Last Friday, I walked through 1712 Salter Road for the final time. It was a piece of property in a house that my father, Mike Strong, moved into when he was three years old and had been in my family for 75 years.

My grandparents raised four children there and resided in the home for the rest of their lives. Then, I moved in as a go-between resident in between flipping real estate projects in my early 20s just so someone would live in the house and not let it sit idle. I ended up really enjoying it over a couple of months, the summer after my grandmother passed away, and I bought it from her estate when I was 25 years old. I’ve lived there for the last 18 years. It’s the home that I welcomed my new wife to come live in. And together we welcomed all four of our children to live in over the last 11 years. Like so many things in life, it was very hard to come to the realization that we had simply outgrown the house. That we simply needed more than two shared bathrooms and three bedrooms for six people to live in. While it did create space and a tremendous family environment, we had simply come to a point where it just wasn’t going to last us anymore.

So I decided to turn the page. It was a very hard and emotional decision. A lot of feelings, a lot of thoughts about ‘Do I keep it?’ ‘Do I sell it?’ ‘Do I preserve it for my children?’. But at the end of the day, nothing lasts forever. And while everything somehow has to come to an end, the Strong Family legacy at 1712 Salter Road has finally come to an end. A place where hundreds and hundreds of visitors and guests have flocked over the years. Parties, holidays, get-togethers, and simply just hanging out with neighbors have been a mainstay of our lives.

As it officially comes to a close with the money hitting my bank account today, it is with a peaceful heart that I say goodbye to 1712 Salter Road and all the many memories it created.

I left Sunday afternoon to start my travel for the week with a pretty aggressive schedule. Five different cities, five different states, three days, and a lot of things to cover.

Already tired from a pretty strenuous month of travel, it occurred to me while traveling this week: I want it very badly. I want to win very badly. I pushed myself to limits that sometimes are near exhaustion because there’s just so much in the world I want to do.

I think some people think I might be a little crazy for it, but other times they may just not even think about it at all. But when you push yourself and you want something so badly, it’s like you can feel it. Like you can taste it, like you can see it, but you don’t feel like you have it. And I think that’s why when I think about all the different things I do, all the different things I try, why I want it so badly is what drives me.

Now, the funny thing is, I don’t really know what “it” is. But what I really feel is that there is something out there, something more to accomplish. Something more I need to do. Something more I need to discover, so that I push myself to the brink of exhaustion simply because I want it so badly. It is kind of ironic that all this has happened this week as we go into Labor Day weekend – a long weekend. A time to recharge, and a time to appreciate everyone’s labor around the country.

So when you think about it over the weekend, think about your “why” and your “it.” Why do you want it so badly?

While just bringing to a close one of the greatest summers of my life, I have to admit, I’m really feeling good about the power of a routine.

Don’t get me wrong, this past summer was the best I’d ever spent with my wife and children. We went to more places, did more fun things, and had more shareable and lifetime experiences and memories than any other time in our lives. We were in different states, different countries, and different time zones – all culminating with a final farewell trip to the beach right before getting back to school.

But now that we are back in school – and actually for once, every one of my kids is going to some form of regular school – I have to admit, a few weeks in, that it is really great to have the power of a routine. Going to bed a little earlier. Waking up a little earlier. Having a set list of priorities and tasks every day that don’t exist in summer. Things like taking kids to school when I’m in town and picking kids up from dance and various sporting activities really make me relish how great it is to have a routine.

I think as people we have a routine mindset. We are better when not left to our own distractions and devices. Generating the power of a routine can be great in so many ways.

In a way it’s refreshing, but in a way it’s also very disciplining to know that you’ve got a new list of responsibilities every day that you cannot avoid. It’s been a really great summer, a really magical time in my life. However, I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of weeks of just getting back to simple, simple routines.

