I had words floating through my head as I read The Dojo… like personal mastery, and physics of Self. Right work — Great Work. And warrior-monk entrepreneur, of course, which I can’t help but aspire to. Even after reading Charlie’s and Jonathan’s blogs and knowing the quality of work they do, I was delighted. I am certain that nobody puts this much time and attention into information products anymore. This is really something different.
The Dojo is basically comprised of one 40-or-so page ebook and a set of audio sessions (for now — it sounds like there’s more coming). The audio is very cool; it’s very helpful to be able to listen to concepts and it’s easier (for me) to attain certain mindsets that way. But the book, dudes, the book is downright amazing.
The Dojo’s 7 Tenets aren’t pulled from thin air. The authors obviously put a ton of time into working this information down to whole, glorious fundamentals, so clear and effective that I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they’d make a difference. No complex thought required — they’re right there.
I’ve noticed that many books these days — electronic and otherwise — are really just outpourings of largely unsorted knowledge. They’re made up of someone telling you everything they know about a certain set of subjects, but not organized or targeted precisely for a specific purpose. But The Dojo is just that. It’s very focused and it’s very well made. It’s not meant to brain-dump content at you. It’s meant to teach you 7 simple and far-reaching concepts that will set your sights firmly on doing things that matter — not just in putting across the right vibe and inspiration, but giving you a seriously solid toolset to do so. I haven’t bought something this good — something meant to be used immediately, something so simple to learn and apply — in AGES. (In fact, I can’t even think of anything else that falls into that category. Maybe The War of Art — but even that was not anywhere near as refined and focused. Not by a long shot.)
What I expect out of really good material is some kind of inspiration and some kind of information. Usually the inspiration comes right away, and I have to parse and think on the information before I can apply it to my work directly.
But The Dojo gave me the same burst of informed inspiration I got out of Seth Godin’s Linchpin and Cory Doctorow’s Content — real ready-to-apply information, right there, that gave me the crazy urge to buy 50 copies and give them to everyone I know. But there’s a BIG difference with The Dojo in that it didn’t take me a fraction as long to go through and learn. It’s beautifully simple — it’s perfect. I spent just a few hours going through the materials the first time, and with the inspiration came a bizarrely secure knowledge that I understood what to do next. Maybe I just live on The Dojo’s wavelength, but I really don’t think so. I think they refined that content until it fucking shone.
They didn’t just come up with a cool idea for a personal development book. It’s not called “the dojo” because somebody has a good marketing brain. It’s called “the dojo” because it’s a freaking dojo. They built an art, like an ancient style of meditation — like T’ai Chi or Shiva Nata. There is nothing you can’t achieve with this stuff in your head. I had no idea what I was picking up. Holy crap, right?
Charlie & Jonathan — seriously. If I wore a hat, my hat would be off to both of you. (I suppose since I don’t, it already is!)
The rest of you darling people: They should really, really be charging more for it. They should be teaching it in small personal seminars, in breezy groves and sunny marketplaces, in countryside gardens, in quiet studios with warm, worn wooden floors — anywhere, everywhere, for way more money than this. I strongly suggest you get your butt in there and use this stuff. (Three quarters down the page, there’s a sample that you can start reading. I guarantee you won’t be able to stop.)
As for me, having read the thing — I have some real work to do. Like whoa.
[Update: When the Dojo came out in May 2010, I was so inspired by the damn thing that I busted this post out and didn't worry too much about whether it was a "review" or not. Clearly it was, and I stand by what I said. And missing from this review is the important call to action: If this will help you enact some badassery, please go pick it up. It's worth every penny.]
Megan Elizabeth Morris (aka MEM, Megan the M.) is a bonafide professional catalyst and adventurer. She's the Ideaschema instigator, orchestrator and autodidact, and you can find out more about her by clicking here.Got an idea? Something we haven't thought of? Whatever you're thinking, we want to hear it. Please feel free to leave comments or email us by clicking here.
