Kind: captions
Language: en
often the advice I give to people today
is Fast Forward where you are look at
yourself in 10 15 20 years time and ask
yourself the question is that where I
want to be and if the answer is no then
you need to find a new path to just get
to understand yourself you don't know
what you need in your life until you
figure out who you
are everybody Welcome to impact Theory
you were here my friends because you
believe that human potential is nearly
Limitless but you know that having
potential is not the same as actually
doing something with it so our goal with
this show and Company is to introduce
you to the people and ideas that will
help you actually execute on your dreams
all right today's guest is a former monk
whose wisdom has truly gone viral after
finishing business school he turned down
lucrative offers from prestigious
companies shaved his head and hit the
road for three years he traveled across
India Europe and England living as a
monk studying meditating and building
food and shelter programs for those in
need he was definitely in love with what
he was doing but he knew that it didn't
scale so driven by a desire to share
what he was learning with as many people
as possible he re-engaged with the world
and Dove head first into learning about
the tools and techniques that might
allow knowledge to spread as fast as
entertainment and to that end he joined
Accenture helping them build their
digital division while learning about
the forces shaping the new digital
landscape he learned fast and quickly
became their number one social media
influencer in a company of 400,000
people people along the way he also
helped advise over 150 Executives on
their personal Brands allowing him a
very broad base with which to test his
theories and leveraging what he learned
in 2016 he launched his own Facebook
page and it exploded in less than 12
months his inspiring entertaining and
highly useful videos garnered over 1
billion views and now he has north of
2.5 million followers globally he makes
content not only for his own pages but
for places like the Huffington post and
he has interviewed such luminaries as
Tim Ferris Simon synic Dr chaali deac
Chopra and countless others in the wake
of his ridiculous level of success as
both a content creator and digital
strategist he was named to Forbes 30
under 30 list in 2017 the Asian media
Awards named his blog best blog in 2016
and he was added to National Geographics
chasing genius Council for which he is
now helping to Source solutions to some
of the world's greatest challenges so
please
help me in welcoming the urban monk
himself the man who is proving that you
really can scale impact Jay
Shetty to see thanks for being here man
thanks for having me dude truly an honor
oh man it goes both ways so as I was
telling you before uh we started rolling
in my research like I normally just go
watch all the interviews that people
have done and I've come across you like
a million times in researching other
people so I thought oh this will be the
easiest thing ever like this guy have
been interviewed 100 times and you
haven't like it's insane to me like
you're pumping out so much content
nobody's nabbed you up yet so this is
going to be really fun to really go deep
your ideas are clearly very well thought
through so this should be a lot of fun
thank you man yeah I'm patient yes
patient of having the right interviews
the right time being with the right
people having it be framed correctly so
I'm very honored to be here I'm a huge
fan of the show good thank you so thank
you so much for having me absolutely so
one thing I want to talk about obviously
having lived in London um knowing a
little bit about what it's like to grow
up as an Indian kid in England uh how on
Earth did you Buck the trend of you once
said uh growing up in in an Indian
household you're either a doctor a
lawyer or a failure right that's right
yeah that's right so how like how did
you not fall prey to that yeah those
were my three options right that was it
there was no fourth option so according
to my parents family or the community I
grew up in I'm a failure that's crazy
and how did I Buck the trend I was
really really fortunate that very early
on I started to experiment with What
mattered to me sometimes they got me in
a lot of trouble what people don't know
about me is that I was suspended from
school three times for trying out all
sorts of things like things that people
would never imagine if someone who goes
on to be a monk I was experimenting with
all the drugs in the world I had
multiple relationships I was
really trying to search for some sort of
meaning fulfillment and as for as long
as I've known I've been chasing thrill I
really value thrill and feeling like I
did not see that coming yeah I no not
many people do it's it's very different
from 14 to 18 I was like this kid who
just wanted to try new things out and my
parents rhetoric would always be well
make sure you get good grades and I used
to think well if I can be bad and get
good grades then then it all works right
everyone's happy so that's kind of what
I did and at 18 I was really fortunate
when I met a monk and this monk was
invited to speak and I kind of just went
because one of my friends forced me to
at that time I was listening to CEOs and
entrepreneurs and business people and
marketers who who I thought that's what
I was aspiring to be like and then I
hear this
Monk and he captivated me like no one
had ever captivated me before it was
like staring at the most beautiful woman
on the planet you know I was completely
fixated on him and his message Mage and
that is the beginning without me going
into too much detail before we probe
that was the beginning of what changed
me because I went from being someone who
did only want all those things to become
successful and trying to but I started
hearing my own inner voice much more in
all that noise that I had around me I
remember one of my my parents had a math
tutor for me because they wanted to be
amazing at maths and I was I was pretty
good at numbers and I'd have this Tut
and he'd tell me that he goes the reason
that you're struggling with the next
question is because you're always
worried about what your parents
think and and that really stayed in my
head I was just like wow so as long as
I'm trapped by what my parents think I
can actually never find the answers to
the real questions of life and there
were all these little things happening I
lost two great friends when I was 16 one
girl died in a car accident one guy died
because he was involved in drugs and
violence that that made me rethink
everything I just thought to myself wait
a minute these were beautiful people
people that I loved people that in my
opinion were good people and I just lost
them in a moment and it was kind of like
