May 2014 – Top Posts and Commenters Plus BOOK GIVEAWAY

Here are the highlights from May 2014. Thanks to everyone who read along and commented. Your readership and participation in the daily discussions are what make The Stretched Community. Thank you!

Overall, traffic was down from April (23.76%). Traffic was down 34.69% compared to a year ago. Obviously, this isn’t the best trend. I think a lot of it has to do with general busyness in my life and a lack of post promotion on my part. It’s a tough balance. I obviously want The Stretched Community to grow, but I want to make sure my attention is in the right direction. I wrote a post earlier this month about promoting the right platform (Are You Building The Right Platform?). This remains my top priority. I trust the other numbers will take care of themselves. The top 10 posts included two posts from 2012 and two posts from 2013. If you missed any of these posts, I hope you’ll go and check them out now by clicking below. The post with the most engagement was a post related to my book project from May 21, 2014 – 4 Take Homes from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Top 10 Commenters:

As promised at the beginning of the month, I have randomly chosen someone from the top commenters list to receive a copy of Losing the Mask: Overcoming the Fear of Failure by Diane Karchner. The winner of this book is…(drum roll)…Larry Carter. Congrats to Larry!

For the month of June, I’ll be giving away a copy of A Train Called Forgiveness by Dan Erickson. This month, the winner will be chosen randomly from the top 10 commenters.

Thanks to each and everyone for reading and for commenting. I’m looking forward to June with The Stretched Community! The month of June will include more STRETCHING posts. If you’re interested in guest posting here, leave a comment to connect with me. I am specifically starting to collect guest posts to feature while I am in Guatemala in July. Please help me fill this space with your stretch stories and stretch challenges for The Stretched Community. June should be another great month!

How was your month? If you’re a blogger share a link to your top post in the comments? What was your favorite Stretched post this month? How were you STRETCHED in May?

In case you’re interested, here are a few other interesting stats about May (based on Google Analytics):

Users – Decreased 23.69%
Sessions – Decreased 24.07%
Pageviews – Decreased 25.37%
Pages Per Session – Decreased 1.79%
Average Session Duration – Remained the same
Bounce Rate – Increased 4.20%
New Sessions – Decreased 0.02%

Positively, book sales of On Track generally increased over the month of May. Paperback sales were up 152.94%, and Kindle version sales were up 53.85%. Don’t forget to tell your friends to pick up their copy of On Track. If you are interested in ordering a signed copy of On Track, contact me. I am accepting special orders. I am also considering the possibility of a book signing/book release event. If this is something that interests you, let me know. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

On Track – Life Lessons from the Track & Field is now available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. Click the link below to get your copy today.

As a reminder, I am offering a FREE pdf copy of the interior of the book to subscribers of The Stretched Newsletter. Head over to the main page of the blog and sign up on the right hand menu bar to get your copy today for FREE!
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Old Teacher Friend

At the local Civil War Reunion, I ran into my middle school social studies teacher, Mr. Dunigan.

Who was your middle school social studies teacher?

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Play Hard, Rest Well

With a new puppy in the house, I’m reminded again of the importance of playing (and working) hard and of resting well.

How will you rest well today?

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Evening Sunset

The view from out deck at the end of a great day.

How was your day?

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Ice Breaker – Ice Cream Flavor

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.)

This week’s ice breaker question is inspired by one of my all-time favorite foods – ice cream. I don’t eat it very often. Or maybe I don’t eat it as much as I’d like to, but ice cream is definitely on my top foods list.

Question: If you could be an ice cream flavor, what would you be? And why?

My Answer: Bubble gum ice cream. Cotton candy is one of my favorite kinds of ice cream, and I can’t eat any kind of ice cream that has chocolate in it, so I would go with bubble gum ice cream. It’s sweet. It’s colorful. And bubble gum is stretchy. I’m not sure how many people would classify me as sweet or colorful, but I think the stretchy thing is a good connection.

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!

On Track – Life Lessons from the Track & Field is now available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. Click the link below to get your copy today.

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3 Reasons to Practice the Discipline of Unplugging

Over the weekend, I unplugged when I traveled to the Poconos to go camping with a group of friends from New Jersey. For the most part, I left my phone in the car. I didn’t have access to the internet, to my blog, or to e-mail.

