We all want to be successful in life. However, we are obsessed with a definition of success that doesn’t reflect our own. After all, money, prestige, and power should be what everyone wants, right? Then again, how many successful people are happy?

Jay Shetty is a successful man; he is an influencer and social media superstar. But the reason he is successful is that he is living out his dharma, a concept that combines passion, purpose, and service to the world. This truth is something Shetty knows because he learned it living as a monk in India for three years.

Returning to the modern world with its complex intricacies, Shetty has found a way to live his dharma despite not having any marketable skills. Through this book, he shares the various lessons he learned as a monk. We don’t have to renounce all material things to think like a monk, but we can all incorporate those lessons into our lives. By reading this book, you can become a better person, to yourself and all others.

Have you ever noticed that you behave differently when you’re with different people? This is because our identity is influenced by what we think others think of us. Unfortunately, when we try to improve ourselves, we aren’t going by what is right for us. Instead, we try to become the ideal image that we think others have of us.

It is only natural that we want to become what others see as good. We are influenced by the voices of what surrounds us, like our parents, friends, education, and media. However, we can never be happy chasing that impossible goal.

To become truly happy, we must look inwards and assess our values, letting them guide us instead. To do this, we have to detach ourselves from the noise of the world around us. By looking at what we spend most of our time doing, we can find the values that motivate us to do. From there, we can know what means the most to us and work towards adding more of it to our lives.

We do things for different reasons. Most of what we do can be attributed to these four motivations: fear, desire, duty, and love. Fear is not sustainable, while desire can blind us to what we truly want and need in life. Duty and love have much more to offer to our beings.

One way to live better is by understanding our intentions. Just because it’s selfish doesn’t mean that an intention is inherently bad. There are things we need to survive and to feel safe. However, it is important not to be misled by them, because external goals cannot fill internal voids.

Humans are faced with change every day. It is the only constant in our lives. That’s why it’s understandable that we are afraid of change. Nevertheless, we have to live our intentions without letting this fear overwhelm us. We want to improve, but sometimes we don’t get there so easily. When we do things with intention, we are reminded that we are on a journey and we can get better as we go.

We all want to be happy, and one way to do that is to live a life that is full of purpose. The best way to inject meaning into your life is by serving others.

Fulfilling our own needs is necessary but is meaningless beyond our survival. It is only in helping others that we can find true purpose.

Contrary as it may seem, no rule says that we have to have something to be able to give it. In life, we may never have enough. If we wait until we do to help others, we will never do it. It is necessary to serve with intention, otherwise, you are just going through the motions. No matter how much you give, there will always be a greater purpose to serve.

When you see pain and suffering, follow the voice within to lessen it, because this suffering belongs to all of us.