How To Think Like Bruce Lee: The Mindset of “The Dragon”

Today we are going to learn from the wisdom of Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee was an actor, martial artists, father, activist and philosopher. Growing up, Bruce Lee was the guy. He was my childhood idol.

"Be happy, but never satisfied."

-Bruce Lee

It wasn't until my adult years that I developed a real understanding for the man and the less popular accomplishments, like his philosophy.

He had an incredible work ethic, was always striving for more.

I sometimes feel guilty for always striving for more. I try to remind myself to be grateful and be happy now, which for the most part, I am.

But I do get wrapped up in next, more, and better.

I need to think about this quote often. 

I feel it permits me to strive for more without guilt. I think that is in line with the human animal. We are built, after all, to strive for more because that kept our ancestors alive.

So if we balance more with happiness in the now, and can create a symbiotic balance with both. 

Of course, this isn't going to come easy or overnight. It requires a constant realignment of thoughts. 

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

-Bruce Lee

Today, more than ever, we need focus.

There are limitless ways to spend our attention. They call it an "attention economy," and it's true.

How you spend your time is how companies now make money (or don't).

Attention matters. 

Your life becomes what you pay attention to for better or worse. For most people, it's for worse as they get sucked into the online drama and the divisiveness of politics and controversial topics.

If you want a deep life of meaning and to feel good about your work, you have to invest your attention in a few things. You have to go deep. You have to do less things better.

This is how you get an edge today while the rest of the world hops from this thing to that like a jackrabbit on Ritalin.

Do less, better.

Master your craft.

Master your ability to control your focus. Then direct that focus into things that matter to you and the world.

That's the secret to success and fulfillment in life.

"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities."

-Bruce Lee

There is this myth that it's about who you know as if your success is in the hands and goodwill of other people.

Sure, knowing people can turbocharge your results and open doors that may have otherwise been closed or really really hard to open.

The thing is, it's still up to you. No one is going to hand you your life on a silver platter.

You have to do the work. There is no way around it. Too often, people put stock into things that don't move the needle. They put faith in shallow pursuits because they have the wrong idea of what it takes to be successful. 

Social media is a perfect example of this. 

Young people today equate social media likes and followers to success. That is not even close to the case. So when they pursue building their social accounts, and maybe they get some results, they wonder why they aren't making any money. It's because they are seeking the wrong things with the wrong premise.

You can use social media to build or grow a business. Absolutely. But pursuing likes and followers under the assumption that you'll have a business if you get likes and followers is the flawed idea. Yet it's still one many pursue.

The other problem with social media is the reliance on other people and companies. Instagram could shut your account down tomorrow. So can YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It happens all the time.

You are playing in someone else's sandbox and thus fragile to their rules and whims.

Instead, you must take responsibility for your results and play by your own set of rules. Create opportunities 

"Knowing is not enough. We must apply. Willing is not enough. We must do."

-Bruce Lee

Our society has an addition to information. We are more information-rich than any culture of humans ever. 

Yet we mistake this knowledge for skill.

We mistake knowing things for intelligence.

Then we get into the real world, and we wonder why we struggle. We wonder why we don't'; get results. We've read countless blogs, watched all manner of YouTube videos, listened to podcasts, and so on.

Yet we struggle to get results.

It's because we've shifted the scale from doing to consuming. And yes, you should consume good information, but you must then apply it. Aggressively apply, test, and tweak.

That is how you get results: combine knowledge with action... then learn along the way.

"As you think, so shall you become."

-Bruce Lee

This quote is not original to Bruce Lee. This quote has been passed down for generations.

It's more important today than ever due to our ability to choose what we let into our minds.

Very few people are conscious of the power of the information they consume, and so very few people have a strategy for controlling what they think. As a result, they become a conglomeration of other people's opinions. This is obviously dangerous.

You must become ruthless with the people you hang around, the ideas you discuss, the gossip and negativity you let into your life.

If you don't have standards for yourself, other people will decide for you. And that is obviously dangerous.

If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of.

-Bruce Lee

It seems like Lee had a lot of this stuff figured out. Or maybe these ideas are timeless because we are human. Yup, I def thinks it's the latter.

I think it's more like this: technology has sped up our world, and so the ideas that were good when you might read the physical newspaper each day are even more important today when you can read ten newspapers online instantaneously.

The internet has just accelerated the things we do. And so we have to become hyper-vigilant in what we do as a result.

Technology has taken control of our minds. This psychic connection leads us to waste time, to increased general anxiety, and accented ideas like FOMO (fear of missing out).

One of the most potent ways to avoid wasting time is to disconnect from your technology and be in the moment.

The Buddha recommended being in the moment as a way to reduce suffering over 2000 years ago.

As it goes with all timeless wisdom, this advice is more important than ever.