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Unstoppable: ​Get more sh$$ done for your business by cleaning out head trash and
executing a playbook for success

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter I: On Becoming Unstoppable
Chapter II: The Unproductive Overwhelm Loop
Chapter III: Start with Real Awareness To Dismantle Your Blocks
Chapter IV: The Power of One
Chapter V: Write Your Playbook for Success

Unstoppable

www.lindamperry.com
Copyright © 2021, Linda M Perry
Published in the United States of America
No parts of this publication may be reproduced without correct attribution
to the author of this book.
For more information about the author, visit www.lindamperry.com

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Introduction

When I ask the entrepreneurs I work with what the number one reason they want to
scale their business and grow, the answer is usually that they want more freedom.

Freedom to make the choices they want.

Freedom to work where they want, when they want and with whom they want.
Freedom to give themselves and their family the things they want (and more).
Freedom to create and build something that impacts others.

Yet, when I ask entrepreneurs how much freedom they have in their business, here
are the answers I usually get . . .

“Not nearly enough.”

“None.”
“I can’t even remember what freedom really feels like anymore.”

The truth is that most entrepreneurs set out to build a business that allows them to
work with amazing clients, make an impact and the choices we didn’t have when we
worked for someone else. The reality is that you end up getting something that feels
more like a ball and chain that keeps you from enjoying the things you want out of
life.

And after spending years working with entrepreneurs and really studying what gets
in the way - what I realized most is that we struggle to get the shit we want done in
our business because what we’re doing as entrepreneurs, doesn’t quite model
anything we’ve done up until this point and t​ hat​. . . allows the head trash to take
over and keep us stuck procrastinating, sabotaging, lowering our pricing and
working non-stop just to keep up.

We can try to implement systems and strategies, but ultimately - until we find our
way to emptying the garbage that fills our head around what we’re capable of doing
and our self worth, it becomes impossible to see the way.

Which is why it became so important for me to help business owners just like me,
move past your mindset blocks and write a playbook for growing your business that
relies on trusting yourself and doing what feels right. Instead of always turning to the
experts, when you clear through your own head trash, you begin to be your own
best advocate for your business.

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And almost magically - the joy and freedom you always dreamed of when it came
down to owning your own business - becomes yours.

Listen, I know that if you’re here, you’re ready for something better - you want to be
able to work with stellar clients, have time to do the things you want in life and have
the power to choose what you want for your business.

But something is standing in your way.

And likely it’s yourself.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the stuff you have to do now and you give up on the
great of long-term. You might not even know exactly how to get there and
everything you’ve been doing up to know - just doesn’t feel right.

My mission in creating Unstoppable was to help you see a different way. One where
you can scale and grow your business y​ our​way. Where you’re able to tap into a
higher mindset and move past the head trash that has held you back in the past.

The truth is you deserve to be unstoppable. The problem is that no one has shown
you a real way to get there. I’m certain that this book will be your first step to
creating the movement you want and create the momentum you need to build an
incredible - intentional - business of your dreams.

Your mindset first coach,

Linda

Chapter I: On Becoming Unstoppable

I learned an important lesson when I was just 21 years old. Freshly graduated from
college, I was taking a couple years “off” before going to law school and was hired
at Motorola as an executive assistant.

With a degree in English, I knew that it was probably going to be hard for me to get
a great job and working for a big company like Motorola gave me benefits, the
freedom to leave my mom’s house and a steady gig.

There was only one problem.

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I was a terrible executive assistant. It’s not that I couldn’t do the job. It’s just that I was
not very detail oriented and I hated having to book these crazy international flights
for my boss and get all the details down for his trips. I hated managing all of the
systems engineers who wanted time with my boss and juggle all the complaints
that came my way.

Plus, it was the kind of job where you had to coordinate with the other executive
assistant on when to take lunch, breaks or even leave your desk to go down to
accounting to get some documents signed.

It was stifling.

And although I worked next to a fun spitfire of a woman named Mitzi, I quickly found
myself daydreaming about how to find my way out. In fact, my boyfriend at the time
happened to have been a systems engineer in another department who was getting
his MBA at University of Chicago - so I saw a chance.

Realizing there was no one running the business and marketing for the International
Systems Engineers (one of the biggest money-making arms of Motorola at the time
because they were building cell towers in all of the Middle East, Africa and Asia), I
decided that I saw a gap.

