Keep the comments coming on the Top 5 video moments. We can have a lot of fun with that - soon, we’ll generate our own top list (yours and mine) with video clips; Jai - we will have much more dedicated to Brandon in due time. So many plans for the site, just takes time, effort and $$ to roll them out, but they are coming. I found this article, and thought it was an interesting application of some of my dad’s philosophies. A little daily bread for all of us. As most of you know, my father was a man of action; he truly lived the words that he spoke. This article came from The Positivity Blog, and was written by Henrik Edberg. Pass it along with the tweet button or the share/save button if you like. xo Shannon
Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape
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If you haven’t been living under a rock for the last 30 years I’m pretty sure you know who Bruce Lee was. 
If you have, then you may be interested to know that Lee was a very famous martial artist and actor who sparked the first big interest of Chinese martial arts in the West in the 60’s and 70’s.
But besides being an awesome fighter and iconic figure Lee also had some very useful things to say about life.
Here are 7 of my favourite fundamentals from Bruce Lee.
1. What are you really thinking about today?
“As you think, so shall you become.”
Perhaps the most basic statement of how we work. Think about what you are thinking today. What do those thoughts say about you? About your life? And how well do they really match your plans for your life and your image of yourself?
It’s easy to forget about this simple statement in everyday life. It’s easy to be quite incongruent with what you think on an ordinary day compared to how you view yourself and your goals. A simple external reminder such as a post-it with this quote can be helpful to keep you and your thoughts on the right track. An brilliant and beautiful expansion on this thought can be found in James Allen’s As a man thinketh (that can be downloaded for free here).
2. Simplify.
“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
If you want to improve your life then it’s tempting to want to add more. One problem with this may be that you don’t really have the time or energy to do more though. And so your efforts to improve become short-lived.
Adding more and more just creates more stress and anxiety. Removing clutter and activities, tasks and thoughts that are not so important frees up time and energy for you to do more of what you really want to do. And as the clutter in your outer world decreases the clutter in your inner world also has a tendency to decrease. This has the added benefit of making it easier to actually enjoy whatever you are doing even more while you are doing it.
Adding more thoughts and thinking things over for the 111:th time may create a sense of security. It’s also a good way to procrastinate and to avoid taking that leap you know you should take. And the more you think, the harder it gets to act. Perhaps because you want to keep that comforting sense of security and avoid the risk of wrecking that feeling.
Thinking has its place. It can help you plan a somewhat realistic route to your goal and help you avoid future pitfalls. Overthinking is however just a habit that will help you waste a lot of time. It’s more useful to replace that habit with the habit of just doing it.
3. Learn about yourself in interactions.
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”
The one person that is the hardest to get to really know may be yourself. Studying yourself while you are alone may result in some insights. But it’s also likely to produce a lot of made up thought loops and doubts in your mind. A good way to really learn more about yourself is study yourself in interactions with other people. How people react and act in these interaction can over time teach you a lot. And what you think and how you react can perhaps teach you even more.
What you see, feel and hear in other people may be a reflection of you. The things you learn by thinking this way may not always be pleasant, but they can be enlightening. They help you to see yourself and also how you may be fooling yourself. And these powerful insights can be very valuable for your personal growth. So, in interactions with others, try asking yourself: what is reflected?
4. Do not divide.
“Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”
This is a very useful and powerful thought. It is also one that obviously is hard to live by. Why? I believe it’s because the ego loves to divide and find ways to “add more” to itself. It want’s to feel better than someone else. Or more clever. Or prettier. Or cooler. Or wiser.
How can you overcome this way of thinking and feeling?
To me it seems to boil down to not identifying so much with your thoughts or feelings. That doesn’t mean that you stop thinking or feeling. It just means that you realize – and remember in your everyday life – that the thoughts and emotions are just things flowing through you.
You are not them though.
You are the consciousness observing them.
When you realize and remember this it enables you to control the thoughts and feelings instead of the other way around. It also enables you to not take your thoughts too seriously and actually laugh at them or ignore them when you feel that your ego is acting out. When you are not being so identified these things you become more inclined to include things, thoughts and people instead of excluding them. This creates a lot of inner and outer freedom and stillness. Instead of fear, a need to divide your world and a search for conflicts.
