In this motivational talk, Aaron LeBauer emphasizes that the most valuable investment for business owners and clinicians is investing in themselves—specifically their time, knowledge, and relationships—rather than merely purchasing equipment or services. He likens this to a patient who cannot be fixed in a single visit, underscoring that lasting results require ongoing effort. LeBauer highlights the importance of attending conferences for networking, even when the program content isn’t directly relevant, and stresses the long‑term payoff of working with business mentors and coaches despite their cost. He shares a tangible example of buying a $950 handmade massage table that paid for itself after ten massages and has lasted two decades, illustrating how thoughtful, durable purchases can yield immediate and lasting returns. Throughout, he argues that money is fleeting, but knowledge, strategies, and ideas are permanent assets that empower individuals to create or secure jobs anywhere. He concludes that self‑investment, exemplified by his own experience in PT school, is the best and most enduring investment one can make.
Chapters
It's not just about, like, buying something and expecting it to work. It's about investing ourselves, investing in our time to grow something further down the road. It's kind of like the patient that comes in and wants you to fix them in one visit. You're like, this isn't going to be fixed in one visit. You know, I can show you what to do. And you got a lot of work to do on your own over the course of the next few weeks, months, even years. And with business, it's much the same. You know, buying one thing isn't going to fix something unless buying that one thing gets your butt off the couch and gets you into gear, but then that's getting you into gear, and you still got to do something. And I think a lot of people miss that. There's an investment in yourself. So, like, you know, Jerry hadn't been to a single session. I haven't been to one. But what I get out of this conference is the networking and meeting people, because it's an investment in me, in my knowledge, in myself, which is I'm my best asset. And it's also an investment in my relationships, my businesses. So I get to learn new things for my clinic, for consulting and helping other people. And I just think that it's just that one thing that some people miss is that, yes, it's expensive to do some of this stuff. A few years ago, I was like, how am I going to justify going there when there's nothing on the program that I want to learn about? And so I realized that it was about the networking and the relationships. But it's a similar thing for working with business mentors and business coaches. I've had a handful of business mentors and coaches over the last nine years, probably six or seven different people that I've paid for business coaching. And each one has been like, man, that's expensive. But I can see the value and see what I'm going to get out of it. And. And I think that, you know, there's things like, you know, buying an egg. I spent 20 years ago, and I didn't have any money. I spent $950 on a massage table. Well, that's an investment that paid off right away. And I remember the guy telling me, he's like, look, all you gotta do is 10 massages and it's paid for. And I was like, huh? That's a. That's a great. That's a. That's a great point. And so I've done thousands of massages and treatments on that table. Now my wife Andra is using that table and it's still going. It's been one of the best, like, tangible investments I've made. Computers only last a few years, but a handmade wooden massage table lasted me 20. So there's other things like that that it's like. It might be expensive, but money comes and goes. So this is part of this mindset. Money comes and goes, but your knowledge will never leave you. Strategies will never leave you. Your ideas will never leave you. And when you invest in yourself because you're your own best asset, you can move anywhere, get a job anywhere, create a job anywhere, invest in yourself. It's the best investment you can ever made. You already did that when you went to PT school. Just think about how much money you spent going to PT school. It was one of the best investments you could ever make. Sam.
