Tamara Ramos

LE 1220

16 June 2019

1) Summarize the Introduction pages especially page 5 (or 15?) depending on your book,
in a couple of paragraphs.

Tom Rath, the co-writer of “How Full is Your Bucket,” talked about his colleague and the
other co-writer, Donald O. Clifton, PhD. Rath described the importance of Clifton’s findings
from interactions of other people. Don’s newly found discovery of “buckets and dippers”
changed the world of psychology since back then, it was not common to see theories based on
positive human interaction.

Don realized that he had not a lot of time left after being diagnosed with an aggressive
cancer, the same year his work was acknowledge by the American Psychological Association.
With his new found title of “Father of Strength Psychology,” he decided to write a book. He
spent his last remaining months focusing and creating the book we now have in our hands.

When Don was trying to write the book, he needed help from Rath. Whenever Don had
time out of chemotherapy, him and Rath studied, reviewed storied and statistics from Don’s
applications on the theory. The first draft was completed a couple weeks before Don’s final battle
with cancer.

From then on, after editing, the finished project was sent out to bookstores to touch the
millions of lives of people. This book is meant to not only teach you about helping others but,
“discover the power of helping others focus on what’s right in their lives” (pg. 3).

Don’s theory, which the book is based on is called, “The Theory of the Dipper and the
Bucket.” What it comes down to is that everyone has an invisible bucket and ladle. Everyday our
bucket can fluctuate from being full to being low or empty. This of fullness of the bucket
coincides with feeling happy and emptiness with feeling awful. The dipper is a representation of
how our positive emotions can fill up someone else’s bucket and vice versa. It can also happen
with negative emotions. We can take away from someone else bucket or they can take away from
ours, hurting us and making us feel sadness, anger, or other negative emotions.

Ending with this quote I feel like summarized the book itself. Not only is our bucket and
ladle an important thing in our lives, we should recognize it is something we face every day: “We
can fill one another’s bucket, or we can dip from them. It’s an important choice—one that
profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness” (pg. 5).

2) In each of the first 3 chapters there are pictures of a bucket with a statement within it.
There are 11 of these. Write down the statement. Read through the content around the
statement. Decide on a new statement to substitute the statement the author made in the
bucket. You do not need to give a statistic. Be Creative!! You then need to write several
sentences on why you choose the new statement using the material within the chapter.

1. “Relentless negativity resulted in a 38% POW death rate — the highest in U.S history”

I changed this statement to, “Intense pessimism and nihilistic thinking can increase your
likelihood of not serving in extreme situations.”

2. “The #1 reason people leave their jobs: They don’t feel appreciated”

I changed this statement to, “No appreciating your fellow coworkers or employees can
have an effect on them. This could be from less production to them eventually leaving.” I wore
this because I felt that it makes it so that the companies who do not practice giving KUDOS or
appreciation to their employees are more at fault. It is usually not the people themselves that are
the reason why they left but the environment they were in.

3. “Bad bosses could increase the risk of stroke by 33%”

I changed this to, “Being around negative people can cause you stress related health
problems in the future which can leave to death.” Not only does being around negative bosses
increase your risk for stroke, but being around negative people can tear you down mentally and
physically. To heart problems and mental health issues.

4. “The cost is disengagement: $250-$300 billion per year”

I changed this into, “Negative workplaces not only see less production but see the effects
of it through loss of profit.” I feel that due to not feeling appreciated at work, it cause work to
slow down. In the book, disengagement is felt through profit. People than would see the affect by
others being laid off or having less bonuses.
5. “A study found that negative employees can scare off every customer they speak with — for
good”

This statement I changed to, “Awful experience from companies will not only create high
turner from customers, but impact sales since the customers word-of-mouth will also deter other
potential customers” Due to customers not returning, they will also advise no to come to the
negative experience they have already encountered. I see this not only through restaurant but
even schools. This again just leads to loss of profit.

