Help Us Build A House (Or Two or More) In Guatemala!
We are the Stolpe Family (Jon, Leanne, Hannah, and Isaac).
In 2012, I (Jon) made my first trip to Guatemala to build a house with a team from our church. My life changed forever.
The following year, I brought our family back to the village of Xenacoj to serve the widows and orphans here. We went back again in 2014 to build two more homes for two widows in need.
I have a BIG goal – to one day build 100 houses in Guatemala. This will only happen one at a time. Each house provides a stepping stone for families to survive and thrive. When a family can sleep in warm beds protected from the elements, they are better prepared to face the challenges that exist in everyday life in this village.
This summer, our family is going back to build another house (maybe more). And we could really use your help!
We are raising $5,000 to pay for a house, to pay for 5 beds, and to pay the final lodging, food, and in-country travel expenses we will incur while we are in Guatemala for two weeks.
Here is a breakdown of the costs:
– House ($2,000):
– Concrete Floor $ 400
– Roof $250
– Masonry Half Walls $500
– Front Wall $500
– Back Wall $600
– Right Side Wall $200
– Left Side Wall $200
– Doors and Windows $250
– Electric (Lights and Outlets) $100
– Beds ($100 each x 5)
– Remaining In-Country Expenses ($2,500)
(If we raise more than $5,000, money will be used to build additional houses in Guatemala.)
In order to finalize the financial end of our project, we need these funds by the end of May 2016.
These funds will not only help me reach my goal. They will change the lives of a widow and her family forever.
Thank you so much for making this happen. Your generous donation of any size is greatly appreciated.
To donate to this important cause, click here.
One more thing, could you please share this post with your friends and family? Thank you!
Ice Breaker – Strengths
Most weeks on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question on Fridays. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.
(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas. If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com. If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)
I’m working my way through Tom Rath’s book, StrengthsFinder 2.0
Question: What are your biggest strengths?
My Answer: According to the StrengthsFinder 2.0 assessment, my biggest strengths are:
- Harmony – “You look for areas of agreement. In your view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction, so you seek to hold them to a minimum. When you know that the people around you hold differing views, you try to find the common ground.” StrengthsFinder 2.0
- Achiever – “Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself.” StrengthsFinder 2.0
- Responsibility – “Your Responsibility them forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it.” StrengthsFinder 2.0
- Discipline – “Your world needs to be predictable. It needs to be ordered and planned. So you instinctively impose structure on your world. You set up routines. You focus on timelines and deadlines.” StrengthsFinder 2.0
- Analytical – “You do not necessarily want to destroy other people’s ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound. You see yourself as objective and dispassionate. You like data because they are value free. They have no agenda. Armed with these data, you search for patterns and connections.” StrengthsFinder 2.0
Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!
6 Actions You Can Take Today to Prepare for Your Promotion Tomorrow
Being ready isn’t enough; you have to be prepared for a promotion or any other significant change.
Pat Riley
I talk to young engineers and professionals all the time. They want to know my story, and they want to know what they need to do to get to the next level. It’s important for everyone to have a plan and goals for their career. For many, this means they are looking for the next promotion.
What do I have to do to get promoted?
It’s a fair question everyone must ask themselves, their co-workers, and their management, if they want to achieve their career ambitions. Over my 20+ year career, I have moved from an engineer to a project manager to an operations manager. Each step on the journey has required patience, persistence, and plenty of planned actions.
Today, I will help you identify six actions you should be taking today if you want to move closer to the promotion you desire.
6 Actions You Can Take Today to Prepare for Your Promotion Tomorrow
- Talk to a person who is already in the position you want to be in next. If you want to become a salesperson, talk to other salespeople. Go out to lunch with them. Grab a cup of coffee with them. Pick their brains, and find out what they like and don’t like about their positions. These conversations will help you understand the realities of the position you are pursuing.
- Talk to your boss about the position you want to be in next. Communicating your career aspirations with your boss is a good idea if you want support moving along in your career. Your boss has the opportunity to be your biggest advocate and career counselor, but this won’t happen if you don’t talk to him about your career goals.
- Look in the mirror and learn about yourself. Take time to do a self-assessment. I’d recommend looking into the DISC profile, the MBTI profile, and StrengthsFinders 2.0. These “tests” will reveal key information you need to understand your strengths and weaknesses. These kinds of assessments will also reveal more about you and what kinds of positions are right for you.
