Inspiring/Encouraging Quote from Bruce Lee
The Successful Warrior
Bruce Lee or Lee Jun-fan (his real name), considered by many to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time.
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So influential in fact that the majority of the world has at least heard of him even if they never have watched any of his films.
Bruce Lee, was an actor, film director, martial artist, philosopher in both Hong Kong and America.
This type of success and influence does not come from nowhere. Bruce knew a secret.
A secret he shares in this well known quote by him.
with laser-like focus."
If you look at any successful person (success is a broad term by the way) they did not get there by trying everything until something stuck.
They all got there by sticking to their guns no matter the odds. By racing to that finish line with everything they have even though they feel like their legs have already given out!
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By having laser like focus.
I once met a man many years ago that asked me the simplest of questions.
"How do you succeed?"
"Succeed at what?" was my first question. It seemed like his question was pretty broad to me.
"How do you succeed?"
He repeated again as if there was something much deeper to his question.
"How?" I responded.
"Do the same thing for 20 years." was his answer.
While this answer is pretty plain and certainly not black and white, it did get me thinking and it it is quite true.
If you do the same thing for 20 years are you destined to succeed? No, you could be failing in the same way for 20 years and never learning anything.
What he was trying to say is quite simple. Put your focus on something long enough and you will accomplish it. With time you will learn lessons that will make you better at it if you just keep your focus.
What is the baseball coach always saying?
"Keep your eye on the ball!"
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So why would Bruce Lee say this was the average man then?
Because, a large underlying difference between the super successful people of the world and those who are not is simply focus.
If you start a business knowing nothing about it you will fail. If you learn from that failure and keep your focus on the business, you will fail again, and again.
Sooner or later if you have kept your focus and learned from each of these "failures", moving on each time, you will look back and realize your own success. You will all of the sudden be the one people are asking questions of and learning from.
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However, if you run from these failures thinking you have lost, you lose your focus. It becomes scattered and not laser like. There is no success in this behavior. Only complacency.
I've started and failed enough businesses to know one thing.
Any idea can make huge money if you keep your focus. There are businesses set up on items that sell for pennies that are worth billions.
Is monetary gain the only success? Of course not.
Then why use these examples? Because money is easy to measure. Its a number. Everyone can agree how much there is once they count it.
So, the next time you are feeling like giving up on your dreams or quitting something you have started because you've hit an obstacle.
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The next time you notice that you've taken your eye off of the ball...
Remember what the most influential martial artist of all time, a once very average man said:
with laser-like focus."
Thanks for reading,
Michael David
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