The other night, while putting my young son Ford to bed, I was begging him to calm down and get ready to go to sleep. He was ready to stay up and play and I simply told him, “Buddy, I’ve got a big meeting tomorrow. We need to go ahead and go to bed.” He looked at me with the weirdest face and said, “Dad, if you’re the boss, why do you have to go to meetings? And I laughed and said, “Someday, son, you’re going to understand all of this.”

The truth, and what I want Ford to understand, is that you may be at the top of the organizational chart, but you also have the responsibility that comes with that. It means the 12 hour days back to back. It means traveling late nights and weekends. It means all the meetings, all the stress, all the decisions that all have to be made in very short order.

Kids don’t understand it. And quite frankly, I’m kind of glad Ford doesn’t understand all that goes into my day to day role and responsibility. But it was funny to watch his face in amazement thinking that just because you’re the boss, you don’t have to really do anything. If you only knew the truth, which you will one day find out, it’s that the pressure and demands that come at the top really are what drive you to do better. I hope he’ll understand, and maybe one day he’ll read this note.

A banker asked me Monday morning how our year at my company was going. I paused for a minute, then said, Best ever start to a year, on top of a best ever year last year that followed a best ever year the year before.” I didn’t mean to rattle it off that quickly, and it was not something that I had rehearsed, but just came naturally as that is the truth. Since that interaction, I have been thinking about my comment over the last couple of days, trying to figure out why this is the case.

Then, while sitting at dinner last night out of town for work, my wife sends me a text that says, “Home run!” I knew my son Hudson had a baseball game, and then a few seconds later a video followed of his first home run of the season. While watching the video and wishing I was there, I witnessed the following:

His first swing was a great swing with lots of energy but a complete miss.

His second swing was a great swing with even more of a cut and a close miss.

His third swing had that sound of an aluminum bat going “ting,” and then the ball completely disappearing off the screen.

Then, all you heard was yelling and cheering, and the camera dropped because the person filming was cheering hysterically.

I hate I missed the homerun and the look on his face when he ran home, but there is one glaring lesson I have learned from this moment:

No matter what every day throws at you, keep swinging.

Regardless of how many times you miss, keep swinging.

Don’t ever let anything get you down, just keep swinging.

The reason that business is so good right now is that over the last 3 years, regardless of what has come at us or faced us, we just kept swinging. And the payoff is very real.

While flying tonight on a work trip, I was thinking about all the things that lie ahead of me for the week. While I don’t like to travel every Sunday, there is something cool about rolling out on a Sunday night to wake up in a new city on Monday ready to rock and roll. It’s hard to leave the family behind, but I never sleep well on Sunday nights anyway, so maybe this will be a welcomed change.

While watching the sunset out of my window, I thought more deeply about all the shit I have going on around me. I started to get nervous for a minute, then remembered that stress and anxiety are what fuel me, so it really isn’t a bad thing. For all the different challenges mentioned in my last post, they really are what drive me.

There is a phrase I started using years ago (“Never Stop,” which is kind of fitting for me) that resurfaces in my mind. I never really stop until I have to. Either mentally or physically, I sometimes hit a wall and then things stop, but unless that happens I just keep going and going. Each day, each week, each obstacle is a new mission, and it is my job to get around them and find the best way to get through them.

This week, there are vultures flying everywhere and certain tasks that I have to accomplish to get to the end of the rainbow on Friday afternoon. Each minute of each day will require decisions that have to be made, things that need to be said, and things I need to keep quiet. But all in all, it is what keeps the whole train moving. There are projects and people that will occupy my time and thoughts, but all can be managed by my greatest weapon – my cell phone. My phone is my lifeline in more ways than one – and a trusted advisor to carry out many things.

To everyone: enjoy your week. Of all the weeks you have in your life, this is one of them. So, you might as well use it to your advantage.

For the last couple of weeks, it has felt like I am wading through a swamp. And in case you are wondering, no I am not off on a hunting trip. 🙂

By wading through a swamp, I mean it is a period of my life and career that is culminating all at the same time with more intense projects than ever before. Every day, there is a fight of some kind with an alligator coming at me for blood. Now that is just a dramatic way to prove a point that I’m up to my waist in the swamp, and alligators are coming at me from all sides.  What are these alligators, in case you are wondering? Well, here is a start.

