3 Powerful Lessons From “Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty

Anyone can develop a monk mindset with the right tools and practice.

To think like a monk means to remain calm and focused under all circumstances, especially when life gets challenging.

In his NYT bestselling book, author Jay Shetty shares his learnings from ancient wisdom and experiences of living a monk life.

He provides practical tools to overcome negativity, remain focused, improving self-awareness, confidence and clarity.

Learning from his unique perspective was insightful in many ways.

The book has great, transformative information, written in simple language, and reading it once was not enough.

Here are the lessons I found most impactful, listed in order of their impact.

1. The Highest Purpose of Our Lives Is Service

“Monks believe that man won’t be fulfilled when he finds his fortune and that if he continues his search for meaning, the answer will always be eventually found in service” -Jay Shetty

Monks are motivated by selfless service also known as ‘Seva’ in Sanskrit.

Sometimes we resist the idea of service because we need to resolve our issues first and be emotionally and financially stable.

It’s difficult to think about serving when we are the ones struggling.

But that’s exactly what you do as a monk.

“Selflessness is the surest route to inner peace and meaningful life. Selflessness heals the self” -Jay Shetty

Having a service mindset helps ease our pain.

Studies show that pursuing goals aimed at helping others reduces sadness, anxiety, and depression in our lives.

As per monk teachings, a service mindset improves our life in many ways.

Build Connections- It’s hard to be lonely when we are involved in helping other people.

Cultivate Gratitude- It broadens our perspective and we feel grateful for our present.

Builds Self-esteem- Making a difference in someone’s life, makes us feel good about ourselves. It brings a sense of fulfillment.

Builds Compassion- Learning about other people’s perspectives makes us compassionate towards them.

And true service is not wanting anything in return.

The more we practice serving others, the more it spreads across our communities and cultures. Other people notice our actions and want to do the same. It’s contagious because it’s rooted in love, compassion, and kindness.

How Can We Serve?

There are endless opportunities around us.We don’t have to change our careers or jobs, nor do we have to give away all our money or only do charity.

Service is as much about the intention and spirit with which we do our work.

It could also mean devoting our time to help someone.

This reminds me of my neighbor, the other day he was mowing his sidewalk lawn and he ended up doing it for the entire street! It was a lot of physical work and took him 6–7 hours to complete.

He didn’t do it to garner attention or praise, but simply for the joy in service.

2. The Four Motivations Behind Everything We Do

Fear, desire, duty, and love.

Fear- If the underlying intention is fear, our actions won’t sustain and we cannot work to the best of our abilities.

Desire- This means associating success with material wealth. Once attained, we realize we are still unhappy.

“Happiness is feeling good about yourself, having close relationships, making the world a better place.” -Jay Shetty

The wealth of character, good conduct, and wisdom are more important than material wealth.

Duty and love — This will bring the most meaning to our actions.

When we do things out of love and service, not only are we helping other people, but we also feel joy in that service

We put in extra effort knowing our actions will make someone happy.

Also It’s completely normal to have multiple intentions, but the less pure they are, the less likely we will be happy.

And simply having good intentions is not enough. We need to act towards our intentions.

“I don’t believe in wishful manifesting” -Jay Shetty

Sometimes we feel helpless, not knowing where to start. The best way is to look for role models. Read about their journey and actions they took to achieve their goals. Emulate those qualities and habits.

There can be many paths to achieve the same intention and nothing is more fulfilling than carving our path.

3. The Power of Routine

“The energy and mood of the morning carries through the day. We cant do things with purpose and care if we rush through them” -Jay Shetty

The most important time of day is the one we allocate to ourselves and it is much easier to create that time in the morning than the rest of the day.

If we rush through our mornings, we are setting the same tone for the rest of our day, thus feeling unsettled.

Make time to prepare your mind and body in the morning and set intentions for the day.

A healthy evening routine is essential to make early mornings effective, including sleeping earlier and doing some planning for the next day.

“Steal it from your morning sleep and give it back to yourself at night.” -Jay Shetty

Restful sleep is important to engage our body in the process of recovery which promotes our physical and mental health.

Having routine and structure reduces our cognitive load. Creativity thrives in structure.

And routines are not just about actions, the environment we choose for those actions is equally important.

Every Location has energy

Every space has energy depending on how we have been using it. Choose your environment to align with your actions.

This means having clear dedicated spaces for different tasks.

For example, watching television or eating in our bedroom will confuse the energy of the room.

Have a designated space to relax and meditate.

An uncluttered work desk helps focus better.

It does not mean we require bigger spaces, just dedicated spaces for different tasks.

It is important to learn about spaces that make us feel good and help us thrive.

Some people enjoy solitude and quiet environments while others need some external stimulation to be productive.

Find out your favorite space and spend more time there.

Putting Into Practice

Knowledge merely is not effective unless we put it into practice.

I reread some chapters for better understanding and to summarize so I could share my learnings with more people. Writing it down also serves as a reminder to myself to act on these learnings, that’s when the magic happens.

Hope you find this article helpful in some way and I would highly recommend that you read the book once.