And I saw my way out.

I would study my boyfriend’s books at night learning about barriers to entry,

marketing strategies and maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I decided to pitch my boss
the idea that because he could do better by getting someone more detailed for his
daily tasks, I was better suited to do business strategy in the department.

Thinking back on it, it took a lot of balls - but when you’re a) young your head trash
is sort of limited; and b) back is against the wall doing something you hate - you’ll
find a way out.

It didn’t take long for him to see the merit in my plan. He gave me a shot a ​ nd​ a raise.
I was on top of the world . . that is until some of the engineers couldn’t believe that a
lowly “secretary” could actually be promoted in this way. Not all. But some.

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Enough to make my daily life a bit of a challenge - with the mean stares and the
whispers behind my back. I knew I wasn’t liked (and now no one had to really suck
up to me the way they used to because I was no longer the boss’ gatekeeper).

But I’ll be honest. I didn’t really care. I had this chance to write my own playbook,
have fun and make a difference. Which I did. And even though I was scared every
single day. Even though I would spend hours trying to learn a job I had NO playbook
for and was worried that all my haters were right.

I kept going.

I did the thing and I showed up. I can even say that I kept this incredibly beautiful
marketing brochure I created for my team for years. It was like my own little trophy
and reminder - that even though I had no idea what to do at first, I still did a thing. A
good thing.

That experience early on taught me a valuable lesson.

When it comes to living our best life - whether that’s in business or our personal life
- sometimes you have to throw out the playbook. You have to stop thinking inside
the parameters of what is and what others tell you has to be in order to become
unstoppable.

The truth is becoming unstoppable takes a ​little​ lot of courage. It means that
sometimes you’re going to be liked. Other times you won’t. You’re going to bump
into hurdles and challenges along the way - and ultimately, it’s your choice with
what you do with it.

As a mindset coach and business strategist, I’ve worked with hundreds of

entrepreneurs who inevitably reach that point in their business journey where they
forget this important point.

If you’re here . . .maybe that’s you.

You’d love to be doing more for yourself or your business, but instead you’re
working more hours than you ever planned, still taking on clients that don’t fully
align with your vision and you have zero time to execute the plans you’ve set out to
complete months ago.

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And it’s not really that you don’t know what you want out of their business, it’s just
that you’ve fallen into the typical pattern where you make some forward progress
and then feel compelled to complete client work and do the thing that’s right in
front of you.

Worse yet - you’re beating yourself up about it and being your worst critic.

Instead of unstoppable. You’ve become stuck. . . immobiled. . . frozen.

And truth be told - you’re probably sick of it and ready to take back the business you
set out to create.

So, what does it really mean then to become unstoppable in your business if you
can’t really see past today and you can’t execute on the things you know will push
you forward.

Well, for starters, unstoppable isn’t an end game. It’s not a destination or
achievement - the one mistake people often make - especially when we talk about
business growth or scaling is that there is no place where your business will be
perfect or some utopia.

You will always have challenges. You will always have some new mountain to climb.

Being unstoppable means understanding all of that - and picking the road that
works for you. It means thinking about what lies ahead and what mindset challenges
you face, but knowing that they’re merely there as lessons instead of blocks - so
you can finally get the shit done and grow (aka - work fewer hours, make more
money and work with the clients you love).

And to get to unstoppable there is one thing you have to do - and that’s put Mindset
First. Mindset First is my philosophy of putting mindset above everything else. It’s
about looking at the road ahead and anticipating your mindset blocks and working
through them. And even those you didn’t imagine - it’s about pausing and looking at
what's standing in your way.

I’ll be honest with you. . . .

When it comes to executing on the things you know will help you build the business
of your dreams (and become unstoppable), your biggest problem is that the stories
that fill your head are holding you back.

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It’s impossible to DO anything if the person you think you ARE isn’t enough.

Instead of being visible like you need to be, you judge every piece of content you
put into the world.

Instead of charging your worth, you discount and take clients you know aren’t ideal.

Instead of having balance, you agree to do more work for a client, even when it’s
beyond the scope of the contract (after all, you want them to feel like they’ve gotten
everything they can out of you).

Becoming unstoppable means that you finally break free from the thoughts that
hold you back so you can write the playbook that you’ll readily follow. It’s not that
you won’t have those negative thoughts (after all, you’re human). It’s just that you’ll
finally be able to see them, recognize them and move past them - so that when you
want to do things for your business, you’ll get them done.

