to show up in your business, to be able to put yourself out there, to be able to do what needs to be done. And do it in a way that doesn’t burn you out. So it is actually sustainable. You won’t be able to build a successful business. It will remain a dream.
[00:13:16] And if you’re anything like it was for me, it will be a frustrating dream. Like when I was in my full time accounting job and I hadn’t yet made any money from my business, but I’d already been at that point. I’d had my business for, I want to say three years. I started in 2013 and it wasn’t until the end of 2016 that I started made my first dollar in my business.
[00:13:38] I just had this restlessness, like this feeling that I was meant to have a business that I was meant to be doing more than accounting, which I wasn’t bad at, but I definitely wasn’t the best at. And it was just something I fell into. I have a law degree, a finance degree, a friend was doing this kind of accounting.
[00:13:54] And I was like, okay, I guess I can do that. And so I just had this feeling like, I know that I meant for more than this. I know that like me being here while I don’t hate it, It isn’t for me. It isn’t the thing I’m meant to be doing. And yet I was getting in my own way. I wasn’t doing the things that I needed to do and I got so frustrated with myself until I had a moment where I was like, enough is enough.
[00:14:21] Like enough is enough. I’m tired of pretending to myself that I’m actually doing what needs to be done to build a successful business. Like I’m actually at the point, I am just tired of pretending. of pretending with myself that I am treating this business seriously enough that I am showing up that I was trying and it was so frustrating because I was trying so hard.
[00:14:44] I was trying so hard and yet I couldn’t get myself to do what was needed. I was procrastinating. I was overthinking, I was burning myself out. I would spend hours and hours and hours creating Pinterest graphics and Canva graphics, working on my website, writing my about me page. Like I just spent a lot of time, especially in my mind, but a lot of time.
[00:15:08] Thinking about the business. I was always listening to podcasts. I was watching inspiring YouTube videos. Like it was such a big piece of my like mental life. Like I was thinking about it so much. I wanted it so deeply. I was listening to interviews with successful entrepreneurs and like picturing myself in that.
[00:15:28] And yet I wasn’t actually doing what was needed. And it wasn’t until I was like, Oh my God, I’m just done. I am done. Pretending with myself that I am actually doing what is required. And so I just want to invite you, if you need to have that moment with yourself, this might be the moment because. What we often do is, especially if you’re smart and intelligent and you intellectually understand the general mechanics of building a business, there’s marketing, you need to sell something, you need to have a product or service, like those basic things, that we can just think like, okay, new year motivation, that will solve it.
[00:16:11] It’s not the solution, but we think that even though we’ve tried that so many times, if new year motivation worked, you wouldn’t have to use it every year. You just have one year where you use that new year motivation and you’d never need to use it again because you just stay motivated and stay productive.
[00:16:27] The fact that it is a like annual strategy that needs to be used is a sign that it doesn’t work. And so what happens for perfectionists is that by the end of Jan, January, maybe February, if you’re lucky. You’ve either completely fallen off, forgotten about your goals, thinking about other things, or you have just gone all in, balls to the wall, burnt down your personal life and everything else, exhausted yourself, you’re burned out, and you have to stop because it’s completely unsustainable to continue.
[00:16:55] So regardless, By the end of February, March, you were back at square one. And now you don’t have the hope of the new year motivation until like nine months away. And so what we can do is I’m like, okay, I need to have a productive morning routine. I need to be waking up early. And like, I love a productive morning routine.
[00:17:14] My morning routine currently is isn’t one of those as I have three little ones. And it’s just not the season of my life to have a routine where I’m waking up and reading and doing all those things like I used to be doing. There will be a season again where that is a priority. But I love a productive morning routine.
[00:17:32] I love waking up early. Like, I love those things. They aren’t the solution. They aren’t actually going to solve the problem. The problem that is going on so they can be a nice accompaniment. They can be something that you do But if you were thinking I just need to be a bit more disciplined. I need to have better habits and what often happens as well Is like okay.
[00:17:55] I just need to like buy myself a new camera maybe as well if you have um It depends like if you’re doing something like youtube or something like that You’re like I want to buy a new camera or maybe you’re like, I just want a more professional So Desk setup. I want business cards. Often there’s this like purchase that is made in the hope that if you buy this new piece of equipment or whether it’s some new stationery, like I love stationery, you go buy some new pens and this like beautiful journal or whatever.
