The Perfectionism Project

Waking up early is a powerful routine, but not for the reason you might think! Honouring a commitment to yourself is such an incredible way to start the day - regardless of whether that commitment is to wake up on your alarm at 5 am or 11 am!

Over the years, I've heard a lot of advice on how to wake up early. But in my opinion, most of that advice fails to mention the mindset advice that matters! In this episode, I'm sharing how I get myself to consistently wake up early, even though I rarely feel like it. I hope you find it helpful.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• What being a morning person really means
• How to wake up early when you don't feel like it
• The true point of waking up early (it's not what you'd think)
• What 'responsible alarm setting' is and how to get started
• Why you find it easy to wake up early on some days but not on others
• How to create real motivation to wake up early
• Practical tips that you can start experimenting with today

Featured In The Episode:

• Dream Habit: My habit course for perfectionists
• My Youtube channel
• Episode 26: The Power of Self-Image
• Episode 37: 10 Simple Ways To Optimise Your Morning Routine

I've definitely been guilty of procrasti-learning - that thing we do when we want to feel productive but don't want to risk the disappointment that might come if we actually get started.

Researching and over-analysing are two things perfectionists are more than familiar with, so I thought I'd dedicate a podcast episode to them. And here we are!

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Whether you're suffering from the curse of knowledge
• When to get out of passive action and get into massive action
• The balance between learning enough and learning too much
• How to tell when you're procrasti-learning
• What a low information diet is and how to experiment with it
• Why I haven't watched the news in years

Featured In The Episode:

• Episode 39: The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss: Lessons + Takeaways
• Episode 81: How To Make The Most of Self-Help Books
• Manifestation Babe Podcast
• The Life Coach School Podcast

In school, we're praised for being full of potential. But in the real world, potential doesn't matter - it's what you do that counts.

In this episode, I'm shining a light on a seemingly positive belief that is holding SO many perfectionists back - and what to do about it! If you see yourself as someone who's full of potential but you're scared to attempt anything that might fail, this episode is for you.

If you'd like to take your personal development journey to the next level, I invite you to join me in my course Get Out Of Your Own Way. It's only open for enrollment this week so make sure you join if you want me to teach you how stop procrastinating, overcome your fears and become your best self. You can find out more at samlaurabrown.com/course. Registration is closing strictly at midnight (EST) on Sunday, 10 March 2019.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Why believing you have potential is causing you to self-sabotage
• What to believe instead
• Practical goal setting advice that will reduce your fear of disappointment
• Why your conscious desire to improve yourself is not enough to create change
• How to tell whether you're procrasti-learning
• The role of identity and how to create an identity that aligns with your goals

Featured In The Episode:

• Get Out Of Your Own Way - Find out more and join here!
• Tom Bilyeu

In this episode, I'm sharing a behind the scenes look at my personal development journey (and business) to inspire you to work on yourself every day. For me, February was a really powerful month in so many ways. Tune in to hear some of the most important things I learned as I set about my February goals. It wasn't already easy!

If you'd like to take your personal development journey to the next level, I invite you to join me in my course Get Out Of Your Own Way. It's only open for enrollment this week so make sure you join if you want me to teach you how to stop procrastinating, overcome your fears and become your best self. You can find out more at samlaurabrown.com/course.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• What to do when you fail at reaching a goal
• When to change a goal and when to persist
• What I'm learning from my goal to read 4 books every month
• The 4 books I'm reading this month and whether I'd recommend them
• Why I don't finish every book I read
• The constructive feedback I got this month about being interviewed on podcasts
• How I approach feedback so that I can remain true to myself whilst growing and evolving
• The power of coaching and what I talk about with my coach
• Why I love getting older

Featured In The Episode:

• Get Out Of Your Own Way - Find out more and join here!
• Erin May Henry
• Episode 31: How To Read More Books
• Episode 81: How To Make The Most of Self-Help Books
• Episode 91: How To *Actually* Believe In Yourself
• Episode 79: The Final Update On My 2018 Impossible Goal + My Goals For 2019
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes
• Incognito by David Eagleman
• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
• Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

A student in one of my classes asked me how to tell when you truly believe a new thought. I thought it was such a great question that I wanted to dedicate a podcast episode to answering it!

In this episode, I'm sharing how to tell whether you believe in yourself or not and practical things you can do to increase your self-belief (which will help move you into action).

If you want my help to stop procrastination, overcome your fears and become your best self then make sure you sign up for my FREE 5-day perfectionism challenge - it's not too late! Click here to register.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• How it is that you can believe in yourself and NOT believe in yourself at the same time
• The real reason you're scared of what other people think
• Practical ways to use neuroscience and your brain to your advantage
• Why it's important to create a new belief before you can see the evidence to support it
• A simple thing you can do to make it easier to believe in yourself
• What cognitive dissonance is and how to get past it

Featured In The Episode:

• Free 5-Day Perfectionism Challenge starting 25 February 2019 - Register Here
• Tom Bilyeu's Youtube channel
• Tom Bilyeu compilation of his Top 50 Rules of Success
• Evan Carmichael's Youtube channel (love his Top 10 Rules of Success series)
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Episode 52: The 3 Stages of Personal Growth
• Episode 41: My Fitness Journey + How I Created A Growth Mindset

Perfectionists LOVE feeling productive. And that's because we believe that if we do more, we'll be more.