To learn more about this I would recommend Eckhart Tolle’s books andsigning up for the 10 free and excellent webcasts – available both in video and audio form – that he’s doing with Oprah right now.
5. Avoid a dependency on validation from others.
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”
The ego wants to add because it thinks it’s not enough. One way of doing that is by craving validation from others. We want to feel smart, pretty, successful and so on. And the validation makes you feel good for a while. But soon you need a new fix.
And the problem with being dependent on validation from other people is that you let other people control how you feel. This creates a rollercoaster of emotion in your life.
To find more emotional stability and to take control of how you feel you need to get your validation from to a more consistent source. Yourself. You can replace the expectations and validation of others by setting your own expectations and by validating yourself.
And so you validate yourself by thinking about how awesome you are. You don’t sell yourself short. You appreciate how far you have come and the positive things you have done. You appreciate your own value in the world. You set goals and you achieve those goals. This builds confidence in yourself and in your abilities. These things will help you to build a habit of inner validation.
Now, showing off. Why do we do that? To get validation from others. However, this need for validation often shines through and that is why a thing like bragging seldom works. Instead of seeing the cool and successful person you are trying to project people just see the insecure and needy person looking for validation. And your bragging falls flat.
6. Be proactive.
“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
It’s easy to get locked into a reactive mindset. You just follow along with whatever is happening. You do what the people around you do. You react to whatever is going on.
And so you get lost in your circumstances. This way of thinking doesn’t feel too good. You tend to feel powerless and like you are just drifting along.
A more useful and pleasurable way of living is to be proactive. As Bruce says: to create opportunities despite the circumstances around you. This feels better and provides better results. But on the other hand it’s also more difficult. It’s easier to just drift along in the reactive stream of life. And if you want to be proactive then you may have to take the lead quite often. And that can be scary.
Still, living proactively is so much more rewarding and exciting.
7. Be you.
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
Just being yourself is a hard thing to do. You may do it sometimes. And other times you may forget or fall back into old thought patterns. Or you may imitate someone else.
And that comes through too. And it may work.
But I believe that being the real you will work better. Because there the genuine you is shining through. Without incongruency, mixed messages or perhaps a sort of phoniness. It’s you to 100%. It’s you with not only your words but you with your voice tonality and body language – which some say is over 90% of communication – on the same wavelength as your words. It’s you coming through on all channels of communication.
So I’m not saying: “yeah man, you should just be yourself because it’s the right thing to do etc.” I’m saying that I think being your authentic self – the one where you do little dividing, the one that needs little validation from others, the one where your ego is not running the show and trying to get something from someone – will give you better results and more satisfaction in your day to day life because you are in alignment with yourself. And because people really like genuine and people really like authenticity.
Great article! These principles are simple in nature however putting them into action can prove difficult for many.
Number 2 Simplify reminds me of a quote: Few things are created and perfected all at the same time. It takes effort, work, and dedication to achieve your goals. - John Dillow
Refine as you go.
This is my first post here and I wanted to thank you Shannon for sharing your father’s wisdom.
Thank you for posting
I am delighted to know that Bruce Lee is your father 
Good job..
Those are definitely words to live by! I’ll keep them in mind.
Great article! Could not have read this at a better time! Thanks for all your hard work, Shannon.
Thank you for sharing this with us all, I should get these teachings printed in my mind so that I may never forget about them!
Thanks this is what I needed, new inspiration, for everything
i got chills all over and tears in my eyes reading this article… your Dad is my teacher in life in all levels..(not only in martial arts “JKD”) as well as your brother…they showed me “the real me and all what we can do if we set our mind to do so”. they taught me that “limits do not exist in any level ..they exist only for those who set them for themselves” for your Brother Brandon i have reached and accomplished even what i taught impossible . every single word i read in this article… it’s the way i live my life, and i’m eternally thankful to you Brother and your Dad “Sijo Bruce” for that.
i dont have words in this world for describing what they mean to me, not human words are well enough for describe it. moving to Seattle and gravekeep their gravesites was my most desired goal. and now that’s what i do and i’m honored for that.