[00:18:23] And like, okay, this will motivate me. It doesn’t solve the problem, so it doesn’t work. And you find yourself having to do that over and over again. And what I love helping perfectionists do is actually solve the root. And this doesn’t mean that you need to dig back into your past and like go into your childhood and like do all of that.
[00:18:45] The reason that you aren’t taking consistent action is because of the way you were thinking today, your perfectionist thoughts, and they can be changed. You are not stuck with those thoughts. You are not stuck in the all or nothing mindset. You are not stuck with any of that, but it’s the way you’re thinking and the tools that you’re using, the productivity tools that are exacerbating those perfectionist thoughts, making it easier to procrastinate, easier to burn yourself out, easier to fall off the wagon, easier to overthink things.
[00:19:16] When you haven’t got the right tools, And the mindset that you’re in as well, some shifts need to be made. And as I mentioned, it can be frustrating because you see other people who don’t need to do that particular mindset work. They haven’t got a problem with taking action. They’re like, if I just have an idea, I just do it.
[00:19:34] And I do it with confidence. And I do it without overthinking. And I do it without worrying what other people might think about. Like I just go and do it. And that idea, like the Nike quote, like what’s it called? Not quite saying whatever, just do it. And this is why, like, this is why. I’m so passionate about this topic, especially for entrepreneurs, because a lot of the people who teach marketing and sales and different things like that, a lot of those people are people who didn’t struggle with taking action.
[00:20:08] They didn’t struggle with showing up and putting themselves out there and telling their friends and family that like, Oh my God, you could have not, when I started my business, you could not have paid me any amount of money. to announce on my personal Facebook page that I had started a blog. You could not pay me to do that.
[00:20:25] Oh my God. That was my worst fear. So, so many people who are teaching all those different topics, they’re like, here’s the plan. Just go do it. And they don’t know how to support someone with taking action because that was never something they had to work on. It’s just something that came very naturally to them.
[00:20:46] And so like, just here’s the plan, go and do it. And so if you’ve been learning from those people and those people are amazing, there’s so much to learn from them, but not the taking action side. You can look at how they do it and what they might be thinking and things like that. But if they haven’t had to ever learn it, then they are just going to only be able to say things like, just go do it.
[00:21:07] Just stop procrastinating. Just stop overthinking. Just stop caring what other people think. Don’t be scared of judgment. Okay. It’s not about you. It’s about them if they’re judging you like all of that stuff. Oh my god I just got so sick of it I was like, but I I know that and I still can’t do the things that I need to do Like why is that?
[00:21:26] And it was only when I really started To piece together like, Oh, it’s that I’m a perfectionist because I didn’t even realize I was a perfectionist when I started my business. I just thought I had this big motivation issue. I definitely knew I was scared of judgment. I definitely knew that I felt like such an imposter, but I didn’t actually have a name for it.
[00:21:49] And so I was pretty helpless to do anything about it. I was just Googling how to stay motivated and different things like that. I was like, Like, I just was so frustrated with myself. Like, why can’t I do it? So anyway, learned that like what perfectionism is thanks to Brittany Brown and started to be like, okay.
[00:22:07] What if this is the cause of the productivity issues? And what if I learned how to actually be productive in a way that works for my perfectionist mindset? Like what if instead of trying to overcome perfectionism and don’t be a perfectionist, it’s toxic and it’s killing your business. What if like, okay, I’m going to do the work to also change my brain.
[00:22:29] and get more into a growth mindset than a perfectionist mindset. But also right now I’m in the perfectionist mindset. So given that’s the case, how can I get myself and support myself to actually be productive? Because if I’m not able to do this, and this is the message I want to get across with this episode, if you don’t actually solve this, your business isn’t going to grow.
[00:22:49] You aren’t going to be able to build a successful business. This is not optional. This is not a nice to have. This is not a like, Oh yeah, if I have some spare time, I’ll learn about perfectionism. Like, no, this is about learning how to take consistent action in your business. And if you don’t actually. work on this if you don’t learn this and it’s not this big thing you have to learn.
[00:23:15] The steps are simple. I’ve walked a thousand perfectionist entrepreneurs through it. I know exactly what to teach you. I know exactly how to solve this. I have the exact process. But if you don’t learn this, you’re going to have to keep working for someone else. You’re not going to have the freedom you want.