And in turn, you’ll unlock the door to the freedom that drove you to be an
entrepreneur in the first place. The freedom to execute that big vision you had since
day one (and I promise it’s still there - it’s just been hiding for a while).

So, if you’re ready, this book is going to show you what it means to be unstoppable
in a whole new way. This isn't about having to reach some unrealistic goal. This isn't
about having to reach some made-up goal.

Becoming unstoppable is having a business on your own terms. Having a business

that you love, having a business that you can't wait to wake up and work on every
single solitary day.

Unstoppable is something that isn't just for those people who you admire, those that
you look at for every day being unstoppable and becoming unstoppable is your
absolute right. And when you're finished with this book, hope that you are going to
really be able to define what it means to be unstoppable in your business, in your
life.

And everywhere where it counts.

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Chapter II: The Unproductive Overwhelm Loop

Now that you understand what it means to become unstoppable, let’s talk about
what’s a
​ ctually​happening in your business right now and why.

Because becoming unstoppable probably feels a little unreachable - and we want

to change that.

Where you are right now is a place that most entrepreneurs reach at some point in
their growth. I often call this the growth stage because with the growth stage come
pains that you may be experienced at earlier stages of your business, but now
you’re aware of them and are ready to move forward in a big way.

Only the problem is that every time you try to create real momentum in your
business, it doesn’t really get you anywhere. In fact, your conscious mind may be
focused on growth, but your subconscious mind is the one that’s in the driver’s seat
and it’s putting on the brakes full throttle.

Here’s a little of what you’re probably experiencing in your everyday life. . .

You’re feeling better than you did when you were as an emerging business owner
because you’ve done some great work, you’re getting paid and referrals seem to be
coming in. You might even be getting noticed by your peers and that always feels
good.

The problem is that when it comes to being able to work on your own business and
do the things you k
​ now​will take you to the next level, you’ve stalled.

Every time you sit down to work on your business, you find yourself focused on a
to-do list and client deadlines. You prioritize what needs to get done for everyone
else and rationalize that you’ll get to your stuff on the weekend. Except that when
the weekend comes, you’re so fried that you don’t really have the energy and you
figure you’ve earned a break to do something fun (​after all, isn’t this why you work for
yourself​).

Then Monday comes.

After you glance at your schedule for the week, you wish you had done some work
on your business because you can see that it’s another jam packed week. You have

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zero time to create - let alone execute on the things you have had on your list for
days​ months.

And that’s when the real struggle starts. Because your inner critic - the one that
loves to tell you how you’re falling short sees its opportunity.

You tell yourself that you’re never going to get where you want because you just
don’t have it in you.

You worry that any minute ​everyone​is going to find out that you’re a fraud or that
you’re just not good enough to make it.

This is the time where your procrastination, excuses and perfectionism start to pile
on - not to mention the endless comparison that takes place on a daily basis.

It’s at this point in your business growth that blocks pile up and you’re not sure what
to do next in order to grow your business. You lean heavily on what experts say. You
buy their 10-step courses that are ​guaranteed​to grow your business and help you
add a team or build your course or whatever else they tell you to do.

Yet you still stall. Either it’s impossible to find the time you need to do the thing or
you find that their methods feel wrong in your business.

You find yourself in what I call the Unproductive Overwhelm Loop.

The unproductive overwhelmed loop is where you get stuck and can’t make sense
of where, how or what to really start (​even though you’re pretty sure it’s all there in
your head​). You're doing small little pieces, but none of them are building the
momentum that you need.

There's the adage that you should be spending your time on the 20% of the things
that produce 80% of your results. The problem in the unproductive overwhelm loop
is that you end up spending time on the 80% that needs your immediate attention
and that 20% gets left behind.

The unproductive overwhelm loop is the biggest reason that the proverbial ceiling is
crowded with entrepreneurs ready to break through to their new floor. They’ve
reached a point where everyone else’s business is moving forward, except their own
because the stuff that will really help them grow isn’t happening and the truth is -
the only thing that's getting in the way is head trash.

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Now here’s where you might start to doubt me a little bit . . .

I often hear from clients who tell me that they would love to be doing more for their
business, but that there really aren’t enough hours in a day to do the work. Maybe
that’s you too.

