On Purpose with Jay Shetty - My First Book: Think Like A Monk - Train Your Mind For Peace & Purpose Every Day

Episode Date: October 11, 2019

14 years ago I started my personal journey with meditation, learning, self development and personal growth. For a decade, I’ve shared my thoughts on psychology, philosophy, behavioral science and spirituality. I distilled all the above into this book. If you want to master the mind, who do you go to? Monks. In this episode we’ll dive into the themes of the book which will help you build a life on your own terms. https://thinklikeamonkbook.com/A Word From Our Sponsors:https://zapier.com/JAY for your free 14-day trial.https://blinkist.com/jay try it FREE for 7 days AND save 25% off your newsubscription.$49 deal at https://tryveestro.com/JAYReceive 15% off at https://foursigmatic.com/PURPOSE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Eva Longoria. And I'm Maite Gomes-Rajon. We're so excited to introduce you to our new podcast, Hungry For History! On every episode, we're exploring some of our favorite dishes, ingredients, beverages from our Mexican culture. We'll share personal memories and family stories, decode culinary customs, and even provide a recipe or two

for you to try at home. Listen to Hungry For History on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Brendan Francis Nunehm. I'm a journalist, a wanderer, and a bit of a bon vivant, but mostly a human just trying to figure out what it's all about. And not lost is my new podcast about all those things.

It's a travel show where each week I go with a friend to a new place and to really understand it, try to get invited to a local's house for dinner. Where kind of trying to get invited to a dinner party, it doesn't always work out. Ooh, I have to get back to you. Listen to not lost on the iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Munga Shatekler and it turns out astrology is way more widespread than any of us want to believe. You can find it in major league baseball, international banks, K-pop groups, even the White House. But just when I thought I had a handle on this subject, something completely unbelievable happened to me and my whole view on astrology changed. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, give me a few minutes because I think your ideas are about to change too. Listen to Skyline Drive on the iHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We think the further we run away from fear, the less you have to deal with it, the less it affects you, but actually the more perspective is to get intimate with fear. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. My name is Jay Shetty and today this week is a really, really exciting week and really, really exciting day for me because I get to share with you something that I've been working on for such a long time.

Now, if you saw the announcement around three days ago, thank you so much for joining in. Now, if you're wondering, Jay, what are you even talking about? Like, what is this all about? Let me know. Or maybe you heard about it, but you've had a busy week, you've had a long week, you've been disconnected. Well, I can't wait to share with you because this week on Tuesday, we announced that my first ever book was available for pre-order across the world.

The book is called Think Like A Monk. Train your mind for peace and purpose every day. And the response has been absolutely phenomenal. And I want to thank each and every one of you who've already pre-ordered for all of that love online. We went to straight, like we went straight to the number one bestselling book in India, the number one bestselling book in the UK. We went up to the number fifth bestselling book in the US, number one on the Movers and Shakers list, number 1 in Meditation and so many other spaces within 12 hours of the book launching. So I want to thank you all for showing up, for representing, for being there for the

book. And in today's podcast, I want to give you a deep dive on the 12 key lessons from the book because I want to share with you the insights that are coming your way and why they're so powerful. Today I want to give you an inside look behind the scenes feel of why I wrote the book, what the book is all about and how I see it serving and helping you. So if you're excited to learn a bit more about the book today, it's kind of like a pre-excited for the pre-order and I really really hope that a lot of you are going to go ahead and pre-order the book. If you want to, it's at thinklikeamunkbook.com where you can pre-order the book right now across the world from all the different places online, wherever you can imagine ordering good books from, we're there. It's thinklikeamunkbook.com. So here we go. 14 years ago, I started my journey,

my personal journey of meditation, of learning, self development, personal realization, personal growth. And I started that journey, which is now 14 years ago. And in that journey, I found so much, I found confidence. I found self-esteem. I found my passion. I found my purpose. I found the deepest things that I didn't even know I was seeking through this journey.

And very quickly in that journey, I realized that a big part of my passion and purpose was serving others and giving it to others. And so I was sharing this at universities and at local events and in small groups for so many years, right, for almost a decade. I was speaking to groups of 10 to 20 to 30 to 40 people, just inside small university rooms, sharing my thoughts around psychology, spirituality, philosophy, behavioral science.

