This Sunday, May 29^th, 2022 will mark exactly 20 years since I started my career.

A young, clean-cut, in-shape, fresh college grad with wide eyes, a deep voice, and a relentless sense to outwork everyone around me had a whole lot to learn about the world and business. My very first employer, Martin Advertising, took a chance on me with very little to lose. My starting annual salary was $28,500, and I was totally in awe about how far I could spread a paycheck and how much I could live like a king compared to my buddies still in college. But someone looked at a P&L statement from Martin and probably said, “What’s it going to hurt to hire him? We are already short-staffed anyway,” and away my journey began.

The early days were epic in my mind. I would get to work before everyone and leave after everyone even if there wasn’t that much to do. I looked for what I could learn and studied everything I could about the automotive marketing business. It only took until about day 3 of that first week for me to know that I had found my calling. I was hooked.

From then, the days started to blur. Projects came and went pretty rapidly back in those days, and I was beginning to show I had some ability. And much to his credit, David Martin saw that and began to give me way bigger opportunities than he probably should have for my experience. I was invited to bigger meetings and asked to work on bigger projects, and my career was on a meteoric rise. It was fun in those days, and it was fast. A lot of moving parts, always on the phone, building projects, and selling services.

I truly had no idea how much I was failing.

Now there were no public failures; there isn’t a moment where I am going to say I went to a meeting and clammed up and couldn’t talk, but there were small failures every day. The failure early on to recognize the value of people. The failure to enjoy every minute of the day. The failure to realize it isn’t just you on a meteoric rise, it is the collective effort of everyone around you that is helping you succeed.  I was oblivious to it back then and for many years to follow.

Then, in 2004 with the financial help of my dad, Mike Strong, we bought a failing advertising company and had the goal of turning it around. Well, again I failed from day 1 in this endeavor. Thinking everyone would be willing to help me succeed, I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Most of the people in the company I had just sunk every nickel I had into didn’t really care for me (to put it lightly). There had been a culture in existence before I arrived, and I don’t think anyone liked my energy, speed, or what I represented. In truth, I think most of them wanted me to fail and probably only stayed employed at the company to watch it happen.

But through sheer grit and determination, and with the help of some really devoted people, the company was turned around and began to make an upward climb. All along, I was failing somewhere at something every single day.

Some days I would fail because I wasn’t brave enough, trying to hide from the issues that needed to be addressed. Some days I failed because I would try to micromanage people and get in their way of being successful. Some days I failed because I lacked a large enough vision of where I was going and was too conservative in my decision making. Other days I failed because I just acted like a jerk. To this day, I still have these days of failure. There are days when it’s hard to get out of my own way, and it limits my ability to grow. Some days are days when I don’t show enough appreciation to people who are working their asses off and all they want is a little praise.

Yep, the way I see it – I have failed at something every single day for the last 19 years and 363 days of my career.

If you know me well, your mouth may be on the floor because the guy who preaches “Attitude is Everything” has just gone on a total rant about failure. What the hell is happening?

The truth is, failing and the fear of failure have always been what drive me. I have been so afraid of failing that I am willing to do anything in order to be successful. Days, weeks, and even months of working nonstop to the ragged edge drive me to succeed because I simply will not accept failure. We all fail at something every day, and it is nothing to be ashamed of as long as you continue to pull yourself up out of bed the next day and get right back at it.

I’ve failed at life, friendships, relationships, marriage, and parenting, but I always keep trying. It’s the will to keep going that makes my motto “catch me if you can.”

Nineteen years and 363 days is a long time, but I wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for having some type of failure every day and the willingness to get my ass up and keep marching forward.

There isn’t a phrase that I laugh at more than when I hear people say, “You should stop and smell the roses.” It’s never been in my DNA to want to stop and coast or simply sit back and let things just naturally happen.  Plus, from the fact I had major sinus surgery 5 years ago and caught Covid-19 at least twice that I know of, I really have no sense of smell anyway.

I read the quote this morning from NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice that says, “I am willing to do things that other people won’t do today, so I can do things tomorrow that other people can’t do.” This is a pretty accurate statement that describes how I think and act. Most people aren’t willing nor would ever want some of the stress, anxiety, or fear that comes along with what I do – let alone the time commitment it requires of long hours of travel, countless late nights on the phone and checking email, or the brutal nature that having responsibility creates.

So when someone told me the other day that I needed to take more time to “stop and smell the roses,” I looked them dead in the eye and said, “SCREW THE ROSES.” I showed up today to win and win big.

Now I have written notes about taking time off to enjoy my family and have fun, but to me, that is not the same as “smelling the roses.” The amount of time I owe my family to repay all the time and distractions I have on a daily basis will never be fully repaid. All the money in the world can’t replace time. You can only try to be better each day, and that is what I have tried to do.