You might be telling yourself, “I know what I need to do, but I don’t have time. And
the reality is I ​have​to prioritize client work because that is what pays the bills.”

While there is truth to that in the current state of your business, by the time you’ve
reached the unproductive, overwhelm loop in your business, you’re ultimately in a
prison of your own making.

Even if you know what you ​should​be doing to grow - the actual execution of those
things stops. It gets kicked out and you’re never even prioritizing the things you
need to be doing, let alone setting any realistic goals.

You likely have a notion what it will take to scale your business - you’ve heard from
the experts that you need to build a team, speak, create some online courses - and
on the surface it seems easy enough.

The problem is that there's so much that goes with it.

Maybe you need to hire a subcontractor to help you, but do you have the time to
train them? Or perhaps you have to get a virtual assistant and you've gone through
one, two, three. Now you're at the point where you feel like the only person who can
do the job is you.

And again, your mindset starts to second guess and challenge your core value as a
business owner. You enter that cycle of constant worry whether this business can
even sustain itself (​tell me you haven’t had dreams of tossing it all away, lately??​
)

It depletes your self-worth and your belief in yourself. To put it frankly - it just sucks.

But here’s a radical truth that - when you embrace - can truly set you free to build
greater momentum and joy in your business. Even if you’ve been telling yourself
that the real problem in your business is that you don’t have time, skills or even
know where to start. That you have too many client deadlines and things, the s​ tuff

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you’re dealing with in your business isn’t going to be solved by implementing
another strategy, skill or even piles of money.

It’s going to be solved by shifting your mindset from a mindset of fear, lack, scarcity
and limit - to a mindset that employs boundaries, respects your worth and moves
past the noise to get more done.

And here’s the best part. It’s not just about getting sh!$ done. It’s about being able to
hear the strategic signals that matter to your business and allow you to write an
effective playbook for your business - of your own making.

You see, up until now, chances are you’ve been following someone else’s playbook.
And it’s really not your fault . . . you’ve been trained to do so since you were a kid
(​more on that later​
).

You’ve been doing what the experts tell you and because you think they should
know better, you’ve been frustrated because you haven’t seen great success. And
instead of following one more strategic path by another “strategic” guru, the answer
is much simpler . . . it’s really about turning to the one person who knows more
about your business than anyone else - you.

So, instead of telling you what you should do next to grow your business, I’m going
to make the bold assertion that perhaps your best next step is one focused on
dismantling the obstacles rather than working on growing something that will never
take off while your mindset blocks remain firmly in place.

And then write the playbook from there.

Chapter III. Start with Real Awareness To Dismantle Your Blocks

Before we talk about how you’re going to dismantle your mindset blocks, I want to
be clear on the end game. The goal of dismantling your mindset blocks isn’t to have
them disappear or never to feel stuck again.

Because that won’t happen.

After all, you’re human and humans are by nature reactive creatures hard wired for
fear, worry and doubt. So, if you’re hoping this will stop you from ever feeling things
like imposter complex or money scarcity, I’m going to tell you right now that I can’t
perform that kind of magic.

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What will happen is that you will be able to move through your blocks with greater
clarity, ease and self-assuredness than you ever have before.

The goal of dismantling your mindset blocks isn’t to never get stuck. The goal is to
move through so that you can finally execute and grow your business.

I actually think that life without mindset blocks would be a life without
opportunity, growth and deep lessons.

And although you’d probably rather do without some of the lessons, the truth is that
your life lessons have shaped who you are in every meaningful way.

So, here’s the thing - if you’re at that stage of your business where you feel stuck
and can see that mindset is holding you back . . . then you’re in luck.

You’re ​actually​in an incredibly special and powerful category of entrepreneur.

You, my friend, are what I call the growth stage entrepreneur.

It is during the extraordinary growth stage that you truly see how your mindset
blocks hold you back from greater success. How your limiting beliefs keep knocking
you down and pinning you up against the crowded ceiling of entrepreneurs who
never break through (​but that won’t be you​
).

Where you go from carrying a lifetime of beliefs you have taken as ABSOLUTE and
TRUE to seeing how you can become the master of your own future - in really
powerful ways.

Where you can see how all the stuff you think is getting in the way ​now​
, has actually
always been there as a result of a mistaken conclusion you made when you were
way too young to deal with the world.

