Impressions - April 2024 - 43

Montgomery (at left) live broadcasting
his " 2 Regular Guys " podcast with
partner Erich Campbell at last year's
Impressions Expo Fort Worth. Photo
courtesy of Impressions Expo
more to do about the journey. When the
journey becomes second nature, when the
path is more accessible and clear of obstacles
is when you find your money tree.
To have this successful mindset, we must
that feeling of not working a day in my life.
Therefore, I decided the middle ground
between mind-numbing aimless wandering
and excessive hustle was FUN. The FUNdamentals
are what we all need to put in place
as a foundation for our business, so we have
a fulfilling and successful life. These same
FUNdamentals work in our personal lives,
community, family and friends, and even
our creative and spiritual life.
Mindset/Prerequisites
When becoming an entrepreneur, you get
the ability to make as much money as you
want, work the hours you want and make
the rules. That ability also comes with the
responsibility to work the hours needed, do
the required things outside of your comfort
zone, and be willing to take risks and accept
failures as a learning experience, then get
back up and do it again. But this time, you
get back up with more knowledge and a
different perspective due to what you learned
from the failure. You are also responsible
for rallying your network of resources
(everything and everyone) to support you
and see your vision. Then once you have
the vision shared, processes implemented,
reviewable metrics set and measured, and
the machine that is your business working,
you have earned the privileges of reaping
the fruits of money, time and influence. The
entrepreneurial mindset includes at minimum
these five ways of thinking:
1. Entrepreneurs make decisions quickly.
When an idea pops up they run with
it. Noting whatever the outcome, it is
a win for them. They don't overthink
because it leads to missed opportunities.
2.
Entrepreneurs create opportunities by
what they say no and yes to. They say,
no, when needed so they can say, yes,
to what really matters. They don't let
fear of missing out lead them to try
to be everything to everyone.
3. Entrepreneurs thrive in risk/challenges
as they believe it is necessary
for growth. Fear is just a yield sign.
4. Entrepreneurs work smarter. Yes they
work and then drive and move forward
with passion, but it's not for the
sake of working hard, it is to build
momentum and let that carry them.
5. Entrepreneurs believe in prioritizing.
They realize they don't have a time
management problem, but a priority
management problem, so they move
toward making sure their FUNdamentals
tell them what their priorities
should be.
Being around small businesses my entire
life, I knew these mindsets existed, but I
really had no language to put to them or
ways to share them. Fortunately for me, I
gained the language and tools to share this
mindset due to my mentor, Jack Canfield.
Through his book " The Success Principles "
and the subsequent training programs I have
been through, I have learned that success is
about mindset. It is so simple that it is hard
to wrap our brains around, because it all
seems counterintuitive. We think, " There is
no way that success is this simple. " But the
reality is, even though it is simple, it is not
easy. It requires all of the 13 FUNdamentals
(discussed in my book) with consistent and
persistent action to get there. Then even
when you get there, you might realize there
is more. But once you flip the script from
being about the destination and understanding
it is just about the process, you will find
your idea of success. That is the great part
about changing your mindset, you no longer
" have to " do these things, you instead " get
to " do these things. Mr. Canfield has taught
me that the destination is only a reference
point and that a successful life and, in the
case of this book, a successful business has
get over our limiting beliefs and all of the
ways we've been programmed throughout
our life. We must be willing to play full
out, be open to things that some people
might consider " woo-woo " and be ready to
look at our challenges and successes from a
new perspective. Without that willingness,
business success is not possible. We have to
remove the words " I can't " from our vocabulary
and get from blaming, complaining,
excuse-making and excessive commiserating
to finding solutions as quickly as possible.
As humans, our nature is to find all of the
problems, dangers and scary stuff. To be
successful modern-day business owners
we have to empower ourselves by being
solution machines instead.
Another concept that is a prerequisite to
being a successful business owner is being
true to yourself. You have all the responsibilities,
so don't give your power away and
try to be something for someone else and
only be saddled with their burden. Like me,
you need to become a recovering people
pleaser. You should enjoy the freedom that
comes along with being a business owner.
Finally, with that idea of being true to
your core values, you must understand the
difference between holding onto a belief,
or way of being, and a core value. Business
owners often get stuck moving to the
next level because a belief keeps them from
showing up as their best selves. Take, for
example, excessive cursing. Cursing is just
for effect, and saying " I curse " is a value is
false. Your value is being able to say what
you want and speak your mind effectively.
But is cursing required in all circumstances?
No, so it is not a value. Same with the way
we dress, act and more. Those are not values.
They may be effects or ways to express some
values, but your values always serve you in
all cases, and we need to lead with those,
NOT outdated beliefs.
So, before you begin, do we have an
agreement? Are you are willing to play full
out? Are you are eager to be true to yourself
and your core values? Agreed? Awesome,
let's dive in! 
In addition to being active in the
decorated-apparel industry since
2000, Aaron Montgomery has
been supporting small business
for nearly three decades.
To learn more about " The FUNdamentals
of Business Success "
or purchase a copy, go to
oursuccessgroup.com/fbsbook.
April 2024
P.43
http://www.oursuccessgroup.com/fbsbook
Impressions - April 2024

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