this collation of little things that
just made me think wait a minute having
money having Fame this that just doesn't
seem to add up and then and then meeting
the monk kind of made that shift
possible and as I said he was completely
captivating and then I found out that
he'd given up jobs in Google and
Microsoft to be a monk and I thought to
myself who does that you know he's given
up everything that I'm chasing and that
all my friends are chasing but he seems
happier than anyone I've ever met before
and he spoke about this incredible
principle where he said that we should
plant trees under whose shade we do not
plan to sit and he was speaking about
this principle of selfless sacrifice and
that kind of just penetrated me right
there when he said the words selfless
sacrifice for the first time in my life
I felt a thrill about something that I'd
never felt before I thought wow giving
up everything you have for the service
of others sounds like the best thing you
could possibly do and I don't know why I
had that thought because I wasn't a
spiritual kid growing up I wasn't a
religious kid growing up I wasn't even a
good kid growing up I was just a rebel a
misfit trying things out an experimental
which I still consider myself and so
what I started to do is I was interning
at companies and firms and corporates
thinking I was getting a grad job after
afterwards and then I'd spend the rest
of my summer holidays interning in India
living with him as a monk so I'd use all
my summer and Christmas holidays to just
be out there with the monks and he
introduced me to another 200 to 500
monks that were just like him just as
smart just as bright giving up
everything they had and using all their
skills to make the world a better place
I want to go back to so to why that
resonated with you which is really
surprising so and maybe you're just you
know so far ahead of where I was at the
time but that would have sounded absurd
to me at that time um did you already
have a sense of unease that like I'm a
rebel without a cause or like what was
it about that moment and you you you
seem very aware of yourself so I'm
hoping that some of that awareness was
present then like what was that moment I
believe the moment was I was I've always
had friends who were older than me and I
could see a lot of them in the most
successful careers successful jobs
beautiful Partners whatever it was but I
saw a sense of lack of fulfillment
meaning and purpose in their lives and
I've always been an observer and I would
see these people who are like 5 years
older than me seven years older than me
maybe 10 years older than me and I'd be
watching them and go is that the life I
want and often the advice I give to
people today is Fast Forward where you
are look at yourself in 10 15 20 years
time and ask yourself the question is
that where I want to be if you're in a
company look at the person who's 20
years ahead of you and ask yourself is
that where I want to be if you're in a
startup look at where other startups
have got to in similar roles and go is
that where I want to be and if the
answer is no then you need to find A New
Path and for me the answer at that time
from observing was no the path that my
parents or Society or the university I
went to or the community I had that was
carving out for me it didn't feel like
the path for me so I was almost seeking
an alternative or A New Path I was just
so fortunate that it happened to be an
uplifting powerful path as opposed to
something that could have actually taken
me down the wrong road because that
could have been possible too so walk me
through the first time you step off the
plane in India it's summer and so I'm
I'm living there I'm waking up I'm
almost doing all the practices just as
if you were shadowing a CEO I'm just
shadowing a monk and so I'm just
shadowing his lifestyle so we wake up
he's he's like one of the most elite
monks so we're waking up at like 2:00
a.m. every day after sleeping at like
9:00 or 10: p.m. and then we study these
ancient Vaders which are 5,000 plus
years old together and we spend 2 hours
and I'm studying with the best of the
best here so he can like analyze and
assimilate and I'm learning fast taking
notes then 4:00 a.m. we go to Collective
meditation we do those practices with
the other monks as well 6:00 a.m. we
have personal meditation so I'm
literally going through the life of a
monk and falling in love with it step by
step going wow I've never had this
experience before I just threw myself in
and I was practicing it to the tea right
it wasn't like oh no my back hurts when
I sit on the floor I can't stay here for
too long or you know today when people
are like oh I can't meditate for longer
than 2 minutes I was like no I'm going
to do it for two hours if that's what
they're doing I'm going to give it a go
because I can only test the hypothesis
will only be true if the experiment is
carried out to the degree that they are
so if the hypothesis is if you live like
this you'll are happy more
fulfilled then I want to do that all
right so let's explore this then through
the lens of create
one's own perfect life yes which is
pretty interesting especially and
interesting because I think this is so
accurate to the way that most people are
it's not like oh there's some Grand
missing thing in my life but you took
that first action so codify this for me
or or for anybody that wants they don't
know what their ideal life looks like
they just know that they're not living
it yet so uh step number one is take it
seriously to find out if the hypothesis
is true or not you have to take the um
the the experiment you have to to do it
sincerely um what comes after that I
think even one step before that is is
opening yourself up to new role models
and new experiences see we live in Echo
Chambers we're just surrounded by the
same thinking how often do you bump into
a monk you know it just doesn't happen
you don't have no one has a dinner party
and goes oh yeah we just invited the
monk you know from town like the local
monk like no one ever does that and so
we meet people who are just like us most
of the time and we talk about this in
business all the time if you want to be
a billionaire spend time with
billionaires if you want to be a
millionaire spend time with millionaires
if you want to be a tech startup spend
time with you know that's that's the
common rhetoric that we hear all the
time but what if you want to find
purpose and master the mind there's no
one better than a monk who's mastered
the mind so so for me the first step is
just opening yourself up to new
experiences and new Role Models because
most of us can't see
ourselves in people so then we try and
fit ourselves into the boxes that we do
see and and I mean there's this
beautiful quote that I I've been saying
it everywhere and I wish I wrote it but