- Get the training you need for the next position. What training will best prepare you for the promotion you desire? Some people say that an MBA isn’t worth very much anymore, but my MBA was a major part of preparing me to move from a project manager to an operations manager. Seeking out training helps you learn, and it also demonstrates to your managers a commitment on your part to grow.
- Work hard in your current position. Don’t expect your promotion to be handed to you. If you don’t work hard in your current position, your managers won’t believe you are capable of working hard at the next position. If you want a promotion tomorrow, you better work hard today.
- Pray. Don’t underestimate the power and importance of prayer in your career journey. Prayer isn’t a magic wand to get you to the corner office. Instead, prayer provides an opportunity for you to hear from God on your direction. Prayers may seem passive, but I believe it’s active.
When was the last time you received a promotion? What steps did you take to get the promotion? What steps are you taking now to prepare for your next promotion?
Did you sign up for the 7 Week Stretch Challenge yet? Sign up below!
The Discipline of Asking Questions
So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
Jesus Christ
Can I ask you a question?
To late, I just did.
Learning to ask questions is the key to opening the door to countless opportunities, experiences, and relationships. Kids typically do a great job asking questions. If you have ever been with a young child, you’ve heard this question over and over again: “Why?”
Kids are curious. They want to learn. They want to grow. They want to try new things. And they seem to know that asking questions is the key to getting what they want. Kids also don’t let the fear of sounding stupid stop them from asking questions.
Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, most of us forget the power of asking questions. We lose our curiosity. We don’t want to appear like we don’t know all the answers. And we’re afraid we might be told “No” when we ask for something.
I’ve learned something recently:
The answer will always be “No” if we don’t ask.
This is why we must learn the discipline of asking questions.
In the writing and speaking world, there are many opportunities available to those who ask.
If I want to speak, I have to ask. If I want to write on someone’s blog or platform, I have to ask. If I want to be on someone’s podcast, I have to ask. Sure I may get an invitation from time to time without asking, but this is not the norm. In the last few weeks, I made three asks I want to share with you:
- I asked to be a guest on Rocco DeLeo‘s podcast, And Dad Makes 7. Tonight, we’ll be recording the interview for his podcast.
- A couple week’s ago, I asked if I could speak at the 2016 Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers Conference in September. I have been in touch with the person coordinating these opportunities, and the conference committee in charge of selecting presenters is meeting next week. My proposed presentation is one of the things they will be considering.
- Two week’s ago, I filled out an application to write an article for Entrepreneur.com. I haven’t receive a response yet, but I’m not losing hope.
You may not be a writer or a speaker, but you still have a lot to gain by asking questions. When you practice the discipline of asking questions, many things happen.
- You get to know people better when you ask questions. Where were you born? What do you like to do in your spare time? What do you want to accomplish in the next five to ten years? What’s your favorite color? How did you get to where you are today? When you ask questions, you get to know people.
- You come across as more interesting when you ask questions. Questions are the gateway to great conversations. And when you have conversations, you automatically increase your “I’m interesting” factor.
- You show people they matter when you ask questions. When people ask me questions, I feel valued. When you ask questions, you show others they are valued. By asking questions, you have the opportunity to show people they matter.
- You learn new things when you ask questions. Be curious. Questions will take you to all kinds of new places and new information. I’ve learned a lot about blogging as a result of the questions I have asked other bloggers. In my career, I grown a lot and seen new opportunities as a result of asking “How can I do this better next time?”
- You clarify your path forward when you ask questions. Sometimes we get stuck. We develop a type of paralysis, because we aren’t sure how to proceed. Asking the right questions can give us clarity on the direction we should be taking.
- You can move more quickly when you ask questions.
- You become a better leader when you ask questions.
One thing worth noting, once you’ve asked your question(s) make sure you stop to listen. The real learning happens when we listen to what others have to say in response to our questions. And if you’re asking yourself the question(s), make sure you take time to reflect and process your responses to your own questions.
Stretch Quote – Expand Your Heart (@Daphne_Kingma)
Today, see if you can STRETCH your heart and expand your love so that it touches not only those to whom you can give it easily, but also those who need it so much.
Daphne Rose Kingma
It’s easy to love the lovable.