And it would be amazing that a few students would gather, a few people would gather, people would really enjoy these sessions. And three years ago, I made the commitment to myself that I wanted to try and present the amazing wisdom I had learned, the amazing coaching that I had received, the incredible lessons I had learned from my mentors. I wanted to share that online through video.

And I wanted to share in a way that would be accessible, relevant, and innovative. And I truly genuinely believed I wanted to do it to serve. I thought that I would work, relevant, and innovative. And I truly genuinely believed I wanted to do it to serve. I thought that I would work my full-time job. I would make these videos on the evenings and weekends. And I would share them with people because they'd help people realize that there were more people like them out there. And sometimes when you couldn't say something or put something to words, you'd have just shared a video and be like, this is what I'm thinking about. And thanks to each and every one of you, I started that journey three years ago. And whether you started subscribing or joining this podcast, and actually, let me just get this straight. Like, I don't see anyone

as a subscriber or a follower. I genuinely see you all as the community and family. Because I really believe that what we've built is a community with built a global community of conscious change makers and whether you join this community three years ago or whether you joined it three days ago or whether you joined it three hours ago or three minutes ago I just want to say thank you. I just want to take a moment to say thank you I'm deeply grateful to you I said this on my live the other day, but I mean it. I hope that one day I can meet you all face to face, that I can shake your hand, that I can look you in the eye, give you a hug and say thank you, because I love that together we've made wisdom go viral. And thanks to you,

some of those videos became the most viewed videos online, right? And then this year, in February 14th of 2019, we the podcast this podcast. They listen to right now and thanks to each and one of each and every one of you We've consistently been the number one health podcast in the world And today I'm sharing with you that my first ever book think like a monk is ready for pre-order So this journey is a journey. We've been on together this this journey is a journey that I'm so excited to continue with you and I can honestly say to you that it's just the beginning. I never thought any of this would happen. There was no plan or strategy in one sense of thinking that anything

would ever grow this way. I just wanted to serve and help people. And anytime I release new content or a new medium or now the book. For me, it's always about service. It's always about helping and supporting. So thank you for helping me serve. And I want to talk to you about a few things today. The first one is why think like a monk? And I know I've had so much amazing positive feedback on the title.

So many people are happy with the title, loving the title, loving the cover. But I want to explain to you, I want you to get the behind the scenes look and feel around the book. Like, why did I call it that? When did that title come to origination? So I actually thought of this title probably around three, three years ago.

And I remember sharing it some very close friends at that time. And the reason why I believe thinking like a monk was so powerful and important is that today we're living in a crazy chaotic world. There's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of stress, we all know that. But what I found through my monk training is that monks were able to remain centered, to remain balanced, to remain calm and still

in and amongst all that chaos, in and amongst all that pain and pressure. And I think about it kind of like this, like if you wanted to learn basketball, if you wanted to become an incredible basketball player, who would you go and learn from? Who would tell me now, who would you go and learn from? You'd probably want to learn from someone like

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, right? If you wanted to be the best tennis player in the world, you'd probably want to learn from Federer or Jockovich. If you wanted to be the best formula one racer in the world, you'd want to learn from Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton. If you wanted to master vulnerability, maybe you'd go learn from Brenner Brown. If you wanted to make transformational television, you'd probably go to Oprah. If you wanted to master business and investments, you'd go to Warren Buffett or Jeff Bezos. Well, if you want to master the mind, who do you go to?

Monks, that's my answer, right? You would go to monks. Why? Because monks have dedicated their life to mastering the mind. And the most amazing thing is that we try to master so many things in our life, our careers, our relationships, our families, our friends, our communication, our confidence, but all

of this starts and is processed through the mind. Even if our hearts, values and dreams are locked in our hearts, we can access that through the mind. So the mind is either uplifting you or pulling you down at any moment. So if we learn to master the mind, if we learn to navigate the mind, then we can learn to navigate our thoughts and of course, master our life. How's that New Year's Resolution coming along? You know, the one you made about paying off your pesky credit card debt and finally starting