I didn't so it's by a philosopher and
writer named kulie and he said that
today I'm not what I think I am I'm not
what you think I am I am what I think
you think I am right and just let that
blow your mind for a moment it's uh it's
so powerful I'm not what I think I am
I'm not what you think I am I am what I
think you you think I am so we live in
this perception of a perception of
ourselves hence my identity is made by
what my parents think I should be my
identity is made up by what my college
or university thinks I should achieve
while you're living in that bubble and
that Echo chamber getting to what you
really want to do is impossible because
maybe that just doesn't fit and I think
so many people feel that way today that
they don't fit into the current
education system they don't fit with the
three or four or five careers that
you're taught exist so that process of
self- excavation and actualization first
requires being exposed you can't be what
you can't see if I never saw a monk I
would never have wanted to be a monk if
I never meet a billionaire I wouldn't
want to be one because I wouldn't know
what that feels like I don't know what
it looks like I don't know what it takes
and and I think that's the biggest
challenge of our society that we're not
exposed so that's the first step being
exposed to Unique experiences and role
models
second step is finding that experience
or role model that you're passionate
about and exactly like you said taking
it seriously Shadow them network with
them spend time with them observe them
even from afar it takes that observation
being addicted to observing that
person's
lifestyle and then the third step is
going yes or no does that work for me
not everyone who's going to go off and
become a monk is going to feel like the
way I did and that's cool but not
everyone is going to go and follow and
Shadow a billionaire and go that's
exactly the lifestyle I want they may
want the result but do they want the
hard work that goes with it and so for
me that's the third step it's observing
focusing shadowing getting as close to
the process of that individual and then
going yes or no do I want that process
not do I want the result everyone wants
to be that monk who's fully enlightened
you know can walk through has an
incredible aura that people just
gravitate towards but when you realize
he has to wake up at 2: a.m. every day
and sleeps about 4 to 6s you're like ah
you know I don't want to do that that
that doesn't sound like me all right so
a couple things one you said he's as
powerful as he is Define power for me
power being so from a Mon's perspect
perspective the greatest power is to be
self-controlled to be able to train the
mind and energy to focus it exactly
where you want it and when you want it
to be you are completely detached and
undeterred from external ups and downs
you you're able to navigate anything
that
seems tough challenging fun excitement
with the same amount of being equipoised
and balanced in Equanimity without being
too excited in pleasure or being too
depressed in pain but knowing how to
navigate every situation to me that's
great strength and great power um I
heard in one of your talks you were
saying that if you look at um a a
literal Lifeline a heartbeat for
instance you know it's it's up and it's
down and people have this sense that
something like Enlightenment would be
that um the equinity forever and just an
even Keel and you said but what what
does that resemble it resembles a
flatline when you die correct so what is
it like what I love about you is you
sort of went into the Wilderness of
being a monk but you've brought it back
to the real world cuz when you talk
about a monk you talk about them being
detached and that to me seems like the
only real way to have that sort of super
even ke existence which is not appealing
to me personally so if you're bringing
back that notion of power of having
control over yourself not letting your
emotions take you everywhere but knowing
that life is is the series of ups and
downs what does that power look like
when it's brought back absolutely and
actually that's the whole aim of Monk
training it's it's more like a training
system than it is a lifelong commitment
it is bringing that mindset into the
real world where you get to test it now
I got to do that for real when I left
being a monk around five years ago
and when I left it was like oh my God
I'm in the real world now again real
world I have to think about how to apply
all this I'm going to test for real all
this stuff that I've learned and I was
scared like I was nervous I was anxious
and all those things that I've been
trained not to be rushed back because
For the first time in my life I had to
really put it into practice and I love
that feeling I'm so glad that I had to
do that so for me actually the mindset
is
completely trainable to bring it into
the real world that's that's what I'm
trying to do and and what it allows you
to do is it allows you to grain Clarity
and perspective when you need it because
you know when you can just take a bird's
iew from something you know when you
need to get close into something you
know when you need to pull back from
something there's a beautiful verse in
the bhagad Gita that says that
Detachment is not that you own nothing
Detachment is that nothing owns you and
and I love it because to me that
summarized is Detachment in a way that
it's not usually explained usually
people see Detachment as being away from
everything actually the greatest
Detachment is being close to everything
and not letting it consume and own you
and that's real power that's real
strength how many people do we know that
have had Fame and then that Fame has
ruined them so for me that definition of
Detachment is possible to practice even
in the real world rather than saying oh
I'm just going to have a really simple
life I'm just going to have nothing in
life what was the best part about being
a monk the best part about being a monk
is that your morning routine and
practices are so powerful that you can
actually Aspire for more incredible
values in life because your mind is
clear because your mind is clear and you
have that ability to have more clarity
so you can seek that what is Which is
higher so I'll give an example of what I
mean Define is that what you're about to
Define what is higher yes exactly so for
me
being able to overcome ego being able to
overcome Envy being able to overcome
jealousy being a able to overcome the
negative of competitive State there's a
positive competitive State and there's a
negative competitive state today when
people are looking on Instagram or
Facebook or YouTube all you're looking
at is oh she got that many likes or he
got that many likes she got engaged or
he got married or oh my God look at her
body or look at that and it's like that