Who do you find it hard to love?
What can you do to show them love today?
Preparing Kids For The Future
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I’m the softy.
When it comes to parenting our children, I tend to be lenient. Thankfully, Leanne helps to balance our parenting. This isn’t meant to say she’s mean or overbearing. It’s just an observation on how we’ve had to navigate our parenting journey together. Ultimately, we want what is best for our children.
We don’t want them to experience pain, but there are times when pain can actually help our children for the future.
This was a milestone weekend for us. On Friday, Hannah, our oldest, turned 18. (How did that happen so fast?)
She had big plans to celebrate her birthday by heading to the Poconos on a retreat with our church’s high school youth group. Hannah typically works Friday and Saturday nights, but she can take off if she provides enough notice to her scheduling manager. Unfortunately, she didn’t give notice, and she couldn’t find anyone to substitute for her on either of these nights.
Hannah talked to us about working on Friday night, and missing work on Saturday night so she could go on the retreat Saturday and Sunday. Leanne and I really wanted her to go, but we knew it wasn’t responsible or fair to her co-workers to simply not show up for work.
Through a tough conversation and some tears, Hannah came to the same conclusion. It was hard for her to miss out on the retreat especially on her birthday weekend, but she ended up learning some valuable lessons as a result of the experience.
As we parent, it is not our job to be best friends with our kids. And it’s not even our job to make life easy for our kids. We must be diligent in preparing them for the future. Some times that means difficult decisions, and it always means grace.
What tips do you have for preparing your kids for the future? What did your parents do to help you prepare for adulthood?
Stretch Quote – New Dimensions For Your Mind (Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr)
A mind that is STRETCHED by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
If you are like me, you don’t always like new experiences. This quote reminds me that new experiences are the catalyst for taking us to new dimensions.
What is something new you experienced recently? How did this experience stretch you?
Ice Breaker – First Kiss
We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.
Eduardo Galeano
Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.
(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas. If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com. If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)
Question: Tell us about your first kiss.
My Answer: Tomorrow is the 22nd anniversary of my first kiss. The first (and only) person I kissed was actually my wife. We shared our first kiss at McConnell’s Mills in western PA. We shared lunch together on a rock along the creek that runs through the park. The kiss happened after lunch. (A year later, I went for an accidental, icy swim when we when to the same location to celebrate the anniversary of this momentous occasion.)
Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!
5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!
Benjamin Franklin
Earlier this summer, I was elected to be president of my Toastmasters International club. It was an honor to be selected for this position, but it also comes with a lot of work. I have to kick-off and close our club’s bi-weekly meetings. I have to plan and lead our club’s executive committee meetings. And I have to interface with fellow officers, club members, and guests.
One of my responsibilities as the club president and member of the club executive committee is to create a Club Success Plan. Essentially, this is a document to record the club’s current status, challenges, and goals for the coming term. And the Club Success Plan provides a place to write down a plan for overcoming obstacles and achieving our goals.
This week spent time completing the Club Success Plan, and I’m excited for the results when we look back at the plan throughout the term and at the end of the term in June.
As I was working on the plan, I reflected on the importance of writing a success plan for other areas of our lives.
What do you want to accomplish this year? What goals do you want to achieve?
Do you have a plan to get there?
Typically, we talk about goals at the beginning of the year. Everyone gets hyped up on New Year’s Resolutions. The enthusiasm lasts for a few weeks or even a few months before we settle back into our normal existence trying to survive the pushes and pulls of our busy lives.
By the time we get to this time of year, our resolutions and goals are long forgotten, and we are trying to make it to the next weekend.
As Benjamin Franklin said, many of us fail to achieve our goals because we fail to create a plan for getting where we want to go.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to fail. I like to succeed. I like to achieve. I like to make progress towards my goals.
Writing a personal success plan doesn’t have to take forever. You can write a success plan for yourself using these simple steps:
5 Steps To Creating A Personal Success Plan That Works
- Evaluate your current condition. Self-assessment is critical to creating a personal success plan that works. What is working well? What isn’t working so well? What changes do you need to make in your life? Take time to evaluate you. This may require time away from the things that normally distract you, and it may require feedback from those who know you best.
- Determine your goals. Where do you want to be in one year? What do you want to achieve? There is no point in completing a success plan if you don’t take time to determine your goals. If you don’t know where you want to go, you can be certain you will get there – no where that is.