to save a retirement. Well, you're not alone if you haven't made progress yet, roughly four in five New Year's resolutions fail within the first month or two. But that doesn't have to be the case for you and your goals. Our podcast, How to Money can help. That's right, we're two best buds who've been at it for more than five years now. And we want to see you achieve your money goals. And it's our goal to provide the information and encouragement you need to do it. We keep the show fresh by answering list of questions, interviewing experts and focusing

on the relevant financial news that you need to know about. Our show is Choc Full of the Personal Finance Knowledge that you need with guidance three times a week and we talk about debt payoff if, let's say you've had a particularly spend through a holiday season. We also talk about building up your savings, intelligent investing, and growing your income, no matter where you are on your financial journey, how do monies got your back? Millions of listeners have trusted us

to help them achieve their financial goals. Ensure that your resolution turns into ongoing progress. Listen to how to money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Debbie Brown. And my podcast deeply well is a soft place to land on your wellness journey. I hold conscious conversations with leaders and radical healers

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Heal and have more joy. My work is rooted in advanced meditation, metaphysics, spiritual psychology, energy healing, and trauma-informed practices. I believe that the more we heal and grow within ourselves, the more we are able to bring our creativity to life and live our purpose, which leads to community impact and higher consciousness for all beings. Deeply well with Debbie Brown is your soft place to land, to work on yourself without judgment, to heal, to learn, to grow, to become who you deserve to be. Deeply well is available now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Big love, Namaste. The therapy for Black Girls podcast is the destination for all things mental health, personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. Here, we have the conversations that help black women dig a little deeper into the most impactful relationships in our lives, those with our parents, our partners, our children, our friends, and most importantly, ourselves. We chat about things like what to do when a friendship ends, how to know when it's time to break up with your therapist, and

how to end the cycle of perfectionism. I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, and I can't wait for you to join the conversation every Wednesday. Listen to the Therapy for you to join the conversation every Wednesday. Listen to the therapy for Black Girls podcast on the I Heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Take good care. This is actually proven through so many scientific studies and research that I really want to share with you. I had the incredible opportunity to interview Matthew Rickard, not once, but twice, and produce some of his most incredible videos at the Huffington Post a few years

back, and I had the opportunity to meet him as well. And it's incredible because he took part in a 12-year brain study, and this was taking place at the University of Wisconsin by a neuroscientist named Richard Davidson. And it was all around compassion and meditation. And what Davidson actually did is that he got something like, I think it was like, over 250 sensors and put them onto Rickard's head and brain, like map in the brain.

And he was actually getting Rickard, Matthew Rickard to meditate on compassion. And what he found is that his mind was unusually, like incredibly light. And what they found even, you know, forward from this is that Matthew Ricard's brain was actually creating a level of gamma waves, right? And these gamma waves are linked to things like learning

and memory and attention. And David's and I actually said this. He said these were never reported before in neuroscience literature. And Matthew Ricard then went on to get the title of the happiest man in the world because he had the happiest brain. And I asked him about that on the show.

I remember we talked about it off camera as well. And he was saying, well, you know, that's a good media title, but he said he was a happy man and he had happy habits. And he talked about how, meditating on compassion, how changing his thought patterns, how rewiring the thoughts that came up in his mind

was such a big part of that. And so why I decided to write this book is because I believe that there are so many incredible lessons I learned during my time as a monk. And now none of you have to, you have to live like a monk, you have to dress like a monk, you have to give everything up like a monk, you have to go live on a mountain top,

but you can access the same mindset, the same thinking patterns, the same processes, in a simple way, right? You can access all of these in a relevant, innovative and accessible way, just from where you are doing the job that you do, not having to disappear, not having to leave your family and your friends,

not having to take that risk of moving to another place and giving up all your careers, but you can actually access that mindset, that powerful mindset that helps you find stillness, that helps you find calm, that helps you find what I say, train your mind for peace and purpose every day. How many of you right now put your hands up physically? I want you to raise your hands. How many of you would love to train your mind for peace every single day?

