During a recent Mastermind with one of the groups I am involved with, we began discussing the essentials of life. What do we NEED in order to truly live to our full potential? We started by listing many of the leaders in the personal development, philosophical, and spiritual worlds, who have developed their own list of human needs. With all of this research, I decided that it was important to discover the essentials in my life, or in
other words, what components must be present in order to TRULY LIVE? I realized that everyone has their own unique needs and place different values on what must exist in their lives. The freedom of choice, that we all possess, enables people to establish an identity for themselves. But with this being said, I realized that there are nine essential areas that lead to a life worth living.
I encourage you to think of a picture with nine buckets. Each bucket represents one of the essential principles to living a life with meaning. You have the ability to line up these buckets based on your values, but what you must keep in mind is that each bucket needs to be filled to the brim in order to thrive. I would like to forewarn you that it is possible to have bucket with a hole in the bottom. As you begin to fill this bucket, the substance leaks out, leaving you unfulfilled in this area of your life. The choice is to either get a new bucket or to plug the one you already have. What I realized when developing this philosophy is that in order to TRULY live in a way that you have never deemed possible, where you prove the impossible is possible, love each moment of each day, and embrace growth and prosperity, you must
LIVE in PEACE!
Love- There is nothing as profound like the ability to give and receive UNCONDITIONAL love. When we LOVE, and I mean truly LOVE, we Let Everyone View Everything, especially ourselves!
Importance- Deep down, we all want to be important and recognized. We want our life to have meaning and significance. There is nothing as painful as feeling like you do not even matter.
Vitality- Without your health and vitality, you have nothing. All of the money in the world means nothing without an excellent quality of life.
Excitement- A life without excitement is a life without meaning. We need to live as if each day were an adventure because the amount of uncertainty that you have in your life is directly correlated to miracles being born!
IN
Purpose- In order to define your purpose, you must decide what brings passion into your life and use this emotion as the foundation to determine what you intend on giving back to this world.
Endurance- This enables you to prevail during any situation because there will always be some form of challenges that you need to face. Those who endure, who hold on for one second longer, are the ones who rise to a higher level while achieving their dreams.
Abundance- Living in abundance means that you are able to focus on everything you have, as opposed to everything you have yet to achieve. Your family, health, career, finances, and any other accomplishments, should add to your feeling of abundance.
Contribution- There is nothing as profound has contributing to the life of someone else. Whether you provide advice, support, guidance, money, or any other resource, giving for the sake of giving brings meaning into your existence.
Evolution- Stagnation is not an option in life because the world around you is in constant motion regardless of your level of involvement. This means that in order to evolve, you must always extend the perimeter of your comfort zone so that growth can occur.
The beauty of philosophy is that we all have the ability to create our own ways of thinking. Therefore, take these nine principles and arrange your proverbial buckets in whatever order resonates with you the most. If your life consists of five buckets or maybe ten, then please provide a comment below because I am always interested in learning the basic human needs of others. But what I want you to takeaway from this message is that you will choose the order, but you must fill each bucket over the course of your life. If there is a hole, fix it or get a new one. You obviously cannot “get a new life,” but you can change the way you are living by determining what you value most and how you want these values to be present in your life.
I thought this message would be important to share during the holiday season because this is a time that we often analyze, whether it is consciously or subconsciously, the most important components in our lives. We have time with our family, we have time with our friends, we have time with ourselves, and we must remember that in order to thrive during any of these times, we must LIVE in PEACE!
Happy Holidays to all of you who are celebrating and I encourage you to enjoy each moment of these festivities because YOU DESERVE IT!
What are the ESSENTIALS in your life?
What does this mean to you? Please leave a comment.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Jared, What a beautiful message during this season of hope, belief and peace. I was thinking that there should be a tenth bucket, Gratitude, but as I re-read your nine items, it became clear that Abundance and Contribution are the essential ingredients of being grateful. Abundance being the reflective thought- I am truly grateful for the many gifts in my life! Contribution being the action of that gratefulness. You are a wonderful example of that message. Peace and Blessings for a Merry Christmas.
John you brought an incredible smile into my life because I can sense your support which is something that enables me to stay driven. The point you mentioned about GRATITUDE is powerful beyond measure because it is the combination of Abundance and Contribution which allows this way of life to be born. I so appreciate everything about you and look forward to your comments as we progress!