stuff's destroying us inside Envy
jealousy ego greed to be able to have
enough Clarity to purify yourself of
those things is going to
alleviate the biggest anxieties and
depressions of our time and mental
health problems and and we know that we
know that because all the mental health
research today suggests that things like
isolation overexposure we now can have
more pain consumption in one day because
of what we're exposed to than the pain
we would have had in a lifetime that's
huge like that's that's ridiculous to
think that in one day because of the
media news and social media we consume
more negative than we did in a lifetime
for me being able to have time energy
and Clarity to focus on self-
purification that is the best thing
about being a monk because you have that
time reflection and a process and an
environment that only allows you to
become more purified of those things so
if I was the interviewer that I wanted
to be I would have asked you this
question when we were on the topic but
I'm going to go back just because it's
important enough um you gave us the
three ways that you can really construct
your ideal life but Define an ideal Life
For Me mhm so in an ideal life for me is
a life and this applies to a company an
organization an institution for me is an
ideal life is when we all have a head a
heart and a hand all three elements
together working in alignment without
one or the other we start to lose
something if you only have a head and a
heart you'll find that life is stable
and Define each yeah sure sure sure sure
so a head is the clarity of vision what
you want what you want knowing what you
want the way you picture life and being
able to navigate and make the decisions
to get there that's a good head a good
heart is being able to understand what
your intuition and heart wants being
able to connect and tap into that
understanding deeper and Beyond The
Vision you may have painted for yourself
so I often say to people that you'll get
to where you want in life just not in
the way you imagined and that's because
the path that's paved up and down is far
different to the path we pave so you can
have a great head and a great vision and
a great Mission and know where you want
to go but if your heart's not able to
have that resilience and be able to
adapt
AP and and have compassion and care and
all of that then then you're not going
to be able to make the toughest
decisions without your heart but to be
able to realize that we need to care and
be sustainable and long lasting requires
a heart and a hand is that service
wanting to pass that on that which you
have wanting to give it Forward pay it
forward the idea of serving with what
you have I often say to people your
passion is for you your purpose is for
others your passion makes you happy but
when you use your passion to make a
difference in someone else's life that's
a service that's a purpose and that's
the hand so those are my three elements
of an ideal
life I like that a lot and I when you
first said it and I'm glad you def find
it cuz when you first said it I thought
the heart was going to be the part about
like you know just compassion and caring
for others doing something for other
people um but I like that the hand um
being tied to service so one thing that
I think a lot of about is deep
fulfillment like really when I think
about okay what is a life we're living
honestly it comes down to neurochemistry
for me and it comes down to experiencing
this world in a way that optimizes for
for sustainable pleasure which I'll
differentiate between a bowl of ice
cream a bump of cocaine those are
pleasurable and I I haven't done the
cocaine but the ice cream I can speak
for I've done both good so I'll trust
that it's it holds up um but they they
don't bring a lasting fulfillment it's
not sustainable right so both of them
end up creating this self-destructive
Loop and purpose really does become that
thing that gives you something that is
on a neurochemical level deeply
satisfying absolutely and how much of
this
like how did you marry the deeply
spiritual the often abstract often times
I'll hear spiritual speakers talking and
I feel them sort of drifting off into
the ether how did you marry that to
experimentation Neuroscience
practicality like one why do you find
that interesting and then two what are
you doing with that I've always been
fascinated by why people do what they do
and whenever I was reading these books
that are 5,000 years old my greatest
Fascination was finding a principle and
finding its relevance in modern science
and I said to myself the day I can't
find that I'll quit I won't believe in
this anymore so I'm still doing that and
ready to quit if someone shows me a
piece of Science and I can't find a
principle in these ancient literatures
or actually what I like to call these
Timeless literatures then I'll give up
my faith because for me it has to track
forward and I'll give you a really basic
example today we're in the Gratitude
movement there's like a million
gratitude journals out there there's a
million scientific studies on gratitude
and gratitude has been linked to better
mental health self-awareness better
relationships I mean there's so so many
scientific studies on the on the neuro
level that shows that gratitude is great
for your mind brain and fulfillment now
I look back like gratitude is all over
the Timeless wisdom one of the first
things we were trained to do when we
were a monk was to pay our respects to
the Earth for what it gives us and you
do that first thing in the morning what
is that if not gratitude when you wake
up in the morning you thank the Earth
for the food you thank the Earth for the
water you thank the Earth for allowing
yourself to walk you start your day with
gratitude today the biggest tip on
Forbes and Inc and everything is start
your day with gratitude like where does
it come from it's it's right there these
things are old so I I get fascinated I'm
intrigued by the parallels and patterns
because it saves you time it's the same
way as which if I say that this business
person got invested by this company and
that's why they're successful because
they had the right investors Etc that's
a pattern so I know if I'm building a
business in that area I'm going to look
for investors like that it's the same
thing that pattern saves you time rather
than you trying to figure out does
gratitude work how shall I be grateful
creating your own process almost it's
really interesting life has taught me to
stop believing everything I think uh and
the way that it's taught me that is by
relentlessly punishing me every time I
overinvestment
um of the AC mhm and I was like that
doesn't make sense and she was like no
no no my My grandmother used to just
swear up and down if you if you're hot
and you stand in front of a fan that
you're going to get sick and I was like
