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Mind Over Mayhem: How Shop Owners Can Stay Calm, Focused, and in Control

Ratchet+Wrench Radio May 20, 2026 23 min

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About this episode

Mindfulness gets translated into shop-floor practicality: active open attention paired with acceptance, plus quick “micro interventions” to notice internal tension before it hijacks your reactions. The therapist walks through how to spot whether stress is tied to concerns, predictions, or beliefs, and what to do when intensity temporarily rises as you become aware. For busy owners, mindfulness can be paired with routines like a commute or making coffee, with simple resets like a 60-second out-loud check or “10,000 foot view.”

Topics: mindfulness definition micro-interventions burnout signs emotion de-escalation difficult customer responses habit pairing commute mindfulness temporary intensity increase reset techniques leadership modeling

Between difficult customers, endless to-do lists, and constant problem-solving, it’s easy for shop owners to operate on autopilot. In this episode of Ratchet+Wrench Radio, Margaret Light explains how simple mindfulness habits can help you slow down, think clearly, and lead more effectively—without adding another task to your day.

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Welcome to Ratchet and Wrench Radio,

produced by Endeavor Business Media,

a division of Endeavor B2B,

bringing you strategies and inspiration

for auto care success.

Welcome back to Ratchet and Wrench Radio.

Running an auto repair shop means juggling

a nonstop stream of decisions, conversations,

and unexpected challenges.

Over time, that constant pressure can take a toll,

not just on your business,

but on your mental clarity and well-being.

In this episode of Ratchet and Wrench Radio,

licensed therapist, Margaret Light,

introduces a practical approach to mindfulness

and meditation tailored specifically for busy shop owners.

From quick in-the-moment techniques

to recognizing the early signs of burnout,

Light shares how building awareness

of your thoughts and emotions

can lead to better decision-making,

stronger leadership,

and a more sustainable way to run your business.

Let's listen in.

Hi Margaret, thanks so much for joining us today.

Thank you for having me back.

Of course, today we are talking about mindfulness

and meditation for shop owners.

Now for shop owners who may not be familiar,

how exactly do you define mindfulness

in a practical everyday sense?

So mindfulness is kind of simply put

active open attention to what is.

And so it's the ability to pair awareness

of one's internal experiences,

so your own thoughts or emotional state,

with acceptance, right?

Being able to experience,

oh, this is just what's happening right now.

It's not good or bad, right or wrong,

inaccurate or accurate, it just is.

Okay, so for shop owners,

why is it especially important,

or even small business owners and leaders,

in high pressure environments

to think about this or even care?

So if we think about wanting to make good decisions,

whether it's a high pressure moment or not,

part of that decision-making process is influenced by

what are we thinking, feeling,

what beliefs are present in the moment.

And if we're not actually aware of those things

about ourselves, they're gonna influence

how we make decisions,

but we might not actually understand or be fully aware

of why we're making the decision we're making.

And then hand in hand, we've got meditation, right?

So what are some common misconceptions, first of all,

that people have about meditation?

Yeah.

Conjures up maybe people images

of women in yoga pants, right?

Correct.

What do we want people to know about meditation?

Yeah, that's exactly what people

they call meditation.

So if we think of meditation as the umbrella,

and mindfulness is something that goes

underneath that umbrella.

So mindfulness is what we consider a form of meditation,

but mindfulness is very different than yes, right?

Women in yoga pants or even the vision people get of,

oh, I'm gonna have to sit on the floor, cross-legged

and try and empty my mind, right?

And so that is not the version of meditation

we're talking about.

Okay.

So auto repair shop owners are constantly juggling customers,

employees, unexpected issues.

How does that kind of environment impact

your mental health in the long run?

Yeah.

I mean, that environment can inherently create

a lot of stress, anxiety, right?

It's your brain is always kind of moving around,

thinking about the next thing, right?

You're juggling a million things.

It kind of primes your body physiologically

to get overwhelmed or to get activated and anxious

or to feel like you can never do enough

because the to-do list never ends,

which of course then makes people feel worse, right?

Long-term and that is where things can then

turn into a mental health issue.

What are some signs that you might be entering

mental overload or burnout territory?

Yeah.

So any type of kind of noteworthy or significant change

from what you used to be at, right?

So if you used to feel kind of minorly stressed,

but like it's okay, you knew you'd get through it

and now it just feels like it's never ending,

you feel really down or low

or you're starting to have a lot of either negative beliefs

about yourself or someone else, right?