6. “65% of Americans received no recognition in the workplace last year”

I changed the statement to, “Companies do not enforce their team leads, bosses, or
coordinators to appreciate their staff.” I again made a statement that held the workplaces more
accountable for how they treat their staff. This is not to berate companies because this is a
common experience but it is to find a solution. Why is it that there is no appreciation in the
workplace?

7. “9 out of 10 people sat they are more productive when they’re around positive people”

I change the statement to, “People how are bucket fillers and also have their own buckets
filled tend to make others love to work around them.” Other people love hanging out with
positive people. Not because they are similar or have to work together. Being positive brings
attraction to you and helps others feel good about themselves. If someone is happy at work, they
will work better.

8. “We experience approximately 20,000 individual moments every day.

I feel like there is a better statement which can encompass the importance of bucket
filling in a better way. I came up with, “Bucket filling is not only important to your mental
health, but the health of others you do not know because of how it cascades.” I created the
statement because I felt it tells us, the reader, on how important having a full bucket can affect
not only our health but of people we do not even know.

9. “The magic ratio: 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction”

I changed this to “It takes more than 5 positive experience to feel better after one bad
experience” This statement shows how detremental having positive experience are in a day. That
is why it takes us longer to recover from one bad experience but the “high” off a good experience
wears off in a matter of hours at times. This is due to us focusing so much on the negative. Our
society views negatives more intently which is the reason why it takes more positive interaction
to make up a negative one.

10. “Too much positive emotions? More than 13 positive interactions for every 1 negative
interaction could decrease productivity”

I changed the statement to, “Undeserved and generate appreciation in the workplace can
cause problems and make others feel not actually appreciated.” This better explains on why
workplaces with too much positivity can affect productivity. It''s not necessarily that employees
are too happy. It is due to their appreciation not feeling genuine and repeated.

11. “Extending longevity: increasing positive emotions could lengthen life span by 10 years”

I changed the stamen to, “To life a happy healthy life, one must be a good bucket filler
and appreciate those who fill your own.” Being positive not only helps you decrease your risk for
stress related problems but it creates a better life for you and those around you. You can live a
longer life but it is more important that you live it in happiness.

3) For chapters 4 & 5 write a paragraph summary of the content.

Chapter Four is coming from the experience on one of the co-writers, Tom Rath. He starts
off the chapter talking about how there are people that belief being more optimistic or pessimistic
is genetic, not necessarily environmental upbringing. There are other people which think the
opposite. He states that, “Regardless of an individual’s innate starting point, regular bucket
filling can increase his or her positive emotions.” Basically, Rath was saying it does not matter if
you lean more positively or negatively, if people fill your bucket you will end up being happier
long term.

Rath then gives his experiences from his life. He has grown up in an environment that has
always filled his bucket. Looking at his friends, he has noticed how not every family is the way.
Actually, he is in a unique situation because it is common for your family to not be as positive.
Not that the families are abusive or neglectful but it is ingrained in our society to view failures
and only acknowledge them instead of also appreciating the successes.

Later in Rath’s youth, he was diagnosed with a genetic disorder which causes his body to
create tumors all over his body. He has to battle that every day for the rest of his life. Even
though it is a scary situation to be in, he has had the privilege to have had his bucket overflow,
which helped him stay optimistic thorough that ordeal. Ruth reinforces the idea how if our
buckets can overflow or are very full, certain negative or hard circumstances will be easier since
we have been positive from others.

Chapter Five explains how positive bucket filling may not be a positive experience for
some people. It is important to when recognize people’s accomplishments to make it personal.
Because one person likes to receive praise in front of others, does not make it so another
colleague would like it.

The chapter goes in depth bringing a situation on how a women loves receiving physical
rewards. She comes up with an idea to appreciate on of her employees in the same way. This
ends up going awfully wrong and the man states he hates rewards like that. The woman then
researches about her employee and realizes he loves his family. The next time she was able to
appreciate him, she bring a professional photo of his family and he feels absolutely appreciated.

Chapter Five gives us important information on how bucket fillings to be not only
personal but fitting for that person as well. It also has to be well-deserved since others can feel
untruthful bucket fillings.