[00:23:32] You’re not going to have the flexibility you want. Every year you’re going to feel ashamed that you haven’t actually done the things you wanted to do and also even though you feel optimistic you already kind of know it’s not going to happen again this year because it’s been so many years of trying and trying and trying eventually you’ll probably quit or give up or you might just be the kind of perfectionist who’s just going to jump around from thing to thing to thing idea to idea to idea and just be in that loop for the rest of time like there is no and this is why Like, oh my god, I just get so passionate about this, but there is no point at which it’s then like, okay, now it’s time to actually do it.
[00:24:13] For a lot of people, they die with their business ideas inside of them, or they got started, they set up a website, they recorded a few podcast episodes, and that was it. They couldn’t get past the first few weeks or the first few months. They couldn’t keep going and they had a successful idea. They were smart and intelligent.
[00:24:31] They had all of the ingredients, but because they were missing the ability to take consistent action and to show up and to treat their business like a real business, it couldn’t get off the ground. And if it did, they couldn’t actually sustain it. They had to take this big sabbatical. They had to burn it down because the business was taking away from them instead of giving to them.
[00:24:52] When you learn how to get your perfectionist mindset on your side, when you learn how to take consistent action, how to rely on yourself, how to trust yourself, how to build self confidence, deep self confidence, you will be able to create the business that you want. I know this as well so deeply because looking at me in 2013, There was no signs that I could ever have a successful business, especially not one where I’m talking on a podcast.
[00:25:23] I’m doing that like this episode, I literally don’t have notes. I have a few things that I’ve written in an email. I’m like, Oh, I want to talk about that on the podcast. And that’s it. I trust myself. I found my voice. I found my confidence. Those were things that I didn’t have in 2013. I developed that I worked on that.
[00:25:47] I did the things I needed to do. I learned how to do that. I didn’t have to naturally know how to put myself out there, how to feel confident, how to record a 30 minute podcast episode without having to say things over and over and over again to get it right. I developed that ability, that emotional ability, that skillset.
[00:26:10] And you can develop it too. And if you don’t, if you don’t, it is very likely your business will never succeed, no matter how much time you spend on the messaging, the branding. And I say those things because perfection is like, we can really hold tight to that. I just need the perfect one sentence. Or the perfect tagline on my website, the best colors.
[00:26:31] I need to have them spot on. I need to have some business cards. I need to have a professional photo shoot. Those things might be elements of your business, but they’re not this cure. They’re not the answer. And it’s so easy to waste so much time on those things when they aren’t the key things that matter to be able to build a successful business.
[00:26:54] You need to actually be able to put yourself out there. You need to be able emotionally to have the confidence and the courage to let your ideas meet reality, to put work out in the world, that your brain will say it’s not good enough yet, even though it is good enough objectively from the outside, your brain will be telling you it’s not good enough.
[00:27:11] And you have to develop the emotional ability to actually be able to hit publish and then go and create something else and to hit publish on that and then go and create something else. Instead of having a Google doc, Of social media content. That’s 80 percent complete and never gets published. A lot of perfectionists when we’re not taking consistent action, when we don’t have that emotional ability, the identity of being someone who is productive, the skills of being productive as a perfectionist, there’s so much time spent in research and learning and back ends that is stopping the business from growing.
[00:27:50] And I know it can be hard, like for me, especially what I think about. Putting myself out there was the hardest thing to do. It felt so scary, but I figured out how to create safe visibility. How to put myself out there in a way that actually felt safe and aligned for me. I figured out how to work with my perfectionist mindset instead of against it, so I could actually do the things I needed to do.
[00:28:16] And so that’s what you’re going to learn inside PGSD. So I want to share with you five essentials. These are all inside PGSD to taking consistent action in your business. So the first is to set a growth goal for your business. So you can stop treating your business like a hobby. You need to have clarity.
[00:28:33] You need to know where you’re going with your business. It’s very important. Starting to make money, even if you’re in the early stages and there are ways to adapt the growth goal. So if you haven’t made any money before, you’re not going to have all this pressure to make a lot of money quickly. We want to be making money in an aligned way, that’s in alignment with our values, with our strengths, and with what we want to do, like the vision that we have with our lifestyle too.
[00:28:54] So there’s no pressure. But having a growth goal and actually saying like, this is a real business. This isn’t a hobby anymore. I’m not just going to put things on my to do list or in my calendar, like post on social media. Like I actually am going to create for myself a goal that will have this business grow and me grow with it.