But smelling the roses? Not for me, not at all.

Going wide open and doing more than even I can possibly fathom? Check Please! Sign me up for that and I will take that lifestyle, own it, and call it living my best life.

As I finish my day on April 6, 2022, I look at the clock and I have been sitting at my desk for exactly 12 hours. I got up early, worked out, showered, got to work, and was working by 7:15 a.m. I went through all day and had a wonderful day. To me, I’m not a person who gets frustrated by work. And many people would say, “well, no shit John Paul, you own the company. Your name’s on the building.” But to me, it’s not about that. It’s about the fun of winning. Because today was all about winning. Whether it was turning around a client that was going sideways, adding new clients to the ever-growing company roster, or sitting around some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever been able to work around who also work as hard as I do, it’s just fun.

But don’t think it’s not lonely, because it is. I’ll probably get home in time tonight to see three of my four kids before they go to bed. But that’s okay. Because, even though they’re young, I think they know what I’m working for. And I think they know why I’m working for it. Don’t think it’s not lonely, because it’s lonely as shit. Most everybody left at 5 p.m., a few people by 5:30 p.m., one person at 6 p.m. But, it’s just sometimes invigorating to be able to build something, watch something grow, and be a part of something.

That’s why I’m able to work the way I’m able to work. Don’t think it’s not lonely, because it is. But it’s also a hell of a lot of fun, and there is nothing else in the world I would rather do.

Lately, I have been wound a little tight.

The year is off to a roaring start, the company is getting record amounts of new clients, and I have several projects going on outside of the business that are rolling. Things are as busy as they have ever been, but it’s all moving like a bullet train. And it feels like every day there is some type of newfound personal drama going on that I find myself having to solve.  Most of this drama can be found inside the walls of the agency but occasionally something comes up outside as well.

I have never been one who deals with drama well. I tend to think along the lines of: things are either black or white. I don’t like to and have never lived in the gray areas, so when dealing with these situations it becomes very apparent that I have a short fuse. When operating my life at a very high rate of speed, I have always preferred that everyone who is along for the ride just sit down, shut up, hang on, and enjoy the ride. But I realize not everyone thinks that way, so moments of self-calming have to be applied so I don’t burn up everyone around me.

All this to say that thus far in 2022, I think I have been wound a little too tight.

So this week I am taking a remedy for that. I will be unwinding, down on an island with only 3 cares in the world.

1. Where’s the boat?
2. Where’s my beer?
3. What time are we eating?

I doubt there will be too much to wind me up this week, but if it does happen I am sure it will be in a much more peaceful setting. For many years, I never took time off. I believed that if I worked harder and more that it would lead to more success. Then about 5 years ago, it dawned on me how much of my life had gone by and how much of it had been strictly dedicated to working.

So, I started taking time for myself. And in taking this time for myself, I figured out it was a lot more fun to take time off in very cool spots, and it truly has made unwinding a lot more fun.

I’m having a lot of fun this year.

Part of this new fun is coming from not dealing with all the Doom and Gloom, which is how the last 2 years started out. The other half is from getting to do new things in new places.

The Past…

While the world is equally as crazy as it seems to have ever been, I think I have developed a way to deal with every day having the potential to throw something completely new in your face. Every day has a different set of challenges in the world. If we wind back the clock to two years ago, it was the beginning of Covid – everything was shutting down. Going back last year was all the anger and violence in the country coupled with shortages of everything from people to products. Now, we have record inflation, $7 gas, and the brink of a world war. But the ability to keep things in check and remain calm when everyone else around you is flipping the hell out has become something I enjoy.

It could be because I have matured (that’s what my father Mike said), but I totally doubt that as I’m still as much of a mess as I was when I was a teenager. Maybe it’s because I have already hit so many goals that I set when beginning my career that I thought it would take to the end of my career to hit – and now those are all in my rearview mirror, and I am realizing whole new heights to set my goals. Or maybe it’s because I have seen that bad news can’t kill you. Only a bad attitude can.

Whatever it is, it sure makes every day seem like a breath of fresh air.

The New…

The New is very fun. Going to new places is a lot of fun. Through all my years of travel, every time I go to a new area it makes me feel somewhat like an explorer. I’m not the first person to step foot in any of these areas – let me assure you. But there is a cool factor from going to someplace new for the first time and getting to see it.

The other part of the new is getting to meet new people. People make the world go around, especially my world go around. I’ve always gotten to walk a line between making clients happy and making employees happy. As the year has brought new faces on both sides of the arena, it sure makes for a fun day.

There is no earth-shattering conclusion to this message, only that I am really happy and having a whole lot of fun.

“It’s easy to complicate things, but the hardest thing in the world is to keep it simple.”

This phrase has been firmly planted in my brain by my dad. If I have heard it once, then I have heard it one thousand times. It’s great advice, and now it seems I only hear it when I need it the most.