All of that stuff has always been standing in the way. It was there when you first
started out as a business owner. In fact, it was what kept you taking clients that
didn’t fully align with your vision, overgiving and allowing scope creep just to prove
your worth and working on things that give only short-term gains.

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The only difference between where you are now and when you started your
business are that your worries might have been more singular. . . you worried more
about how to get your business off the ground, make money and pay bills.

All the stuff about having more time, living a great life and having amazing, raving
clients was supposed to be payoff for all the hard work.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

But now, because you’re established and understand how to make money as a
business owner, you’ve reached a point where you have the space to deal with the
mindset blocks and move past them - once and for all.

You’re at the point where you realize that you and your business simply deserve
more than just scraps. So, let’s make that change. Let’s make space for the freedom
you imagined when you started your business.

Here’s how.

When it comes to getting shit done in your business, it’s a mistake to think that if you
had more willpower, discipline or tenacity then you would actually be more
successful.

If that were true, most of us would already have retired and be sitting on a beach.

Getting stuff done in your business has nothing to do with any of those things, it
actually has to do with dismantling the beliefs that stand between you and bigger
success. And as someone who has probably been focused on grow, grow, grow
(​because that’s what the experts told you to focus on​
), the idea of dismantling
anything can sound scary.

But I assure you that the only thing I’m going to ask you to dismantle is the garbage
that fills your head.

As I said, in the last chapter, we're really looking at what's standing in the way from
where we are and where we want to be. Once you do that, you can finally see what
you need to do to get moving.

So here's what you really want to start to look for . . . I want you to look for your own
personal mindset traps.

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Become the investigator of your actions and see the way the stuff you tell yourself is
getting in the way because when you actually become aware of your mindset traps,
you can finally do something about them!

Let’s make this easy.

I want you to get out a piece of paper. At the top of it I want you to write out four
columns Visibility, Process (or Systems), Sales and Execution. On the left hand side I
want you to write out Fears and Limiting Beliefs (you can get a digital copy of this on
my website at ​lindamperry.com/scaleresources​).

These four areas are the key areas where most people get stuck in scaling their
business. What I want you to do is set a timer for 5 minutes. Allow yourself to list out
all the fears you have in each of the key four areas. Simply write them out without
thinking and just put them down (this exercise is best done writing it out by hand so
be sure to print out the sheet).

Then when you are complete, set your timer again for another five minutes and
write out all of your limiting beliefs in the four key areas. A limiting belief differs from
a fear in that it typically is more absolute and something you feel about yourself or
the world. They often sound like this . . .

● I am a fraud
● I am horrible at systems
● I can never be bold
● The world is unfair
● There isn’t enough to go around
● No one will notice me, so why bother

By writing out your fears and beliefs, you’ll start to get a handle on some of the ways
your mindset has been keeping you stuck. It will also give you a clear picture of
what has r​ eally​kept you back from executing and growing your business - whether
it’s not being visible enough, having the right systems, having a proper sales funnel
or even discounting your pricing (​still​
).

This exercise is designed to give you clarity. It’s designed to help you stop hiding
from you and really see where the hang up is when it comes to executing on your
business.

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Chances are you’ll see a few places where taking action feels easy. Which is what
we want because the truth is that you’ve been hanging out in the background
because focusing on your business has felt hard, overwhelming or not worth it.

By naming what’s really been holding you back, you can start to shift it.

Because up until now, you’ve been telling yourself all sorts of stories about why you
can’t really scale your business - time, money, skills and so on. Seeing the fears that
drive those stories will make a huge difference in your ability to take action because
you will no longer be able to hide from your own stories.

So, take the time to do this exercise. Let the answers sink in and try your best to
withhold judgment. Then meet me back here to talk about what comes next!

Chapter IV: The Power of One

Chances are that you’ve heard about the Power of One before. When it comes to
marketing and messaging for your business, you’ve probably been told that it’s best
to stick to one message, one service and one call to action to drive results.

The same thing is true when it comes to shifting your mindset and getting sh$$
done.

The power of one is the fastest and best way to start building momentum in your
business and finally paying attention to YOU. One of the biggest ah-ha moments I
had in my business was when I read the book ​The Slight Edge​ , by Jeff Olson. That
book really solidified the importance of doing something - one thing - every single
day that moved your business forward.

What he shares in his amazing book is that we believe that scaling is a linear process
going upward, when in reality it’s more like a pendulum. And if you’re doing nothing
for your business each and every day (even something small), then you’re actually
moving backward.

