“Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We’d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile [Note: when running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six-and-a half minutes per mile].
So this morning he said to me “We’re going to go five.” I said, “Bruce, I can’t go five. I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.” He said, “When we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.” I said “Okay, hell, I’ll go for it.”
So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go any more and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more,” –and we’re still running-”if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” He said, “Then die.”
It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, “Why did you say that?”
He said, “Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”
- Bruce Lee
I don't know you anon. I don't know a thing about you. I don't know where you come from, where you are going or why you do what you do. I don't know if we'd get along if we met. But there's one thing that I know. You're capable of much more than you have been led to believe.
As I am writing this there are 6. 7 billion people walking and breathing on our humble rock. The overwhelming, vast majority of them will pass through 720,000 hours like a match struck in the wind. Hardly noticed, scarcely remembered.
Tomorrow, as you go about your day, take your time to look around. Are there a lot of people around? what do you see? You see mediocrity. You see average. You see everything about yourself that you hate, that you fear, but that you have been conditioned to believe is acceptable. Fine. Enough. A good job.
I'm there to tell you that you will NOT settle for what is fine. You will not settle for a good job. Fine is for the loser. Fine is for the guy who skipped the last set of his workout because he just didn't feel like it. Fine is for the guy who cheated on his diet (this goes for you too, you skinny fuck) because he just couldn't do it anymore. Fine is for the guy who took a nap instead of sprinting around town in torrential downpour. Fine is for the guy who got the job but not the one he wanted. The guy made second place. He has never embraced pain, personal sacrifice, or thrown himself into the fires of dedication. Most importantly, and starting today, this guy is NOT YOU.
You are not this person. You are destined for greatness. you have it inside of you, and you know it. You have always known it, you have felt it as a faint thumping in your gut. Its clawing, scratching, struggling to be set free. It needs your help. As long as you hold yourself to the standard of 'average', that is all you will ever be. In your dreams you arent average, so why the F*** are you settling for it now? What are you not doing right now, anon? What is eating at the back of your skull? Go do IT. You know what it is, solider. The time to act is now. You will burn. You will suffer. Your demons will not be defeated easily. Every step of the way they will whisper in you ear that you aren't good enough. That you aren't meant to succeed. 'Just give up',they will mutter, 'You will never be the best'. 'NO', you will reply. You l embrace suffering. You will finish that last repetition. You will claw through the agonizing pain, you will break boundaries. You will rise above the rest. You will realize your potential.
You, anon, are no average man. Now go do what you were destined to do.
As I am writing this there are 6. 7 billion people walking and breathing on our humble rock. The overwhelming, vast majority of them will pass through 720,000 hours like a match struck in the wind. Hardly noticed, scarcely remembered.
Tomorrow, as you go about your day, take your time to look around. Are there a lot of people around? what do you see? You see mediocrity. You see average. You see everything about yourself that you hate, that you fear, but that you have been conditioned to believe is acceptable. Fine. Enough. A good job.
I'm there to tell you that you will NOT settle for what is fine. You will not settle for a good job. Fine is for the loser. Fine is for the guy who skipped the last set of his workout because he just didn't feel like it. Fine is for the guy who cheated on his diet (this goes for you too, you skinny fuck) because he just couldn't do it anymore. Fine is for the guy who took a nap instead of sprinting around town in torrential downpour. Fine is for the guy who got the job but not the one he wanted. The guy made second place. He has never embraced pain, personal sacrifice, or thrown himself into the fires of dedication. Most importantly, and starting today, this guy is NOT YOU.
You are not this person. You are destined for greatness. you have it inside of you, and you know it. You have always known it, you have felt it as a faint thumping in your gut. Its clawing, scratching, struggling to be set free. It needs your help. As long as you hold yourself to the standard of 'average', that is all you will ever be. In your dreams you arent average, so why the F*** are you settling for it now? What are you not doing right now, anon? What is eating at the back of your skull? Go do IT. You know what it is, solider. The time to act is now. You will burn. You will suffer. Your demons will not be defeated easily. Every step of the way they will whisper in you ear that you aren't good enough. That you aren't meant to succeed. 'Just give up',they will mutter, 'You will never be the best'. 'NO', you will reply. You l embrace suffering. You will finish that last repetition. You will claw through the agonizing pain, you will break boundaries. You will rise above the rest. You will realize your potential.
You, anon, are no average man. Now go do what you were destined to do.
- Anon
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