- Recognize the obstacles and challenges in the way. What is keeping you from achieving your goals? Is it time? Is it skill? Is it lack of knowledge? We all face challenges. When creating your personal success plan, you have to know your weaknesses and challenges. Being aware of these will help you make changes to get around, get over, or get through the obstacles in the way of achieving your goals.
- Write down a map for overcoming these obstacles and challenges and for achieving your goals. Create a SMART roadmap to reaching your goals. Be specific. Have measurable check points along the way. Make sure your goals are attainable and realistic. Finally, determine the timetable for reaching your goals. When you write down your road map, be as detailed as possible. Who is responsible for reaching your goals? What help do you need to meet your goals? What specific steps will you take to make sure you succeed? Write it down!
- Work your plan. Finally, a plan does nothing without action. Once you’ve created your plan for success, follow through. Take the necessary steps to succeed. Stop along the way to evaluate your progress. Then keep going. Don’t stop until you reach the end – SUCCESS!
What do you want to succeed in the next year? What is your plan to succeed?
What measures have you taken to achieve your success goals?
How I Create The Images For My Blog Posts
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Over the past few months, I have standardized on the tools and general layout for the images that go with each of my posts. An image can make the difference in whether a potential reader stays around to read your post or leaves to find something more interesting elsewhere.
Today, I share with you my method for making FREE, eye-catching images that will keep your readers around a little longer. If you have a blog without images or with out of date images, you can use these steps to add flare to your blog. To demonstrate, I will be updating the image for one of the more popular posts on my blog from three years ago – How To Respond To The Election Results.
My original post had a simple American flag at the top of the screen. There was nothing to indicate the title of the post or other details that would cause image viewers to head back to my site.
Here are the steps I took to create a new image for this blog post:
STEP 1: Go to pixabay.com. Pixabay.com is a great site for finding FREE images you can use for your blog.
STEP 2: Type in a key word that goes with your blog post title. For example, I searched for images based on the search word: election.
STEP 3: Select an image to go with your post. (When I look for an image, I look for an image with room for a title and other text. I also look for an image that best represents the content of my post.)
STEP 4: Once you’ve selected your image, click on the desired size (I almost always select the small size). Then press “Free Download” to save the image in your download folder.
STEP 5: Go to picmonkey.com. Picmonkey.com is a FREE photo editing tool.
STEP 6: Select you photo to edit from you download folder. (Once you have the photo open, check out all the great ways you can edit the folder by utilizing the editor options on the left side of the screen.)
STEP 7: Select the text editor option by pressing the icon “Tt”.
STEP 8: Select your desired font. (I consistently use Tahoma for my images. I would encourage you to be consistent in selecting your font type as it helps bring consistency to your blog brand identity.)
STEP 9: Enter your text in the text box. (Note: I typically type the blog post title along with a tag line (Jon Stolpe Stretched jonstolpe.com) to help image viewers back to my site.)
STEP 10: Edit the text for size, color, and orientation in the text editor box which will pop up on your screen when you are editing text.
STEP 11: Once you are satisfied with your image, select the “Save” button at the top center of your screen.
STEP 12: Create a file name for your image which you can type in the left “File name” box.
STEP 13: Press “Save to my computer” in the lower left corner to save the image to your computer.
STEP 14: Open your post editor to the desired post.
STEP 15: Move your cursor to the desired image location. (In my case, I clicked on the old image.)
STEP 16: Select “Add Media” right below the title (and above the post).
STEP 17: Select “Upload Files.”
STEP 18: Click on “Select Files.”
STEP 19: Find your saved image, and select the image by double clicking on the image file name or image thumbnail.
STEP 20: Click “Insert into post” once you have selected the file and added any desired information on the right side of the screen. (I usually center my image and make the image approximately 600 pixels wide.)
STEP 21: Your new image will appear in the post editor. Click “Update” on the right screen when you are satisfied with your changes.
That’s it! Just in case, I check out my post by selecting “View Post” to make sure everything looks good.
I know I listed a lot of steps, but I wanted to make sure I detailed everything I do to create images for my blog posts. I hope these steps will help you to brighten up your blog posts.
Do you use images on your blog posts? Is so, what steps do you use to create your images? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.