that is the biggest load of like crap I
ever heard in my life that does not make
sense like getting sick comes from
either bacteria or virus like it's that
simple and she was like I'm just saying
this my grandma always said and it seems
true to me and I was just like oh God
this is exhausting and then one time I
went to a doctor and I was like yeah and
my wife is crazy and thinks that um when
you're hot if you stand in front of AC
it'll make you sick and he goes oh yeah
she's right and I was like hold on and
he was like well she's sort of right
he's like this is what's happening you
have a mucus layer membrane in your
throat that's it keeps it moist keeps
germs from being able to break the break
through the barrier and so they get
trapped they go to your stomach they're
killed by the acid or whatever and he
said but if you get a crack in that then
the the bacteria or virus can actually
get into your bloodstream and that's how
you get sick and it's just cying her
throat out and I was like w and it was
one of those moments where I was like
how many wives tales are true like
directionally they're not accurate but
they're true if you see what I mean and
so that's how I think when you think of
a book that's lasted as long as it as it
has and I know you and I we've never
talked about this but we share a real
Fascination for storytelling yes because
it's a way to convey an idea that
resonates emotionally and allows people
to carry it on and pass it on and
obviously this all starts long before we
have science and proove any of this but
we see the patterns we need a way to
encapsulate the pattern we encapsulate
it in a story the story is in and of
itself totally fake but now in a modern
context we're getting lost in that the
the story is fake even though the
take-home message is incredibly powerful
yes and so as I I mean it's the classic
story right the more you learn the less
you realize you know MH and just as I've
gotten older and really started to
understand the stuff and read as much as
I do and quite frankly live and uer and
go through things like my wife having
microbiome issues and at first thinking
her all of her descriptions make
absolutely no sense and then you you
stop passing a judgment on it and start
saying what if everything she's saying
is actually true like what how would we
treat it then right absolutely and so
there is something really fascinating
there now I find myself I'm way more
emotionally drawn to the science because
when I can picture it I have a much
easier time doing something about it so
when you were talking about the things
that you learned from meditation
I've gotten tremendous value out of
meditation but it's nothing like what
you've learned so for me it was once I
understood that diaphragm breathing made
sense because it triggers the
parasympathetic nervous system then
because I understood it it like was the
understanding becomes a force multiplier
absolutely all right let's talk about
Behavioral Science
self-awareness watching your content
which have you ever looked at how much
content you've put out no it's a lot
dude like when you search your name like
to go cuz I I normally try to watch like
basically everything and I was like I
give up it's just it's really incredible
um and going through that stuff it seems
really clear to me that you have massive
self-awareness MH and what would you say
like is a is there a process for people
to gain more self-awareness and then
what are from a behavioral um uh you
know just human behavior level what are
things that trip up the average person
the first answer I mean I'm a huge fan
of the book thinking fast and slow I
don't know how if you've read it yeah
it's a great book because for me it's
got a really close pattern connection
again to what I studied so just
understanding system one and system two
if anyone watching hasn't read it I
highly recommend it just being able to
differentiate between system one and
system two as Daniel kman calls it in
the viic philosophy we call
differentiating between the mind and the
intelligence knowing how to
differentiate the voices in your head is
the first level of self-awareness so
break down what system 1 and system two
are absolutely so system one is your
initial response to anything that
happens it's it's a stop that I can't
really say so if you say something I
don't like my system one naturally would
be a face that I pull that I'm like I
don't agree with that that's that's an
understanding of what system one in it's
your initial default reaction in the
moment that can be positive often for
example if someone pulls out a knife you
feel scared and you run that's system
one that's a good thing it's it's safe
for you but also system one is someone
says something that hurts your ego and
you start defending yourself immediately
that's also that's a negative of system
one that we would refer to as the mind
it's built up of conditioning those
responses are conditioned those default
elements are all there because of habit
and continuous practice the system two
is more like the intelligence what I
would say is more like the parent if you
can consider system one to be more like
a child system two is more like a parent
it looks more at the longterm it looks
more at the bigger picture it processes
that default reaction through a set of
checking and metrics to decide whether
that's true the child is the the one
that wants everything right away
impatient quickly responding straight
away reacting when it doesn't get what
he wants the intelligent parent and good
one knows what the child wants and needs
and what's better for it in the long
term just starting there and being able
to reflect and observe the different
voices inside of us is a great place to
start your self awareness because the
biggest challenge is that most of us
don't know what we're listening to and
we don't most of us don't even know that
there are more than one voice inside of
us just getting over that line is a huge
win because now at least you're trying
to
differentiate in what you're hearing and
that's going to help you make better
decisions in the future so that was
answer one does that answer your
question and second one was
what um so that's awareness how can what
are like typical things that trip people
up that so in your answer just now it's
like okay if you want to become more
aware just know that those two things
are happening right you're going to have
an initial response and then one that's
more calculated now be aware of these
two or three things that are also coming
for you MH the biggest challenge is that
there's just so much noise it's like
have you ever had someone in your home
maybe it's your wife or maybe it's a
friend or whatever just play a really
bad song too often right just playing a
song that you really don't like actually