The Mothership

Our agency business is off to the best start to a year that it has ever been. Normally, January and February are tough, and things break loose by March. But this year, we took off out of the gate like a missile and show no sign of slowing. With 141 associates, we have the best team we have ever had to manage this growth and keep up the pace. It’s back to where the market is tough and the dealers need help, which makes it even more intense. Car dealers are notorious for being alligators, especially when they need traffic.

Dealerships

My new venture of owning a car dealership is a new learning curve every day. But it has proven to be a great way to grow my career and seek out expertise in another field that is closely tied to the one I know the best. While it hasn’t been easy, it is off to a great start. It presents new challenges daily, but we are having a blast. The fun thing about this project is that when my other job ramps down around 5 p.m. and on the weekends, this business ramps up – meaning there is never a dull moment. Alligators also swim after hours and on the weekend.

Housing

I am close to the end of building a house to move my family into and getting ready to sell a house that my family has lived in for over 70 years. We are thrilled to be close on our new house, and somewhat sad to be leaving the old one, but it’s time. We have outgrown it, and just like anything that is 70 years old, it is deciding to start breaking. The prospects of a move coming soon and selling a house are starting to create a lot of alligators.

Housing 2.0

My new neighbor where we are building is on the Homewood City Council. To say she doesn’t like me (or the historical home I tore down) to build my new one is an understatement. I had to fight with the city for the better part of 2 weeks, hire a civil ordinance attorney, and put my project on hold just to get a parking pad. People in Homewood sure love their sidewalks and greenspace. Alligators are also named Jennifer and serve on the city council.

El Rancho

Just as all the land clearing and building of roads, gates, and lakes had been completed, we decided to build a barn. It seemed faster and easier to hire a couple of “good ol’ boys” rather than a construction company that had a backlog for months or years. The “good ol’ boys” couldn’t add or subtract well, so all the measurements were wrong and had to be redone. They ended up getting fired, which left me without a finished barn. Alligators are also country boys who show up in Carhartt’s and worn-out t-shirts, smoke Marlboros, and say “I reckon.”

Air Travel

Even though I have flown millions of airline miles in my career and over 2,500 hours in private aircraft, I have learned more about flying, fixing, and selling airplanes in the last 4 weeks than I have in my 42 years on this earth.  Yeah, I know that sounds like a first-world problem to complain about, but talk about time intensive and stressful. Aviation folks are also alligators – only they wear Raybans.

Kids & Dogs

My homelife is like The Brady Bunch, where instead of 2 families getting blended, we blended 4 kids with 2 dogs. My house is utter chaos. The dogs are fairly low maintenance, only walking in the morning and evening and feeding twice a day. The kids on the other hand are all involved in an activity. Baseball, tee-ball, dance, and ballet. Yep – no two kids could do the same activity. So when I am not traveling, I am spending every night as an Uber driver taking kids from one practice to another. Then there is Ford. He is a 4-year-old animal the likes of which I have never witnessed before. On Sunday he turned on the hose, put it in the grass, turned the backyard into a mud pit, then proceeded to roll in the mud. Alligators are also 4-year-olds named Ford.

So there is my swamp, and those are my alligators. Next time you see me, just smile and say it’s all going to be ok.

One of the goals I made myself for the year was to give “Extra Effort ALL The Time.” As we are now almost two months into the year, I realize a couple of things. First, writing down your goals and looking at them every day is extremely important. And second, you are not going to be good at achieving all your goals. There are just some things that you are naturally better at than others, and I guess that’s why deep down we give ourselves goals so we can improve.

My goal of “Extra Effort ALL The Time” was aimed at a particular phenomenon. Some days, I get so passionate about details and projects. Other days, I just say “oh the hell with it.” But it is a motivating factor that drives me and has my whole career, which is why I care so much about getting things right.