And when I say peace, I don't just mean like positive thinking, I don't mean positive psychology. I mean, training your mind for peace, right? When I say train your mind, I'm talking about it being a muscle habit, something that you can build, not something that you just access or have a moment of, something that you can consistently build and find in your life. So that's one of the key lessons in this book is how to train your mind for peace and purpose every day. And what I really focus on in this book is I focus on practical exercises, activities, experiments, try this, that you can actually do in your own time at home, whether you're in the back of a car, in your commute,

whatever it may be, walking your dog, right? Cooking, you can actually practice these things and you'll start seeing tangible benefits in your life. So this is a very practical, active book. It's not just a theoretical and philosophical book. I really try and take these lessons that I've learned from incredible teachers and make them super easy to understand and follow. The second theme that I genuinely focus on in this book is what I call the OEO. Right, it's what I call OEOs. How to stop living according to OEOs. And I'll explain what that is.

So I want you to stop living based on other people's opinions, expectations and obligations. OEOs, opinions, expectations and obligations. So many of us are living our lives based on someone else's opinions, expectations and obligations. And I want you to stop that and start living on your own terms. And this is what I learned as a monk that monks almost drop out from mainstream society. Because when you become a monk, no one in your life, ever, like no one, literally no one in your life, ever had an opinion

and expectation or an obligation for you to be a monk. Right, just tell me that right now, if someone did, wow, you just blurred my mind, you can tell me, but literally no one in their life had someone whose opinion, expectation or obligation for them wants to be a monk, it's very highly unlikely. And so when you decide to become a monk or you decide to think like a monk for everyone

listening right now and he's pre-ordering the book, you develop the mindset to do this. Now, the important part here is the way I share it in the book is I want you to be able to build this life on your own terms, but without fully hurting and removing relationships for your life. And that's where I focus in on the book.

How do you do this? So consciously, carefully and artfully, like a monkwood so that you're not breaking bonds, you're not destroying relationships, but you're doing it in a kind, conscious, beautiful, effortless way. And that's one of the biggest focus on how do we let go of OEOs. The third biggest theme that I focus on in this book is how you can remove negativity and overcome toxic relationships and habits. Not right now, say yes, out loud right now, how many of you are dealing with toxicity at work, at home,

in your family, in your friends? How many of you are dealing with toxic relationships, have habits, toxic habits that are pulling you down? And one of the key things, the key messages that I build and focus on in this book is how you can learn to protect yourself. So often we spend all of our time going, how can I stop someone else doing something? Right. How can they stop acting like this with me?

How do I deal with that toxicity? And we focus on everything we can't control. And we weigh so much energy, we drain so much energy, focusing on everything we can't control as opposed to what we can control. And monks realize that all you can truly can, all you truly can control is your mind, protecting yourself, building your armor. And what I love about the way monks build armor that I will share in the book is that this armor doesn't stop you from letting love in and letting love out.

See, sometimes when we put our armor on, it blocks love from coming in and love from coming out. We put armor on to stop negativity coming in, but actually sometimes that armor that protection we take, it actually stops love coming into. And that armor that we put on to protect ourselves from outside negativity, it stops us from giving love to whereas monks, the way they put on their armor and their protection is that they're still able to give love and receive love, but they don't

let negativity inside and thus negativity inside dissolves from within. And I really talk about the process in the book of how you can start weeding out the negativity and toxicity in your life and create that structure. And I mean, I think this is going to be really, really powerful for you. And I wanted to add this that these moral concepts that I couldn't break down into a 30 minute podcast, these were all concepts that I couldn't put into a four minute video. Otherwise, I would have the reason for the book is we can do a deep dive over days together and I can help you with a whole process step by step, a really step by step approach, right? To actually give you the stages and phases

so that we can work together through this. That's the whole goal of why it's inside the book. Now, number four is healing your anxiety, your fear and pain from the past. You know, when when you come to the door of the ashram or the monastery and you become a monk, it's like you leave your past behind, right? Like literally like, you know, bring, I remember, I mean, these are silly examples, but they're true. I remember giving away, I used to have all of these football jerseys or soccer jerseys that I had that I loved because as you all know, I absolutely loved soccer and football. And I remember giving them away to my friends before I left to become a monk and just feeling