I'm not good enough, this is never gonna work.

You know, it's normal for those thoughts

to like float in and float out,

but if they're coming in more often

or you're feeling like you can't shake that,

those would be indicators to me

that there's more to be worried about there

or even just feeling really checked out

or numb or disengaged, right?

Kind of the opposite end of the spectrum

would also be assigned to me that someone is maybe dealing

with a mental health issue or burnout

or definitely trending in that direction.

Kind of a black hole kind of feeling.

Everybody has days of gloom,

but when you just feel like it's never gonna end.

Right, right, or even if the intensity of those days

is increasing, right?

So even if it's only one day,

but if it feels like this is the darkest day

you've had in five years,

I mean, that's a thing to pay attention to.

And why do you think business owners

find it particularly difficult

to prioritize their own mental health?

I call it getting caught in the vortex, right?

There's this never ending to-do list,

somebody always needs something,

there's always another task to do.

And so it's easy to lose awareness of yourself, right?

And get caught up in kind of the crazy

of everything that has to get done.

And so the idea of slowing down

brings up a lot of concerns for people about like,

well, then I'm gonna get even less done

or then I'm not gonna be productive

or I don't have time for that, I'm fine.

But if they're not actually aware of themselves,

when we say we're fine,

we don't actually know if that's true.

So if people wanted to practice mindfulness techniques

for someone who's never tried it before,

what's the easiest place to start?

Yeah, so I call this like a micro intervention.

So pick a point in your day

and just be aware of what's happening internally

as that moment happens.

So that can even be walking into the shop

in the morning, right?

Just notice, is there tension in my body?

What types of thoughts am I having?

Is there an emotion there?

Like, am I excited?

Am I already stressed kind of in anticipation?

Do I dread going in?

And just notice for, I don't know,

30 or 60 seconds, right?

It's small.

How about like, can you give us an example

or walk us through like a one to two minute

mindfulness exercise when it comes to customers

or appointments?

Are you meaning like beforehand or after or during?

I would say like, you have a difficult customer, right?

And you can feel that tension rising in your body.

Walk me through how I keep my cool

and still address the customer respectfully and professionally.

Okay, got it, perfect.

So the first thing I would do is,

so as you notice that tension,

notice if it's linked to a concern or a prediction

or a belief, right?

Is the concern that they're gonna get angry and yell at me?

Is there a prediction that they're gonna write us

a bad review?

Is there a belief that, well, if they're upset with me,

I didn't do a good enough job or somebody failed

or I need to make them happy, right?

And so I would just notice that first, right?

What is that linked into?

And then fact check it, like is that true, right?

Can you honestly predict with 100% certainty

how this is gonna go?

No, probably not, right?

Is it true that if someone is upset with us,

we actually did something wrong

and we have to make them happy?

Well, no, actually that's not true either, right?

And so once we can fact check it, then we can notice,

okay, if I acknowledge that and hold that reality,

does how I'm feeling shift at all?

Not that it's gonna make it all go away,

but is there anything reassuring

or kind of calming about that?

And in a way, validating the fact that it's okay

to feel that way, but not let it consume you.

Correct, exactly, right?

That's the acceptance part of mindfulness of,

okay, so this anxiety or this stress or tension is here.

Like it makes sense, it's allowed to be,

it doesn't mean anything outside of the fact

that it's here, right?

Like that's it.

So how can shop owners build this into their day

without making it feel like another to-do item

on their checklist every day?

Yeah, so that's actually what I love about mindfulness

is it's not a go sit down and empty your mind

for 15 minutes exercise, right?

It's literally just as you go through life,

practice noticing yourself.

And I think of it as like,

it's gonna be like any other muscle group, right?

So if you work out

or if you've ever done physical therapy,

it's gonna feel like more effort at first

or it'll be hard to remember to do it,

but then with practice, it'll become second nature.

And you don't have to start

with trying to be aware 24 seven, right?

That's not a realistic goal.

So be aware once in the day for 30 or 60 seconds

and like call it good, right?

We're not looking for perfection here.

We kind of scoffed at meditation and breathing techniques,

but are there breathing techniques that would help

in certain situations throughout the day

that are particularly stressful,

that you can kind of talk yourself out of the trees,

so to speak, by helping yourself with breathing exercises?

Yeah.

So there's two that I give people

and they're the ones that I think you can do

when you're interacting with someone and they won't know.

So the first is to just take a big deep breath

like while they're talking

and then let it out as slowly as possible.

