None of us have an abundance of both time AND money. So why do some people invest in themselves while others fall back on the same excuses over and over again?
It’s simple- for those that don’t invest, either they don’t believe in a particular brand, the product or their own ability to put it to use.
For those that do, it comes down to understanding and appreciating the long game. Those who invest up front get the greatest returns.
Don’t believe me? Keep buying cheap appliances and furniture your whole life.
In this short episode, I’ll cover:
- The reasons you should invest your own money and not rely on your school or employer to reimburse you
- How to reframe thinking about investing in yourself
- Ways to ensure your investments pay massive dividends for your future
If you are ready to invest in yourself and / or diversify your investments, we have many options that will double, even triple what you put in financially.
One of the newest in person workshops we offer is our speaker school. No matter your experience- come grow your confidence, gain guidance and get clarity. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about finding YOUR voice.
Check out artofcoaching.com/speaker now! we’re capping this event at only 20 people and our next one is coming up in May!
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Today’s episode is brought to you by our official hydration partner, LMNT.
At Art of Coaching, we’re obsessed with simple things done savagely well. When it comes to making water taste better and staying hydrated before speaking and after coaching sessions, LMNT is my GO-TO. Get your own sample pack for FREE (only pay $5 for shipping). DrinkLMNT.com/aoc
Support for today’s episode also comes from Dynamic Fitness & Strength. Dynamic offers the highest quality strength and conditioning equipment designed just for you, your space and your budget. Whether you’re looking to outfit your college, high school or professional gym or even just your garage, check out our friends at Dynamic and tell them Team AoC sent you!
TRANSCRIPTION
Brett Bartholomew 0:13
Today’s episode is brought to you by LMTN, I constantly have to work on my hydration between traveling coaching training, running around my two year old and just being the warmest individual live. It has been a long time since I have found something that I like this much that is this simple to use. Now there are a number of electrolyte products filling the market and there’s more coming in every year. What there is not is companies who keep out all the fillers, all the nonsense and just focus on doing the simple things savagely well.
And that is what LMNT does. Their electrolyte mixes are easy to use, you can just drop a pack of your favorite flavor and a water bottle shake and drink. You’re ready to go. I do it before I speak. I do it before and after a coaching session. And my favorites in particular are their citrus, orange salt and raspberry salt. Now, the good news is if you are a art of coaching podcast listener, you get your own sample pack and can get that today you only pay $5 for shipping in the US by going to drinklmnt.com/aoc for art of coaching, of course, one more time that is drinklmnt.com/aoc. Now, also, this episode is brought to you by well, us.
That’s right, sometimes we sponsor on our episodes. And we are doing so because we are very excited to introduce the art of coaching speaking school, a place where you no matter what profession you’re in, no matter what stage of life you’re in, no matter what age you are, or experience level you have, can come to grow, get confidence, get clarity and get guidance on how you can become a better speaker. Listen, this isn’t somewhere where it’s just like, hey, we’re going to make sure that you don’t have filler words, or we’re going to teach you to do it, you’re some special thing with your hands. So you can look like a TED speaker, we are going to help you find your voice.
We want to be able to give you the confidence to help take the first step. Now if you’re somebody that already speaks. And you’ve already done this for a while. That’s great. We’re also going to give you some of my best tips and our best tips on how to build that into something more consistent how to land speaking engagements with companies and organizations that you believe in that you look up to. And the most important thing guys is you don’t have to be perfect. Anytime you listen to these pre rolls. Anytime you listen to the podcast, you will hear me, I just did it, flub a word.
Appropriate solid, sound authentic speaking is not about being perfect. It is about being true to who you are, and finding a delivery that works for you. We have a lot of these workshops popping up. But guess what, we’re only doing them in Atlanta, you guys got to cut me some slack. I traveled to a million different cities every year. Sometimes I got to do some things on my home turf. And our very first one is going to be May of 2022. We have early bird discount. So make sure to sign up three different pricing packages. So there’s absolutely something that’s going to fit your budget, make sure to go to artofcoaching.com/speaker Once again, artofcoaching.com/speaker right now to reserve your spot. We are only taking 20 people 20 people total. We’re keeping these small, so people get a lot of practice, they get a lot of individualized attention and the door is open right now. Final time artofcoaching.com/speaker.