really generous that I was handing away all these iconic jerseys or football kits and I was handing them away. But it's like, you literally leave your past behind, right? You don't walk in with anything. It's almost like, you know, like, you know, in some cultures, you leave your shoes outside. And it kind of felt like that when I became a monk. It was like I was leaving all my baggage outside. And that isn't just like an artificial leaving. It's not just like, oh, no, you're a monk. Like, leave all your baggage outside. So in this book, I break down the process of what it means to heal that past, to heal that anxiety, to remove

those fears, to actually let go of the past so that you can genuinely feel your healing and letting go if you're ready to. Notice that you artificially checking out the carpet or running away from it. I think this is what happens in our life that with fear or anxiety, we do one of two things. We either, actually, we do this. We usually run away from it. We think the further we run away from fear, the less you have to deal with it, the less it affects you. What we don't realize is as you run away from fear, fear gets more time to grow. Now it's

bigger and bigger and bigger and finds you in new places. But actually, the main perspective is to get intimate with fear, to get really close to fear, because guess what? Anything you're not close to, you don't understand deeply enough. And if you don't understand something deeply, you don't know what to do with it. Right? You don't know how to deal with it. We're more surprised by something that we're uncertain about. And because fear is such an unknown, unknown for us, until we make it a known known until we make it something that we have more information about it Continually surprises us Not too long ago in the heart of the Amazon rainforest this explorer stumbled upon something that would change his life

I saw it and I saw oh wow. This is a very unusual situation It was cacao the tree that gives us chocolate, but this cacao was unlike anything experts had seen I saw it and I saw, oh wow, this is a very unusual situation. It was cacao. The tree that gives us chocolate. But this cacao was unlike anything experts had seen. Poor tasted. I've never wanted us to have a gun fight. I mean, you saw the stacks of cash in our office. Chocolate sort of forms this vortex. It sucks you in. It's like I can be the queen of wild chocolate. We're all lost. It was madness.

It was a game changer. People quit their jobs. They left their lives behind, so they could search for more of this stuff. I wanted to tell their stories, so I followed them deep into the jungle, and it wasn't always pretty. Basically, this like disgruntled guy and his family surrounded the building arm with machetes.

And we've heard all sorts of things, and you know, somebody got shot over this. Sometimes I think, oh, all this for a damn bar of chocolate. Listen to obsessions while chocolate on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, everything that has happened to you can also be a strength builder for you if you allow it.

Kobe Bryant, the results don't really matter. It's the figuring out that matters. Kevin Hawke, it's not about us as a generation at this point. It's about us trying our best to create change. Luminous Hamilton, that's for me been taking that moment for yourself each day, being kind to yourself because I think for a long time I wasn't kind to myself. And many, many more. If you're attached to knowing, you don't have a capacity to learn. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw real-life stories behind their journeys and the tools they used,

the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. Hi, I'm David Eagleman. I have a new podcast called Inner Cosmos on iHeart. I'm a neuroscientist and an author at Stanford University, and I've spent my career exploring the three-pound universe in our heads. On my new podcast, I'm going to explore the relationship between our brains and our experiences by tackling unusual questions so we can better understand our lives and our realities.

Like, does time really run in slow motion when you're in a car accident? Or, can we create new senses for humans? Or, what does dreaming have to do with the rotation of the planet? So join me weekly to uncover how your brain steers your behavior, your perception, and your reality. Listen to Intercosmos with David Eagleman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Right, if you think about it,

and I'm giving an analogy of sports here, it's like, if you're playing another team and you don't understand that team strengths, they can break all your weaknesses. Right? If you don't understand what you're working against strengths and weaknesses, guess what? They know yours for sure. And that's what fears like. Now, theme number five, this is one that I think you're all really going to be excited about inside the book. And I've really put a lot of effort into making it simple for you. It's uncovering your true passion and purpose.

And I know I get thousands of questions every week about this. Probably millions of questions now. And in this book, I present the Dharma model to you, which talks about Varna. Varna is your personality type, your psychophysical nature, and then saver how you serve with that. And the Dharma model really is that it's like, what's your true inherent nature? What's your psychophysical nature? What's your natural skills and behavior and tendencies?