Now, maybe it’s my competitive nature or the idea that I hate losing any gains that
I’ve made, but that really made me stop and look at my daily actions.

If I put off time to work on my business. If I decide everyone else is more important
than me, then I’m actually losing any gains I had in my business and to me - that
seemed pretty unacceptable.

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So, here’s what you do with all the information you uncovered by completing the
simple exercise I shared.

Although it might be tempting to tell yourself that you have to tackle all your fears
and all your beliefs at once, I want you to hit pause. For now, it’s time to connect to
the power of one and identify the single biggest fear and the single biggest limiting
belief that’s standing in your way (chances are they’re pretty darn connected - i.e.
the fear is being driven by the limiting belief).

Pick the one fear or belief that is keeping you from executing anything in your
business or moving forward.

Got it?

Great.

Now, I want you to take your fear or belief and simply ask yourself the question, is
that true? Your brain will immediately want to say something like, “of course it is, I
am totally going to be laughed at if I stand out - it’s happened before. I’m not going
to risk that!!!”

And while I respect that protective part of you, it’s time to call it out and simply say
this. What proof do you have that if I put myself out there and decide to INSERT
ACTION (cold pitch my ideal clients, share an article on LinkedIN, publish my
website) that others will laugh at me?

The truth is that there is no objective proof.

Your fears and beliefs can only tell you what has happened in the past. They can’t
tell you ANYTHING about now or tomorrow.

So, it’s time to question your beliefs.

For me, I had to question the belief that I had to work hard in order to achieve the
success I wanted. I came from a family where laziness was a sin - even on
weekends. I learned that if you wanted to be favored, loved and rewarded, you had
to always be in the doing.

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And let me tell you, the world around me rewarded that behavior. Whether it was
school, law school or being an attorney - the playbook dictated hard work. That was
the only way.

So, when I started to question that belief, I’ll admit I had a ton of resistance. It was
not easy for me to let that go. My stories about needing funds, needing to support
my family, etc. kept driving that limiting belief. And it kept sucking the life out of my
business.

I had to really take a look at that belief, question it and break it down as a lie, an
untruth that held me down and kept me from doing stuff that mattered.

And no matter what I was told, it was time to really shift this belief. I had to formulate
a new one - one that made sense to me. Because let’s be honest, if you choose a
new belief that completely counters the one your subconscious brain believes, it’s
going to reject it and remain stuck.

The belief had to be one that made sense.

So I settled on, “I don’t have to kill myself to be successful.”

My brain could buy that. It was a simple and subtle shift, but that new belief helped
me see how I might be able to set boundaries in my business and allocate time to
take action.

I started to take Fridays just to work on my business.

Then I decided that I didn’t want to take client calls on Mondays.
Then I decided to not take client calls on the other days before 10 am.

And you know what? My business didn’t suffer. In fact, I actually got stuff done for
my business to help me be more visible, improve my processes, get steady sales
and execute those big plans - while still taking advantage of the beautiful place I
lived in.

Now, I want you to try the same. Write out the ways that you want to work. You don’t
have to mirror my structure. But you do want to do the following.

1. Pick the belief that’s holding you back from getting sh!$ done.
2. Question the belief. Where did it come from? Is it even yours?
3. Call it out. Demand proof that what you fear or believe will happen.

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 4. Lean into a new belief that your subconscious brain will buy. Something that
will help you ease the pain of the old belief and take action.
5. Create a single action step that is focused on moving your business forward. It
may be as simple as reading a book, blocking time out or something else. You
decide.

Once you’re comfortable with taking action with one belief, one new step in your
business I want you to claim the victory. We brush off so much of what we do and
think that we s​ hould​have already been doing it so why should we celebrate the
small stuff.

The truth is you weren’t doing it. Now that you are, it’s time to celebrate. And the
reason for that . . .we want to start piling up the victories that build confidence and
commitment.

So, I want you to figure out what celebration looks like to you and do it.

And then onto the next single step.

This is how you’re going to start to build momentum. It doesn’t have to be a wave
that has you do everything all at once. Instead, it can be a simple act that helps get
you moving.

The power of one almost takes the pressure off. And it certainly won’t bring on
overwhelm. Recognize that the power of one may be slower than the frantic part of
your brain wants to go - but it also is the only way right now if you’re not doing
anything.

