The True Story of Bruce Lee's "Definite Chief Aim" Letter

What is the true story behind Bruce Lee's "Definite Chief Aim" letter?

Introduction

I (Richard) was tracking down another bogus Bruce Lee quote, as part of the Sourcing Bruce Lee project. Along the way I encountered an article titled Bruce Lee’s Never-Before-Seen Writings on Willpower, Emotion, Reason, Memory, Imagination, and Confidence, published by Maria Popova for Brain Pickings on August 1, 2016. I looked quickly at the contents and realized I had already seen at least some of it in the Bruce Lee Library and more. This line caught my eye, however:

"[H]ere is an exclusive look at several pages from his 1968 pocketbook, penned shortly before Lee’s twenty-eighth birthday, each transcribed below, beginning with Napoleon Hill’s “Daily Success Creed,” which Lee copied into his notebooks."

It is rare to see an author recognize when Bruce Lee copied material into his notebooks. (It happens, as noted in my writings, but not as frequently as it should.)

I had a vague memory of "Napoleon Hill," but not in conjunction with anything I had read from the Bruce Lee estate. Thus began my investigation into Mr Hill, which lead to the "Definite Chief Aim" letter.

Matthew Polly's Observations

Bruce Lee: A Life, Matthew Polly, 2018

Matthew Polly's authoritative 2018 biography of Mr Lee, Bruce Lee: A Life, should be the first stop for any casual (or serious, for that matter) reader. I searched for "Napoleon Hill" and found the following:

"After McQueen’s refusal, Bruce fell into a funk. He started avidly reading self-help books: Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich!, Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking, and Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People. His favorite author was Hill, who advised his readers to write down a goal and recite it over and over, morning and night.

On January 7, 1969, Bruce wrote down his life goal. Entitled “My Definite Chief Aim,” his ambitious and uncanny prophecy reads:

'I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.'

The first part of his prediction was a reaction to McQueen’s rejection, while the last line was pure wishful thinking. Despite their many side benefits, fame and fortune rarely lead to inner harmony or happiness—as Bruce would soon discover. McQueen had made Lee lose face in front of Silliphant. The American part of Bruce read self-help books, set down goals, and looked to the future. The Chinese half required revenge."

An endnote for this section adds a detail:

"Interview conducted by phone with Mike Stone on September 12, 2013. According to Stone, he introduced Bruce to Napoleon Hill’s work: 'I shared Hill’s book with Bruce and the idea of goal setting.'"

So who is Napoleon Hill?

Enter Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, 1960 edition

Mr Hill (1883-1970) was an author who wrote self help books. He was most famous for his 1937 title Think and Grow Rich. The yellow and green cover edition shown above, published in 1960 and available on Archive.org, could even be the version read by Mr Lee in the 1960s.

I have seen several accounts of this book being in Mr Lee's extensive library. The latest (published on October 7, 2018 and updated June 6, 2021) appeared on the Art of Manliness Web site as The Libraries of Famous Men: Bruce Lee.

The connection between Mr Hill and Mr Lee has appeared in several sources during the last two decades. For example, a March 16, 2011 post on the Letters of Note blog introduces the "My Definite Chief Aim" letter (as mentioned by Mr Polly earlier). An anonymous comment offers the following:

"Sounds like he read Napoleon Hills, Think and Grow Rich. What he wrote in that letter is exactly what it says you should do. It literally says you should write down a definite aim/purpose you want in life and write exactly how much you want to amass and what you'll give back for it. Very interesting post!"

This is the earliest connection I discovered between the topics of Bruce Lee and his Definite Chief Aim letter, and Napoleon Hill and his book Think and Grow Rich.

What Is a Definite Chief Aim?

I referenced a 1937 edition of Mr Hill's book for the following screen captures. There are many editions available for purchase and online, as the original edition is out of copyright. Here is one example.

Mr Hill mentions the Definite Chief Aim three times in his book.