“knowing is not enough, you must do
willing it’s not enough , you must apply” “Bruce Lee”
thanks for sharing this article with all of us:)
NATALEE
Dear Shannon,
First,this is a superb article.
Bruce Lee,your father,was such a deep thinker,an old soul.To me he was like a magnet.Even today I do my best to apply what I`ve learnt from him.
Do you know what?
My nephew is a 11 years old kid and each times he comes to see his uncle Mario,he want us to watch a Bruce Lee movie or to talf about him.That`s really something.
Bruce Lee was not only the gung fu movie superstar,He even was not only one of the most important martial artist of the 20th century.He was such a positive example as a man.A true man of action.We miss him a lot because he had so much to give…
HE WAS A GREAT HUMAN BEING.
Shannon, your father was just extraordinary.
My respect to your familly and especially to your mother;Linda Emery.
Dear Shannon,
First,this is a superb article.
Bruce Lee,your father,was such a deep thinker,an old soul.To me he was like a magnet.Even today I do my best to apply what I`ve learnt from him.
Do you know what?
My nephew is a 11 years old kid and each times he comes to see his uncle Mario,he want us to watch a Bruce Lee movie or to talk about him.That`s really something.
Bruce Lee was not only the gung fu movie superstar,He even was not only one of the most important martial artist of the 20th century.He was such a positive example as a man.A true man of action.We miss him a lot because he had so much to give…
HE WAS A GREAT HUMAN BEING.
Shannon, your father was just extraordinary.
My respect to your familly and especially to your mother;Linda Emery.
Bruce lee’s Fundamentals…….
I am learning a bout these,for me its not too esay to apply aftr we know about that,the way how to apply on our ownlife,different situation,different attitute and behavior,,,i was hightemper person as myfriends said,but for me i just want to be myself(hahaha…..)sometime.just to be real me,be ego and be the one who growing my own control,,,strong control for my own ego.i learning so much from The Master.
just do what i will do,not too much thinking,i always doing all of thing to reach 150%,so if there is 30% minus on me,than i still have 120% possitive.
I always accepting the fish,and i just taking the meat, and i throwing the bone,same thing when people too much talking a bout what i’ve done to mylife………….
Thank you The Master,,,Thank you shannon,,,Thank you all of you who always be the motivator to be great on my life,,,,,,,,,.
Qim.
I recently adopted Bruce Lee as my role model for my training, and for his passion. I absolutely love his passion…the way he moved and talks. He is speaking to my soul right now, and I hope to learn as much about him as possible.
Beautifully spoken Shannon. Your father had such wisdom, intensity, and humor, that it may even be confusing for the common admirer of his, to witness all this in him and more. His teachings are profound, yet simple. Direct yet yielding. Personal but also universal. To read much of your words is very engaging. His spirit moves through you, and many of us who are embarking on the way, the flow. It is a wonderful experience, to listen to how you have integrated your fathers teachings in your life. We all have this legacy as a point of reference, to feel, embody, and to continue on with this life. It is like someone tossing a handful of seeds into the air. Many get blown all around, some over the next lawn, some over the island and some over to the North. There is something uniquely warm about seeing a palm tree grow out of a snow filled field. Everything starts with a progression. The one hits, then the two, and if you are lucky, the three, four, five, six, seven and eight. I am curious to witness how the trees sprout. It’s funny, we all get caught at looking at the palm leaves wave back and forth in the wind, and get flustered when coconuts start dropping in our face. Let’s not forget and look down or in. We may find the little kids cracking them open, enjoying this lovely experience, while we are all dodging flying objects. The kids are the ones who are already dreaming about coconut farms and adventures. So sorry, this is how my mind works, abstract story telling. Great teachings and suggestions:)
sanjuro
—
Hopefully your dad’s statue gets upright again in China.
Perhaps I’ll check out the one looking over the water sometime next week.
It will be nice spending a snowless xmas, once again.