It’s crucial that you take this one belief and one step and try it as soon as possible.

Make it today. Make it now because knowing that you want to do it and doing it are
two different things.

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Chapter V: Write Your Playbook for Success

You’ve probably heard the saying, why reinvent the wheel when someone else has
already done it?

Yeah, I’m a big fan of anything that stops you from wasting time and getting more
done in your business. But when it comes to scaling your business and getting shit
done, I’m a big fan of writing your own playbook for success.

Now, let me be clear.

I’m not asking you to close your eyes and pretend that the experts don’t know
anything. Not at all. What I’m asking you to do is think about your business from the
inside out.

What this means is understanding that there are key components to growing and
scaling your business - but how you want to execute those key components is
completely up to you.

Let me take a quick step back.

For example, I’ve personally identified four key areas that will impact 80% of your
growth.

These four areas are:

● Visibility
● Process
● Sales (which includes pricing)
● Execution

If you ask the experts what it means to be more visible in your business, you’ll likely
hear a series of different answers. But more than likely, people will need to say you
have to be visible online - wherever your audience is hanging out.

You need social media. You need a podcast. You need to guest on a podcast. You
need to do workshops.

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Now, if you’re an introvert or if you’re currently struggling with imposter complex or
not feeling enough, you likely wanted to throw up a little at the mere suggestion of
showing up on social media consistently.

And chances are you’ve probably been resisting doing so in any meaningful way.

But what if I told you that writing your own playbook meant that you could take that
piece of advice and throw it out the window?

What if I told you that there were dozens of different ways to be visible and that
YOU could choose which one worked for you?

My guess is that your shoulders might drop and a weight would fall off of you.

The truth is that we get stuck in someone else’s playbook and we do nothing. And in
fact, we even resist it so it’s more than doing nothing. It’s doing nothing and then
making ourselves wrong for doing nothing.

Being able to write your own playbook doesn’t mean that you decide to reinvent a
whole new way of being visible (although if you do - cool). It means looking at where
your audience is hanging out and how you can get in front of them.

Perhaps you love research and you decide that you have a solution to a particular
problem for one single customer. You know this solution will work so you decide to
see if you know anyone who can get you 10 minutes with them. Or perhaps you
decide you’ll cold pitch them and reach out that way.

Being visible doesn’t mean the world needs to see you. Just your prospective
clients.

The same goes for process, sales and execution.

I personally hate creating systems for my business. I know they’re valuable and will
totally follow them - but for me, taking the time to create my systems will never
happen. So, I follow other people’s systems and take out what doesn’t work for me
(​like having too many steps or checks will drive me nuts​
).

On the other hand, I love the art and science of selling so I have perfected a method
that works for me. When I first became a coach, I thought I had to stick to the script I
was given. And let me tell you - I felt awkward and clunky delivering my sales pitch.

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In fact, it left me feeling as if I had to discount or give something extra just because
the sales pitch was so devoid of connection.

It took me a while to realize that I didn’t need to have anyone’s permission to write
my own playbook. There was no one waiting to cut my grade or tell me I was wrong.

It was up to me to create a sales process I loved. And who cares if it wasn’t what
everyone else was doing. My method worked for me and in fact, allowed me to
create a repeatable process that I could now show others.

Writing your own playbook for growth allows you to reconnect to what matters.

It allows you to see why you’re doing this business thing in the first place. I know
that by giving myself permission to write my own playbook for scaling, I discovered I
really loved speaking, group coaching and conversation as my way to grow my
business.

And while I am on social media, I know that focusing on the things I’m good at and
love - allow me to execute much faster and with more passion. Writing my own
playbook allowed me to refresh my business vision and have a bigger stake in my
business.

Which is what we’re going after.

I often ask clients how much they believe in their own business and their own
offerings because without belief, there is no ability to execute or move forward.
Giving yourself permission to write the playbook allows you to go back and get
excited all over again.

Even if you think you’ve become bored or disappointed with what you do, the reality
is that you’re probably not bored with the thing itself - you’re bored, frustrated and
disappointed because you’ve been following someone else’s rules about how you
should build it.

One thing you may not know about me is that I ended up leaving coaching for a
brief period because I believed that I had to follow someone else’s playbook. I had
to leave behind the swearing, the direct lawyer personality and I had to be the
model of what a coach looked like (​aka I could never yell at my kids or even look like I
didn’t have my shit together​
).

