Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day

Reading Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty has truly been life-changing for me. This book didn’t just give me information—it gave me perspective, clarity, and practical tools that I could immediately apply to my own life. What stood out most was how Jay took deep, spiritual lessons and made them simple and relatable. As I turned the pages, I found myself reflecting on my own habits, relationships, and mindset. I realized how much of my daily stress comes from clinging to things I can’t control and how freeing it is to let go. His words reminded me that peace, purpose, and happiness are choices we cultivate within ourselves, not things we chase in the outside world. One of the most powerful lessons for me was learning how to respond instead of react. That shift alone has changed the way I handle challenges and how I interact with others. I also found myself journaling more, slowing down to practice gratitude, and making time for stillness instead of always rushing. This book has inspired me to live with more intention, to serve others from the heart, and to align my actions with my values. I feel lighter, more centered, and more focused on what truly matters. I’m grateful I picked up this book because it gave me exactly what I needed at this stage in my journey. I would encourage anyone searching for direction, healing, or inner peace to read it. You won’t be the same after.

Fantastic read! Life changing and helped to make me a happier version of myself!

Good read, makes me think about all I do and how I live my life, the changes I will make to be a better person.

Good book to read. Listen to him on podcast

As leadership and life coaching books have proliferated over the years, I have read many of them, but have stopped reading most of them for two primary reasons: 1) many don’t cover much new ground, or they take a narrow angle from someone else’s original idea and beat it to death for 250 pages when a 5-page article would have sufficed, and 2) many aren’t very good at helping you put their ideas into practice. In Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty cannot claim to be raising new ideas, as its ideas are based on a millennia-old spiritual faith system. Using precepts from Eastern spiritual systems in a leadership context is not new either: I read the Tao of Leadership years ago (skipped the Tao of Pooh though) and Brene Brown has successfully recommended thoughtful and vulnerable approaches in her leadership books. But Shetty takes on Buddhism and improving ones’ life are fresh in their enthusiasm and succinctness (Brown’s books can be lengthy and emotionally wringing); plus he provides guided meditations/tests that allow one to easily apply these precepts, if one chooses to do so. