Black belt thinker

Bruce Lee knew a thing or two about black belts. He was a world-renowned martial artist who understood how the human mind could influence behaviour and famously said: “As you think, so shall you become”.

Being very enthusiastic about training the mind as well as the body, the black belt model of thinking originated from his beliefs and focused on learning the importance of living life from the inside out. It put strong emphasis on internal strength to develop a clear vision of the person one intended to become, very much like the “law of attraction” which stated that whether we realised it or not, we were responsible for bringing both positive and negative influences into our lives. It took the form of internal thoughts or spoken words, but could also be represented visually.

Regardless of how we chose to use our thoughts, we could mentally design them to reflect our vision of how we wanted your life to change. For example, when Jim Carrey was nineteen he headed to Hollywood but like many young actors trying to make it big, he found that success was elusive. In 1985, a broke and depressed Carrey daydreamed of fame and to make himself feel better, he wrote out a cheque for $10 million for “acting services rendered”. He then post-dated it, and kept it in his wallet. The cheque remained there until it deteriorated but Carrey eventually made it and earned millions for movies like Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber. When his father passed away in 1994, he slipped the cheque in to the casket.

Speaking on the Oprah Winfrey Show later, he explained that there was more effort that goes into positive visualisation than simply spending a few minutes picturing our goals. The entire creation process manifests our desires and we have to consciously take action towards it. He had concluded by reiterating that we cannot just visualise and go eat a sandwich.

So, thoughts became action and actions became outcomes? Was it as simple as that said the voice in my head? Should I start thinking outside the box? Even though I was incapable of getting a black belt in karate at this late stage in my life, I could at least train my brain to think like a black belter, right?

To begin with, I decided to let go of all fear, including fear of failure. I mean, if I was not harming anyone, what was wrong in trying out new things? There was nothing that stopped me from becoming an accomplished singer, poet or a marathon runner if I put my mind to it. Or even a stand up comic! Were there any slots open for fifty plus non-resident Indian women in that field I wondered?

Experimentally, I visualised myself in an auditorium full of lively people while I was waiting behind the stage for my comic act to begin. In my imagination I could also feel the knot in my stomach and the trembling in my feet but I focused on the witty anecdotes I had prepared for the show.

“I am new to black belt thinking,” I started.

My audience in the amphitheatre kept on talking.

“It is different from thinking about a designer black belt,” I continued.

Spontaneous laughter erupted around me.

“Sorry?” my husband asked and I realised I had spoken aloud. 

“If you carry on like this, we will progress to tighten-our-belts thinking,” he predicted.