Episode #201- Your #1 Investment!

Episode Summary:
In today’s episode, we break down the ultimate investment collision repair professionals often overlook — and it’s not in tools, equipment, or the stock market. We’re talking about personal development. Regardless of where you are in your business or life, investing in yourself pays out in ways no 401k ever will. With the rapid pace of change in the collision repair industry — from automation and AI to shifting customer demands — the key to staying relevant, fulfilled, and successful lies in your ability to grow from the inside out.

Whether you’re a shop owner trying to lead your team more effectively, a technician facing career uncertainty, or someone simply looking to live with more purpose and impact — this episode will inspire you to start making daily deposits into your most valuable asset: you.

💥 4 Key Takeaways for Collision Repair Business Owners:

1. Your Tools and Trade May Change — But You Are the Constant
   Industry shifts like automation and AI are making some skills obsolete. Investing in personal development builds the adaptability and leadership skills that future-proof your value in the industry.
2. ROI is Unmatched — Across Every Area of Your Life
   From business performance to relationships and health, personal growth shows up everywhere. The returns from reading one book, shifting your mindset, or adopting a morning routine can ripple through your entire shop and your life.
3. No Barrier to Entry — Just a Decision to Start
   Forget expensive seminars. Most resources — podcasts, books, YouTube, even mentors — are free or low-cost. Your time is the only investment required, and every second counts.
4. You Can’t Lead a Team Without First Leading Yourself
   Collision repair shop owners who prioritize their own growth become better decision-makers, communicators, and culture builders. You can’t pour from an empty cup — personal development fills yours first.

🧠 Pro Tip: Start with mindset. Understand the difference between a fixed and growth mindset and how shifting your thinking can unlock personal and professional breakthroughs. Check out episodes #3, #24, and #114 for a deep dive into mindset transformation.

 🎧 Press play, invest a few minutes, and start building a better you — because when you grow, your business follows.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Investment Swim Lanes in Life
• 3:07 Career Investment Limitations
• 5:05 Health and Relationship Investments
• 9:38 The Power of Coaching
• 11:18 Personal Development: The Ultimate Investment
• 14:41 Getting Started and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You know, regardless of our income levels or stages of life or business, I think every one of us makes several types of investments, don't we? There are several swim lanes of investments that we make every day, both consciously and unconsciously. Some have good value to us and make a positive impact, some not so much much. But there's only one investment we make that produces undeniable, consistent maximum returns for us, but you won't find it on Wall Street or in any of the indexes.

Speaker 2: 0:39

Welcome to the MindWrench Podcast with your host, rick Sellover, where minor adjustments produce major improvements in mindset, personal growth and success. This is the place to be every Monday, where we make small improvements and take positive actions in our business and personal lives that will make a major impact in our success, next-level growth and quality of life.

Speaker 1: 1:02

Hey what's up everybody? Welcome to the MindWrench Podcast. I'm your host, rick Saloja. Thanks so much for stopping in. If you're a returning listener and haven't done so already, please take a minute and click the follow or subscribe button, and then rate and review the show. When you rate and review the show, the algorithms for Apple, spotify, google Podcasts, iheartradio, amazon Music and all the other platforms will see that it's valuable and show it to more people that have never seen it before, and hopefully it can help them too. I would really, really really appreciate your help, sharing this word with your friends and family as well, and if you're a brand new listener, welcome. I hope you find something of value here that helps you in your personal or professional life as well. Please make sure to click the subscribe or follow button so you never miss another episode.

Speaker 1: 1:50

You know, regardless of our income levels or stages of life or business, I think every one of us makes several types of investments, don't we? I know, I know when I mention the word investments, many just kind of instantly stress out, right, those thoughts come streaming in of oh crap, my 401k is nowhere near where it should be by now, or I know I should be putting more away every paycheck, but I'm just barely covering my bills. Or maybe you are being fairly consistent with your savings disciplines but wish you had more education on how to invest like the pros, right? Well, relax. Good news is, although I will touch on that subject a little bit today, that's really not what this message is about. No, there are several, let's say, swim lanes of investments that we make every day, both consciously and unconsciously. Some have good value to us and make a positive impact, some not so much, and some have massive impact on our lives and those around us, but sometimes only for the short term. But there's only one investment we make that produces undeniable, consistent maximum returns for us. But you won't find it on Wall Street or in any of the indexes.

Speaker 1: 3:06

I think most of us make many investments in our jobs or careers. We may invest in new tools or equipment for our chosen trade, or maybe we invest in some training to increase our understanding of how to do what we do better right. Or maybe we just invest in as much overtime as possible, and that's really just trading our available downtime for pay. But sometimes that investment only gives us short-term returns. Although you may have excellent skills or talents, maybe your place of employment goes out of business, sells to someone that doesn't need or value, your position becomes irrelevant or, worse yet, what you do becomes obsolete.

