Best known for his films, Bruce Lee was more than an actor – he was a martial artist and philosopher. In the letters he wrote to himself, he revealed just how much he spent time reflecting on his thoughts, his purpose, his goals and his attempt to continually understand himself and evolve.
But what can we learn from his approach to personal growth? Despite our want to improve ourselves we can easily turn to entertainment in our alone time rather than spending this time to self-reflect. It’s this process of self-reflection that can really help with our understanding of self and promote growth.
What Bruce Lee Can Teach Us About The Importance of Self-Reflection
Bruce Lee shows there is an art to writing down our life musings. Many of us feel a sense of accomplishment when we carve out time to sit and write down lists of goals and dreams – maybe even a structured plan to attain them. However, while this is a great way to start self-improvement, there is a problem of whether our progress is slow with no evidence of real insight.
What we can learn from Bruce Lee’s self-reflections, and more importantly apply to our own self-improvement, is that spending time self-reflecting can allow self-efficacy (our belief in our abilities) to blossom. Self-belief is something we often overlook as the key to success in our personal development, together with being true to ourselves and being willing to make the changes we want in life.
In an extract from his letter, Lee writes:
“Recognizing that the power of will is the supreme court over all other departments of my mind, I will exercise it daily, when I need the urge to action for any purpose; and I will form HABIT designed to bring the power of my will into action at least once daily.”
“I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality; therefore I will concentrate my thoughts for 30 min. daily upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture.”
It’s his self-reflections that helped him to carve out clear paths and how his daily thoughts and actions truly contributed to his life journey.
The Key To Mastering Our Own Self-Reflections
Making self-reflecting a habit in our own lives can be a game-changer in our own personal growth journey. Writing down our self-reflections on a daily basis will start to improve our understanding of what we’ve learned, allowing us to see how far we’ve come and our potential moving forward.
From reading Bruce Lee’s letters, personal authenticity and willingness to change are the two key factors that contributed to his self-efficacy.
So, when penning your thoughts it’s important to keep two things in mind:
1. You need to make sure you write as your true, authentic self. By this I mean don’t script what you feel you should be writing, keep it 100% true to your thoughts and feelings as this is the only way to get a full understanding of where you are.
2. Make sure you keep yourself challenged. The point of self-reflection is to see progression in your thinking and understanding of what you’ve learned – either about yourself or something else. Make changes accordingly. Noticing no real change – whether slight or significant – is a sign you’re off track. Remember, expansion comes from embracing change.
Anything towards your personal growth and improvement is gold. However, as Bruce Lee shows us, understanding the why behind your thoughts, goals and plans in life is the key to progressing forward on your journey. Meaningful growth comes with expansion and constant discoveries – taking time out to write down and contemplate our self-reflections will help us move forward in a purposeful and expansive way.