There was something amazingly refreshing about unplugging. I spent time with great friends. I fished. I read. I enjoyed great food. And I relaxed.

The time away reminded me three important things about unplugging.

3 Reasons to Practice the Discipline of Unplugging

Unplugging provides a necessary break. I’ve been going a million miles a minute. I work hard at work, and I do a lot of things outside of work. I run. I write. And I keep up with a busy family. I stay connected to a world of emails, blog posts, and social media connections. I don’t give me self a chance to rest, and I’m guessing I’m not alone. We all need the opportunity to rest. Sometimes this means disconnecting from the world – even if it’s just for a day.
Unplugging provides an opportunity for new inspiration. While we are racing from one thing to the next, we are missing out on the beautiful world God gave us. There’s inspiration right in front of our eyes. We just need to stop and look from time to time. I was inspired by the beauty of a quiet lake, a rushing river, and face to face conversation with friends. I would have missed this opportunity if I didn’t unplug for the weekend.
Unplugging provides time to reconnect with what is important. The rush of life can sometimes take us away from what is important. The computer world and the world of television can become consuming. We need to put it in perspective. My time away unplugged gave me a fresh and renewed perspective on my faith, my family, and my friends.

I challenge you to unplug. It may seem hard at first, but you can start small. Start with a minute each hour. Then try an hour each day. When you have this down, unplug for a day each week. Finally, unplug for a weekend or even a week. I guarantee you’ll be refreshed, inspired, and reconnected.

When was the last time you unplugged? What did you learn from unplugging?

My Stretch Speech

Guatemala 2013 694

I have the opportunity to give my first speech today as part of Toastmasters. The speech assignment is called Ice Breaker. The speech requires me to introduce myself to the local Toastmasters chapter in four to six minutes. My speech is called Stretch. Here it is:

Stretch

That’s my nickname, and it’s the theme of my life.

I was born six weeks early at the DuPage County Hospital in Winfield, Illinois. I weighed in at a “hefty” six pounds thirteen ounces. Before I left the hospital, I was less than six pounds. From this point on, my life has been all about stretching.

When I was eight years old, our family moved across the country to Mount Holly, New Jersey where my Dad took a job as a pastor at a Presbyterian Church in town. The move to New Jersey was life changing. I stretched into a new neighborhood, a new school environment, and into a deeper awareness of life.

When I entered high school at Rancocas Valley Regional High School, I was an average kid. I wasn’t short, and I wasn’t all that tall. I wasn’t super athletic, and I wasn’t completely clumsy. In my high school years, I excelled in band where I was the lead saxophone in various bands starting with my freshman year. I also excelled academically where math and science became a clear passion.

At the beginning of my junior year of high school, I stood at five feet six inches. I weighed one hundred and twenty pounds. I wondered if I would ever grow. And then it started. I stretched. And I stretched. And I stretched some more. When I finished high school, I was six feet one inch.

And my stretching continued into my college years. I traveled across Pennsylvania to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Grove City College. The academics stretched me, and the social aspects of college stretched me as well. I jumped into many campus activities and groups, and I eventually took on many leadership roles in these groups. Towards the end of my time at Grove City, I also met a beautiful young lady who captured my heart.

I graduated from Grove City and eventually asked this young lady to be my wife. I recall our first year of marriage with great fondness, but I also remember this time as a period of stretching as we both adjusted to married life while living in Hatfield, Pennsylvania.

A year and a half after our wedding, we welcomed our first child, a daughter. Hannah’s arrival stretched me to become less self-focused and more focused on others. She stretched me to make sure family and faith remained a top priority in my life.

Two and a half years later, Isaac joined our family. He brought lots of laughter into the house, but his arrival also brought challenges that shook my world. A few months after his arrival, my wife became ill resulting in an extended hospital stay, a prolonged recovery, and an added weight to my shoulders that I had not expected. This time of my life caused all kinds of stretching. I learned to lean on friends and family. I learned to let go of things I once viewed as important. And I grew in my faith.

Life has brought other stretching experiences along the way. Earning my professional engineers license was a stretching experience. Completing my MBA degree was a stretching experience. Going to Guatemala the past two summers provided multiple stretching experiences. And writing and releasing my first book last month was another stretching experience.

