By playing, you agree to uListen's Terms and Privacy Policy and YouTube's Terms of Service.
Lewis Howes"This Was A KEPT SECRET By Monks" - Do This To CHANGE YOUR LIFE! | Jay Shetty
Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.
Great conversations run long. Their best ideas don't have to.
uListen is free on iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome, and Claude.
See howAt a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Jay Shetty Shares Monk Wisdom, Failure, Viral Video and Service
- Jay Shetty explains that he became a monk after meeting one at university, being drawn to selfless service, and finding he preferred monastic life after splitting his breaks between corporate internships and ashram stays.
- He describes the monk's daily routine, which starts at 4:00 AM with group and private meditation, chanting and a Vedas class, followed by service work such as building sustainable villages and food distribution programs.
- He shares core teachings, including that monk school begins with learning to breathe, that you should address problems at the root rather than the symptom, and that people are wired for generosity, citing a Michael Norton study on spending money on others.
- After his teacher told him to leave, he moved back in with his parents with $25,000 in debt, worked at Accenture, was rejected by media companies, and launched a YouTube channel in January 2016 that took off through Arianna Huffington and HuffPost.
- He gives advice on video and content, urging brands to focus on transformational rather than transactional storytelling, and closes with his three truths and a definition of greatness rooted in humility.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasBreathing is the first lesson at monk school
Shetty was told by a ten-year-old monk that breath is the one constant from birth to death and changes with every emotion, so learning to manage it lets you navigate any situation.
Go to the root, not the symptom
Shetty says fixes like a stress pill, a massage or Netflix only pacify you briefly, whereas addressing the root takes longer but lasts longer.
Daily intention needs weeding
He describes his intention as a plant, to serve others, that gets overgrown daily by weeds like money, fame and followers, so he reflects each day to cut them back.
People are wired for generosity
He cites Michael Norton's study in which people who spent $5 to $20 on others felt 10 to 20% happier, while those who spent it on themselves felt no change, with similar results worldwide.
Our identities are often borrowed from others' perceptions
Using a quote he attributes to Cooley, Shetty argues we live in a perception of a perception, and that monks are trained to dig beneath layers of identity toward real self-awareness at the physical, mental and spiritual levels.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesIf you go to the root, it takes longer but it lasts longer.
— Jay Shetty
The most powerful, most admirable, most captivating quality in a human is when they've achieved everything that looks great in every arena, but they don't consider themselves great.
— Jay Shetty
Meditation is just a gym for the mind.
— Jay Shetty
Too many of us are monkeys being taught how to swim. Too many of us are lions being taught to live like cats.
— Jay Shetty
I wouldn't have become a monk if I didn't see a monk.
— Jay Shetty
Ask ChatGPT about this episode
Get its key ideas, plus a summary of each chapter linked to that point in the video, right in your chat.
Add uListen AI to ChatGPT.
Install uListen AI in ChatGPT (opens in a new tab)Needs a ChatGPT account.Paste this prompt into a new chat.
Use uListen AI to give me this episode's key ideas and a chapter-by-chapter summary, with timestamps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmk3F57HMWM
SPEAKERS
Jay Shetty
guestFormer monk and author/podcaster focused on meditation, purpose, and personal growth.
Lewis Howes
hostHost of The School of Greatness podcast and entrepreneur/interviewer.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