heard my wife laugh because she knows
how guilty she right okay there you go
right there you go and you just play a
song and just you know turn that off and
after a while it's been on for so long
that you you become immune to it like
it's just there and it's still on it's
there in the back of your mind and you
didn't manage to turn it off so the
noise that I describe in life whether
it's your parents expectations whether
it's society's expectations whether it's
your partner's expectations all of those
are like noise in the background and
that noise drowns out your ability to
understand the mind and the intelligence
that's one of the biggest trip UPS I was
looking at I gave a presentation called
build a life not a resume it's also one
of my popular videos but very good video
by thank you man thank you so much and
when I did the research so you don't see
this in the video CU This research
didn't make it into the video but the
research that I was doing was around the
most common resume lies the truth is
over 40 to 50 p % of us lie on our
resumes yeah if you don't you're missing
an opportunity I'll just say that yeah
there you go right so and and I started
to dig deeper and I was looking at you
know a lot of people lie about their
dates of employment so instead of 3 days
it's now 3 months you know whatever it
may be now I dug deeper and I wanted to
meet some of these people and speak to
people and so I spoke to people who lie
on their resumes and we know that at
least 40 to 50% tell us they do you know
the thing is no one was proud of that no
one no one was like yeah yeah I know I'm
going to get really what it came down to
we're really insecure about our own
abilities really what it came down to is
we're not confident about what we have
to offer what it came down to is a lack
of self-awareness what it came down to
is a lack of understanding what am I
good at what am I passionate about what
am I bringing to the table that's what
people were really worried about they
were worried about the job but when you
dug beneath the surface the real
behavioral trait that was coming out was
insecurity and being unconfident about
one's potential that that tells us a lot
that indicates a lot about human
behavior and human nature that the noise
from
outside makes us want to fit into a
container and that stops us from
differentiating between what is my mind
saying and what is my intelligence
saying and what happens is that noise
becomes your voice so that noise becomes
what you think is what you're saying and
most people don't realize that until 10
20 30 years down the line how the hell
do you like figure out so your analogy
is great so the song's on you don't even
realize it's there anymore it becomes
total White Noise you're oblivious to it
in fact you'll only notice it if it gets
turned off correct so how do they
identify that like do you have a process
for that how do you hear the thing that
you no longer hear so that you can shut
it off yeah absolutely one of the
biggest ones and we say this all the
time but it applies mostly to this is
switching your Association is s
Association to what the people that you
hang hang out with right it's like
changing your circle because if you're
only hearing the same thing from that
Circle the only way to turn it off
without you having to do Mass amounts of
reflection
is changing your circle where you start
hearing we all ultimately find the
things we want to hear right we know
that all right right now in real time
you and I are going to do some cool
okay let's do it let's do it all right
so I created like a little um piece of
content for Alexa where I was like okay
what are the the four questions that you
can ask to get CU you and I use
different words but I think we're saying
the same thing so I call them invisible
beliefs so everybody has invisible
beliefs and they're totally with
you noise yeah so they're controlling
your life mhm and the only way to get
them to stop controlling your life is
actually figure out what they are and so
I gave four questions that two of them I
just straight stole from Albert Einstein
what are they um and it's the most
important decision every person will
make in their life is whether they live
in a friendly or a hostile universe so
just make it a question right do you
live in a friendly or hostile universe
and so the the point I'll go through all
four but the point was that if you ask
these four question questions and
they're just the tip of the iceberg but
if you ask these four questions you're
going to begin to identify your frame of
reference basically just trying to get
people to frame themselves is either
optimistic or pessimistic which I think
is sort of the the big ham-handed like
first thing you need to become aware of
so first um do you live in a hostile or
friendly Universe another Einstein one
is everything a miracle or is nothing a
miracle right because you get to choose
absolutely so neither one of those is
objectively real but you pick and it's
really going to color how you I love it
yeah um and then number number three can
you do anything you set your mind to
without limitation or are there certain
things you can't comprehend um and then
number four I'm forgetting right now so
I won't waste time because you get the
yeah I get it I love them they're
brilliant brilliant questions so what
like they're woefully incomplete so what
could we add to that that would really
bring this home for people so if that
gets them optimistic pessimistic what
what other at a really high level sure
what are other things that people could
immediately switch or in fact would
immediately switch if they change you
know the people that they're hanging
around but like let's really get real
about what some of those things are so
optimism pessimism what else so for me
there was two questions that I had to
ask myself that that really changed what
I do one of my big questions is what
advice would I give to my younger self
is huge because I think that's the stuff
that we regret that's the stuff that we
wish we were doing that's the stuff that
has been lost in the noise when you ask
someone what advice would you give to
your younger self the number one answer
is I wish I st studied this I wish I
tried this out I wish I gave this a go
you know those are the all things that
somebody didn't do yeah it's all things
that things people didn't do it's always
like something that either should have
started or didn't continue and that's
really tapping into someone's voice
right that's really tapping into what
someone really wants to do and you're
going Way Beyond just like oh what do
you like what are you passionate about
so hard to answer that sometimes
especially if you're drowning does that
add to your question or it's really
interesting but now I need to know what
your answer was so I used to be uh I