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, 1937, p 73

On page 73, he calls it a "statement of your major purpose." Readers should "commit it to memory, and repeat it, in audible words, day after day, until these vibrations of sound have reached your subconscious mind."

Thing and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, 1937, p 75

On page 75 Mr Hill encourages readers thus: "I will never stop trying, until I have developed sufficient self-confidence in attainment."

The third and final mention of the Definite Chief Aim appears in an end-of-book advertisement for a $20 "long, searching study of the lives of 500 great American men and women." The cost is surprising, because $20 in 1937 is approximately $379 in 2021 dollars, according to any inflation calculator!

The Definite Chief Aim and Planet Hollywood

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, edited by Ross Cornwell, 2015

One of the more recent editions of Think and Grow Rich, edited by Ross Cornwell, features the following footnote.

"Examples abound of people’s applying Hill’s ideas and principles to attain great success in life. A fascinating instance of someone who followed Hill’s advice by writing down, in the clearest terms, his definite chief aim in life was found a few years ago on a wall in the Planet Hollywood Restaurant located just off Highway 17 Bypass in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Planet Hollywood restaurants were known for their collections of movie and celebrity memorabilia.) On the wall was a handwritten note with the title in red—“My Definite Chief Aim.” Also written in red, at the bottom, was the word “secret,” with the bulk of the note, in blue ink, saying this:

My Definite Chief Aim

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.

Bruce Lee

Jan. 1969

(secret)

Lee, of course, went on to achieve his goals, becoming the most famous—and richest—martial arts movie star in the world during his time. His success on the screen spawned a worldwide industry of self-instructional CD, DVD, audio and video tapes. Unfortunately, he died in 1973 at the age of 33 from an adverse brain reaction to a medication—the same year his most famous film, “Enter the Dragon,” was released. Time magazine wrote of him: “With nothing but his hands, feet and a lot of attitude, he turned the little guy into a tough guy.” He clearly attributed a great deal of credit for his success to his belief in The Think and Grow Rich Philosophy." (underline added)

The story about a "Planet Hollywood Restaurant located just off Highway 17 Bypass in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina" featuring a letter by Bruce Lee on its wall piqued my interest. Google searches yield examples of similar reports from Las Vegas (April 27, 2014) and New York's Times Square (November 12, 2016).

I decided to track down this aspect of the story.

Planet Hollywood and the Auction

The 1993 Auction Catalog

Where did Planet Hollywood get copies of Mr Lee's Definite Chief Aim letter for display at their restaurants? It turns out that Mr Lee's widow, Linda, auctioned a variety of items from the Bruce Lee estate on August 7, 1993. Contemporary stories from UPI and the Los Angeles Times mention that the Superior Auctions company hosted the auction. The Times story includes the following:

"Perhaps the most intriguing item of the estate is a 1969 declaration, “My Definite Chief Aim,” in which Lee penned his dream for the future:

'What a lot of people don’t know about Bruce Lee is this deep philosophical commitment that he had. He’s not just a Hollywood sensation,' said Heather Holmberg, sale curator at Superior Galleries, a division of McNall Sports and Entertainment.

The December 1993 edition of Black Belt Magazine covered the auction in a dedicated article.

Black Belt Magazine, December 1993, cover and pages 26,27,29,30

The Black Belt article by Bruce Lee family archivist John Little notes that the My Definite Chief Aim letter, written in 1969, "went for an eye-popping $29,000!" ($29,000 in 2021 dollars is nearly $55,000.)

It's possible that Planet Hollywood acquired the letter in 1993, but I did not dig too deeply into the identity of the buyer.

We do know that eventually copies of the letter appeared in Planet Hollywood restaurants, and some of those copies were later auction off themselves. You can find examples from 2012 and 2015 online, which provide clear images of the letter in color. These sales are probably the result of the many restaurant closings over the years since Planet Hollywood first declared bankruptcy.

The Actual Letter?