Speaker 1: 3:46

In today's speed of advanced technology, ai and robotics, many hands-on jobs are being replaced with technology right. For example, before I met my wife, when she was younger, she worked on a line at Michigan Bell assembling telephones. You know the kind with an actual dial and cords on it. Although she was an excellent employee, made great money at the time and could assemble a phone with her eyes closed. Eventually, that plant, and many others just like it, closed down. In fact, many that worked on assembly lines in the automotive sector invested a large portion of their productive years in those jobs, only to be left in the dust and replaced by automation.

Speaker 1: 4:25

Now, it's been said many times before by many educators and thought leaders and I believe we can all reasonably agree this is true that time is every person's single most valuable resource. What each of us do with our available 24 hours, or more precisely, 86,400 seconds every single day where we decide to invest it, dictates the paths we take, the success or failures we experience and the impact we do or don't make on the world around us own health, which is a great thing, right. Starting a rock solid, consistent workout routine maybe made a drastic change in our diet and eating habits in hopes of living a longer, healthier life. Right, we've invested substantial amounts of time and money into gym memberships, exercise gear, maybe bought some equipment for a home gym. We're now buying our groceries from a more expensive health food store or ordering those pre-made food plans that you get shipped right to your door.

Speaker 1: 5:25

Hey, I'm right there with you on this, but I've seen some of the healthiest friends I have experience a heart attack, stroke, life-altering car accidents or, worse yet, cancer. In fact, I was just having breakfast with a good friend and former employee of mine. This guy had dropped a bunch of weight about four years ago, cut out all the junk food from his diet, started getting really consistent about working out and start running daily and he ended up being really fit. And he tells me over breakfast the other day that he needs to have open heart surgery to replace a failing valve. I'm like, really, are you freaking, kidding me?

Speaker 1: 6:01

You know, even if we were to avoid all those tragic life events, just blowing out a knee or your back or a rotator cuff can diminish those hard-earned returns right. Surely, investing in our own relationships with our spouse and children seems like the most natural of investments, which they are, and everyone should be investing in those. If you have family, as I've met way too many industry workers that haven't being a good, solid partner, a good, solid, dependable parent, can be one of life's most rewarding investments that you may ever make, but they don't always carry a good ROI, do they. If you're looking for a competitive edge for your business or a more effective jumpstart to your personal development, I'll make your first step super simple.

Speaker 1: 6:45

It is a fact that an incredible number of the most successful business owners, nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies, top-earning professional athletes, entertainers and industry leaders like Microsoft's Bill Gates, former President Bill Clinton, oprah Winfrey, richard Branson, amazon's Jeff Bezos and Salesforce's Mark Benioff all have one thing in common they all have at least one coach and some have several that they work with on a consistent basis, someone that helps guide, mentor and support them, challenge them, help them set and achieve goals that move them forward and then hold them accountable to follow through, driving personal and professional growth. Working with a coach has many substantial benefits. Just for an example, 80% of coaching clients report improved self-esteem or self-confidence thanks to coaching. 99% of individuals and companies that hire a coach report being very satisfied and 96% would do it again. If, deep down, you know it's time to make those improvements in your business, your personal life, that you've kicked down the road year after year. If you're tired of knowing there's a better version of you waiting to shine, but unsure of how to bring that version to light. If you're tired of wanting to enjoy a more successful business but not sure how to start. And if you don't want to go another 12 months without better results but you don't want to go it alone, then take the first step. It's super simple. Sometimes talking to the right person can make all the difference. Go to wwwrixelovercom contact and I'll set you up with a free consultation. Call with me to see if one-on-one coaching is right for you.

Speaker 1: 8:18

50% of marriages end in divorce and although you may pour all your love, your best practices, your knowledge and your mistakes to avoid at all costs into your children when they're young, sometimes as they get a little older they get with the wrong group of friends, or one bad egg your kid is hanging around during high school or even early college years could have that wonderful child take a hard left onto a wrong path that may cause grief for years or decades or even a lifetime. Right Now, when it comes to financial investments, hopefully all of you have some sort of discipline towards consistent savings. Whether it's an auto, deduct from payroll for your company's 401k or into a savings or money market account, or even burying mason jars full of cash in your backyard, I don't care. No matter how much you do make. You can dedicate a consistent percentage, regardless of how small, into saving for your future. Now you may have some stocks or some bonds or some other financial vehicles you invest in, but unless you have some financial education or an advisor, there's no certainty in your returns, is there? I mean, how's that crypto investment? You made a few years, but with all the various investments we do make on a daily basis in some or all of these categories, there is only one investment that will pay us dividends for the rest of our lives.

