Jay, you're amazing.
And I know a lot of
people know about you
and follow your messages
but I'm happy to give you
another platform to
reach more people.
Because it's incredible
what you're saying
and what you're doing.
So you were a monk in India.
First of all, why did
you become a monk?
And how long did that last?
Absolutely.
Well, I'm so
grateful to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
When I was growing up in
London, I had three choices--
to be a doctor, a
lawyer, or a failure.
And I ended up at
business school
so I guess I was the third.
And I was going
to business school
and every week we had
CEOs, entrepreneurs,
celebrities coming to speak
and share their stories.
And I was fascinated
by how people
went from nothing to something.
And one week I was told
that this monk was invited
and I actually said to
one of my friends, I said,
I'm only going if we
go to a bar afterwards
because I wasn't
interested in hearing
a Monk's perspective on life.
So my friend forced me
to go, he promised me
he would go to a bar afterwards.
And it changed my life.
It was the most captivating
presentation I've ever been to.
And he spoke about selflessness
and service and kindness
and it just got me hooked.
So I spent all of my
summer holidays from age 18
to 22, half of them working
in the finance corporate world
in suits and driving
cars in London
and spending the other half
living as a monk in India.
And when I was 22, I decided
to turn down my corporate job
offers and go and live as a
monk in India for three years.
And half our days were silence
and half of it was service.
So we meditated for half
the day and the other half
we were trying to
serve humanity and make
a difference in the world.
Wow.
So that is why you decided
to not just be in India
and be a monk, you
decided it's better
to be able to share
this knowledge.
Yeah, well when I left and
came back, I was in debt.
I moved in with my
parents, age 26.
And I was trying to
figure things out.
But a lot of my friends now
worked at large organizations
and they were going
through stress and burnout
and pressure.
And so they started to invite
me to speak at their companies
about everything I'd
learned as a monk.
And I started to do
that and I started
see impact inside
these organizations
but I really felt like this
knowledge and wisdom needs
to reach everyone in the world.
It needs to reach further than
just corporate boardrooms.
So in 2016, only
three years ago,
I started making these videos
which were these wisdom bites.
And thankfully to all of you,
and many others who've watched
them, they started to spread.
And Arianna
Huffington was someone
who really supported
them and gave me
an early tipping point too.
Yeah.
So I think the most
viewed-- you had 365 million
on the topic of pressure,
basically stress.
So what do you say
to people about that?
Absolutely, I think it's
something we all feel today.
And the biggest
pressure I think we feel
is we're rushed by other
people's timelines.
We're rushed by the success and
achievement of people around us
or we're rushed by the supposed
success and achievements
of others we see
on social media.
And the biggest thing
I'd say is, give yourself
permission to take time.
Give yourself
permission to recognize
that living your passion and
creating a purpose takes time.
For some people they've waited
to 30 or 40 or 50 or 60--
we want it to happen in our 20s.
But your best years
are yet to come.
Yeah, and I think you can't do
anything until you're actually
aware of it anyway.
First of all, you have
to have the awareness.
And I think some
people may be hearing
that for the first time.
And then once you're
aware, you can take steps.
So I think gratitude is probably
the most important thing
that you can have.
And you speak of that too.
So what can people do today?
And speak about
gratitude for a minute.
Absolutely.
So one of the things
about gratitude
is that studies show that
when you're in gratitude, when
you're feeling gratitude, you
can't be in another state.
So you can't be angry
or sad or disappointed
when you're being grateful.
So grateful for
me is like a seed.
And when you're
grateful, you plant
the seed in your life, which is
going to grow a beautiful tree
and shade and fruits,
and it helps you avoid
what I call weeds in our life.
So when you're planting sadness
or disappointment or anger,
these are like
weeds in our life.
So everyday I'm trying to
plant seeds of gratitude.
And I recommend doing
it the first thing
you do in the morning.
But even more importantly,
the last thing you
do before you go to bed.
Because when you do it
before you go to bed,
you wake up with
gratitude in the morning.
So it programs your mind to
be grateful the next day.
Yeah, and it's so easy to do.
So easy.
I think sometimes it
takes seeing a tragedy
or seeing something
for us to realize
how grateful we are for our
lives and just the smallest
things.
So gratitude is so important.
You're amazing.
I wanted to do more with you.
So if you have a
question for Jay
and you want to find out more
about him, go to our website.
And I just want to have you
on all the time, every day.
I think you're amazing.
That's so kind, that
means so much to me.
Jay, you're incredible.
I know you've mentioned me
before and it's an honor.
I have, you're in so
many of my videos.
Well, it's an honor.
Alright, we'll be right back.