used to do a lot of spoken word when I
grew up I read the dictionary I read the
thesaurus I loved language that's what I
was fascinated by and for some reason I
gave it up then I found out about monk
life became a monk and then almost back
10 years on at 28 I was going I asked
myself that question and my answer was I
miss words I miss expressiveness I miss
sharing a message and stories through
incredible language and ideas potential
Rhymes but flow and all of these things
so that was the answer to my question
one of the biggest answers was I wish I
never stopped writing when did you ask
that question I was actually 28 so two
years ago two years ago here's the thing
man I will tell you right now that your
content your content is like the modern
version of spoken word so I don't know
if that's on purpose or an accident but
like it was an accident watching it I
was like like if
he is doing this off the cuff I have to
hate myself a little yeah and if he's
writing it down he performs it so well
that it feels off the cuff but it's the
very impressive thank you man you're so
kind I'm genuinely touched coming from
no no here's the thing like look and and
uh I love giving compliments when
they're real but more importantly you
compliment the thing that you want to
reinforce in somebody so you've got a
mission I find it very interesting which
is can we make knowledge my word I don't
remember what word you use wisdom
perfect so can we make wisdom spread as
far and as fast as entertainment which
is so similar to what I'm trying to
change people's beliefs through
entertainment so I recognized the
kindred soul right away and then just
watching the content I'm like whoo like
it's I'm not surprised the number of
views that you've gotten because it's
songs work because they make you feel an
emotion but they also tap into whatever
it is about humans whatever it is that
we con through Rhythm um so and and
before the cameras were rolling we were
talking about it so the one thing that
makes me very uncomfortable I do this
thing called impact quotes and impact
quotes is the first time where I allowed
myself to perform where I'm knowingly I
would not say it like this if you and I
were standing next to each other right
this is for the camera I know how it's
going to be edited I know we're going to
add music to it so it is a performance
but it's also some of our best
performing content so it's like what you
were saying earlier about look I just
accept that that not everybody Geeks out
on neuroscience and so I have to
understand like who my audience is and
give them something in in a way that
will then resonate and go viral
absolutely and so I think acknowledging
that really interesting so anyway I I'm
responding just to what you were saying
about that because your life seems to be
an echo of that answer all right so
there's a few more things I have to get
to I'm here I'm here I'm I'm loving this
and if you're loving it that's even
better yeah 100% so there are three
questions that you get asked a lot what
are they the big one is how do i f my
passion okay and you can tell me the you
I need you to answer each one of them
yeah but if you want to run through what
each of the questions are and then we'll
go back or sure yeah no I'll just do
them as they are perfect so how do I
find my passion my simple model which is
the Dharma model it also Dharma means
Eternal Duty in the Vic tradition it's
very similar to what ikigai is being
spoken about today which is the Japanese
version of Reason for being why do we
live where is meaning coming from and it
talks about an intersect of four areas
what am I good at what do I love what
does the world need and how do I get
paid for it to me those four help you
unlock your passion when you find the
intersect across all of those four
you're making your passion your purpose
you'll unlock your passion you'll find
your purpose this is path one there's
two paths path one I find my skill set
and I engage it to help other people and
become better at it so I'm becoming
better at what I'm good at and I'm using
it to help other people because I'm
aware of what I'm quite good at and I
know what what knowledge I have what
skills I have I have some
self-awareness the other path that
people often miss is actually I just
start serving people I just start
helping people and I start to notice
what I enjoy about that and what I'm
good at helping people with so that's
Gandhi's part Gandhi said that you find
yourself when you lose yourself in the
service of others so for me those are
the two Paths of how do I find my
passion and finding the intersect
between those four areas love that and
the second one is Jay my relationship's
falling apart I get asked that all the
time so the answer to that is much
harder it's it's harder to summarize it
but I always start with
self-actualization that the problem is
we have a list for the one that we
want and we don't have a list for what
we need to become and I don't mean
become to attract I mean become to just
be to just get to understand yourself
you don't know what you need in your
life until you figure out who you are
and so I find too many people Rush into
relationships Without Really recognizing
and being fully aware of what they need
from a relationship so it all comes back
to how aware are you how much
understanding do you have of yourself
and what you need and what you want
that's my best advice for relationship
in like a minute and and then the third
question I mostly get asked is Jay what
do you read like what are your favorite
books because it seems you read a lot
what are your top three books they're
not groundbreaking in the sense that
people may not be like oh my God that's
the best book I've ever read for me they
changed my life so that's where I'm
coming at a point from I love start with
Why by Simon cynic and not because I
applied it to businesses because I
applied it to my life and even today I'm
constantly refining my why that's all I
do every day my deepest morning routine
and practice is to refine why I do what
I do it's so easy for me to now do it
for money it's so easy for me to now do
it for followers it's so easy for me to
now do it for fame and every day I have
to refine that because I know having
lived as a monk and what I practice that
if those become what I want then I'll
forget who I need to be so my daily
practice and my daily routine is
refining my intention which in modern
language is why so for me Simon's book
helped me do that the badita which I
would love to do for VC knowledge what
Ryan's done for stoicism and the badita
over 5,000 years old and that book
really exemplifies human challenge third
book I'd say this one's going to be hard
cuz it's the last one let me think I'm
going to try to throw something else in
there so I've done one like
self-development one more spiritual
