How long are you planning to study for the PMP?

Most people don't have a real answer — they just keep grinding and hope they'll feel "ready" someday.

In this episode, Scott Payne breaks down the real reason some PMP candidates pass in weeks while others struggle for a year or more — and it has nothing to do with intelligence, experience, or effort.

You'll learn:

• The four levels of PMP study most people never realize they're stuck in

• Why working harder can actually slow you down

• The single biggest indicator of how long the PMP will take you

• How to move from memorization to judgment — the skill the PMP actually tests

This episode will help you:

• Study smarter, not longer

• Build real confidence instead of burnout

• Become a better project manager while preparing for the exam

If you've been putting in the hours but not seeing progress, this episode will change how you think about PMP prep.

Questions that compare the Project Manager role and the Project Lead role are some of the easiest places to get stuck on the PMP exam — especially when both answers sound reasonable.

In this episode, I walk you through a simple 2-step decision framework you can use to solve these questions consistently:

• Where does the problem live — inside the team system or outside of it?
• Can it be handled at that level, or does it need to be escalated?

We'll apply this thinking to practical scenarios and break down how PMI expects you to approach execution issues, authority decisions, and escalation — without memorizing job titles or overanalyzing org charts.

This episode is about learning how to think, not what to memorize, so you can walk into exam day calm, confident, and in control.

If you've ever thought…

• "I can do the job, but I can't learn all this broad PMP stuff."

• "I read it twice and it still doesn't click."

• "I'm falling behind… so maybe I'm not cut out for this."

• "Agile vocabulary feels like another language."

…this episode is for you.

Chad CashDollar is a shipyard foreman who works long hours, has a chaotic schedule, and openly admits that reading comprehension and test endurance have always been his biggest hurdles. The PMP felt like a monster: 180 questions, 4 hours, and a ton of terminology.

And then he passed.

Not with perfect scores. Not with Above Target across the board. He passed with a mindset shift and a simple method that struggling students can actually copy:

• Start with what the question is asking

• Highlight only what matters

• Work it down to 50/50

• Pick your answer and commit

• Don't treat "wrong" like a crisis—treat it like reps

• Keep moving forward (because there's no failure until you stop)

This is the episode for the student who's tough at work… but doubting themselves at the desk.

If you want to ace the PMP exam, you have to master emotional intelligence — whether you realize it or not.

The PMP exam doesn't just test processes and formulas. It tests how you lead when people, conflict, and pressure are involved. And emotional intelligence is often the hidden factor that decides between two answers that both look right.

In this episode, I break emotional intelligence down in plain English — what it actually is, where it shows up on the PMP Exam Content Outline, and how PMI tests it inside real exam scenarios. I'll walk you through exactly how emotional intelligence becomes the tie-breaker in People Domain questions involving conflict, stakeholder resistance, motivation, and team performance.

This isn't about being soft or emotional. It's about judgment, leadership, and choosing the best response when the situation isn't clear.

If PMP questions sometimes feel unpredictable or frustrating, this episode will give you a powerful new lens to see what the exam is really asking — and start choosing better answers with confidence.

Listen in, and learn how PMI tests leadership… not empathy.

Want me to coach you to your PMP?
Join my 10-week PMP Cohort starting February 2nd.
You'll get a dynamite, focused study schedule, two high-impact 1.5-hour evening Zoom coaching sessions with me each week, and full access to everything you need inside my online portal — videos, simulator, tools, games, and live support until you pass.

Call or text me 757-759-5282 or email me at scott@allinpmprep.com

If the PMP exam feels confusing…
If the questions feel vague…
If you keep getting stuck between two answers that both sound right…

This episode is for you.

In this podcast, I break down how PMI actually expects you to think — not what most prep courses say the exam is testing, but what it's really grading underneath the questions.

I walk you through the seven core thinking rules that drive almost every PMP question, across Agile, Predictive, and Hybrid scenarios. These aren't tricks or hacks. They're the patterns PMI uses when they design questions — and once you start seeing them, the exam slows down.

We'll talk about:

• Why context matters more than tools

• Why there are no perfect answers — only the best decision right now

• Why PMI consistently rewards people before process

• Why fixing the system matters more than reacting to symptoms

• Why leadership beats authority

• Why long-term thinking beats fast action

• And why the PMP rewards judgment, not memorization

Think of these rules like lenses.
When you use the wrong one, the question feels blurry.
When you use the right one, the answer becomes clear.

If you've been studying hard but still don't trust your thinking yet, this episode will help you understand why — and how to fix it.

And if you want to go deeper, this is exactly how I coach students inside my live cohorts: learning how to think through situations, not just memorize content.

Most PMP candidates don't fail because they lack knowledge.

They fail because of something far more subtle—and far more dangerous: negative self-talk and second-guessing under pressure.

In this episode, Scott Payne breaks down why even smart, well-prepared PMP candidates sabotage themselves during studying, quizzes, and the exam itself. Drawing from Agile thinking, Scott reframes negative self-talk as a mental anti-pattern—an action that feels helpful in the moment but actually hurts performance.