On my own personal development journey, I've had to untangle my worthiness from my productivity levels and learn how to get more done with ease. And in this episode, I'm sharing the practical things I'm currently doing to skyrocket my productivity levels.

If you want to learn how to feel more accomplished, get more done and have more time for the things that truly matter - this episode is for you.

If you want my help to stop procrastination, overcome your fears and become your best self then make sure you sign up for my FREE 5-day perfectionism challenge that starts on Monday, 25 February 2019. Click here to register.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• How to be more productive in less time
• The real reason that distractions stop you from doing deep work
• A tip to help you determine the most important tasks on your to-do list
• Why I've completely changed the way I structure my work day
• How to create a schedule that truly works for you
• Why I'm constantly experimenting with productivity
• The importance of detaching your self-worth from what you produce
• How to feel accomplished after every single day of work, no matter how many tasks remain on your to-do list

Featured In The Episode:

• Free 5-Day Perfectionism Challenge starting 25 February 2019 - Register Here
• Dr Shannon Irvine
• The Mindful Strategist Journal

Goal-setting is a powerful personal development tool. It's what allows you to put your hands back on the steering wheel of life and direct it to where you want to go.

If you don't take that big, inspiring goal and break it down into achievable daily steps, it's so hard to get anywhere! So in this episode, I'm sharing the simple 7-step process that will help you take your dream and turn it into a reality. I hope you enjoy it!

If you want my help to stop procrastination, overcome your fears and become your best self then make sure you sign up for my FREE 5-day perfectionism challenge that starts on Monday, 25 February 2019. Click here to register.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Why it's important to consider your ideal day before setting a goal
• Whether it's important that your goal is realistic
• A journaling exercise that'll help you be more creative and productive
• How to change your beliefs about who you are so your goal is easier to achieve
• The planning tactic I use to get more done each day and achieve my goals
• How to stop disappointment from not reaching a goal

Featured In The Episode:

• Free 5-Day Perfectionism Challenge starting 25 February 2019 - Register Here
• Episode 26: The Power of Self-Image
• Episode 82: Your Ideal Day + How To Live It Now
• Episode 79: The Final Update On My 2018 Impossible Goal + My 2019 Goals

If you're so smart why can't you stop procrastinating? That's what I'm answering in this podcast episode! Most procrastination advice teaches you how to manage your desire to procrastinate - but what if you didn't have that desire at all?

In this episode, I'm sharing 3 surprising causes of procrastination so that you can increase your self-awareness and really begin to understand why you can't stop the habit that is causing you so much pain. I'm also sharing resources and practical advice to help you get out of procrastination for good - without all the resistance and struggle!

If you want my help to stop procrastination, overcome your fears and become your best self then make sure you sign up for my FREE 5-day perfectionism challenge that starts on Monday, 25 February 2019. Click here to register.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Why most procrastination advice doesn't create permanent change
• The real reasons you can't stop procrastinating, even though you *really* want to
• A 3-step journaling exercise that will motivate you to stop procrastinating
• Why you're actively stopping yourself from reaching your full potential
• How to reimagine your self-image so it pulls you towards your dream life

Featured In The Episode:

• Free 5-Day Perfectionism Challenge starting 25 February 2019 - Register here
• Episode 73 - How To Stop Putting Things Off Until The Last Minute

Anxious thoughts are something that a lot of perfectionists experience. Even though I'm by no means an expert on this topic, I thought it might be helpful to share some of my experience, the way I look at anxious thoughts and the practical things I do to manage those thoughts.

Anxiety can be a very serious and challenging experience for many, but in this episode, I want to help you reframe the way you look at your anxious thoughts. I'm also sharing plenty of incredible resources that can help you with this - I hope you find them helpful!

In this episode you'll learn:

• How I personally manage my anxious thoughts
• Practical ways to feel better in moments of anxiety
• How anxiety protects us from vulnerability and life feeling 'too good'
• Why it's important not to identify as an anxious person
• How to reframe anxiety so you can still live your best life

Featured in the episode:

• Brene Brown discussion with Oprah about foreboding joy
• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
• Episode 59 - Daring Greatly by Brené Brown: Lessons + Takeaways
• Episode 26 - The Power of Self-Image
• Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself by Dr Joe Dispenza
• The Life Coach School Podcast - Episode 14: Overcoming Anxiety
• The Life Coach School Podcast - Episode 57

Principles by Ray Dalio was my business book for January 2019 (I'm reading one business book per month) and I absolutely LOVED it.

Ray Dalio is referred to as the Steve Jobs of investing thanks to the innovations he's made in the finance industry, but this book was about so much more than the numbers. Not only were there so many incredible business lessons in it, but Ray epitomises the growth mindset and his approach to love is one that's focused around meaningful work and meaningful relationships at its core. And that's something I truly admire (and aspire to).

This episode is not a review of the book, but rather the lessons I learned from it. Imagine that we're sitting down over a chai latte and you said - 'Weren't you reading that book by Ray Dalio? How was it?'. This episode is my answer.

Featured In The Episode:

• Episode 31 - How To Read More Books
• Episode 81 - How To Make The Most of Self-Help Books
• Principles by Ray Dalio
• Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss
• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• Tom Bilyeu's book list
• Brooke Castillo
• Tim Ferriss