From the Art of Expressing The Human Body, there’s this little story about Bruce Lee, arguably the greatest martial artist that ever lived, during a training run told by John Little, a close friend of Bruce:
“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.”
Either push your limits or die. If you’re going to allow yourself to be bound by arbitrary, artificial and anonymous limits, why even bother? One more time (you know you should read it). If you stop at your “limits”…
…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.”
What’s your level? Are you exceeding it or are you dying? Because if you let limits define what’s possible in your life, you’re not growing, you’re dying.
***
The Impossible Manifesto launches next week. Get excited :).
Grow Stronger, Do The Impossible
Get weekly emails on how to build a stronger mind, a stronger body and stronger life and do the impossible.
Bryan Weller says
November 29, 2011 at 8:13 amWhat a powerful message! In all honesty, I’m not sure what I can add to this. Until recently, I have always been a person who did put limits on what I could accomplish. I’ve been realizing lately that I can do this thing or that, that I didn’t believe I could. Or I did something I thought would be possible, but turned out easier than I thought, meaning I can do more. Until you try, you’ll never know what you can accomplish.
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:28 amKeep trying. Keep pushing. Keep expanding and you’ll be surprised at what you’re capable of.
Jessica says
December 15, 2016 at 7:12 amAmen ??
Patrick Hitches says
November 29, 2011 at 9:46 amF**k YES!!!! One of my favorites to date Joel!
Was thinking right in line with this concept all morning… And then here’s your post. #Boom!
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:27 amBruce Lee FTW
Denise says
November 29, 2011 at 11:38 amExactly what I needed to hear today. I’m struggling training for my first 1/2 marathon and with the 100 push-up/squat/200 crunch challenges. Thanks
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:28 amGood luck with it. When’s your race?
Jen says
November 29, 2011 at 11:50 amLove. Pure love for this post! It doesn’t get any clearer.
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:28 amThanks Jen 🙂
Ryan says
November 29, 2011 at 12:30 pmI started reading this post not knowing what to expect, then BAM! The lesson hit me right in the face. Great advice. If we’re not doing everything we can everyday to become better, we’re just going through the motions. If you set the bar high and reach your goal, its time to readjust the bar and keep becoming better!!
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:29 am“Then Die” isn’t the *most* descriptive title, is it? :).
Glad you got something out of it.
Scott Fox says
November 29, 2011 at 2:04 pmGreat post and attention-getting photo, Joel. Bruce’s exceptional skills and philosophy are inspiring.
p.s. Given that he DID die when he was only 33, I wonder if he’d still express his philosophy this directly given another chance… I hope so.
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:31 amit’s funny how sometimes we try to prolong death by taking as few risks as possible. It’s sort of cliche, but I think trading a short interesting life for a long, safe route really shortchanges what it is to really live.
Ian [EagerExistence] says
November 29, 2011 at 3:39 pmI love Bruce. He’s always had the best advice, and is the perfect example of living the impossible. He pushed his body in so many ways.
A great, and inspirational post.
What am I doing right now to help me grow? Well, jump over to my blog and find out (learning Spanish through immersion in Spain)… just one of the things on my personal bucket list.
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:31 amWhere in Spain? Me encanta Espana.
Michael Hrostoski says
November 29, 2011 at 7:02 pmLove it. I’ve actually had a similar blog brewing around in my head for a while. Well executed.
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:32 amThank you sir! 🙂
Steve says
November 29, 2011 at 9:21 pmHell Yeah! Best thing I have read in a very long time and I read alot of material like this. Thanks for sharing Joel.
Kohan Ikin says
November 30, 2011 at 1:48 pmLoved this post. And right when I was in the middle of shoulder presses today, thinking I was at my limit, I remembered “Then Die” and pushed through the rest of the set 🙂
Joel Runyon says
December 1, 2011 at 3:32 amRemember when you thought you were done at 40 pushups in the middle of the park in Portland? 🙂
Aaron says
November 30, 2011 at 2:59 pmWow. Thank you for posting this.
Jelena says
November 30, 2011 at 6:51 pm“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…”
It is good to know what are you limits,but every time, about everything ,we can go one stap more then we did expect 🙂
Thank you for this, it is really stimulating 🙂
Emily says
December 4, 2011 at 5:49 pmHey Joel, what’s your opinion on different types of limits… let’s sayyy society’s? I’ve been going through a lot lately dealing with what other people think is morally right and wrong. What if their really aren’t any limits, physically or socially? Should we actually live without ANY limits? I’m not saying that it’s right to go out and kill someone but what about what we know in our hearts is right but what everyone else frowns upon? Say like forbidden love?