And especially if somebody else has worked up,

like they are never gonna notice you're doing this, right?

The benefit of this is,

A, it actually forces you to kind of be aware of yourself

because you're breathing in a specific way, right?

So it forces some of this mindfulness to happen.

That makes sense.

And then second, a big long exhale

actually helps our nervous system regulate a little bit

and it kind of helps our brain come back online

and it allows us to think a little more clearly.

Okay, I mean, it makes sense.

People are somewhat intimidated by meditation, I feel.

Yeah.

How would you recommend making it more accessible

for busy professionals?

Yeah.

So let's say you have a drive to work

or a drive home from work.

So do mindfulness then,

just observe your own thoughts and feelings on your drive

even if it's a five minute drive, right?

Again, we're trying to work this into your day

so it's not another task.

The other benefit of observing, right?

Even if it's at the end of the day,

if we're able to just observe ourselves,

it actually pulls us out of the emotion of it.

So if we're able to say,

oh yeah, I got really stressed and angry today

about this right interaction with that coworker

or with that employee,

it's one step removed from I am actively angry

with this person right now, right?

It's a different energy to say,

oh look, look at me being angry about this.

Okay, that makes sense.

How long do you think it takes people

to once they start mindfulness,

meditation to feel the benefits or the effects?

Yeah, that's a good question.

So partially it depends on the person

and it depends on the effect they're looking for, right?

If you're just working on noticing

so that you can make more intentional choices,

I've had folks come back to me within a week

and say they've noticed it

and they've been able to do a couple of things.

You know, have they like overhauled their life in a week?

No, you know.

But I think the benefit of mindfulness is

if you can notice it right away,

like did it help me slow down?

Did it help me think that through?

Did it help me actually think or pause for a minute?

Do I really wanna say this to this person?

And okay, there's your benefit.

Are there any mistakes or pitfalls to avoid

or things you see commonly happen

when people are trying to implement these skills?

So I think sometimes people underestimate

just how hard it is to do, right?

We talk about this awareness and acceptance piece

and it's really easy to get caught

in the I shouldn't feel this way,

I shouldn't think this way,

I shouldn't, they shouldn't, right?

That's even easier to focus on.

This other person shouldn't be this way.

So that's just hard.

The other thing is sometimes when we tune

into our own emotions, the expectation or hope we have

is that the emotions are gonna immediately decrease.

And what can happen temporarily is the intensity increases

because now we're aware of it.

But just know that isn't permanent, right?

Like that will fade, that will decrease,

especially as we get better at it, that'll shift.

And hopefully you can do something about it

and try to handle it in a different way

so you're more mindful when it happens the next time.

As you said, it de-escalates instead of increases over time.

Right, there's even some good research

that indicates something as basic as labeling an emotion

helps our brain start to soothe it.

So even just saying, oh, I'm feeling angry,

or oh, look, look, there's anxiety here

or there's disgust here.

I mean, fill in the blank.

Even something as basic as that can help.

We call it name it to tame it.

I like that.

Isn't that cute?

When it comes to leaderships and teams,

how does practicing mindfulness as an owner

or a manager impact the rest of the team?

If it makes you a better leader, right,

that's obviously gonna impact your team.

Sure.

There's also this really lovely thing in the brain

called mirror neurons,

which is when we're interacting with another person,

the way the neurons in our brain fire

is they actually start to mirror each other.

And so if you're getting worked up,

the people around you's brains might start to mirror that

and they're gonna get worked up also.

But if you can maintain yourself

and sort of calm yourself down,

their brains can mirror that.

And I think, right, like it's kind of at that point,

self-explanatory of, oh, well, if we're all a little calmer,

things probably run better.

Yeah, that does make sense.

What would you say to a shop owner

who thinks mindfulness is too soft

or not relevant to running a business?

It's not a real macro thing for guys to walk around

talking about their feelings, is it?

That's true.

So the good news is you could talk to yourself internally

about your feelings and no one will know.

And also, I get the critique

when what we're talking about is like 15 minutes

on a pillow practicing, right?

I giggle a little bit when people tell me

just like the awareness piece is too soft

because my sort of snarky response is like,

if being self-aware is too soft,

we need to talk about how you define, right?

Like you're being,

because that's a pretty basic human skill.

So this is the way to get you there.

Seems like a win to me.

How can someone stay consistent with mindfulness practices

when their schedule is unpredictable?