Abundance rings the loudest. If you are not happy with what you have then you will not be happy with what you get. It will never be enough. To be happy with a smile is a step in the right direction. RoyC
Amazing..amazing…and even more AMAZING! You have an incredible way of conveying a powerful message in only a few words! Thank you for always contributing to the IDENTITY REVOLUTION!
My life changed again this last year…and I’ve had 75 of them, years that is.
My wife was recently diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gherig’s disease.
That brought me back to basics: faith, family and purpose.
I quit any speaking that required travel a few year ago. Now I write and do copyediting from a home office.
Why? Because I wanted to I thought… In part that’s true. I also believe now that God was preparing me to be Barbara’s caretaker and that’s happened.
When we stripe away all the other stuff and find ourselves challenged by life, do we face up to what we have been telling others is important and do the right thing?
Or do we fold?
How we act, not say, talk, expound on, but act, defines all that we have been talking about over the years.
If all out audiences could see us now, what would they see/say?
Vern
Vern…I do know even know where to begin and I so appreciate your transparency. You asked a profound question which I would like to emphasize: “When we stripe away all the other stuff and find ourselves challenged by life, do we face up to what we have been telling others is important and do the right thing? Or do we fold?” I have always told people that life is like poker in many ways, but the one area which is not congruent is the concept of folding because this is NOT an option in life. We are forced to play the hand of cards we were dealt, grow once we step outside our comfort zone, and stay committed to ourselves. Although there are many who will resist this nature, they still possess the ability to be, do, and have the life of their dreams once their essentials are clearly defined!
Thank you so much for showing up and sharing this profound story!
Have a wonderful holiday and I look forward to your comments as we progress…
yes. there is a difference between living and just being alive/existing. i am blessed to have been loved so much in my life (the hardships, in light of this, are mangeable) and of having the honor and priveledge of loving and being loved by more people than i will ever be able to count. the mutual, not-contingent-on anything, opportunities to give and to receive unconditional love, opportunities that i have been blessed with in serving and giving hope to countless people, people no one else has loved unconditionally has made me the luckiest woman in the world. love generates miracles and if we let it happen it will happen anytime you give of yourself.
a major component that must exist in my life to make it complete is to always take advantage of an opportunity or opportunities (and they’re not hard to find) to give of yoursef and practice acts (not of pitty) of kindness whenever they cross my path. to never turn your back on someone in need. when you give, maybe you don’t see an immediate impact of your actions, but i’m telling you, that seed that was planted will grow. fortunately, one is able to live a life full of meaning, even if all the “buckets” are not filled to the brim. that is a goal. it is something to strive to attain, but i don’t think any of us can keep all of the “buckets” full (or at least all of the time) because in life, we can not control all of the circumstances surrounding us and cannot always the way we think we need them. roll with the punches. love. give. never judge. practice at “sucking it up” and picking yourself up faster and more grounded everytime. the ability to thrive is not so much in how full the “buckets” are but more so on belief in the ability to live and grow despite what comes at you and the the way one perceives the content of the buckets.
you are right. the impossible (we should delete that from our vocabulary) is possible. get another bucket or plug the leaking one up? i’m going to think more about that. it actually makes sense, but all of us have to figure out how to do that and to make sense of life when it isn’t making sense at all. there is a meaning to and for and a reason for everything. it just takes time sometimes to see the why of a situation. to give and to love profoundly requires the lack of fear to be totally transparent (loving yourself enough not to be afraid to show who you are and getting rid of the fear that many have that they may not be liked, or will be judged, or will get hurt somehow).
working for so many years with people who had no hope, no meaning, no direction and then seeing the healing that happens in them when they realize (even if it’s just one person) there is someone that believes that they are important and that they are alive to live, not merely to exist or just to survive, and that thier life has meaning and that they belong. i see that need in others. i don’t really think about whether i’m important or not. to me it is irrelevant because i know why i’m on this earth and i know it has meaning. when you recognize that there is beauty in EVERYONE, that is significant and you can convey that to others by example.
i am disabled. i have multiple (and some rare) medical conditions that impair my ability to do more than i want to do. that “bucket’s” leaking and i don’t know how to stop it. but, i choose to live and give and love despite that one messed up “bucket”. it just makes it harder. life is exciting. everyday is an adventure. there is always uncertainty because we cannot control everything. but everyday life is a miracle.
