Bruce Lee Said Repetition Breeds Success | YMH No. 71
Published 11 days ago • 3 min read
Bruce Lee can inspire content creators.
Bruce Lee Said Repetition Breeds Success
An icy winter haze hid the mountains and made the sky dull. Frosted trees seen through the windows set the mood. It's December 1970, and a 30-year-old Bruce Lee probably felt like cuddling up next to a fire and sipping comforting, warming tea. Instead, he practiced.
Lee was preparing to move from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. In a few months, he would be filming "The Fists of Fury" as part of a rich contract with the Golden Harvest production company.
He needed to be fit. But that was not the only reason he trained that morning. It was his philosophy to practice. Repetition, according to Lee, breeds success.
"I fear not the man who practiced 10,000 kicks once," Lee famously said, "But I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Lee, of course, died two years later in 1972 amidst "mysterious circumstances," yet, for this essay, the focus is his success. Lee was and is a celebrated action movie star and a hero to millions of young men who wished for a sinewy build and tiger-like ferocity.
Habituation in Virtue
Lee is mentioned here for encouragement's sake. The aim is to embolden you and to fortify your resolve through example. To spur you on toward your goal.
Repetition will breed success for your blog, your newsletter, your creative business, or your endeavors of passion.
Practicing one kick 10,000 times represents a philosophy of success. It is the idea that habitual tasks, perhaps even monotonous ones, are essential. In this view, Lee had company.
Aristotle taught Habituation in Virtue. Excellence, virtue, or —in our modern vernacular— success requires consistent, repetitive actions. You will succeed by way of habituation, performing the same and correct actions repeatedly until they become ingrained habits and second nature.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Discipline and Endurance
Lee loved martial arts. There is little doubt. But it is unlikely he loved everything about karate. Perhaps he disliked dieting or waking up early to kick 100 more times. Habit forming requires self-discipline and personal endurance.
The stoic Epictetus argued there was no easy path to personal success. Cultivating anything of value necessitates discipline and perseverance, including repeatedly completing difficult, unpleasant, and mundane tasks.
"No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen."
Similarly, if you want 100,000 newsletter subscribers or large brand deals for your blog, you must first write, and write when no one is reading.
Embrace the Grind
Whether you practice kicking or writing, the daily tasks and repetition can begin to grind. It is not uncommon for content creators to describe weekly or daily composition like running on a perpetual hampster wheel.
Practicing a kick 10,000 times —or really continuously— can also feel like a grind. Lee likely kicked both air and heavy bags. The ethereal permitted him to focus on accuracy, speed, and physical mechanics. The bag offered resistance and sight pain. Each strike on the leather surface was also a blow to the shin.
Progress was gradual and difficult to measure from one kick to the next. Certainly, improvement could be seen long term, but in the grind of daily practice, not so much. Thus, it is commitment to the grind that propels us forward.
In "Meditations," Marcus Aurelius often commends accepting one's duties, no matter how monotonous, dull, or challenging, as part of fulfilling one's purpose.
"Do what you must. Even if you despise it, even if no one notices. This is how nature designed you."
If you have set out to be a content creator —a writer, a podcaster, a YouTube influencer — you must stay at your task, doing the things today that must be done for your ultimate success.
Encouragement
Lee, working out on a hazy winter morning, might have "despised" parts of the routine. Folks may often love a task at the beginning of a journey but grow to dislike it for a season. This does not mean it should not still be done.
Confucius emphasized the importance of li —ritual and disciplined practice— in achieving harmony and success.
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."
At some point, this fellow would have no doubt wanted to walk away and leave the mountain where it was. But he continued, and the entire landscape of his life changed.
Given that you are reading You, Money, Happiness, we may make an assumption. In some way, you seek success.
You have a blog, a newsletter, a YouTube channel, or a similar small enterprise, and you want success.
Keep doing the small things —the repeated things. The things that cause others to quit. Get up on the cold mornings and kick.