Welcome to the Art of coaching podcast, a show aimed at getting to the core of what it takes to change attitudes, behaviors and outcomes in the weight room, boardroom classroom and everywhere in between. I’m your host, Brett Bartholomew, I’m a performance coach, keynote speaker and the author of the book conscious coaching. But most importantly, I’m a lifelong student interested in all aspects of human behavior and communication. I want to thank you for joining me and now let’s dive into today’s episode
Alright guys, let’s get into it today. Now this one hopefully is a conversation starter. Some of you might even feel like I’m talking to you. Some of you might have somebody on staff that you know needs to hear this. Whatever the case, this is gonna ruffle some feathers and you know what I don’t really know if it’s meant to or not. It’s just meant to be something raw, honest and heartfelt that came out of one of our staff meetings that we wanted to share with you. As with all of our shows, this is not scripted. So all So give me a little bit of grace here if we bounce around, but today’s topic is going to be all around why it’s important to invest in yourself, and ultimately, why you’re not doing it.
That’s right. The majority of people will say they’re lifelong learners, and that they’ll do whatever it takes to get better, whatever it takes to be better for their field better for who they serve, better, better, better, yet consistently. And I think I realized this more probably when I was about 28. But definitely, when I became an entrepreneur, you start seeing the excuses that people make. Now one of the most predominant ones that we see at art of coaching is, well, you know, my work won’t cover it or this. And, well, I’m trying to get reimbursement. And this is what I mean by some people will start to feel targeted. What I want you to think about is what it really means to have return on investment, what it really means to have skin in the game, what it really means to take a risk and what it really means to bet on yourself.
Now, this isn’t meant to be one of those I walked uphill with hot potatoes in my hands when it was cold outside type of episodes. But I remember my first lesson in investing in myself was when I was a graduate assistant, I was making $10,000 a year didn’t have a ton of money. And there was this workshop that I really wanted to go to in St. Louis. Now the workshop was about 800, or $900, I didn’t have very much most of that went to, you know, your rent your food, all these pieces. But I figured that month, I was gonna live a little bit more lean, and I was gonna go there for all the reasons you would expect, right? People you can meet, you’re gonna learn, it just seemed worth the investment to be.
And I didn’t come or I don’t come from any kind of trust fund family, I don’t really have, you know, this stock of cash and reserve. This was just something that I knew I wanted to do. And I was gonna do it, I’d figure out the other pieces of the puzzle if I needed more money for food that month, later on. So I went there, as you can imagine, you know, great conference, some good some bad speakers. But at the end of the day, I looked at it as this was money that I spent. And it was my time that I spent. So whether it was somebody that I resonated with or not, it was really up to me to apply it right. Because even if you see somebody that doesn’t give a great presentation, for whatever reason, or maybe it just doesn’t connect with you.
At the end of the day, if you really believe you can learn something from anyone, then it’s up to you to challenge yourself to do so. So, once again, we hear all right, when it comes to investments, the best thing you can do to invest in yourself. But that really becomes a low priority item. And why do I say that? Because the majority of people, when it comes down to it will say well, I don’t have the time and money. And that doesn’t matter if they’re trying to get more education and, you know, the fitness space, the strength and conditioning, space, business, branding, whatever their creative pursuit is anything that upskilled them. And I think we know inherently that none of us have an abundance of time and money.
All of us have friends that might be rich or wealthy, or at least we know somebody who knows somebody that is. And if we were to ask them, they’re not just sitting around with an abundance of time and money. It’s that concept of new levels, new devils. So why is it then that people make so many excuses? Well, one thing I don’t want to do is turn this into some kind of Freudian psychoanalysis, because we’ve talked about this stuff, ad nauseam in our newsletter at some of our other courses. But if you look at it at just a base level, the reality is some people will use that cop out of I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money, or the worst one I think is all my work won’t reimburse it simply because they either don’t believe in you. They don’t believe in the product, or they’re scared of success and aren’t really sure whether they’ll put it to use.
And that last one was a lesson that I think really hit me a couple years ago when one of our audience members was very honest. And it really helped me kind of sideline this chip on my shoulder that I can get sometimes, especially since I own my own business, when in the past, we had been told by somebody, oh, I can’t make it. Now let me paint this picture for you. Alright, so there was an individual that was highly engaged in our content still is great person. And I remember they DM me on Instagram, so many times, man. So like any coach, any business owner, hopefully just anybody that’s interested in people, I tried answering their questions a number of times, but it got to like the sixth or seventh to reach out when I eventually just from the sake of good boundaries, had to tell them listen, I really want to help you.