And how do you tap into those and use them to your strengths? One of my favorite verses in the Bhagavad Gita is that it's better to do your own duty, even if imperfectly, than to do someone else's duty perfectly. And it talks about how we all have a unique internal, eternal duty and internal calling that belongs to us. Right. And when we get to live in alignment with that, and that's why I talk about not just finding your Dharma, it's aligning with your Dharma. Finding means looking for something you don't have. Right, when you have to find something,

it means you're looking for something you don't have. When you're aligning, it means it's already within you, and now you just need to align with that Dharma. And so, one of the biggest themes in the chapter is helping you uncover your true passion and purpose. I give you the activities and exercises for you to actually get closer to this as much as possible and not just get close to it theoretically, but start living it practically. Okay.

Number six, this is one of my favorite sections inside the book. It's called Creating Effective Morning evening routines, transforming your daily habits. I talk a lot about the incredible routines we lived as monks. Now, I'm just gonna be honest with you, I'm not expecting any of you to wake up at 4 a.m. That's not in the book. It's not in practical advice. I'm not expecting any of you to meditate for two hours a day.

It's not what I'm suggesting in the book. So do not worry. It's not a book full of pressure. It's a book full of practical ways of making this reality. And one of the biggest things I talk about in the book is routines. And there's a lot of fresh advice here that I think a lot of us don't realize. And that's what I've really focused on in this book. You're not going to find ideas for my videos or Instagram in this book.

This book is full of deeply thought through themes and concepts that you haven't always heard before or you haven't heard in this way. And one of the biggest ones I talk about in the routines chapter is what about sound design. themes and concepts that you haven't always heard before or you haven't heard in this way. And one of the biggest ones I talk about in the routines chapter is what about sound design. What I mean by that is when we lived as monks, so much of our life was naturally sound designed in the sense of the sounds that we woke up to, the sounds we went to sleep to. And now in our modern lives, our life, so much of our life, and I read about this a few years ago when I lived in New York,

and I would always wonder why I was so exhausted and why I was so tired at the end of the day, and I was doing a lot of research into it, and I read an article which talked about cognitive load, and what that means is that when you live in a busy, noisy environment and you don't change your sound design, what ends up happening is that your mind, your brain, is processing insignificant sound. So what I mean by that is like the digging

of a drill, the building of a building, the demolition of a building, like all these, the sirens in a space, trash being thrown on the streets, all of these sounds are insignificant in the sense that they don't actually help you in any way, right? They're just there. They're like background noise. And what your brain is doing is your brain in mind don't know that straight away, so it's trying to process that sound. And while it's trying to process that sound, you're getting more tired because now so much

of your energy is going towards processing insignificant sound. It's the same as when you're sitting in a bar or a restaurant. And there's so much background noise everyone talking, there's loud music. Again, your brain's trying to make sense of that at the same time is trying to make sense of the conversation you're having. It's called cognitive load.

And so when we used to wake up as monks and I talk a lot about this waking up principle, I would really look at your alarm clock. Because for most people they're alarm on their phone is like this anxiety filled jolt that just, you know, breaks the audio to sleep, you wake up in anxiety, you wake up in shock and you're like, oh, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do next? And when we were monks and we were very fortunate to wake up to a lot of natural sounds whether it's birds, whether it was leaves, whether it's wind, and I'm not saying you need to go and find that.

But when you can sound design your life to wake up with more peace, to wake up with less anxiety, sound is such a beautiful way of designing your life. When you first walk into your office, the sound you hear can set you up. We all know that sound has an nostalgia. When you hear a song from a couple of decades ago, or even a decade ago, only a few years ago, it takes you back to that. So sound is so powerful about transporting us. And it's so important that we use sound

throughout our days to transport us as well. So I go really deeply into, as you can see, I get really deep into a lot of the wisdom, the lesson, the science, the practical aspect. And that's how we really break down each and every chapter in this book. One of the other themes that I really wanted to point out to you, and these are just a few, by the way, there is so much more in this book. And I hope as I'm going through this,

your listening is going, I really need this. Like, oh, yeah, I needed that one. Oh my god, I didn't know you're going to hit on that one too. So if you are, then like I said, you can, you can preorder the book right now. It's on thinklikeamongbook.com. The book doesn't come out to April 2020, but you can pre-order right now. And as I said, thank you to everyone who already has. But one of the biggest things I wanted to cover in this book is, and I know you're gonna be happy about this one, overthinking and procrastination.

