Everyone knows how to use a bucket, right? As children we used buckets when we played in the sand box or on the beach making sand castles. As adults we use buckets to haul all kinds of things and occasionally we use them as something to sit upon. However, there is much more to discover about how to use a bucket!

Those of you who knew Bruce know he was notorious for using simple devices to teach or make a point easily understood.

One of the stories he shared about a bucket came from Frank, his dad. Frank was a man of few words and preferred to demonstrate than to explain things.

One day when Bruce was a young boy he told his dad he wanted to be a very important person when he grew up. He wanted to be the BEST at something special—to do things other people couldn't do. Frank told him it was good to have lofty ideas and goals, but they needed to be tempered with a dose of reality. Bruce didn't "get it." So his dad told him to fetch the bucket and fill it with water. Bruce did as he was told. Then his dad told him to make a fist, stick his fist in the bucket and remove it. Again, Bruce followed his dad's instruction. With a look of bewilderment on his face, Bruce stared at his dad. He wasn't sure what that was all about. His dad asked him if he noticed how fast the water filled in after he removed his fist from the bucket of water. Bruce said the water rushed back in on itself very quickly. His dad said, "my point exactly!" The lesson being, "To be the best and remain the best you must work very, very hard because there is always someone else that can fill your shoes very quickly!"

Frank also used a bucket to teach his son about the importance of character. He told him to fetch the same bucket and fill it again with water. He told Bruce this represented his storehouse of character—honesty, integrity, responsibility, loyalty, trustworthiness, excellence, etc. He wanted Bruce to understand that if he used his supply of character wisely his bucket would always be full. However, if he lied, didn't keep his word, didn't do his job well, betrayed a friend or didn't do his best, he would discover his bucket empty without any way to refill it.

So, every time I see a bucket I think of Bruce, the lessons we can apply in our business whether we are Realtors, mortgage bankers, loan officers, processors, consultants, loss mitigators, other professions as well as in our personal lives, from such a simple, ordinary item, and wonder at the wealth of ideas it can provide for us to draw upon.

I  used "the bucket" idea with a different spin for a post on my blog yesterday. See link below.

If you have any other bucket ideas be sure and let me know.

If you haven't seen the film, The Bucket List, check it out. It's a terrific movie with Jack Nickalson and Morgan Freeman. A good take on living life to the fullest.

How to help our nation through the “rain”... one drop at a time

Copyright by Linda Bourgault. All rights reserved. 2008