But to be able to answer some of these in depth questions on Instagram and also in DMS just isn’t feasible. Because of that medium, I’m either gonna give you a very vague answer, because I can’t sit around all day and type and texture my phone, I have actual work to do. Or, you know, like, I’m not going to be able to learn as much as I can about you to really help you. So I had pointed them towards a resource that we had, and said, This is also why I make these courses. I don’t mean for this to sound like a pitch but if you go into this course you’re gonna get videos, you’re gonna get downloads, you’re gonna get all these things that can answer Sure, a lot of these questions, and, you know, they had responded, hey, thanks for that, you know, that makes a lot of sense.
I see why you do these courses because you can help hundreds or 1000s of people, instead of just me. The fact is, is that I’m just cash is tight right now. So I asked him, I said, because I was kind of on one that day, I was pretty sensitive about it. I said, you know, I gotta ask you this, though, you’re gonna spend that money somewhere, the course was, I think, $497 you break it down, we had a payment plan ends up being like, three to four bucks a day, a cup of coffee. And I’m like, so really, what is the issue? And he took it well, he knew that I was really just kind of pushing from a respectful place. And eventually he told me, because I’ll be frank, I sometimes guys, when you get denied, you can feel not good enough.
I mean, anybody that’s created something that they really love, and they really believe in, if somebody tells them no, and enough people tell them, No, you can feel like, ah, like, what else do I have to do? So this individual said, listen, at the end of the day, it’s not you or your product. While when I say money is concerned, it’s because I feel like that if I spend that money, and don’t do that course, that I’ve really done something that’s gonna make me question myself belief. Then I said, okay, like, elaborate. And he said, I don’t get that much time with my family as it is based on my work schedule. And so I feel like if I come home and fire up this online course, even though that’s something I really want to do , what does that say to my family One
Two, then I start questioning myself there. But three, if I don’t do it, and then I spent the money on it, then I feel even worse, because I’m not finishing something that I start. And guys, one, I have to just say, I get that if you’re somebody that’s been scared to invest in yourself, because you just you’re not sure if you’ll use it. Maybe you’re somebody that has gathered so many resources in the past, because you love learning. But when you sit there and look and think, Well, what have I actually applied and am I hopping from thing to thing to thing, and you start to feel not less than but you just feel conflicted? That is natural.
In humans, one of our biggest drives is to learn, we always want to acquire, I think the thing that most people miss is you don’t really learn until you have applied. And you need to look at the industry around you. And this isn’t just one industry. But one thing I know that is inherent, to strength and conditioning to physical therapy to a lot of the places that I came from, is the entire education model is predicated around really just taking advantage of people who use that information as a security blanket. And here’s what I mean by this. There are some professions and to a degree, the legal profession is one as well, where inputs don’t always equal clear outputs
Meaning somebody can be the best strength and conditioning coach in the world, it does not guarantee your team is going to win, somebody can be the best lawyer in the world, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to get somebody who’s wrongfully convicted or keep them out of jail, somebody can be the best neurosurgeon in the world, it does not mean they’re going to have success in every surgery. But with so many coaches in particular, when they have that lack of self completion, and self validation, which of course a little bit, we all need some self validation, we turn to information and the acquisition of that information, as well as the acquisition of certifications or other kind of Appalachians thing that gives us credibility, or at least perceived credibility to fill that hole.
And so what you’ve seen is just like when people will try to eat a lot of junk food, and it never really satiate to them, is in strength conditioning. For the longest time, we saw clinics that were, you know, $60 for an entire day. And you could see eight to 10 speakers, all speaking for an hour for 60 bucks, maybe 80 bucks, maybe this. And so people gravitated towards these cheap conferences and clinics, because they could maybe go a network, they could get their fill. But at the end of the day, after seeing speaker and speaker and speaker, they’d go right back to their busy jobs, and never apply it.
So why they thought they were saving money, really what they would do is by the end of the year, they’d buy that seven to $20 leadership book that’s just like every other leadership book they buy, they’ll go to these 50 to $60 little coaching clinics that just barrage them with speaker after speaker maybe a luncheon or whatever. And at the end of the day, they get it tell themselves that they’re saving money because they didn’t pay for something that’s 500 bucks or 2000 bucks. Yet if you think about when you’ve taken that approach in your life depending on the stage of life you’re in, whether it’s you buying the cheap vacuum all the time, the cheap toaster, the budget this the budget that How long do those things usually last?