4) For chapter 6, list the strategies and write on how you would apply the information into
your own life. Give examples and demonstrate the knowledge from the text.

1. Prevent Bucket Dipping — With preventing bucket dipping, I think this would be the
hardest one to achieve. Just because I feel like I have a lot of friends and family members that we
all make snarky comments to each other. I think it will be useful to instead of even thinking
negatively at someone like a coworker or a fellow peer to think positively. For every negative
thought I have, I would actually say something positive to the person. Same with people I am
close to. I should not have to make a negative comment to boost my own ego. I would also do
what was suggested in the book and write down the positive and negatives that I think.

2. Shine a Light in What is Right — The best thing is to focus on the positive than the
negatives. I feel like my relationships with others would tremulously change in the positive way.
I would look more for the betterment of people rather than the worse. As well to also
acknowledge that in other people. I would also have to practice handling compliment and people
filling my own bucket.

3. Make Best Friends — This one is also going to be hard for me because I am no very
social. I do like making friends but I am not the one to make them my best friends. I will open up
more to people at my job and stop feeling intimidated by others.
 4. Give Unexpectedly — I love giving. I already do this regardless if it is something
physical or not. I do not like giving gift on holidays because I feel like it is more of a “have to”
than a “want to.” I would also hand out compliments more often to others. I would say thank you
to my trainers and leads at my job who have been helping me.

5. Reverse the Gold Rule — This is something I already have done. I have a lot of
empathy for others and I have felt like I have been in the same position of knowing this type of
acknowledgment would be better for someone else. I consider what others like. I would do this
by asking how they like being acknowledge and see how they acknowledge others. Sometimes
people show how they like to be treated by how they treat other.

5) Write a couple of paragraphs on your own work ethic. Develop the work standards that
you plan to live by. Demonstrate that you read the content of this module. Personalize your
paper by referring to "I". Use the information you gained about yourself in this
module. Make sure you cover all of the above topics listed.

My personal attitude at work I feel is positive. I do not ever complain out load that I do
not want to be there. I also look at the clock to see if I have enough time to finish a project rather
than to see when I leave to break or lunch. My attitude is never negative because I do not want
my leads or supervisors to see me not like my job. I do like my job and my attitude also is
influenced by my coworkers. They make me like my job and we all feed on each other’s energy.
I realized this is due to all of us dipping into our buckets and filling others. It is important to have
integrity and reputation at the workplace because that is how you create your attitude at work.
Not only do you have to have it before going into work but it helps others see how you carry
yourself. This makes others want to be around you and fill your buckets.

My attitude towards tardiness is very concrete. I hate being late in general so at work I
am always as early as I can be. This is due to how far I do drive and I make some room for
myself if I need to take a detour. This also can make me feel negative when I am on time but
others are tardy and I do not see any consequence towards their actions. Some workplace
applications make sense because it is suppose to keep us active and create relationships with
each other. I would participate more in the huddles we do at work as well as ask if we can do
more KUDOS. 

A conscientious worker is one who knows what they are doing. They do things with the
intentions of knowing what the outcome will be. As well the intentionally fill other people’s
buckets and open themselves to have other people fill their buckets. I think being the
conscientious worker is what we should all strive for. What the book has been talking about, I
think to be that type of worker is to be a positive person and follow the five strategies. This
would make you loyal to an organization. By being happy where you are working and making it
so other employees love to be around you makes the workplace a happy place. And a happy
place to work at makes it become more productive.

The rules I want to work by is that I would love to work at a place with a lot of diversity.
This is due to my own background being a Latina. I have worked in schools before and it is very
important to understand other’s background because it helps you build empathy. This is the best
way to help people fill each other’s buckets. Another rule is to make sure everyone has an equal
voice in the workplace. I think it is important that everyone can be noticed and if there are any
issues, there should be no fear them losing a job. My rules involve being comfortable working
with my fellow coworkers and to make sure there is no discrimination.