Jay Shetty: 8 Rules For Perfect Love & Amazing Sex! | E217

Jay Shetty: 8 Rules For Perfect Love & Amazing Sex! | E217

The Diary of a CEOJan 30, 20232h 6m

Jay Shetty (guest), Steven Bartlett (host), Narrator, Narrator

Reinvention, purpose, and resisting the algorithmic ‘success cycle’Handling criticism, anxiety, and the ‘target’ of public successSelf-worth, ego, and confronting one’s “ugly side”Vedic framework of life: dharma, artha, kama, mokshaModern relationships, intimacy, and sex (including porn and celibacy)Conflict, communication, and trying (and failing) to change your partnerDistance, time, and practical rituals for maintaining connection

In this episode of The Diary of a CEO, featuring Jay Shetty and Steven Bartlett, Jay Shetty: 8 Rules For Perfect Love & Amazing Sex! | E217 explores jay Shetty’s Eight Radical Rules For Love, Sex, And Self-Discovery Jay Shetty joins Stephen Bartlett to unpack love, sex, purpose, and the hidden struggles behind his public success, revealing a period of deep anxiety and reinvention. He explains why most relationships silently wither, how porn and performance culture distort intimacy, and why great sex is a byproduct of emotional connection, not a shortcut to it.

Jay Shetty’s Eight Radical Rules For Love, Sex, And Self-Discovery

Jay Shetty joins Stephen Bartlett to unpack love, sex, purpose, and the hidden struggles behind his public success, revealing a period of deep anxiety and reinvention. He explains why most relationships silently wither, how porn and performance culture distort intimacy, and why great sex is a byproduct of emotional connection, not a shortcut to it.

Drawing on Vedic philosophy, Jay outlines four life pursuits—purpose (dharma), stability (artha), love/pleasure (kama), and service (moksha)—and argues that skipping the first two is why so many people suffer in relationships. He shares practical frameworks for communicating hard truths, dealing with criticism, resisting algorithmic burnout, and protecting a relationship from distance and distraction.

Throughout, Jay threads in vulnerable personal stories: leaving Facebook at peak success, being attacked for ‘Think Like a Monk’ while becoming financially successful, seven days alone processing media criticism, and navigating long-distance marriage and sexual disconnection. The episode functions as both a masterclass in modern relationships and an unusually raw look at the costs of public life.

Key Takeaways

Redefine success from performance to purpose to avoid burnout.

Jay distinguishes between the early ‘raw passion to serve’ and later ‘performance’ driven by algorithms, patterns, and external validation. ...

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Use criticism as a structured self-audit, not a verdict on your worth.

After UK media backlash around “Think Like a Monk,” Jay spent seven days alone: day 1–2 immersing himself in the criticism; day 3–4 asking which accusations he partly agreed with; day 5–6 separating feedback, shots, and what he truly believed about himself. ...

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Stop trying to change your partner; align values and goals instead.

Jay says bluntly: if you’re trying to change your partner, you don’t love them—you love their potential. ...

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Build intimacy through shared vulnerability, not just shared screens.

Most couples, Jay notes, only do one thing together—watch TV—which he calls the “lowest form of intimacy. ...

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Follow the Vedic order: purpose and stability before partnership.

The four Vedic pursuits—dharma (purpose), artha (economic and personal stability), kama (relationships and pleasure), moksha (service/liberation)—are sequential. ...

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Treat self-worth as earned through doing hard things, not affirmations alone.

Jay insists real self-value comes from evidence: doing difficult things and witnessing yourself get through them, not just talking in the mirror. ...

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Sex problems are usually connection problems; porn intensifies the disconnect.

Research Jay cites shows sexual frequency is declining and sexless relationships are common, despite social media giving the impression “everyone else” is active. ...

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Notable Quotes

Most of us only do one thing with our partner, and it's watching TV. That relationship is not growing. It's actually falling apart slowly, and you have no idea.

Jay Shetty

Great sex is a byproduct of great connection and intimacy. It's not a replacement for or a source of.

Jay Shetty

If you're trying to change them, then you don't love them. You love their potential.