enlightenment let me throw a business
book in seeing as I'm sure you have a
lot of business viewers I love the book
exponential organizations I don't know
if you read it it's by Saleem ishal and
the singularity University and that that
book for me is an incredible analysis of
the success of all the organizations we
see ruling our phone today the way it
breaks down their business models and
how they were created to me it's
fascinating so if anyone really wants to
start up a exponential business today
then that's where they have to go and
that's when Peter diamandis said that if
you want to be a billionaire redefining
it as someone who impacts the lives of a
billion people and and that's what that
business book is really about is do you
create an exponential organization that
positively impacts a billion people so
those are my three for today it's pretty
good uh yeah so all right I've got one
more three that I want to hear you talk
about your three e oh what are they why
do they matter so for me my three e are
element environment and energy everyone
has an element that they thrive in if
you take someone out of it their element
they won't be the same a modern day
example would be Michael Jordan he was
incredible at B BB you took him out of
basketball put him into baseball no one
remembers his career we're talking about
one of the best athletes of all time
your environment is the environment
around you you can take a fish out of
water and give it a beautiful mansion
and a Bentley and all the money in the
world but it would die and that's what
we are like our environment everyone
needs an environment which they Thrive
which we have to craft your boss if
you're at work is never going to ask you
hey what what environment do you succeed
in right like that never happens so we
have to create an environment where we
Thrive and then finally it's energy we
some of us love high energy environments
high pressure some of us succeed in low
energy environments and low pressure
figuring out your energy and the
frequency on which you operate best will
help you thrive as well so for me those
are the three ease to really create a
thriving environment know your element
know your environment and know your
energy and so at at all times if I see
anything going wrong I'm going is my
element out of alignment is my
environment out out of alignment or is
my energy out of alignment and that's a
great three question test you can do to
yourself when you don't think things are
going right and all you have to do is
bring that back into alignment I love
that all right before I ask my last
question where can these guys find you
online absolutely you can find me my
favorite place for you to find me if you
see the most stuff is Facebook I'm Jetty
on Instagram I'm J Shetty as well those
are my two Bas uh two best places
YouTube as well J Shetty uh Twitter
Jetty so it's just yes J Shetty on any
platform that you're on I'm probably
there awesome all right what's the
impact that you want to have on the
world I think you've you've you've said
it so beautifully so many times and
shared my vision which is wonderful and
it's wonderful to know that we we share
the same thing it's making wisdom go
viral there's an incredible study in
2017 that said the most successful
people in the world healthy wealthy and
Wise choose education over
entertainment the impact I want to have
on the world is I want to transform and
revolutionize the entertainment industry
so that it becomes educational without
anyone knowing so it's still completely
entertaining it's still like watching
Netflix but you're learning about human
behavior the Mind neuroscience and
everything without even knowing you are
to me that's the greatest win that we
can have for our society how many people
are going to quit watching Netflix and
reading a book every night I don't know
but if we can make that book come to
life on Netflix that's going to change
the world because that's what people are
going to consume so for so long media
has been used to numb people to to
switch people off if we can use it to
excite Elevate Enlighten people not by
just not by like the cheesy way of like
oh let's follow someone through their
journey of enlightenments and all like
that kind of stuff I mean like really
entertaining programming where you can
learn by being entertained at the same
time if I can do that by changing the
the most powerful industry in the world
then I will feel that I've had some
somewhat of an impact because that way I
think we'll reach the world without
having to get around to change their
habits too much my my thing is how do we
meet people where they are and and
really deliver a message and a
powerful expression of love and to me
that's the highest form of compassion
the highest form of empathy love and
compassion is to meet people where they
already are rather than expecting them
to change and yeah that's the impact I'd
like to have on the world so fingers
crossed with your help with the help of
everyone who's watching you know it's
going to be a team effort I can't do it
on my own I'm not expecting to but yeah
that's that's the impact I'd like to
have on the world that's awesome man
thank you so much for being on the show
incredible thank you thank you all
right guys I'm telling you when you look
at a tribe of people everybody has
different roles and there's always
somebody whose job it is to go out to
experience the world to bring back the
wisdom in a form that has been digested
and made easy for other people to take
away J shett is that man go watch his
content it is somebody who has gone out
into the world who's been among who's
worked at Accenture and everywhere in
between and come back with a real
ability to explain what is going on and
he does it from a position of not trying
to uh seem smarter than you or better
than you but just that that's his role
some people are musicians some people
are the doctors and some people break
down the information I really think he
has unique access to the wisdom as he
calls it to understand what people are
trying to encapsulate in the books
modern or ancient and his ability to
articulate that in a way that feels like
um modern rap spoken word whatever you
want to think of it as it it is in and
of itself uh an artistic creation so you
cannot go wrong diving into it it is not
a mistake that he's had over a billion
views in less than 12 months which is
insanity so go check his stuff out hit
him up ask him questions keep an eye
because I think he's going to be one of
the greats at really digesting that
information and really helping wisdom go
viral all right guys if you haven't
already be sure to subscribe and until
next time my friends be legendary Take
Care thank you
so hey everybody thank you so much for
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