LI(missing V)E. got it. thankful everyday for that. jered, everything you have said is so right on. you are a breathe of fresh air. not to often that i run across someone who understands and practices life as it should be. All the principles that are embedded in P-E-A-C-E are true. thanks for so eloquently putting them into words. i wish you could of been able to hang with me over the last few days. the joy that that i was blessed enough to bring to many poor people, many people on the streets was indescribably healing. thanks for letting me ramble.
Donna…
I do not even know where to begin because your “ramble” is powerful in such a profound way. I admire your ability to communicate what this message means to you in your life, but even more importantly, share an interpretation that will resonate in the lives of the masses. You are truly an outstanding individual who seems to have the vision of making your world a more congruent and positive place so that you are able to empower people to live on their own terms, while teaching them how to LIVE in PEACE! Although you may not have the vitality because of a potential physical ailment, you do have the vitality as a result of the way you think, communicate, and inspire. I hope this holiday season brought joy into your world as this is what you DESERVE on a daily basis because it is people like you that will enable the paradigm shift to take place…!
Thank you for always supporting my vision and for contributing in such a wonderful way…!
JY
Jared,
I’m struck by your statement that each bucket needs to be filled to the brim and some buckets may have a hole or a leak. What creates that hole/leak and what mends it?
Some things that come to mind immediately: internal conflicts, behavior out of alignment with values, limiting beliefs,…… anyone care to add to this?
Kamila…
This is a great question and I appreciate your willingness to share. I believe that the easiest way to conceptualize this concept is by focusing on the first essential which is LOVE. We all have a bucket for love in our lives, but what often happens is that even if we are in a marriage or relationship, this fundamental emotion may not be present because both partners have too many contradictions in order for the bond to thrive. This creates a leaky bucket, empty existence, and an extreme void in each individual’s life. Two potential solutions are to work together in order to uncover where the differences lie OR to end this relationship or marriage regardless of the short term pain in order to experience long term fulfillment.
The examples you provided are also extremely valid and would definitely create leaky buckets. Limiting beliefs is one of the most destructive emotions that people face because it is their internal self that creates this conflict which leads to their demise in every situation. The foundation to success is the belief in oneself, followed by clarity if purpose, actionable items, maintaining a focus, consistent action, and celebration. Limiting beliefs would never even allow this cycle to begin….
Does this help? I would be more than happy to provide additional examples….
Here are my essentials:
1) Quiet. I like to have people in my life who understand that we don’t “need” constant talking, texting, etc., to be connected. 2) Comfort and trust. I like to be around people with whom I don’t have to “watch my back.” 3) A small group of friends and family who know me well–faults and all–and accept me “as is.” 4) A small group of friends who let ME see THEIR “faults,” and know it’s okay with me. 5) A small, simple lifestyle — one vehicle, one house, etc., and know that this will truly be enough to feel blessed and safe.
Valarie…I love your authenticity with this contribution. What I find to be interesting is that essentials 1-4 all deal with the power of association and attracting people into your life who are congruent with what you are looking to give and receive. The relationships that we have, whether they are intimate, friendship, career oriented, etc., along with the relationship with ourself are the two vital components to LIVING in PEACE. When there is chaos is our world because of the people we associate with on a regular basis, it is truly impossible to live a life worth living. In addition, it seems as if simplicity is also a value of yours and since this is the case, I hope you are able to create this type of lifestyle with people who are congruent with you on many levels.
Thank you so much for this contribution and I hope you have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I would add harmony. Peace requires not being in conflict with others. To do that we have to fit ourselves to the situation around us and to others needs. Check out Aikido (the martial art of love) for a clear demonstration of the power of harmony to create peace.
This is such a valuable concept that you shared and Aikido is a wonderful example of the power associated with this term. For the members of BRANDENTITY who are unaware of Aikido, it is a marital art where neither the defender or the attacker are harmed and instead the intention is HARMONY…
Amazing Alexander!!!!
That’s really thinking out of the box. Thknas!