Bal Harbour

90 BAL HARBOUR The Mindset Monk is not your average monk. Shetty, who hails from Britain, left the ashram in 2013 after realizing his life's mission was to spread the wisdom he acquired whilst trying to achieve nirvana. Now, he teaches people how to practice ancient Hindu wisdom in their modern day lives. Shetty hosts the hit podcast "On Purpose," his debut book, Think Like a Monk, was a runaway bestseller and he was recently named the Chief 2WTRQUG1HƂEGTQHOGFKVCVKQPCRR%CNOYJGTGJGYKNNJGNREQODKPG mindfulness with personal development. We spoke with Shetty about ƂPFKPIQPGoURWTRQUGVJGKORQTVCPEGQHTQWVKPGCPFJQYGCEJCPF every person can begin applying his wisdom to lead a happier and OQTGHWNƂNNKPINKHG In Think Like A Monk you write, "To my mind, adopting the monk mindset isn't just possible—it's necessary." Why is that? We live in an era of distraction. Recent data says we check our phones on average every four minutes. Simply connecting with what you think and what you feel, something that might seem easy, is a real struggle for a lot of us. We feel divorced and disconnected from ourselves, and this sometimes leads to loneliness, anxiety and stress; our health may suffer, we may not perform as well at work or we may fall short in our relationships. The monk mindset is an antidote to this. When we cultivate the monk mindset, we prioritize practices that help us to be more in tune with ourselves, to dial up our focus and to dial down distraction and, as a result, everything else in our lives starts to improve. 9J[FQ[QWVJKPMUQOCP[RGQRNGJCXGFKHƂEWNV[ƂPFKPIVJGKT purpose in life? There are a few reasons, but I think one of the DKIIGUVJWTFNGUHQTRGQRNGKPƂPFKPIVJGKTRWTRQUGKUVJCVVJG[ overfocus on either their skills or their passion. They might have something they're really good at, like being an attorney or a marketer, and then they think that means they're supposed to do that. So they do that, and a decade or two or three into their seemingly successful career, they're miserable because they don't particularly enjoy what they're doing. On the contrary, we sometimes overfocus on what we enjoy and think that should be what we're doing, but, even if you love gardening or singing, you may not be particularly skilled at it, and it might be tough for you to develop those skills. The sweet spot is really KPƂPFKPIVJCVCTGCYJGTGQWTUMKNNUCPFRCUUKQPUQXGTNCR 9J[CTGTQWVKPGCPFUVTWEVWTGUQKORQTVCPVVQNKXKPICHWNƂNNKPI life? Jocko Willink, a retired Navy SEAL who I interviewed for my podcast, has this great saying, which is, "Discipline equals freedom." When we adopt structure and routine into our lives, it's a form of discipline. We start to prioritize what's most important to us automatically and build that into our daily lives. When we do that, we know we're ticking off the things that will make the biggest impact in the long run and, having done that, the time and the energy that are left give us the opportunity to be more creative. Oftentimes countering negative thoughts with positive thoughts is easier said than done. Do you have any strategies for helping people to prevent negative thoughts from taking over? One of my favorite strategies is a simple technique I call "spot-stop-swap." We ƂTUVNGCTPVQECVEJQWTUGNXGUKPVJGPGICVKXGQTVQZKEVJQWIJVRCVVGTPs we spot when it happens. Then we stop the pattern by taking a few deep breaths, which gives us space to try and understand it. Notice what's triggering your negativity. Is it envy? Is it loneliness? Often there's some element of comparison involved, and as Mark Twain once wrote, "Comparison is the death of joy." Once we've gotten inside of our thought pattern, we need to substitute it with something else: thus, the swap. One way we can assuage our negative thoughts is by giving voice to what's bothering us—maybe by writing in a journal. It's not about complaining, but rather it's about identifying and being URGEKƂECDQWVQWTHGGNKPIUCPFVJGUKVWCVKQP(TQOVJGTGYGoTGOQTG likely to see solutions. Or if it's that we're jealous of someone else's accomplishments and we're comparing ourselves to them, we might UYCRKPVJGRTCEVKEGQHOWFKVCQTHGGNKPIWPUGNƂUJLQ[HQTVJGIQQF fortune of others. BESTSELLING AUTHOR JAY SHETTY WANTS YOU TO BE HAPPY. WRITER ISABEL SLONE TUNES IN FOR A DOSE OF SACRED WISDOM. Portrait by Steve Erle JAY SHETTY

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