Brian Johnson explores how dedicated practice in a specific skill, like spear throwing or martial arts, becomes a path to self-mastery. He draws on Steven Pressfield's The Artist's Journey and Zen in the Art of Archery to show how narrow focus opens insight. What domain are you willing to master?
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Alexandra recently got Steven Pressfield's newest book called the Artist's Journey. Subtitle the Wake of the Hero's Journey and the Lifelong Pursuit of Meaning. Now I might have swiped it before she could read it. Thank you darling. This is Pressfield's 19th book. It's the ninth or 10th book of his I've read so far. And our fourth note, it's fantastic. Today we're going to talk about a particular passage that jumped out and high fived me. Here it is. In his 1953 classic Zen in the Art of Archery, the author, a deeply serious student of Zen Buddhism, travels to Japan and enrolls in an academy of archery. In this school, the physical act of drawing the bow and loosing the arrow, as also in other schools with meditation, martial arts, the study of calligraphy or flower arrangements, or mastery of the tea ceremony, it's not undertaking for its own sake, but as a portal to insight, to enlightenment. Now, after that passage, Pressfield continues to talk about the theme of the chapter, which was essentially learning how to master the art of trying. Not to try. Check out that plus one. But I made a full stop after reading it. I went back, applied some very thick underlines and asterisks to the side, and a choir of angels sang as I folded the page over. That is why I'm into Spartan races these days. It really has nothing to do with Spartans per se and everything to do with me being willing to narrow my focus into a specific context and commit to George Leonard style mastery as a portal to insight to enlightenment. Little parenthetical side note, of course, this +1 has nothing to do with my Spartan races. It has everything to do with you and your commitment to mastering whatever it is that's inspiring you these days. So I read that passage in the sauna after hammering my optibot into am deep work rhythms. Then I thought about it as Emerson and I practice spear throwing in our backyard after lunch. Yes, Grandpa installed a sweet setup to hold the three hay bales that were delivered yesterday so we can practice throwing spears. We're all in folks. All in quick context. For those not familiar, all Spartan races have a spear throw. It's the only obstacle I failed to successfully complete in my first five races. Apparently 80% of people fail it. And my baseball style throwing motion isn't working. I should say wasn't working. Of course I plan to dominate this obstacle. Enter our new spear throwing setup in the backyard right next to a couple of wall traverses the rope climb and Herculean hoist. Other obstacles are coming soon. And enter Zen in the art of Spartan spear throwing. All of which leads us to today's plus one. What are you committed to mastering? Let's move from dabbling and or hacking and or obsessing into a deep, long term, gritty commitment to mastery. As we recognize that we need to make some somewhat arbitrary decisions to focus our attention. Archery, Martial arts, Calligraphy, Really? Crossfit games, Golf, Spartan races? Really? Those things have no inherent utilitarian value per se, but they provide the perfect context to show up and practice excellence. If we show up with that commitment to mastery, then these practices can be a portal to insight and to Enlightenment. So today's +1 what's your domain? Are you all in? Here's to stepping through our chosen portals into enlightenment.
