Jay Shetty

Jay Shetty (born 6 September 1987) is an English author, former monk, and life coach of Indian descent. As the host of the podcast On Purpose, his guests have included Alicia Keys, Khloe Kardashian, and Kobe Bryant, resulting in 64 million downloads. He has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh and Today to discuss mental health and life purpose.

Jay Shetty in 2019

Quotes

Jay Shetty, Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day (2020)

• Negativity is a trait, not someone’s identity. A person’s true nature can be obscured by clouds, but, like the sun, it is always there. And clouds can overcome any of us. We have to understand this when we deal with people who exude negative energy. Just like we wouldn’t want someone to judge us by our worst moments, we must be careful not to do that to others. When someone hurts you, it’s because they’re hurt. Their hurt is simply spilling over. They need help. And as the Dalai Lama says, “If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

• Remember, saying whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, is not freedom. Real freedom is not feeling the need to say these things.

• When we accept the temporary nature of everything in our lives, we can feel gratitude for the good fortune of getting to borrow them for a time.

• When you try to live your most authentic life, some of your relationships will be put in jeopardy. Losing them is a risk worth bearing; finding a way to keep them in your life is a challenge worth taking on.

• It feels good to be around people who are good for us; it doesn't feel good to be around people who don't support us or bring out our bad habits.

• When we criticize others, we can't help but notice the bad in ourselves. But when we look for the good in others, we start to see the best in ourselves too.

• Negativity is a trait, not someone's identity. A person's true nature can be obscured by clouds, but, like the sun, it is always there. And clouds can overcome any of us. We have to understand this when we deal with people who exude negative energy. Just like we wouldn't want someone to judge us by our worst moments, we must be careful not to do that to others. When someone hurts you, it's because they're hurt. Their hurt is simply spilling over. They need help.

• The more we define ourselves in relation to the people around us, the more lost we are.

• We think freedom means that we can pursue all our desires. Real freedom is letting go of things not wanted, the unchecked desires that leas us to unwanted ends.

• Transformational forgiveness is linked to a slew of health improvements including: fewer medications taken, better sleep quality, and reduced somatic symptoms including back pain, headache, nausea, and fatigue. Forgiveness eases stress, because we no longer recycle the angry thoughts, both conscious and subconscious, that stressed us out in the first place.

• The less time you fixate on everyone else, the more time you have to focus on yourself.

• Fear motivates us. Sometimes it motivates us toward what we want, but sometimes, if we aren't careful, it limits us with what we think will keep us safe.

• Instead of forever climbing the mountain of success, we need to descend into the valley of our true selves to weed out false beliefs.