7 Mental Exercises From Bruce Lee

In this article, we’ll cover some of Bruce Lee’s mental exercises, which he performed daily to maintain his skills as a philosopher and martial artist. Though best known as an action movie actor, Lee was in fact much more than that. In fact, he was a true teacher in the art of living.

Bruce Lee is considered the first great interpreter of martial arts. Before he became known, very few people in the West actually knew about those practices that actually have more to do with the mind than with the body. It was Bruce Lee who made them popular all over the world.

Bruce Lee’s mental exercises were like routines with which he could strengthen his body, mind and overall life.

He always carried a notebook with him so that he could write down his thoughts and the information he wanted to remember. Thanks to this notebook, the world could also be informed about Bruce Lee’s mental exercises.

1. Willpower

One of the most important mental exercises for Bruce Lee was the exercise he did every day to strengthen his willpower. He called it “ The Supreme Court over all other departments of my mind. By this he meant that willpower is the force that determines everything in life. To train his willpower, Lee set himself daily goals.

2. Bruce Lee’s Mental Exercises Regarding Our Emotions

Bruce Lee knew how powerful the effect emotions have on our behavior. He knew that positive emotions strengthen the mind, while negative emotions weaken the mind. He therefore always tried to change the things he was feeling at any given moment.

His goal was to make negative emotions less prominent or to turn them into something positive that would contribute to his development. At the same time, he kept cultivating more and more positive emotions, as that, according to him, is where one’s personal power resides.

3. Reason

Bruce Lee’s mental exercises focused on his reason were intended to make his reason his basic life guide. He therefore always tried to filter his thoughts in order to make good decisions.

4. Imagination

Imagination is what allows us to imagine and create mental scenarios. However, sometimes we waste it using it only to feed our fears or dream about our personal goals. When we do this, we don’t make the most of our imagination.

For Bruce Lee , our imagination is a fundamental part of our action plans. Reason gives us a purpose and purpose to follow. However, imagination shows us the different ways and means that can help us achieve what we want.

5. Memory

Bruce Lee tried to direct all his willpower, emotions, reason, and personal resources toward achieving a goal he had previously set for himself.

Memory is a tool that allows us to remember what we are fighting for. Not only that, our memory also reminds us of the paths that lead to achieving our goals, as well as the emotions and thoughts we must remember to make achieving our goals a reality.

6. The unconscious

However, according to Bruce Lee, life also had a greater purpose. A major goal that should become the axis of all other minor goals. This main purpose comes from the deepest part of ourselves: our unconscious.

Hence, one Bruce Lee’s mental exercises were aimed at learning to work his way through the unconscious to expose the intuitive image that concealed his main purpose in life.

Thinking about that mental image every day, he says, would help bring all of our personal resources together and use them to our advantage.

7. The Conscious

Consciousness, however, also played a major role in Bruce Lee’s mental exercises. He believed that consciousness is intimately linked to the ethics of action.

In his notes, he said that one of his desires was to combine justice with mercy in the judgments he made, so that he could always tell the difference between good and evil.

Once he managed to discern right from wrong, he promised himself to always do the right thing, regardless of the consequences.