How many of you know that you're stuck, you haven't started because you overthinking you procrastinate. Well, guess what one of the best things about monks' minds is that they're able to switch focus. Now, there's another study done, and I believe it's by a doctor named, I believe it's Dr. Joseph Prović. I hope I'm saying that right. And what he found, and this was in his words, meditation research, particularly in the last 10 years or so, has shown to be very promising because it points to an ability of the brain to change and optimize in a way we didn't know was previously possible.

And what a lot of studies found was that monks were able to switch between thinking of nothing and then thinking of compassion, or focusing on something and then not focusing almost like a light switch, like on and off, on and off, on and off, right, that responsive. Now you may say, Jay, well, that's going to take decades of meditation. And the answer is, yes, it can, but there are also certain habits and tips and practices that you can start living

right now so that your focus can become highly navigated by you. So when you want to focus on something, you can, right, when you want to bring your energy to something you can. And so there's a whole section in the book about developing focus, stopping over thinking and procrastinating as well. And this is more of a deeper theme in the book that I think a lot of you are going to really appreciate. I have a whole section talking about putting aside ego. And as monks, we talked a lot about ego becoming aware of ego. And the best way I understood it was that ego is like a false

armor. It makes you think you're protected, but actually everything pierces right through. So imagine putting on a false bulletproof jacket, but actually it doesn't protect you, but it just makes you think you're protected. That's what false ego does. And that's why ego actually falsely makes us feel we're set up for success, but then actually burgs us down. Like it falsely makes us convinced that we're confident, but actually it's arrogance and people get turned away. And so I think you're really going to love exploring ego through this book, especially if you haven't before. The nine principle that I want to talk about that I cover in the book, again, just giving shout out to a few areas of the book, is developing an impactful gratitude practice, which is

beyond a list. It's not just about making a gratitude list every day, but the power of sharing gratitude in person, face to face, or even with someone you can't anymore. And I was reading an amazing article and we have so much more research in the book as well, but I was reading an article on by Happier Human and it talks about how a five minute a day gratitude journal can increase your long term well-being by more than 10%. And guess what? That's the same impact as doubling your income.

That's crazy, right? A five minute daily gratitude journal can increase your long-term well-being by more than 10%. And that's the same impact as doubling your income. How and why you're saying, well, basically that journaling practice improves your relationship, improves your emotions, improves your health, boosts your self-esteem. It's doing so much for you, everything that you think that money will do. It's doing for you in a different way. Now, guess what?

In one year, let's say you increased your gratitude and you doubled your income. I'm saying, how amazing that year would be. That's the year I want you to have. Right, that's the year I want you to have. It's not a choice between, do I double my income? Or do I increase my gratitude? Increase your gratitude and W income. We've been amazing here. I've been

absolutely amazing here because gratitude in the same article talks about how it generates social capital. And what that means is that it helps you love and connect better with people and it helps people love and connect more. Guys, guess what? When you recognize something in someone and you're grateful for it, you reinforce it in them and then they repeat it. And you do the same. They then recognize goodness in you, they in reinforce it and you repeat it.

They reinforce and you repeat it. Right, it's so, so powerful, it's huge. Theme number 10 that I wanted to share with you is finding and developing true compatibility in relationships. And I think this is a huge one. And you know, I've dedicated a lot of podcasts to it, but I had to share the monk method

behind self awareness and compatibility in relationships. And that's one thing that really helped me. And I've talked about it before, but not as a nowhere near as much depth as I give in the book, but I talk about how when I met my wife, and she's the only person I've been with since leaving Living is a monk, and I just knew that we complemented each other because of myself awareness. My self awareness had grown so high, due to practicing these incredible monk mindsets that I was taught,

that I was able to very clearly find the person that would write for me in my life. And I think that sometimes we attract the wrong person or we get attracted to the wrong person, right? How many times have you been in one of those situations where you attract someone into your life, but you attract the wrong person based on where you're self awareness is at, or because you're wrong person based on where you're a self or when this is at,

or because you're a self or when this is wrong, you are attracted to the wrong person. It's like, you know, being slightly off true north on a compass can take you off in completely the wrong direction. So I dedicated a whole section to that. And then the last two sections are service and meditation. Now, service to me, number 11, service to me is just the whole goal of being as a monk and today