Really, really really great article. I’m going to print it and hang over my bed so i can read it when i open my eyes every day. Bruce Lee as martial arts master, great actor and deep thinker. By only watching his movies you may not notice all these things at once but following all avaiable sources gives this opportunity and makes you feel like your idol - Bruce Lee was like a super human
1. Bruce - “As you think, so shall you become.”
Mike - It’s true. Confidence will win the fight or the promotion, etc. etc…
2. Bruce - “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
Mike - That’s right. Discard of the useless appendages. Chip away like a sculptor till you reveal the TRUTH.
3. Bruce - “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
Mike - Inertia – a body at rest tends to stay at rest, a body in motion tends to stay in motion… Thinking isn’t knowing.
4. Bruce- “To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person
Mike - Agreed. I learned a lot about myself from the lessons of my past relationships.
5. Bruce - “Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”
Mike - That’s true. Be an independent thinker, uninfluenced by others agendas.
6. Bruce - “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
Mike - Thank God for that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be human, I would just be a robot, a mechanical man. . I would be attaching limits to myself, without knowing my true potential.
7. Bruce - “Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”
Mike - Yes, it’s like animals hunting for sport, which they don’t do.
8. Bruce - “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”
Mike – Me too. I love this one. If there isn’t a door, make one.
9. Bruce -“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”
Mike - I love this one too. Don’t cheat yourself out of the beautiful, original person that you are.
10. Bruce - The word star turns me off, and I’ll tell you why. The word star is an illusion.
Mike - I totally agree.
One more on Bruce’s quote - “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
Bruce is the Gangster of Gung Fu. He is the gangster of Martial Art. I use the word “is”, because I believe that we don’t ever really die.
Bruce said “hack away at the unessential”. As I learned in my biology classes: form follows function, not the other way around. So, it is logical. What Bruce is saying is that we need to get rid of the unessential; take what is useful and work from there. Discard what is useless. Bruce had a very practical approach to the Martial Art. He was a street fighter who believed that a fight should not last more than two seconds. And he was right.
Mike
Thank you for posting this. I want to also thank you for this amazing web site. It definitely does justice to the Bruce Lee legacy. I am a huge fan of Brandon as well. So proud that he found his own path and made his own way. Some times words can’t fully express the feelings and respect I feel for you and your family…but I wanted to try and post something. Thank you again for the opportunity and this great web site. Happy Holidays.
Regards,
David
great article, something for us all to think about and mike you have found the longest possible way to say “i agree with the article lol the fastest way is a straight line mate lol
Dear Shannon,
first of all I want to thank you for this article. It’s great although I miss the main aspect of JKD a bit (Using no way as a way, having no limitations as limitation).
I hope you read this because I would like to ask you if it would be possible to publish an article about some of the books Bruce read and other influences. Through “A Warrior’s journey” I know some books from Carl Rogers, Jiddu Krisnamurti and Allan Wats but it would be gread if you could list some more.
Thanks so much
Marco
Bruce Lee is a true hero to me. He is the best.
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Shannon that is great stuff, thanks. I’m hanging it in my garage right next to my ETD poster and Musashi’s “The Way of Strategy”.
Hi Shannon, I”m so happy that you are focusing on your fathers philosophies then on the way he could hurt people. I bought your new book Bruce Lee “Wisdom for the Way” To me it is one of the greatest books ever written.
” Knowing is not enough
we must apply
Willing is not enough, we must do ”
that wisdom is allready tattooed up on my left arm
with a potrait of himself!!!
he is my idol next to Bob Marley and Michael Jackson R.I.P 1Love
thank u for that blog
take care Shannon
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Muscle and Fitness Magazine is having a Cover of The Year Contest And Bruce Lee Was Profiled,Let Vote him to Number One. Here is The Link..
Let’s Make Bruce Lee Number 1
You heard it from me!!!!!
Shannon,Please repost on The Bruce Lee Pages
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/features/298
dear shannon,
Your father was a good comedian and could have been a good stand- comedian because of his being a bookworm and a good observer. God bless to you and your family