Joel Runyon says
December 5, 2011 at 4:01 amI think you’re talking about the difference between limits & truth.
I think you should be allowed to do whatever with your own life as long as it doesn’t infringe on others or hurt them. That doesn’t mean anything you do won’t have consequences (everything has consequences), but I think you should be allowed to make whatever decisions you feel you need to (as long as you’re prepared to deal with the coming consequences that come about from those actions).
Christian Bowe says
December 5, 2011 at 6:05 pmThanks for this timely post, Joel. In high school, I was far from a stand-out scholar and was all too average academically. I excel in classes I love and really hate classes I don’t like. Thus limited me to the colleges I could get into out of high school but I’ve worked my ass off in college and have since been accepted to Ivy Leagues I could transfer into. I’m currently pushing myself academically more than I ever have before, as I’m taking 7 classes(21 credits this semester). I have the following due in the next 2 days: a 10 page legal memo, 7 page congressional act evaluation, 10 minute ethnicity presentation, a 2 page judicial review report and a Spanish test.
Onwards.
Joel Runyon says
December 8, 2011 at 1:04 amWow Christian. Impressive. Keep up the good work and make sure you’re finding ways to use that knowledge outside the classroom.
Angel says
December 7, 2011 at 12:11 amAbsolutely what I needed to hear! I’m a 17 year old female, who isn’t the most “athletic” of the bunch. I’m an EMT at my local rescue squad. And, you would never beleive it by looking at me…..but i’m in training to become a firefighter. DEFINITELY not something you would expect a 17 year old female to commit herself to. It has been THE hardest past couple months of my life, physically. I’ve had weeks of sore muscles, mornings where i’ve pushed myself so hard the night before, I phisically CANNOT get out of bed. I’ve had bruises the size of softballs, cuts you wouldn’t believe, and MAJOR setbacks, including dislocating my hip during training. WHICH put my on injured reserve for two months. Now that i’m back, (i was just released a few weeks ago from light duty) training has been excruciating(yes, more than before, due to my hip, and two months of my body not being able to do any “work.”) I’ve more than once almost thrown in the towl. But, through it all, i’ve come to learn. NOTHING WORTHWHILE IS EVER EASY. This quote is just what I needed. WHO said I CAN’T do this? ……..I DID. But who can also tell me that I CAN? …..I CAN. If I beleived myself when I told myself I couldn’t, then i’ll push myself that much more when I tell myself I CAN. Thanks for the quote, it helped alot. God Bless.
Joel Runyon says
December 8, 2011 at 12:59 amThanks for sharing your story Angel. Keep up the great work you’re doing.
The Chad says
December 21, 2011 at 9:55 amBruce Lee’s life is nothing short of an inspiring testament to doing the impossible and exceeding your limits.
We can choose, every day, to recognize that oftentimes it’s not our limitations that hold us back, but rather our attitudes.
Your post calls for us to do just that. Thanks for writing it 🙂
Joel Runyon says
December 28, 2011 at 8:31 pmBruce Lee has been kicking my butt a lot lately.
[email protected] Arts says
February 7, 2012 at 4:03 amLike the saying says, “live life to the fullest”.
janet says
April 12, 2012 at 2:43 amamazing story/quote about bruce lee! he certainly lived and die to his word. 🙂 i saw a biography about him and damn he is hard core. V up pilates-like position for hours… punching fists into a bucket of rocks etc and just the way he trained was insane.
Sonny Crockett says
June 25, 2013 at 11:55 amJust a “little” FYI. John Little was not a close-personal friend of Bruce. For awhile, he was allowed access by the Lee family to use Bruce’s journals, notes and such to write a pretty impressive line of books; The Art Of Expressing The Human Body being just one. The quote above is from the late screenwriter Sterling Silliphant, who was student of Bruce in the late 60’s.
“Walk on.” – Bruce Lee
Peace,
Sonny Crockett
Rupert Nicholson says
September 3, 2015 at 2:24 pm“Then die” …. And he did, prematurely, very sad and misjudged!
Listen to your body, and set realistic goals – not realistic?