My 5 takeaways from Jay Shetty’s Think like a Monk
Back in 2019 I became overworked. I was already reading a lot but at that time I started reading more about personal development. On social media I started following people who were talking about personal growth and mindset. I first heard about Jay Shetty when I listened to an interview with love guru Matthew Hussey. From then on I regularly listened to his podcasts and was eager to learn more about who he was and the topics he was talking about.
And so I read his book: Think Like A Monk, which has made me look at my life and specifically how I am living it. He writes about living your life with intent, gratitude and giving back to inspire you to make a shift for yourself. He inspired me and in this post I share with you my 5 biggest takeaways.
Put your time and energy in things that matter to you
We all have busy lives. Dividing time between work, family, friends and sports is difficult for everyone. In the end we choose how we spend our time. We make time for those things or people we love. Your values say something about who you would like to be and how you’d like to be treated. Reading this book made me take a closer look at my values; what are they and what’s their origin. And most importantly, does my time spent match my chosen values? I realized I want to focus on people and activities that give me energy and let go of the ones that drain me.
Be grateful for the obstacles or hurdles on your path.
Trying to see the hurdles and obstacles in my life as learnings is something that I find very challenging. I’ve always tried to take lessons out of disappointments in my life, but it usually takes me a while to get to that point. Reading about being grateful under any circumstance and in any situation inspired me to practice gratitude more. By just being aware of it I hope to be able to shift my energy to more positive possibilities when I need to. So, try to see the hurdles or obstacles in your life as learnings and see if you can focus on what positive things are coming next.
Be of service to others without expecting anything back.
A friend’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to buy a card and mail it. But then I considered how often I had gotten a card from her and I decided not to do it after all. Later I felt uneasy about it. I realized I don’t send (birthday) cards to my friends only for them, but mostly for me. I don’t need anything back, because just sending a card to my friend makes me happy. So be true to yourself. Do what’s in your nature, because that is who you are and it will make you happy.
Be humble
The one thing in the chapter about ego that stuck with me the most is the exercise in humility. It made me think about what humility means to me and how I can be more aware of my ego. Part of the exercise is to remember the misery you have caused others, to make you become aware of your own shortcomings. By forgetting the pain others have caused us we are able to look at the bigger picture, instead of focusing on our own anger. And in light of self development we should aim to be as humble as salt: take the blame when something goes wrong and don’t take the credit when there is just the right amount.
Keep learning
The final takeaway for me comes from the last chapter. It’s not like you know everything when you think like a monk. You have to keep practicing and learning. My own mindset is: you’re never too old to learn. Every day there are new things to learn and new experiences to have. It is up to me to have the dedication to do something with these new insights and keep practicing my monk mindset.
Making a shift in your life is not easy. I will probably read certain chapters (or maybe all of them) again to remind myself. But these takeaways are helping me focus on what is important to me and stay clear on how I want to live my life.