From time to time I call and ask my dad (Mike) for his advice on things. Sometimes I just call not really for advice, but because some really crazy shit just happened, or someone I know just did something really stupid and the call is as much for comic relief and humor as anything. But when I find that I need advice or want someone else opinion on something, he is always a tremendous resource. He has taught me the art of performing simplicity to perfection, and it is a trait that I am really glad to possess.

Complex problems can always be dumbed down to a very simple common denominator, and that is usually the best way to go about solving a problem. Far too often, people make problems even bigger than they are because they do not know how to keep it simple. And keeping it simple is generally the easiest way to solve a problem. Not that life is chock-full of problems, but usually when you come across something in your life that is not quite right – this is your best solution.

When I think about all the things in my life where I do keep it really simple, here are a few that stand out:

• I focused my business on doing one thing and doing it extremely well. Automotive Marketing for Automobile Dealers.
• I am really good at one aspect of my job, and that is getting in front of clients. So for almost 20 years, that is where I have spent almost all of my time.
• I don’t invest money in things I don’t know and completely understand.
• My hobbies are narrow, but what I enjoy doing I do a lot of, i.e., hunting and fishing. I don’t golf, play tennis, ride bikes, play poker, or do a lot of other things my friends and peers do for fun.
• When I undertake a large project like buying a business, building something, or things outside of my knowledge base, I don’t try to become an expert at it – I go find an expert and hire them to take care of it. There is no reason to ever think I can teach myself what they already know, and why would I want to.
• I know the warmest way to greet someone is with a smile.
• I believe a great attitude is the key to all success in the world.
• I subscribe to the rule that if people aren’t happy together either in work or in life, then there is no reason for them to be together.

As complex as things appear around me – they really boil down to a few very simple things.

Keep it simple in your life, and you will see just how clear your vision can be – and you can enjoy the world around you.

The New Year has brought on a new mantra for me. I have started using the phrase “Keep Moving” and am telling it to myself multiple times a day. In fact, this new mantra is part of the reason why I have blogged so little about things going on in my life. I have found myself moving so fast that there is very little time to stop and do things like writing a blog or spending time reflecting on things that have just happened.

The ”keep moving” mindset has been a fun way to start the year and makes sure that you will never have a dull moment in your day if you are constantly in motion. I listened to a guy give a speech about how to effectively keep yourself mentally sharp and focused as you progress in your career. (In other words, he was telling people in their 40s and 50s how to still be as vibrant and excited as they were about work when they were in their 20s and 30s – which really made me start to feel old). The context of the speech focused around the question of who do you want to be when you grow up and was aimed at making sure you had some purpose in your life, that there was something meaningful so you didn’t get to the end of your life with any real regrets. Part of what helps to get you to this point is to always be in some form of motion. People who sit down all day become their own worse drain of energy while people who will stand up and move around from time to time are able to stay alive and energetic more so than their peers.

The locational aspect of “keep moving” had an impact on me but also reminded me that it was time to put my feet in motion and get back to being aggressive about travel so that I could put a lot more things in motion. Since 2020 and the pandemic brought on a lot of restrictions, it has been easier to not attend every client meeting or call a meeting in by doing a Zoom call, which does get very boring if I am just being honest. So a big part of “keep moving” for me has been to get back to being gone a little more. I love being home and around the ones I love but there is also something that makes me want to get out and see the world. Therefore, some part of me will always be in motion as I “keep moving” around throughout my career.

The last part to me of the “keep moving” approach has been to cram more shit into my life than I can even imagine. I fully reinvested myself to grow my company from a revenue and ability perspective, so I have mentally recommitted to working my ass off to build the business bigger. This includes working at night after everyone is in bed, working on the weekends when I can find time, working from a treadmill or shooting house – anywhere I can find a spare moment. I just decided it was time to work more to build something bigger. If building a business wasn’t enough, I decided after putting it off for years that it was time to build a house. Building a house wasn’t enough, so I decided my kids are going to need a place for hunting and outdoor recreation just as I had growing up, so I decided to build a farm. If building physical structures wasn’t enough, I decided it was time to build more memories, so I have more trips planned with Amy and the kids than we have ever had before. With all this building, it is requiring me to stay in constant motion and to “keep moving.”

I can say that so far this year it has brought me to a point of exhaustion, but that was only twice. And lastly, I can say that I am having more fun while I “keep moving” than anything I can recently recall.

There is something about the new year that always just gets me excited. Every year, while a good portion of the world is out partying and waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square, I always find myself sitting at home, by the fire and waiting with bated breath for the next day to dawn. New Year’s has started to have a whole new meaning in my life over the last decade because it has allowed me to focus not on a celebration, but on a time where – for once – you can wipe the slate clean and begin a new game.