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By following someone else’s playbook I was rejecting who I was - and that was the
part people were coming to in the first place.

When I finally realized that writing your own playbook is actually a self-honoring act,
I immediately started to prioritize it and question every single thing I was doing to
ensure that it was something that I r​ eally​wanted to do for my business.

Now, if you’re still nervous about what this looks like, let me share this . . . there is no
perfect playbook.

There is only the one that gets you moving.

It’s important that your playbook remains fluid and open to mistakes because
sometimes, you won’t really know if something works or if you even like doing it
until you try it.

Maybe this week you hate posting social media, but as you start to grow more
confident around visibility you start to add it in.

Things change.

And mistakes happen.

Which is why you need to really think about this as an ongoing experiment.

In fact, students of mine who take my Scale for Success program have found going
through the program more than once helps them decide what parts matter and
what parts don’t - always building what works for them.

And now it’s time to do that for yourself.

First, you’ll want to get comfortable with making mistakes. I know that’s hard, but the
truth is that it comes with the territory!

When I first met my husband he told me I hadn’t failed enough. This was back when
I was still a trial attorney and failing was not an option (​because clients could actually
end up in jail)​.

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I looked at him as if he was crazy. “Who wants to fail?” I replied. After all, failing hurts.
But ultimately, I got to see what he was getting at. Failure was really the only way I’d
build anything important. Failure was the only way to see what really mattered to
me.

Since then, I have failed gloriously. I have failed my way to greater success. And
that’s what I’m asking you to do now.

Get comfortable with failing. It will reward you in spades.

Then I invite you to look into the four different areas of scaling - visibility, process,
sales and execution (and this is the big E execution for building a team, building
programs etc.) and think about where you’re putting pressure on yourself to follow
what others are telling you.

Start to write out ideas that work for you. Document them. Decide whether your
efforts are ways that you’re avoiding or making excuses or are they efforts that feel
right for your business.

You want to really think about whether you’re simply making an excuse for not
doing something or whether it’s something that just feels right for you. And of
course you’ll have to decide whether that effort makes a difference in YOUR
business.

Because what you don’t want to do is continue doing things that don’t create
momentum. And you don’t want to put off doing something you could be doing now
just because you don’t feel like doing it.

This is about writing a playbook that works.

So, here are the practical steps you’ll take to write your own playbook. I promise this
doesn’t need to be formal.

1. Grab another piece of paper and write out at the top of it the four different
areas that you’ll want to focus on to scale your business. I recommend
Visibility, Process, Sales and Execution. If these don’t work for you, create
your own.
2. On the left hand side write down the word Playbook Action as many times as
you need for the actions you need to take in the column. You may download
my personal form for this at ​lindamperry.com/scaleresources​.

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 3. Keep this document with you and start to write out all the actions you know
you want to take for each area that will result in growth and movement.
4. Use that power of one to identify the most important step on this list. Carve
out the time to do it. Make it absolutely non-negotiable and go forward.

I want you to challenge yourself with this exercise. Instead of focusing on what you
know​needs to be done - the stuff that the experts say - I want you to focus on the
pieces that excite you. Perhaps the idea of establishing processes is exciting for you
and you have thought of a new way to do this - start there.

Remember what Jeff Olson shares in ​The Slight Edge​

, any forward movement puts
you one step closer to the success and freedom you want.

Oh and one last note - make writing your playbook a daily practice. Something you
do before you check your emails and before you start work on client activity. Your
fears and limiting beliefs are quietest in the morning. By working on your playbook in
the morning, you have the opportunity to create the most authentic version of what
you want to see.

And if you’re looking to go deeper with dismantling your head trash while
implementing the steps YOU need to scale your business, I invite you to check out
my group coaching program, Scale for Success. Unlike most other programs that
tackle only mindset or tackle only strategy, I’ve created a clear journey where you
experience dismantling your head blocks while implementing key strategies for
scaling. And while I do share what experts offer, it’s up to you to decide which steps
bring the biggest results for your business.

Scale for Success is a small group program for anyone committed to taking their
business to the next level. If that’s you, simply email me at ​linda@lindamperry.com
and put in the subject line: Scale for Success, let me know what kind of business
you’re in and I’ll get you all the details!

Happy executing!

Linda

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