Jay Shetty

Self-worth and self-value come from doing hard things.

Jay Shetty

You attract what you use to impress.

Jay Shetty

Questions Answered in This Episode

You described a seven-day period of waking up feeling physically sick from criticism. Looking back now, is there anything you wish you’d done differently in how you handled or framed that media storm?

Jay Shetty joins Stephen Bartlett to unpack love, sex, purpose, and the hidden struggles behind his public success, revealing a period of deep anxiety and reinvention. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

When you and your wife experienced that six-month stretch apart that took another six months to repair, what specific reconnection rituals or conversations made the biggest difference in rebuilding intimacy?

Drawing on Vedic philosophy, Jay outlines four life pursuits—purpose (dharma), stability (artha), love/pleasure (kama), and service (moksha)—and argues that skipping the first two is why so many people suffer in relationships. ...

Get the full analysis with uListen AI

You advocate not trying to change your partner, yet you and your wife have clearly influenced each other’s habits. Where is the line, in your view, between healthy influence and covert ‘fixing’?

Throughout, Jay threads in vulnerable personal stories: leaving Facebook at peak success, being attacked for ‘Think Like a Monk’ while becoming financially successful, seven days alone processing media criticism, and navigating long-distance marriage and sexual disconnection. ...

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You suggested some couples should experiment with agreed periods of celibacy to see the relationship more clearly. How would you structure that in practical terms—rules, time frame, boundaries—so it helps rather than harms?

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For someone who has built their entire identity (and dating life) around external markers—looks, money, status—what is the first concrete step you’d have them take this week to start attracting partners who value deeper qualities instead?

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Transcript Preview

Jay Shetty

Most of us only do one thing with our partner, and it's watching TV. To me, it comes back down to-

Steven Bartlett

Jay Shetty. Is a former monk whose wisdom has truly gone viral.

Jay Shetty

On Purpose, the number one health and wellness podcast. He sold like a million-and-a-half books. Jay, you know how much I love you. I think we live in a world where we think sacrificing our purpose makes us a better partner, when actually it makes us more resentful, guilty, more upset. So I believe that there are four important decisions that we all get to make in life. If you can do that, everything else is gonna work. The first one is-

Steven Bartlett

Let's talk about sex.

Jay Shetty

The truth is most people are not getting any. We've lost intimacy in relationships. Great sex is a byproduct of great connection and intimacy. It's not a replacement for or a source of. I promise you, that relationship is not growing. It's actually falling apart slowly, and you have no idea. The only thing that makes you feel close to someone is when you f-

Steven Bartlett

What have you struggled with this year?

Jay Shetty

Exhales deeply. Big question. A lot of the time when I come up against any resistance, it's like, "No, Jay, you used to be a monk. If you do anything else, you're false and you're lying and you're not allowed to be anything else." Every time I'd do an interview, I'd feel like people wanted me to fail. I was just waking up feeling sick, and I just had to be alone. I don't think I've shared this with anyone. I'm at a point where-

Steven Bartlett

I just wanna start this episode with a message of thanks. A thank you to everybody that tunes in to listen to this podcast. By doing so, you've enabled me to live out my dream, but also for many members of our team to live out their dreams too. It's one of the greatest privileges I could never have dreamed of or imagined in my life to get to do this. To get to learn from these people, to get to have these conversations, to get to interrogate them from a very selfish perspective, trying to solve problems I have in my life. So I feel like I owe you a huge thank you for being here and for listening to these episodes and for making this platform what it is. Can I ask you a favor? I can't tell you how much, um, you can change the course of this podcast. The, the, the course of the guests we're able to invite to the show and to the course of everything that we do here just by doing one simple thing. And that simple thing is hitting that subscribe button. Helps this channel more than I could ever explain. The guests on this platform are incredible because so many of you have hit that button. And I know when we think about what we wanna do together over the next year on this show, a lot of it is gonna be fueled by the amount of you that are subscribed and that tune into this show every week. So thank you. Let's keep doing this. And I can't wait to see what this year brings for this show, for us as a community, and for this platform. (instrumental music plays) Jay.

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