Along life’s journey, I’ve learned some things about stretching worth sharing with you today:

Stretching happens. We can’t always control the circumstances around us, but we can be certain that life will send us things that stretch us. Accept stretch. Embrace stretch.

Stretching can be painful. I have a bulging disc in my lower back. It flares up from time to time. When it flares up, I have stretches to do which help the bulging disc pain to go away. When I do the stretches though, it hurts. In life, we will face many stretching things in our lives. Many of these things will be painful. This is just how it is.

Stretching is helpful. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Stretching improves strength and flexibility. Stretching helps us grow. It helps us achieve new things and reach new heights.

Stretching is worth sharing. Over the past seven years, I have been blogging about life’s stretch marks at my blog called Jon Stolpe Stretched. I write on the blog to reflect on stretching experiences in my life. And I also write to encourage others to stretch.

You too have a stretch story worth sharing. I’m certain you’ve faced challenges in your life that have caused you to stretch like a rubber band. Your story matters. You have something worth sharing with others. Your story of stretch could be a catalyst for something great in someone else’s life.

As I wrap things up, I’m thankful for my nickname. Stretch seems like such an appropriate name for someone who has grown from a six pound baby to a six-foot six-inch man. I’m excited to see where my life of stretching takes me, and I look forward to sharing parts of it with you as I step into membership in Toastmasters.

Thank you!

When was the last time you gave a speech? If you were going to give an Ice Breaker speech for the Stretched Community, what is something you’d share in the speech?

Unplugged

I unplugged this weekend, and it felt great!

I’ll be back with more great content tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

When was the last time you unplugged?

Ice Breaker – Pets

(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.)

This week’s Ice Breaker is inspired by the arrival of our newest Seeing Eye Puppy. Yesterday, Rio joined our family. He’s a lab/golden retriever mix. He weighs less than five pounds, and he turns seven weeks old today. We will have him for about a year before he heads up to The Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ for his official training.

Question: Do you have any pets? How many? What kind?

My Answer: We have one “forever” dog. His name is Iso, and he is a black lab. We raised him as a Seeing Eye Puppy, and we adopted him back into our family when he was released from the program for being too social.

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!

On Track – Life Lessons from the Track & Field is now available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. Click the link below to get your copy today.

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Opportunity Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

I had an amazing day on Tuesday at work. This is a day I don’t want to forget.

I was asked to speak in front of all the managers in our zone today at a special meeting. The meeting included 90 managers and supervisors from our New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania offices. My topic was developing my team.

I shared about the importance of spending time with your team members (especially through one-on-one meetings). I shared about the importance of showing appreciation to your team members (especially through hand-written thank you notes). And I shared about the importance of developing yourself.

The response was overwhelming. Our zone manager stood up at the end of the meeting to recap the meeting. During his recap, he thanked me and encouraged all the managers and supervisors in the room to join the Thank You Thursday Revolution!

Also, after I spoke, I headed to the back of the room where I was seated. Our HR Manager who was running the meeting put a picture of my book on the screen and asked me to share about my book. I was totally surprised. I stood up at the back of the room and explained about my passion for missions, for running, for writing, and for my faith. I explained that the book was an intersection of several of these interests.

After the meeting, managers repeatedly came up to me congratulating me on my book and thanking me for my talk on team development.

The opportunities to share about my book in front of all the managers and to share personally about it after the meeting were a clear reminder that it is so important to be prepared for the opportunity to share the reason for the hope I profess. God is good!

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect… I Peter 3:15

When I started in the workforce 20 years ago, I felt certain that God would use me. Tuesday was a reminder that God is working through me. He’s giving me opportunities I never imagined.

What we are doing matters! Don’t doubt it. God provides opportunities beyond our wildest dreams.

When have you seen an opportunity beyond your wildest dreams? How did you respond to that opportunity?

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Top 10 Posts:

Top 10 Commenters:

3 Reasons to Practice the Discipline of Unplugging

When was the last time you unplugged? What did you learn from unplugging?

Stretch

When was the last time you gave a speech? If you were going to give an Ice Breaker speech for the Stretched Community, what is something you’d share in the speech?

I unplugged this weekend, and it felt great!

How was your weekend?

When was the last time you unplugged?

When have you seen an opportunity beyond your wildest dreams? How did you respond to that opportunity?