[00:29:16] So the idea of a growth goal, and it’s going to rectify so many goal setting mistakes that you have unintentionally been making. When it comes to goal setting, uh, you really need to set your goal in a specific way if you’re a perfectionist. So I’ll teach you that. But when you have a growth goal, you will be growing into the person who can achieve that goal.
[00:29:36] So you don’t need to be able to achieve it when you set it. You will be invited to become the person who can achieve it without burning out. Without having to do things you don’t want to do. You don’t have to send cold dms. You don’t have to do reels You will have a growth goal so you can stop treating your business like a hobby.
[00:29:54] You need to start Treating your business like a real business. It’s so important. It’s so so important if you don’t start identifying yourself As a real business owner and taking action accordingly, you will never be one. Number two is you need to create an aligned marketing strategy so you have the confidence to put yourself out there and so you can do it easily.
[00:30:18] So inside Perfectionists Getting Shit Done, we have the aligned marketing workshop. And in this workshop, you are going to learn how to create a strategy for marketing, no matter what kind of business you have, you’re going to learn the first principles of marketing and how to create a strategy. So that that growth goal that you just said you have a strategy that not only will get you to your goal It’s not just like oh a feel good strategy But who knows if it’ll work in that workshop, you will learn how to set well, sorry you’ve got the growth goal how to create a aligned marketing strategy that feels good is aligned with your strengths the things you want to do the things you’re good at and will have you actually get to your goal.
[00:31:02] And we have had, just from that workshop alone, incredible success stories come out of that from perfectionist entrepreneurs who were so stuck with their content creation. They were just spending so much time editing reels and like posting and ghosting and all those different things. They did the Aligned Marketing Workshop and created their Aligned Marketing Strategy and they were able, like one of our PGSDers, Was able to have a reel with a million views something she’d never had before Not even close to that like there are just so many incredible success stories just from that alone of having your aligned marketing strategy and just the ease it creates in your business and like the resistance because what happens for perfectionists is like, I need to do it right.
[00:31:47] Like how many posts should I do? How many emails should I write? When should I send them? What should the CTA be? Like all these different things. But when you create an aligned marketing strategy that works for your perfectionist brain, that works for you and that will get you to your goal, business just becomes so much easier.
[00:32:04] So that’s number two. Number three is you will learn to plan properly as a perfectionist with power planning. So it’s easy to get shit done. So there are three steps to power planning, your power hour, little tweaks, and weekly review. These are all specifically designed to get your perfectionist mindset working for you instead of against you.
[00:32:23] So you can show up, In the program exactly as you are and instantly and sustainably increase your productivity. You don’t have to be more motivated. You don’t have to be more disciplined. You are able to learn power planning and to start that and become so much more productive and then actually maintain it without burning yourself out or falling off or having to force yourself to do things you don’t want.
[00:32:48] So that’s very essential inside PGSD and you will learn exactly what those steps are, how to do them, the easiest way to stick to your plans because it is easy when you’re planning properly as a perfectionist. Number four is to burn out proof your business with guilt free clean rest. So clean rest is time that you are deciding is not for business.
[00:33:10] No matter if you have like One hour a day max to work on your business or your full time in your business or anything in between you will be able Through clean rest and power planning will really support you with this To burn out proof your business so you don’t have to hold yourself back due to fear of burning out You will actually be able to show up fully and wholeheartedly in the work time that you do have, not in a frenzy, not in chaos, calmly and confidently getting shit done in your work time, in your business time.
[00:33:42] And maybe you have a full time job. Maybe you’re also studying. Maybe you also have kids. Maybe you have a health issue. Maybe you’re caring for your parents. Like we perfectionists, we have a full plate. I’m not expecting you to come into PGS and be like, Oh, the business is the only thing I ever have to think about.
[00:33:56] No, you’ve got other areas of your life too. So power planning. will super support you with that. And also burnout proofing your business will help you so much. Not only will you not burn out, which used to be one of my biggest struggles, I now haven’t burned out in over five years, but not only will you not burn out anymore, but you won’t have to hold yourself back due to fear of burnout.
[00:34:20] And that is such a big cause of perfectionists getting in their own way is the fear of burning out again, the fear. Of entering a period where you can’t function, where you’ve burnt everything down in your personal life. You’ve let go of your health. You’re not spending quality time with your family.
[00:34:37] You’re not doing your hobbies. Everything sucks when you’re burned out. Everything sucks. And so you’re able to actually burn out proof your business with guilt free clean rest. And number five is to embody the productive perfectionist identity. So productivity is effortless. This is a key part, a key part, the self image.