I mean, A, I think realistic expectations, right?

Especially if this is new,

the odds of you actually doing it every single day

right off the bat are low.

And so the good news is this is something

when it occurs to you or when you're aware of it, you do it.

And if you forget for a week, like so what?

Pick it up again the next time you think of it, right?

And this is the piece where I think,

choose something you have to do every day

and pair it with that.

We know that helps with habit formation, right?

So if it's I make a cup of coffee every day

before I leave the house,

then pair that, you know, five minutes with, okay,

then I'm also just gonna practice being aware of myself

and noticing what I'm thinking

as I make this cup of coffee, right?

The more we can kind of link something to this,

the easier it's gonna be to do it long-term.

Have you had anyone come back and say,

give you like a real life example

of where they applied these things, it kicked in

and they made a better business decision as a result?

Yeah, the place I hear about it most

is kind of with interpersonal interactions, right?

So I've had folks come back and talk to me about,

like, hey, an employee made this mistake

and then they were defensive when I brought it up

and what I wanted to do was kind of rip a new one, right?

Yes.

And instead I was like, ooh, ooh, don't do that.

Don't say that and I just like walked away instead,

which maybe it isn't groundbreaking, but it is better.

So what changes can business owners expect

if they stick with mindfulness over time?

People are consistently surprised

by what they discover about themselves

when they start noticing themselves more

and they also are surprised by when they get better at it,

how unaware they were previously.

So I've had a lot of folks be really shocked

after a little bit of practice with this

about some of the things they would think or feel

and not be aware of it.

If listeners could take away one small habit

from this conversation, what should it be?

I mean, working on mindfulness, right?

Hey, you can integrate it anywhere.

The other interesting, like, I don't know

if this is a habit so much, but exercise I've had people do

is set a timer for 60 seconds

and then just say out loud every single thought

and feeling you have during that time.

Like you don't have to say it to anyone else,

but it does help kind of form this connection

in the brain of if I just practice noticing

what I'm thinking and feeling,

it's easier to then do it later.

That's interesting.

Yeah, it's fascinating.

People, like they think it's not gonna be a thing,

but then when I have them do it,

people are consistently surprised by what happens.

And what comes out of your mouth in a 60 second period,

I can imagine, would be somewhat shocking.

How many thoughts go through your head in 60 seconds?

Correct, yes, exactly.

And so actually having to say it out loud

brings more awareness to it,

even if you're just doing it in the car

or in an empty room or whatever, right?

You don't have to do this with someone.

But it kind of drains your brain, not in a bad way,

but all those thoughts that you don't even realize

you're having and it forces you to say them out loud,

it's almost like, after you finally say them

and get them out.

Right, I think that's so true.

I think so for some folks,

it feels like a way to get it out, which is helpful.

For other people, it's almost like looking at a mirror

of like, oh my gosh, that's what I think, right?

It's like you discover, you know,

there's something in your teeth and you're like,

oh wow, I wish I knew that sooner.

Are there any resources you would recommend

on either mindfulness or meditation

that might help shop owners?

Mm, that's a great question.

I mean, a basic Google search is gonna get you a lot.

I think specifically looking into mindfulness

is gonna be the most helpful.

Okay.

Tara Brock has some really good stuff.

She has little snippets here or there that's good.

Oh, what's his name?

Dan Siegel has some really great stuff too.

His can get a little heady, so it's not for everybody.

But if you like the neuroscience of it,

he's a good one for it.

One final question.

If somebody has a really bad day at the shop,

how can they reset mentally

after a particularly down day?

This is the part where perspective comes in, right?

And so as we practice being more aware of ourselves,

it also helps us gain perspective on life at large, right?

It's sort of that analogy of, right,

are you looking at the trees

or are you looking at the forest?

And so a really bad day,

you can get hyper-focused on that one day.

So almost imagine zooming out.

Take a 10,000 foot view.

Can you look at the past month or the past year

and kind of put that day into context?

And I think that can really decrease

some of the intensity around it of,

right, we're not actually in crisis.

This guy is probably not falling.

Tomorrow will probably be different in some way, right?

And the sun will rise again.

Correct, right, the sun will rise again.

But when you're stuck in it, it's hard to remember that.

Sure, sure.

Well, I appreciate your insight as always, Margaret.

Thank you so much for stopping by

and I'm sure we will be talking again shortly.

Thank you again for having me.

You are welcome.

That's going to do it for us today at Ratchet and Wrench Radio.

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