Not very long. And then you know, if you have some head I want to say if you have common sense, but once it’s hit your bank account enough and you’re tired of going to get replacement or using the warranty for the millionth time you start realizing hmm, maybe there is something to that buy once cry once philosophy, maybe there is something to buying that nice thing that is gonna last me 10 years, or that thing that’s gonna last me 20 years or that thing that, you know, it seems really expensive upfront, but if I just use it, I’ll get the benefit of it.
I think a contentious example of this just because I don’t want to use household items that I’ve been guilty of that I was that guy that would buy like the $20 $30 vacuum until I eventually just dropped money on a Dyson is you go look at credit cards now not getting into the whole Dave Ramsey thing and what you think of credit, you know, we have an entire resource for that if you want to talk finances, if you just go do I believe it is, I’ll give you a second. So you can write it down. If you go to artofcoaching.com/finance. Well go to art of coaching.com. And we have a finance guide up there. Apologies I told you that this was improvised. I will also link it in the show notes.
And we talked about good credit, bad credit and all these things. But bottom line is one time I signed up for a credit card that had a $500 annual fee. I know. But with this came all of these benefits. One was if you stayed at a hotel three nights, you’d get a fourth night free. Another one was a $300 airline credit. Another one was, you know free food at I think it was one of the airport louer. No, it was free membership to an airport lounge. All these pieces. Another one was Uber credits or Uber eat credits. Well, I made money on that credit card. Because I used all of those things. Not only did I pay off my card every month, so I didn’t incur any interest charges.
But I made money back on that. I remember my wife and I took a trip that year is one of the first trips we had taken in a long time, we made money on that hotel, I had to take a flight home because I lost a loved one, we made that $300 $300 of that back. And then out of the 80,000 miles I traveled that year, I never had to spend money on the airport, I never, I saved money on rides, I did this. And then also that was a ride off through our LLC because there was a business, it was a business credit card. So all in all, as we looked at our finances, at the end of the year, we were making on average 800 to $1,500 back from that card.
Now why do I use that as an example? Well, guys, that’s kind of what investing in yourself is like, you know, the the most I had ever spent at one point in time on a clinic was about $2,500. And that was really scary. For me, it was really scary, because I had to pay for the flights, I had to pay for all these other things. And I came from an industry where that just wasn’t the norm. But I remember sitting in the chair that day, and my level of preparation for those two days was higher than it had ever been. Because I don’t have somebody to reimburse my expenses. Not only is everything we do at art of coaching, completely self funded, but that also goes towards the any education we want to have.
And if we want to keep giving you guys great content, we want to keep you growing, we’ve got to do the same. So I remember my wife and I had laid out our binders that morning, we had prepared everything. And our challenge was after every day, we’re going to find five different ways we can apply this immediately. Because we knew if we went home, we’d get right back into the rhythm of life right back into the chaos of work, and we’d forget it all. And you know what? It worked. So then the next year, I jumped out on another like ledge, so to speak, and hired a coach this one was for even more money.
The point is, is guys that that is going to get in your throat and in your chest and it is going to be very scary. And if you’re somebody that actually invest in yourself, you need to remember that that comes from actually embracing the fear that makes you apply those things to yourself. If you are constantly leaning on Well, my employer won’t reimburse it. I don’t have the money, then what I’d say is what are you going to say to people that turn you down? For those same reasons. You’re gonna negotiate for a raise, at some point, you’re gonna negotiate for a certain job at some point? How would you look at it if an employer or potential employer says we’d love to pay that we just don’t have the money.
We’d love to give you that raise. We just don’t have the money. I’d love to train with you. I’d love to secure your services. I’d love to buy your course or your book. I just don’t have the money. When you think of it that way. And you think back on the interactions when people did not bet on you. You the listener because you didn’t have they didn’t have the time or the money. Think about what you told them. I have a friend and he doesn’t mind me saying this and I’ll just call him Adam and Adam and I had this conversation Adam is one of the cheapest into visuals I know, I mean, if I could, if he could, and again, we’re close, he would hang up wet paper towels to let them dry so he could use them again.
And yeah, there was one time when I was at Adams House, and he was saying how angry he was about something. And it was for that very reason. There was somebody that came to him and needed a lot of help. Adam got into his business for this reason. And yet, when he provided the pricing to that individual, they wouldn’t budge. They wouldn’t do it. And Adam just laid into me saying, Why do I do this, I give my all I go all out for everybody. You know, I’ve skipped birthdays and anniversaries, I put my business on the line. And there’s so many people that are grateful for it, and I value that, but man, the one or two people that turn away per week, because they don’t have the time or money.