Some people in the past have told me “no matter how good I do, it is never enough for you,” and they are right. I don’t mean that in a bad way. What I mean is that I always feel there is more that can be done, there is something that could be better, or simply a mindset of continuous improvement. It doesn’t fit well for everyone, but it seems to work in my philosophy, so I guess I will keep doing it.

Extra Effort ALL The Time hit me especially hard today, Thursday, February 23. Maybe it had to do with the date 2.23.23, which in itself is kind of cool. But nevertheless, it happened. While it was only a day trip to visit clients in South Georgia and Central Florida, it was going to be a long day with a charity event I was scrambling to get home to that my wife had organized. I woke up at about 3:30 a.m. as I sometimes do. Even though had an alarm set for 5:15 a.m., I couldn’t go back to sleep. As I tossed and turned with thoughts of exhaustion, I also felt hungry because between trying to help with all the shuttling around of kids from different activities the night before, I barely ate dinner.

So there I am, tired and unable to go back to sleep. Hungry with nothing to eat and the thought of an 18-hour day ahead of me. It was really hard to get out of bed, but I did anyway. I got dressed, fed the dog, and went to the airport. Tired as hell I climbed into the airplane and took off. It was nice of the pilot to pick up Chic-Fil-A so very early in the day. I got over the hunger part of the equation, but then I felt my heart start beating fast. Almost to the point where I thought something was wrong. So I closed my eyes – focused on just trying to slow my breathing and then heard the landing gear go down. It was time to land and get the show on the road. I composed myself, even as my phone was blowing up, to get what I needed to handle done before pulling into a parking lot at the very moment my meeting was starting. After opening the car door and walking into the dealership, my reflexes took over and I went on about my day doing my job.

After both cities and flying home, I realized today was a true day of working on my goal of Extra Effort ALL The Time. I didn’t want to go anywhere today, but I did. I didn’t feel like working this hard today, but I did. And sometimes it is just making it through this kind of day that gives you a feeling of winning.

As things get busier throughout the year, I always seem to find less and less time to do things I want to do. There are always new commitments, new projects, and new needs across everything both in my personal life and in my career. But as the job gets busier, I seem to find that, occasionally, it’s time to go hunting.

I’m leaving this afternoon, the sun is out after many days of rain, and the weather has turned cold, so the deer should be moving. I’m taking my kids, who have now found a real sense of loving to hunt, and I’m going to spend the afternoon – when I really should be working – taking time to spend with them doing something that we’ve all really grown to love, and that is hunting.

Now, we may be successful and shoot a big deer. We may not be successful. We may just sit there and freeze. But it will be an afternoon doing something I really enjoy with the people closest to me. Even when the world gets crazy, even when you don’t feel like your head is above water, even when everything doesn’t seem like it will go on without you – remember that sometimes it’s just time to go hunting.

Some people think that I get downright hard to deal with if the year rolls over to a new year. It’s true. January is like a total reset for me, both in business and personally. But the thing I love about January is it reminds me to always emphatically inspect the details. You can make or break your career and your success by getting lost and not paying attention to the details. I was taught from a very early age that you are only as good of a manager as you are a checker. Not to distrust what people give or show you, but to manage your own expectations by checking to ensure everything is being done at the level of accuracy you want.

It bothers some people. Some people don’t like being looked at. They feel that it’s micromanaging. They feel that I’m in their business a little too much. They think, why is he asking me these questions? or does he not trust me? or am I not good enough? That’s simply not it at all. What it has to do with is this: as a reset around every year, I reset and refocus myself, my goals, my priorities, and my aspirations for the year. During that time, I find it almost rewarding to be able to check everything that comes across my way and even ask about things that I’m not day-to-day involved in to make sure they are handled and executed to the best degree possible. You’re only as good of a manager as you are a checker. And when you manage a great deal of projects, people, and personalities, you find yourself checking things all the time.