Bucket Filling

Are you genuinely happy with your life?  Do you surround yourself with negative people or positive people?  These are some of the questions that Tom Rath asked his audience during his lecture on "bucket filling".  The idea of bucket filling is that when your "bucket" is full, you are full of life, optimism, and happiness.  However, if your bucket is empty, then you are not happy with how your life is turning out at that point in time.  Tom Rath teaches his listeners how to keep your "bucket" filled all the time, which will not only benefit your quality of life, but your health and outlook as well.
One strategy that Tom Rath shares in order to keep your "bucket" full is to prevent bucket dipping by avoiding any negativity that exists in your life.  This includes surrounding yourself with only positive people.  If negativity is non-existent in your life, there will be nothing that can bring you down.  For example, if you have a friend that constantly complains to you, it is impossible to be happy with that person.  However, if your with someone who is always happy and optimistic, you can't help but be happy and optimistic as well. The second bucket filling strategy is to make best friends.  Tom Rath states that people are more productive if they have friends on the job. For example, if you work by yourself or with people you are not friendly with, you will not enjoy your job and therefore will be slower when you work.  If you have great friends to work with, you all will be able to support each other, making you all more productive at work.  The third strategy to a happy life is to reverse the golden rule.  By reversing the golden rule, you are treating others how they wish to be treated, not as how you would like to be treated since everyone has different wishes.  For example, if you like when people give you a lot of attention but someone else doesn't, you shouldn't give them that excessive attention since that is not what they wish and it could bring them down.

Tom Rath's principles seem very convincing and I can see how they can really turn your world the right side up.  I like his use of the bucket analogy; the more happiness you have, the more your imaginary bucket is filled to the top.  This analogy is similar to the famous water cup analogy.  It is said that people who are more optimistic and happy say that a water cup is half full instead of saying it is half empty.  If your bucket is full, you are a person with a happy life.  I will incorporate Tom Rath's strategies in my life.  I surround my self with some negative people which can bring me down at times, so I think I will cut them from my life so that I can be constantly happy instead of feeling down.

Furthermore, I believe that I am a bucket filler.  I am never negative toward my friends.  My parents raised me to be a positive person who respects other people's wishes and beliefs.  I never put anyone down and I try to be as optimistic as I can.  I love when people fill my bucket up, so I want to do the same to them.