[00:35:00] The identity of being productive. So in PGSD, you will learn how to create the identity and embody the identity of a productive perfectionist. So it is easy to maintain your productivity. What happens if, if you don’t work on and create the identity of being a productive perfectionist and the things within that, if you don’t do that work, no matter how good you get at not procrastinating and following through with your plans and doing what needs to be done.
[00:35:30] you will go back to your old ways because it won’t feel normal. And you might’ve experienced this before when you’re being productive and you’re like, I wonder how long this will last. That is a sign you are not in the productive perfectionist identity. So inside PGSD, you will learn how to create the self image of a productive perfectionist so that productivity is easy PGSD, People get such great results because it’s not just like okay be productive for a little while have this spurt of productivity and hopefully you can maintain it like maintenance of productivity is such a key aspect of what is taught.
[00:36:07] We are teaching productivity in a consistent, sustainable, aligned, feel good way. That’s the only way I want to be productive is to be able to actually have a life outside of my business, to be productive in a way that’s in alignment with my values and to not be working against myself. It’s everything.
[00:36:26] This is it. Like if you, if you aren’t actually able to take action in your business, if you aren’t able to do what needs to be done, if you aren’t able to, Rely on yourself and trust yourself. Your business is not going to succeed. And I don’t want to keep dancing around that anymore. I believe in you so deeply.
[00:36:47] And I also believe if you don’t solve this, you won’t be able to succeed. And not in this kind of like be all end all way, but this is such a key element of building a successful business. And it makes sense. Like if you aren’t actually able to do the things, you can’t succeed. If you think about like, I don’t know why this came to mind, but if you’re cooking and you’re on those cooking shows, they have like all the clear glass dishes with all the different ingredients.
[00:37:17] You have the recipe, you’ve got everything there. You’ve got the oven, it’s preheated, you’ve got everything, but you can’t bring yourself to mix the ingredients. and put them in the oven and then take it out of the oven, if say you’re making a cake in this example, you’re not going to be able to make a cake.
[00:37:36] No matter if you have the most beautiful finest flour and you’ve sifted it perfectly and you’ve melted the butter to perfection or whatever you need to do, if you aren’t able to get yourself to do the mixing and to put it in the oven and take it out of the oven, you’re not going to have a cake. I want you to have the cake, the equivalent of that in business.
[00:37:57] I want you to have a successful business. And I know it can be frustrating that this is part of your business journey to work on this because some people don’t have to work on it. They already have, they’re already treating their business seriously. They already have a marketing strategy that’s super aligned with them.
[00:38:15] They have the confidence. We’ve all seen these people. I wasn’t one of them, unfortunately, who just naturally have the confidence to go out there and sell and market and try all these different things and fail and fail again and they pick themselves back up. That wasn’t me. I wish it was. That wasn’t me.
[00:38:35] My brain, it didn’t want to waste effort. It didn’t want to fail. It didn’t want to be laughed at, to be judged. I had to do the work to overcome that. I had to do that. People, if they’re not perfectionist, they don’t have to learn how to plan properly. They can just use the other productivity tools, to do lists, time blocking, the Pomodoro method.
[00:38:55] They don’t burn out. It’s just, I know it can be frustrating if you’re like, but other people don’t have to work on this. Why should I? And also I would just want to offer to you. Most people do have to work on this, that they either don’t get to hear that this is a thing, and they’re just trying and trying again with like the to do list, and I’ll just try and highlight the priorities and be more motivated.
[00:39:15] They don’t actually get to hear that this is a, is a problem, that perfectionism is a problem, and that there’s an easy solution. Like I had to figure this out by myself, and a lot of people like, I, they don’t get to hear about this. It’s again why I’m so passionate about this and about getting this message out, because They don’t get to hear about this.
[00:39:36] There are so like most people want to have a business, not everyone, but so many people the number of people if I go to like a party or something who come up to me because they know that I’m a business coach and I have a business myself like I have this secret business idea and they’ll tell me their business dreams but they’re not doing anything.
[00:40:00] They’re not taking action because of the perfectionism. They’re so scared of failing. They’re so scared of being judged, especially if they’ve been working on it in a while in the real world or in their brain. It only adds more pressure. Like the time spent already adds more pressure or if they’ve invested a lot of money into it already into a website or an app.