We talk a lot about self-care and self-love Which I am a big proponent of but as a monk Self-care and self-love were rooted in Service so because we want to serve we take care of ourselves even more because we want to give We make sure that we get more because we want to create a life take care of ourselves even more. Because we want to give, we make sure that we get more. Because we want to create a life for others, where they have opportunities that they don't dream of. We work harder on ourselves. Everything comes from the root of service.

Everything comes from the root of selflessness. And that's such a beautiful place to live, because you take better care of yourself when you know someone else is dependent on you. You focus more on your own mindset and rest and refuel when you know you want to give to others. And so we dive into building a service mindset. And then finally meditation, I share with you the three most powerful steps in meditation that I've practiced breathing of visualization and mantra and why and how you can implement them in different areas of your life.

And of course, there's tons of studies on meditation, whether it's building your immune system, whether it's reducing anxiety, depression, and addiction, whether it's neuroplasticity and rewiring the brain, the benefits of meditation are endless. And I'll actually help you develop an incredible meditation practice every single day through this book. So those are just some of the themes that I wanted to call out on the book that I'm super excited to share with you.

I thought I had to share this podcast with you because I wanted you to listen to this podcast, hear it, and be like, Jay, yes, that's what I wanna learn more about. I need to connect more with that area of my life. Oh, that would be something I haven't explored yet, actually, Jay. You've shed some light on it, and I'd love to dive into it. So take a note of these lessons. If any of these lessons have connected to do, I promise you that the amount of research, the amount of blood, sweat, and tears, the amount of soul that has gone into this book is insane. It's definitely the best work I've ever done.

If you've loved the videos, if you've enjoyed my podcast, the book is our next step of becoming deeper together. The book goes to a whole new level. And like I said, if you've loved the videos, if you've loved the podcast, you will absolutely love this book. It would mean the world to me, it would generally mean so much to me

to have your support. I feel grateful to each and every one of you. I've been sharing every one of them that's pre-ordering as many as I can. I would love you to go pre-order the book today. It's thinklikeamunkbook.com and you can find it across Amazon, across the world, Apple Books, Booktopia, Flipkart, anywhere books are sold. It's only available for pre-order right now, so make sure you head over to thinklikeammonkbook.com. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Share your best takeaway from this episode. Share your excitement on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn. I will definitely be looking out for your messages. Thank you so much again for your continued love and support. I can't wait to keep serving you. And I am so excited for you to hear Monday's guest and Monday's episode. It's a huge one. So look out for the announcement. We may do a quick teaser of this weekend for who the guest is on Monday. It's a huge, huge guest. I think you're

going to love that episode. It's super on a super authentic conversation. So make sure you're listening after that. Thank you for listening, everyone. Have an amazing weekend. Have an amazing week and I'll see you very soon. Thanks again. The world of chocolate has been turned upside down. A very unusual situation. You saw the stacks of cash in our office. Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, and recently, variety of cacao, thought to have been lost centuries ago ago were rediscovered in the Amazon

There is no chocolate on earth like this Now some chocolate makers are racing deep into the jungle to find the next game-changing chocolate and I'm coming along Okay, that was a very large crack it up Listen to the obsessions wild chocolate on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Conquer your New Year's resolution to be more productive with the Before Breakfast Podcast in each bite-sized daily episode. Time management and productivity expert, Laura Vandercam teaches you how to make the most

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who offer practical wisdom that you can use to create the life you want. 25 years ago, I was homeless and addicted to heroin. I've made my way through addiction recovery, learned to navigate my clinical depression, and figured out how to build a fulfilling life. The one you feed has over 30 million downloads and was named one of the best podcasts by Apple Podcasts. Oprah Magazine named this is one of 22 podcasts to help you live your best life. You always have the chance to begin again

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