Heritage Auctions Letter, sold September 25, 2019

It looks like the original letter was sold again on September 25, 2019, The auction offers these details:

"Bruce Lee extraordinary autographed personal statement titled, "My Definite Chief Aim". (1969) Bruce Lee fully handwritten manifesto entitled "My Definite Chief Aim" signed twice, "Bruce Lee", 1 page, on 8.5 x 11 in. stationery with "secret" imprinted in red at the top and bottom of the page, dated "Jan. 1969". This is a personal manifesto Bruce Lee wrote to himself just 4 years before his death, outlining his deepest goals and titled in red pen, "My Definite Chief Aim".

Written in blue pen, Lee pens the following in full: "I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness".

The paper shows some minor soiling and wrinkling; the red and blue colored ink remains very bold. A highly personal and profound Bruce Lee piece. Provenance: Superior Galleries "The Bruce Lee Collection" authorized by Lee's widow, Linda Lee, August 7, 1993, Lot 39."

This item predates the lot sold in July 2021, which contained items mainly from Lee friend Robert Baker.

The Bruce Lee Family on Napoleon Hill and the Definite Chief Aim Letter

As I have noted in previous posts, the Bruce Lee family is reluctant or simply refuses to give credit to outside thinkers when discussing so-called "Bruce Lee philosophy."

Other sources, such as this September 16, 2009 blog in Potholes in My Life, or this November 29, 2014 article in Feeling Success, or this recent but undated article in Martial Development, make the connection. (Incidentally, how can a blog not date its articles, and only include a month and day for comments?!)

I remember listening to an early episode of the Bruce Lee podcast, posted August 16, 2016, that centered on the "Definite Chief Aim." I found no mention of Napoleon Hill in that story.

Bruce Lee Podcast post, August 16, 2016

An episode of the podcast from 2019 returned to the Definite Chief Aim but again did not mention Mr Hill's influence.

Bruce Lee Podcast, February 19, 2019

Finally, in 2020 Mr Lee's daughter Shannon published a book titled Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee.

Be Water, My Friend: the Teachings of Bruce Lee, Shannon Lee, 2020

Here is what Ms Lee recorded in the book:

"Tool #1—Take Aim

In 1969, my father created a document entitled “My Definite Chief Aim.” It was a single piece of paper written in his handwriting that stated:

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return, I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor. Starting 1970 I will achieve world fame and from then onward till the end of 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000. I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.

The document is signed by him and dated January 1969. This is some serious goal-setting. Of course, he died before he was able to attain the ten million dollars, and it was more like 1973 when he achieved world fame, though it can be argued that he started working toward that with great result in 1970, which is when he did his first film in Hong Kong. All told, I’d say he did a pretty good job in the few years he had."

Again, there is no mention of Napoleon Hill or his influence.

Conclusion

The Definite Chief Aim document has been an important element of the Bruce Lee mythos since its release to the world in 1993. Even an unusual a title as the 2002 book How to Smell Like God features it. (The 2005 edition is more searchable on Google Books.) Incidentally, I could not find any reference to it in various Bruce Lee library titles, until Ms Lee's 2020 book.

I speculate that the Bruce Lee estate never mentions Mr Hill, or really other inspirations for Mr Lee, because they fear that acknowledging Mr Lee's sources would somehow diminish Mr Lee's accomplishments. It would also likely undermine some of the material they've released over the years, as some portion of it is essentially the intellectual property of other parties.

However, I believe that it is important to recognize the debt Mr Lee paid to thinkers like Mr Hill. It is uplifting to appreciate that Mr Lee sought guidance and inspiration from a book. It puts the process within the reach of the average person; there is no super hero powers required.

If we are to believe that Mr Lee not only invented his own philosophy regarding self-help, but also actualized it, then we are left staring upwards at a superhuman figure. Despite the interest of too many people who wish to mythologize Mr Lee, his community of fans would be better served by appreciating his humanity.

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