[00:40:22] or into learning the skills, then it feels like more and more pressure to make sure all the decisions are right and it all goes perfectly. And that pressure, that perfectionist thinking that creates that pressure, makes them keep procrastinating. So most people have to do this work. Many don’t get to hear about it.
[00:40:42] Others don’t realize the importance of it. And I want to make sure I’m getting across. This is important, it won’t magically solve itself, but there is a simple solution. And I can teach it to you, and it has worked for so many people. And it is why I am here today. This was the piece, being able to take action, without burning myself.
[00:41:07] Without it being fueled by self loathe, oh my goodness, self. That’s how tricky to say without being fueled by that, that I could actually start showing up and putting myself out there. Even if in the beginning, my legs were trembling, I could actually do it. As I said, I developed my voice. I developed my confidence.
[00:41:28] I developed everything that I know today, how to sell, how to market, how to create an incredible program. I learned that through taking action. I learned that through having an idea. letting it meet reality even though it didn’t feel perfect, being willing to sell, overcoming that fear of rejection, and iterating.
[00:41:53] Taking action is so important. If you are stuck in the procrastinator, procrastinator research, you just are constantly waiting for the perfect idea or the perfect decision or the utmost clarity. This is what you need to be focusing on. Taking action. Learning how to do that in a way that works for your perfectionist brain.
[00:42:16] Actually giving yourself the gift. Of allowing yourself to work on this and focus on this and develop this skill instead of expecting that January 1st should be ample to motivate you or a new camera will inspire you or rearranging your office or setting yourself up a little nice corner of the house will motivate you.
[00:42:35] No, that’s not the solution. You need to set a growth goal so you can stop treating your business like a hobby, create your aligned marketing strategy. Plan properly with power planning, burnout proof your business with guilt free clean rest, and create and embody the productive perfectionist identity.
[00:42:55] None of those things require more motivational discipline, or for you to be better at sticking to things, or for you to know exactly how much time to estimate for a task. You can come exactly as you are. exactly as you are and start getting shit done and start having a real business and start having that dream actually become your reality instead of something that you were hoping will one day be a thing and yet you know you’re not doing what needs to be done to get there and you’re frustrated with yourself you’re sick and tired of it you were fed up you were fed up of pretending to yourself That you were all in.
[00:43:38] And it’s hard, it’s so hard to admit because you were busy. You were thinking about it constantly in your brain. You were researching, you were learning. You’ve maybe invested money, invested a lot of time. Years maybe. It’s hard to admit to ourselves. And not from this place of like, self judgment of like, Oh, I should be doing more, I’m not good enough.
[00:43:59] But like, Oh no, genuinely, like real talk, I’m not doing what needs to be done and I actually have to change that. So with that said, I want to invite you to sign up for PGSD when we open. So samlaurabrown.com/pgsd, which stands for perfection, Perfectionists Getting Shit Done, is opening on the 18th of October for one week only.
[00:44:20] Get yourself inside. Don’t wait for new motivation. Don’t be thinking that the year is over. What’s the point? The holidays are soon. You can be a different person by the end of this year. Truly your productivity, PGSD can fundamentally change in a very short amount of time in a sustainable way when you are focused on solving the right thing to solve, which is the perfectionism.
[00:44:47] I have a simple solution, the steps are easy, the process is proven, the support is there, you’ve got everything you need, and this is what will make the difference in your business. This is it. Like I said, if you’re trying to make a cake, you’ve got all the ingredients, you’ve got the perfect recipe, you’ve looked through all the recipe books to find the perfect one, but you can’t bring yourself to make the cake.
[00:45:10] You never even get to see if that recipe is any good. You’re just always left wondering, but you don’t actually get to, to have the business. You don’t get to do the things you want to do. You don’t get to have the freedom, the flexibility, the lifestyle, the impact, the meaning, the fulfillment. You don’t get to have that if you don’t solve for this.
[00:45:29] So I want to invite you into PGSD. This is so important. So, so important. I wish in 2013 when I was getting started, that I had had the chance to learn about this and have someone say, this is a problem. This is a solution. Let me help you. I wish. So that’s why I’m sharing this with you. Hope you’re having a beautiful day and I will talk to you in the next episode.
Outro
If you enjoy this podcast, then I highly recommend signing up for my group coaching program called Perfectionists Getting Shit Done. So we are doing our next enrollment in October and we are going to be open for one week only. So if you want to find out more about the program and join the waitlist, go to samlaurabrown.com/pgsd.