Jay Shetty - Think like a monk

The monkey mind switches aimlessly from thought to thought, challenge to challenge, without really solving anything. But we can elevate to the monk mindset by digging down to the root of what we want and creating actionable steps for growth.

When you try to live your most authentic life, some of your relationships will be put in jeopardy. Losing them is a risk worth bearing; finding a way to keep them in your life is a challenge worth taking on.

Your identity is a mirror covered with dust. When you first look in the mirror the truth of who you are and what you value is obscured. Clearing it may not be pleasant, but only when that dust is gone can you see your true reflection. - Gauranga Das

When we tune out the opinions, expectations, and obligations of the world around us, we begin to hear ourselves.

Negativity, in conversation, emotions, and actions. Often springs from a threat to one of the three needs: a fear that bad things are going to happen (loss of peace), a fear of not being loved (loss of love), or a fear of being disrespected (loss of understanding). These negative feelings  spring out of us as complaints, comparisons, and criticisms and other negative behaviors.

Don’t judge someone with a different disease. Don’t expect anyone to be perfect. Don’t think you are perfect. - Gauranga Das

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything, anger, anxiety, or possessions. We cannot be free. - Thich Nhat Hanh

The process of learning to work with fear isn’t just about doing a few exercises that solve everything, it’s about changing your attitude toward fear, understanding that it has something to offer, and then committing to doing the work of identifying and trying to shift out of your pattern of distraction every time it appears. Each of the 4 distractions from fear, panicking, freezing, running away, and burying, is a different version of a single action, or rather, a single inaction: refusing to accept our fear. So the first step in transforming our fear from a negative to a positive is doing just that.

Breathe to calm and relax yourself. Breathe in for a count of 4 through your nose in your own time at your own pace, hold for a count of 5, exhale for a count of 4 through your mouth. 10x.

Quadrants of potential

Dharma Profiles

Creators

Originally: merchants, businesspeople

Today: marketers, salespeople, entertainers, producers, entrepreneurs, CEOs

Skills: brainstorming, networking, innovating

Make things happen, can convince themselves and others of anything, great at sales, negotiation, persuasion, highly driven by money, pleasure, and success, very hardworking and determined, excel in trade, commerce, and banking, always on the move, work hard, play hard.

Ignorance: Become corrupt and sell things with no value / lie, cheat, steal to sell something, beaten down by failure, burned out, depressed, moody, due to overwork

Impulse: Status drive, dynamic, charismatic, and captivating, Hustler, goal-oriented, tireless

Goodness - use money for the greater good, create products and ideas that make money but also serve others, provide jobs and opportunities for others

Makers

Originally: artist, musicians, creatives, writers

Today: social workers, therapists, doctors, nurses, COOs, heads of HR, artists, musicians, engineers, coders, carpenters, cooks.

skills: inventing, supporting,and implementing.

Ignorance: depressed by failure, feel stuck and unworthy, Anxious

Impulse: Explore and experiment with new ideas, juggle too many things at the same time, lose focus on expertise and care, focus more on money and results

Goodness: Driven by stability and security, generally content and satisfied with the status quo, chooses meaningful goals to pursue, works hard but always maintains balance with family commitments, best right-hand man or woman, leads team gatherings, supports those in need, highly skilled at manual professions.

Connections: Makers and Creators complement each other, Makers make Creators focus on detail, quality, gratitude, and contentment. Creators help makers think bigger, become more goal-oriented

Guide

Originally and today: teachers, guides, gurus, coaches, mentors

Skills: learning, studying, sharing knowledge, and wisdom

A coach and a mentor no matter what role they play, want to bring out the best in the people in their life, value knowledge and wisdom more than fame, power, money, security, like having space and time to reflect and learn, want to help people find meaning, fulfillment, and purpose, like to work alone, enjoy intellectual pursuits in their spare time, reading, debate, discussion.

Ignorance: don’t practice what they preach, don’t lead by example, struggle with implementation

Impulse: Love to debate and destroy others' arguments, use knowledge for strength and power, intellectually curious, mode of goodness, use knowledge to help people find their purpose, aspire to better themselves in order to give more, realize knowledge is not theirs to use alone, but that they are here to serve

Leaders

Originally: kings, warriors

Today: military, justice, law enforcement, politics

Skills: governing, inspiring, engaging others

Natural leaders of people, movements, groups and families, directed by courage, strength and determination, protect those who are less privileged, led by higher morals and values and seek to enforce them across the world, provide structures and frameworks for the growth of people, like to work in teams, great at organization, focus and dedication to a mission.

Ignorance: Give up due to change due to corruption and hypocrisy, develop a negative, pessimistic viewpoint, lose moral compass in the drive for power

Impulse: Build structures and frameworks for fame and money, not meaning, use their talents to serve themselves, not humanity, focus on short-term goals for themselves

Goodness: fight for higher morals, ethics, and values, inspire people to work together, build long-term goals to support society

Connections: Guides and leaders complement each other; guides give wisdom to leaders, leaders give structure to guides.

Dharma is of the body

Alive: For some people, being in their dharma means they feel a calm, confident satisfaction. For others, there is a thrill of joy and excitement. In either case, you feel alive, connected, with a smile on your face. A light comes on.

Flow: In dharma, there is a natural momentum. You feel like you’re in your lane, swimming with the current, instead of struggling through a resistant surf. When you are truly aligned, there is a sense of flow, you come out of your own head and lose track of time

Comfort : in your dharma, you don’t feel alone or out of place, no matter who comes or goes or where you are physically, where you are feels right, even if the place where you feel right is traveling the world.

Consistency: if you have a great time snorkeling on vacation, that doesn’t mean snorkeling or being on vacation for that matter, is your dharma. Being in your dharma bears repeating. In fact, it gets better the more you do it. But a single event is a clue to what energy you like. when and how you feel alive.

Positivity and growth: when we’re aware of our own strengths, we’re more confident, we value others’ abilities more, and we feel less competitive. The inclination to compare yourself to others may not go away completely, but it shrinks because you only compare yourself to people within your area of expertise. Rejection and criticism don’t feel like assaults. They feel like information that we can accept or reject, depending on whether they help us move forward.

A lot of the time, creativity comes from structure. When you have those parameters and structure, then within that you can be creative. If you don’t have structure, you’re just aimlessly doing stuff” - Bryant

Location has energy; time has memory. If you do something at the same time every day, it becomes easier and natural. If you do something in the same space every day, it becomes easier and natural.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

Four types of trust

Competence : someone has to be competent if we are to trust their opinions and recommendations. This person has the right skills to solve your issue. They are an expert or authority in their area. They have experience, references.

Care: we need to know a person cares if we are putting our emotions in their hands. Real care means they are thinking about what is best for you, not what is best for them. They care about your well-being, not your success. They have your best interests at heart. They believe in you. They would go beyond the call of duty to support you: helping you move, accompanying you to an important doctor’s appointment.

Pillars of service

Service connects us. When you serve, it’s hard to be lonely. In most scenarios, you have to go out into the world to help other people.

Service amplifies gratitude. Service gives you a broad view of all that you have.

Service increases compassion. When you serve, you see that the world needs what you have to offer.

Service builds self-esteem. Helping others tells you that you’re making a difference in the world. You have a sense of meaning and purpose.