Ten years ago, I was right there with everyone else. Toasting to a great year, enjoying the company of others, being merry in the moment – but those days for me are long gone. Now, I spend New Year’s in deep thought. Thinking about all wins/losses from the previous year. Thinking about all successes/failures from the previous year. All the while, thinking about just how much more I can do in the coming year. It is one of the heaviest thought times in my year as I set goals and thoughts about what is to come. I guess you could say I have become very “anti-social” over New Year’s because that has become time reserved for myself, with no other room in my head for anyone besides immediate family. Anyone who wants to occupy my time has either already done so for that year or will have to wait till the new year.

Every January, at least for me, is a time to start over. To set my sights on even greater challenges and think bigger about opportunities that I will face. It is a time to take a breath. While not in the middle of a couple of 12-18 hour days of work, I can focus and reflect on the past – and then let it all go, because once the clock strikes midnight, it is all over with. The turn of the year has truly become a special time for me in my career.  This is the time I will always set my goals, and I am not a believer in waiting until the new year to start working on my goals. By the first day of the year, I like to wake up already with my goals clear and on paper. There is not a minute to lose because the clock is ticking.

Some people may read this and think, wow – what an intense person. But it only stems from the deep belief that sometimes all you need is a fresh start to accomplish more than you ever thought possible. Also, it takes a special kind of person to wake up in a new year already frustrated over not being where they want to be. But even I have to remind myself sometimes that it is only day 1.

It’s December 16, 2021, and it’s midday. I am flying somewhere between Nebraska and North Carolina, looking out the windows of my plane at the wide-open country. I see large fields, rivers, small lakes, and it is one of those bluebird kinds of days where there isn’t a cloud in the sky.

After coming off a couple of days of being very sick this week, I decide to look back through my calendar and see where all I had been over the last few months. (Yes, I still keep a physical calendar that folds up inside my briefcase so I can look and write down everything that I need to be doing). Starting with July, I reviewed just what all had happened the in the 2^nd half of 2021 for me, and a quick smile came across my face because I remembered why I named this collection of stories “Catch Me If You Can.”

The following is what all I have done according to my calendar in the last 6 months:

• Traveled to 24 different states
• Added 18 new clients to the company roster
• Received 7 different I.V. treatments due to fatigue
• Taken 2 family vacations
• Taken 2 weekend trips with just my wife
• Gone on 2 separate hunting trips
• Been on 2 different fishing trips
• Managed 2 different construction projects
• Missed 2 days of work due to physical exhaustion
• Been so exhausted I had to get steroid shots just to be able to travel
• Landed in a plane sideways that damn near crashed (last night)
• And have done all this while helping raise 4 kids, being a good husband, working out 5 days a week and growing a business during an unprecedented time in history

If this seems like a lot, guess what – it is….

I have brought myself to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis, many days in a row. Hell, sometimes I am exhausted just after working out in the morning before the workday even begins. But no matter how I feel, I have to keep moving and there isn’t anyone or anything that I am going to let stop me.

Sure, some people love to talk about me and probably even hope for my demise, but it isn’t going to happen because they simply cannot catch me.

Of all the things in my life that have value, what I have learned over the years is that I value time the most.  I hate it when people waste it. I love it when it is well used and enjoyed. And if the stats above don’t show it – let me tell you I enjoy every minute of it.

December 2nd was a day that I used to always remember, as it was the birthday of my good friend, Hal Steinke. But about two weeks ago, Hal suddenly passed away. From this point on, I can assure you that December 2nd will be a day I never forget and never forget the purpose of.

I met Hal when I was 28 years old and he had just bought (at that time a very small) dealership after coming from running a very large group of dealerships. From the very beginning, Hal Steinke was the guy who made you better. He made you better just by being in his presence. He made you better just by how intentional his conversations were with you. He made you better because he wanted to see you do better, and he would ask more of you and be tougher on you than a lot of people you have in your life will.

Hal was a client for almost 15 years, but most importantly, I’m glad to have called Hal one of my good friends. He was the kind of friend who, no matter what kind of day you were having, could make you smile. Even if you were having a really crummy day, he could make you laugh. He was the kind of friend who, when you came to see him, didn’t make you rent a car. He demanded that he be there waiting to pick you up. He was the kind of friend who always wanted to take you to eat, just so that you wouldn’t leave a meeting with him hungry. Hal was a great guy and a brilliant automotive dealer. He had struggles throughout the years, but he had so much success trapped into way too short of a time on this earth.

For all that I ever did, I always in the back of my mind wondered what Hal would think about it. And Hal was one of those guys who, if you asked him, he was going to tell you what he thought about it. He’d even tell you what he thought about it if you didn’t ask his opinion.

All that to say, today would’ve been Hal’s birthday. And upon his recent and untimely death, it’s a day in my mind that will always be remembered as Hal’s Day.