You'll learn:

• Why fear and imposter syndrome show up specifically during PMP prep

• How stress hijacks decision-making, even when you know the material

• The difference between the threat voice and the operator voice in your head

• Why confidence is built during the study process—not after

• How to interrupt negative self-talk in real time

• The four pillars of the All-In PMP Success Mantra System: Control, Confidence, Consistency, and Support

This isn't a motivational pep talk.
It's a practical mental framework for staying steady, confident, and focused while preparing for—and taking—the PMP exam.

If you've ever frozen on a question, changed an answer you originally knew, or walked away from a quiz feeling worse than when you started, this episode is for you.

🎯 Text or Call me and I will give you my All-In PMP Success Mantra System PDF so you can start replacing mental anti-patterns with habits that actually help you pass.

In this episode, I'm taking you inside a real All In PM Prep Accountability Call — a full 56-minute live coaching session where Waterfall finally clicked for a group of new PMP students.

We break down Agile vs Predictive in plain English, simplify the entire Waterfall process, teach students how to read questions the right way, and walk through several PMP exam scenarios step-by-step. If you've ever felt confused about charters, business cases, stakeholders, matching questions, or baselines — this session will clear the fog fast.

Here's what you'll hear:

I walk students through simple, real-world examples (apps vs bridges) to help them finally understand when to use Agile and when a predictive approach is the only smart choice.

We break down the entire predictive lifecycle:

• Why charters matter

• How stakeholder analysis actually works

• What the triple constraints really represent

• Why detailed planning gives you control

• How executing & monitoring go hand-in-hand

This is the version of Waterfall every new PMP student wishes they had first.

I teach students a faster, cleaner method for matching questions using a "long-to-short" approach that eliminates 80% of the reading.
We solve a real matching set live so you can see the method in action.

We work through multiple PMP-style questions together:

• Handling concerns raised mid-execution

• Managing a new team member with "rumor-based" performance issues

• Responding to new compliance requirements after the charter is signed

• Understanding business case vs charter

• Applying servant leadership and escalation correctly

You'll hear new students reason through their answers — and how I coach them toward exam-ready thinking.

I close the session by showing students how to use:

• The glossary

• The video library

• The course structure

• And how to stay confident as you hit the natural learning curve dips

If you want to understand PMP foundations in a deeper, more intuitive way — this coaching call will accelerate your learning.

If you've failed the PMP exam, feel "blocked" by test anxiety, or keep getting passed over for roles because you don't have those three letters, this episode is for you.

Reach out to me personally - I will help you - Scott@allinpmprep.com or 757-759-5282

In this powerful PMP success interview, Scott talks with Kader (Dr. G), a seasoned federal government program director with 20+ years of project and program management experience—who still couldn't get past the PMP exam.

Despite leading 8 programs and multiple IT projects in the Washington, D.C. government contracting world, Kader:

• Failed the PMP exam twice

• Struggled through high-pressure bootcamps while juggling toddlers and a parent in heart surgery

• Had a boss who was blowing up her phone during class because work was falling apart

• Watched colleagues walk around like they were in an "exclusive PMP club" she didn't belong to

• Carried deep exam trauma, anxiety, and the shame of people using her failures against her

Oh… and English is her fifth language.

This was supposed to be her "last attempt". She told Scott,

"If I don't pass this time, I'm done. I'm walking away from the PMP."

Instead, Kader completely changed her relationship with the exam.

Using the All In PM Prep 10-week, incremental, community-based approach, she stopped cramming and started building endurance, confidence, and self-trust:

• She realized her problem wasn't knowledge—it was four-hour exam stamina.

• She used 20-question, 45-question, and 60-question practice blocks to train like a marathon.

• She integrated self-care: nature walks with audio lessons, better mental space, and intentional rest.

• She leaned on coaching calls and classmates so she didn't feel alone in the anxiety.

• She applied her doctoral research in post-traumatic growth to exam trauma—recognizing fight/flight/freeze/fawn/flop patterns and working through them.

When she finally walked out of the test center, holding that sheet of paper, she couldn't even find the result at first. Then she saw it, in tiny print:

"Passed."

She broke down in tears. Years of fear, shame, and feeling "less than" in her career lifted in a moment.

• How someone with two decades of PM leadership still struggled to pass the PMP

• Why bootcamps failed her twice—and why cramming is the worst fit if life is already chaotic

• How exam trauma shows up (fight, flight, freeze, fawn, flop) and what it feels like in real life

• The difference between knowing PM and having the endurance and mindset to survive a 4-hour exam

• How incremental learning, repetition, and community helped her break through anxiety

• Why failing the PMP is not the end—and how to reframe your "failures" as stepping stones

• The emotional release of finally joining that "exclusive club" and how it changed her confidence

If you work in government contracting, IT, or program management and feel stuck because you keep hearing "PMP required," this conversation will hit home. If you've failed before or feel like this exam is your last shot, you'll see yourself in Kader's story.

This episode is especially for you if:

• You've failed the PMP exam once or more and are scared to try again

• You feel paralyzed by exam anxiety or past test failures

• You're in government contracting where PMP is a "basic requirement" for leadership roles

• You're exhausted by bootcamps that cram everything into 4–5 days

• You're tired of feeling like everyone else can do it but you

You're not broken. You're not alone. You just need a different plan—and a different kind of support.