Location: Home Office – Reading Time: 7mins
Some of you might remember, I mentioned the fact that I am a huge Bruce Lee fan in a post I did back in February, which summarized my US trip, where I included a photo of me and the Little Dragon’s ‘Hollywood Walk of Fame’ star. This time around I wanted to show you guys (in case you didn’t know) how much of a great businessman Bruce was.
The name Bruce Lee is known in virtually every household in the world. He never employed a virtual assistant, however, as the man who single-handedly brought martial arts to mainstream culture in the 70’s and beyond, the San Francisco born martial artist was known more for his lightening-fast kicks and powerful punches, than for his business prowess! However, at the same time as he was studying Philosophy at the University of Washington, Bruce embarked on launching his own Chinese Gung Fu Institute, where he would teach students from all walks of life – even though the local Chinese community frowned upon him doing so (the Chinese in the neighborhood believed that their ’secret’s’ should not be taught to non-Chinese).
Bruce ended up opening and overseeing several Gung Fu (he preferred this to the more popular ‘Kung Fu’) schools in the 60’s and was focused entirely on teaching martial arts until Hollywood, and then Hong Kong (and then Hollywood again!) came calling – with students such as James Coburn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Steve McQueen! The fact is that Bruce was actually a very accomplished businessman in his own right, before he ever became the most famous Asian movie star of all-time!
What follows are several of Bruce Lee’s philosophies on business, and how to become successful at what you do in life. These have been collected and collated from a number of different sources, and are now presented for you here to gain some knowledge from the Little Dragon, himself. Enjoy…
Bruce Lee’s Business Lessons!
The Practical Nature of the World – This world is very practical. You do more work, you get rewarded more; you do less work, you lose your rewards.
Something for Something – There is only something for something, never something for nothing.
More Work Equals More Rewards – It’s the law of averages: put in more, come out with more.
The Reward is to be Found in the Work – The important thing is that I am personally satisfied with my work. If it is a piece of junk, I will only regret it.
It’s not the Job, but How you Do It – It’s not what you give; it’s the way you give it.
The Reward should be Proportionate to the Work – No one ever does anything with enthusiasm unless he benefits, thereby – reward proportionately.
Intense Desire Creates its own Talents and Opportunities – We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it is sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.
Two ways of making a good living – One is the result of hard working, and the other, the result of the imagination (requires work, too, of course). Some may not believe it, but I spent hours perfecting whatever I did.
One’s Moral Virtue is Reflected in one’s Work – The moral worth of a man influences what his job should be. Once he functions the way he ought to, he is happy.
Attaining Happiness in Work – In order that people may be happy in their work these three things are needed:
- They must be for it.
- They must not do too much of it.
- They must have a sense of success in it.
Never Prostitute your Principles in your Work – I will never prostitute myself in any way that I do what I don’t believe in.
On Office Work – I never wanted a job in an office or any job that I had to work eight hours a day at – day in and day out (sounds like all of us, right!?). I don’t think I could have stood it. I’m not the type of guy who can sit in the office doing the same routine day in and day out. I have to do something that is creative and interesting to me.
Hmmm… Sounds like an Entrepreneur…! Thanks, Bruce.