On-Purpose with Jay Shetty:12 Lessons Learned in the Last 12 Months

There’s a reason Jay’s podcast is the number one health podcast in the world.  I could literally listen to him all day long.  Think about it, he lived his life true to his values, worked in corporate America, lived as a monk for years, and now is spreading his wisdom to millions of people.  This narrative speaks to me loud and clear because he comes from a place of service and humility, and not preaching to anyone.  I’m going to recap the most recent episode, (I may do future blogs on his podcast) because they are enlightening and we can all learn a little something every day!

Each year, on his birthday, he sits back to reflect on the lessons he’s learned over the past year.  Broken down, that’s one life lesson per month.  I really like this idea, because I’m always telling myself that I will write down life events in December, like a yearly review, and I haven’t done it yet!

Here we go:

Lesson 1: Detach yourself from the result and focus on the input.  In other words, we are addicted to results (Guilty), but monks understand that it’s about knowing you have given something, (a task), your all.  If we spend our time worrying about what comes next, it’s wasted energy.  I’ll come back to energy later.

Lesson 2: You can’t always find joy, but you can look for meaning, and service.  There may be lots of crap going on around you personally, or in the world, but you will always feel better if you are doing something to heal and help!  He mentioned being at his own birthday party and helping serve the plates and food.  Everyone around him told him to stop because it was his birthday dinner.  But from his perspective, it feels better to serve others.  We can’t solve all of the world problems, but we can do our part to heal and that itself helps us.

Lesson 3: Remind yourself of the gifts through the pain (pandemic) – it will create room for growth.  I can relate – sometimes you find something that you weren’t even looking for and it will benefit you to celebrate those gifts.  Like a friendship.  My friends and I started playing pickleball during the pandemic.  I’ve never played before and neither had they.  We always have a laugh, get a little sweaty and found something we really enjoy.

Lesson 4: Celebrate people while they are here.  Jay lost a few friends during this past year, and went through all of his texts/emails with those people.  He found that he had always been very supportive because you want to really enjoy people while they are alive. Amen.

Lesson 5: Recognize how we are controlled by fear. This past year with the pandemic, we watched the news, read stats, and were paralyzed by fear.  There are four levels of motivation with fear at the bottom, result, respect, and finally love.  Our goals should be motivation through love to get out of our stuck”ness”.  If we come from a place of service and helping others, we will be moving towards love.

Lesson 6: Digital friendships can actually go deep.  He met a group of people through meditating over zoom and has become quite close to them without ever meeting them in person.  Now Jay feels very close to this group because of the depth of the relationship.  He talks about centering your relationships, and offer things that will bring meaning to each group.  Find your community and go deep. I love going deep.  Way prefer to go deep than to talk about the sunny San Diego weather!

Lesson 7: Anything can be done in 48 hours.  For Jay it was raising $5Million dollars to help Covid patients in India.  Obviously, each of us have our own goals, but the message is that you CAN do it if you set your mind to it.

Lesson 8:  There’s never a better time to learn than when you’re unsure of what’s going on – He’s saying that it’s never the right time, yet it’s always the right time.  I have to add my two cents here.  When I signed up for the JSCS school, I remember telling the woman over the phone that the timing was really bad. My son was about to graduate HS, I had family coming into town, parties to plan, and I was just too busy – I asked her if I should sign up in the Fall – and she said to me, “Randi, this is the best time to sign up. You have 12 months to go through the program, and you will find time here and there to get your work done”.  Well, I not only graduated and got my Jay Shetty Certification, but it took me only 4 months because I was so dedicated and in love with the process.  There is never a right time for anything, but it’s always the right time!

Lesson 9: When you don’t get what you want, you get more of what you need.  This is interesting – We are so attached to what we want, that sometimes we don’t leave room for what we need.  We just want our life to be back to normal, but sometimes there are gifts in the chaos.

Lesson 10: Solitude is as necessary as community.  Sometimes we believe that we need just one, but it’s a balance of the two.  I have to admit that I love me some solitude…If my husband goes on a business trip, I snuggle up with my dog and a glass of red wine, a good book and go to town.  Don’t get me wrong, going out to dinner with friends is equally rewarding, it just depends on the mood.  Just keep this one in check!  

Lesson 11:  Invest energy first, expertise second.  I’m not gonna BS you, I’m not sure I understood this one 100%!  But I can tell you that I have learned a lot about energy expenditure during this course -and it’s reminds me of something my father always said, “Don’t confuse motion with action”. In other words, if you are going to be with someone, give them your full attention and energy.  Don’t be there, but not be there. I hope that makes sense, I’ll probably write a full blog on that because I think it’s so important.

Lesson 12: The mind has to be used by you for what you want to believe.  Yes, a very good lesson indeed – in other words, you can tell yourself anything.  You can say it’s going to be a crappy day, and not too shockingly, your day will most likely suck.  If we practice gratitude and remind ourselves of our joy – we will find more joy.  This is a fact.  Remember this when you are just not feeling it.  You’re in a pissy mood and feel like you’re mad at the world.  You can fix that!!!