Ten years ago I picked up a story book – aimed at kids four-nine, by Carol McCloud and couldn’t put it down. I was in Jaffé and Neale’s eclectic, independent bookstore in Chipping Norton last weekend where I stumbled upon two copies of the 10th Anniversary edition which I picked up for grandkids Kendall and Chloe.
The humble Bucket book has turned into a Bucket Fillosophy with seven companion books available from bucketfillers101.com.
Like all great ideas, bucket-filling is a simple concept – it’s designed to help kids understand how easy and rewarding it is to express kindness, appreciation and love by ‘filling buckets’.
In our 24×7 VUCA world we sometimes forget how unconditional generosity and random acts of kindness can make all concerned feel more positive and happier.
Personal wellbeing is a key element in sustainable peak performance – and filling buckets is one of the ten most potent behaviours in building our own wellbeing – and thus our own performance.
Wellbeing is important because:
- It energises positivity and commitment to Purpose,
- It enhances flow, productivity and performance,
- The best companies to work for deliberately create happy work environments,
- Happy companies significantly outperform their peer group.
And here are the ten things I mentioned earlier:
- Progress towards meaningful goals contributes significantly to happiness,
- Happy people take time to do things that give them pleasure,
- Quality time with friends and family is top of the happiness list,
- Doing altruistic things for others creates enduring happiness,
- Expressing gratitude enhances your own wellbeing and that of the recipient,
- Regular exercise increases happiness,
- Positive experiences tend to provide more enduring happiness than tangible purchases,
- Beyond satisfaction of needs, more money does not make people significantly happier,
- People quickly adapt to material advances,
- We get little enduring pleasure from short cuts.
Keep filling buckets and your bucket will always be full.
KR