Speaker 1: 9:38

Investing in your own personal development is, hands down, the number one investment we'll ever make, bar none. Spending some of our available 24 hours per day working on making minor improvements in all areas of our lives per day. Working on making minor improvements in all areas of our lives financial, health, relationships, business or careers, as well as learning how to be a better person, gaining confidence in abilities we didn't even know we were capable of, and learning how to leverage our strengths, our natural talents, and stop focusing on the weaknesses, can produce massive returns in every one of those categories. It doesn't take much financially to start down the path of self-improvement. Thanks to the internet, most education, most online courses, youtube videos and resources are free and instantly available. It just takes the investment of your time Now, while many books on personal development are low cost on Amazon.

Speaker 1: 10:29

There is no cost or zero from a local library. I personally bought many books for under 10 bucks at stores like Barnes and Noble or even Walmart. In fact, the first book I ever read that started me down the path of reading as a form of personal development was the Millionaire Mind by Thomas Stanley. I got it for like $7.99, found it on the clearance table at Barnes Noble. Now, I was never much of a reader before that book. You couldn't pay me to pick up a book through most of my young adult life, but since then I've built a pretty good library. Now, if you're somebody that absolutely doesn't like to read good news, most everything is available now in formats like Audible or YouTube, so all you need to do is press, play and listen or even watch.

Speaker 1: 11:15

Now there's so many free resources out there on every single subject imaginable, as well as self-paced online courses you can take and a world full of coaches and mentors available at the click of a mouse. It's really unbelievable the wealth of knowledge that's at your fingertips every day Now. While you don't need a coach to work on your own self-development, having one can definitely expedite your journey, help you focus on what may benefit you the most in different areas and hold you accountable when needed. I started my journey with virtual mentors and coaches Guys like Tony Robbins, dean Graziosi, ed Milet, dr Alan Zimmerman and Rob Dial, just to name a few. Personally, I've been working on building a better version of myself every day for over 15 years. It's something you make investments in daily and it never really has an end point. It just becomes a way of life. Even the most developed leaders in this realm wizards like Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy and Brendan Bouchard continue to work on themselves daily. Warren Buffett, one of the richest people on the planet, right, still invests five to six hours a day reading and, trust me, he's not reading murder mystery novels to continue to grow his personal development.

Speaker 1: 12:29

Honestly, if it weren't for me reading that first book, attending my first keynote speaker presentation from Dr Alan Zimmerman many years ago and starting down that path, this podcast, the Mind Rich, wouldn't exist, nor would my monthly collision cocktail hour that I co-host with a few other industry professionals. I wouldn't be helping shop owners grow their businesses through my coaching program in the evenings or presenting helpful workshops at industry events. I certainly wouldn't be helping shop owners grow their businesses through my coaching program in the evenings or presenting helpful workshops at industry events. I certainly wouldn't understand the sense of fulfillment one gets from helping others.

Speaker 1: 13:00

I would have never learned the health and vitality returns gained from starting each day with a solid, healthy, repeatable morning routine over the last five years. I would definitely not be anywhere near the person I am today, and I can honestly say I'm so glad I chose to invest in myself when I did over the last five years. I would definitely not be anywhere near the person I am today and I can honestly say I'm so glad I chose to invest in myself when I did. Now I want to take this opportunity to clarify something. Although all those other current investments you may be making in your career, your business, your relationships, as well as whatever financial investments you've deposited those are all good, I would encourage you to keep making those daily deposits.

Speaker 1: 13:33

I am not discounting them here, only showing that the potential ROI isn't always there. Some have excellent returns in some or even all of these areas, but if you want to guarantee maximum returns, then investing in your own personal development is really the number one way to invest some of that highly valuable 86,400 seconds you're given every single day. Your biggest decision may be just where to start, but no worries, there is no set order to take. You just start with what makes the most sense to you. And here's a little pro tip Start with learning about mindset, what it is, what mindset you currently have and how adopting a growth mindset over a fixed or negative mindset can help you on your journey and make some of those decisions a little bit easier to make.

Speaker 1: 14:19

I have several MindWrench podcast episodes that I've done that can help you with this. Try episodes like number three or number 24, or definitely number 114. Change your mindset, change your life. I'll leave links to these in the show notes. The important part is to just start. Start making the investment that will constantly reap results in every area of your life you focus on for a lifetime. Well, that's all I had for you today. Thanks again for tuning in. I really appreciate your support, and I hope you have a great week. I can always be reached at wwwrickselovercom, where you can find all my social media links podcast episodes, blog posts and much more.