And then I know they’re going to come back with even worse issues. Or worse yet, they’re never going to address it, which is gonna cost him down the road. It breaks my heart. And I said, Well, man, you know, like, now that you know how that feels. Think about it the opposite way. But we don’t internalize those things enough guys, we don’t And admittedly, I didn’t either until I became an entrepreneur. You know, one of my biggest mistakes is the 1% of individuals that wouldn’t believe in something we did, or would find an excuse for it. That would eat my day, that would eat my day.
And then I would forget about the 20 to 30 or 40 people that did buy that did believe in it that did move forward. And you started just realizing that there are certain things you’re not going to be able to talk people into. And that’s we said it a lot on this podcast, that old Nicholas Nasim to lead, quote, The three most addictive things to people are heroin, carbohydrates, and a salary. But I’d add a fourth one, reimbursement reimbursement. Now, if you do have a company that provides you reimbursement I’m not getting that, of course, is a blessing. It’s awesome. But what I would encourage you to do is at least audit how much of the continuing education that you’ve gotten reimbursed for in the past three to five years. Are you still using?
How much did you use in general? And worse yet, do you think that maybe one time a year, you could use your own money to pay for something to make that risk of that much higher, because when you look at the people you serve, you ask them to do it every day strength coaches, you ask people to get under the bar with extraordinarily heavy loads. So leave it all out on the turf or the competitive arena are whatever doctors, you ask people to trust, their health, I mean, like their health to you and its entirety, whether it’s the medications you provide, or anything, dentists, you are holding drills in people’s mouths. Think about the massive amount of trust and risk and emotions that an effort they go into these things. And just think like, where are you doing the thing that scares you most?
And if you say, Hey, Brett, listen, man back off, I do this all the time, that’s fine. But then I’d say are you diversifying that? Because if you’re just investing in yourself in one area? Well, you wouldn’t do that in your finances. I mean, right, like, we all know that you need diversification. So I could go on and on. But the point of this is, you know, you just have to be conscious of what you say when you call yourself a lifelong learner, or somebody that invest in yourself, if you’ll only do so, as long as the, what do they call them, the bumper lanes are up, as long as you have your floaties. At some point, if you want to evolve and grow, you need to jump in the deep end of the pool.
And at the very least just be more mindful, be more mindful of the reasons you give as to why you can’t do something. If you guys can’t come to something of ours, I’d much rather have you just say, hey, this one didn’t speak to me. It’s not the right time of year or Hey, Brett, I don’t like you, I would literally have all of those than say, you know, my work won’t reimburse it. Because you know what, me and my staff are gonna come right back at you. And we’re gonna say, well, then what can we do to earn your trust, so that this is such a no brainer for you that your work wouldn’t have to reimburse it. And there’s an analogy in that, because I would do the same thing for my athletes, when they would say, Hey, man, I don’t you know, I don’t want to squat or I don’t want to deadlift, I could take the easy approach and be like, Well, tough shit, you’re going to do it, or else I’m gonna go tell coach, or I could find a way to coach that person.
And make sure they trust in me enough and believe in me enough, and know that I have their best interests at heart, to serve them, serve them well, and maybe even over deliver on expectations and remove these old fears and fallacies that they believe in. So all I’d ask is give somebody else the opportunity to do that for you. Really understand what it means to invest in yourself. And let me know about what you guys talk about when you debate with your staff or you share this within your own circles. I want to hear Do you agree? Do you disagree? More importantly, I’d love to hear what are some things that you went incredibly cheap on or when the safe route on life that came back and bite you in the butt.
And it doesn’t have to be anything super serious. Again, I told you about a vacuum. I’ve told you about so many things that I’ve had that have broken down. But we know this. Generally we tell people, you know, don’t put crap food in your body, guys. Don’t put crap information in your head. And beyond the point, you really do get what you pay for. All right, this is Brett Bartholomew, from the art of coaching before you leave, again, check out our art of Coaching Speaker School. It is something new we’re doing this year, you can go to artofcoaching.com/speaker. If you want to be more proficient, whether it’s in job interviews, or in front of audiences, where maybe you just get social anxiety and talking in front of small groups and big groups, kind of worries you. I mean, guys, if you have to give a best man or best woman speech, we just want to help you find your voice. We want to help you be more comfortable. We want to help you be more of you. That’s artofcoaching.com/speaker I’ll talk to you soon
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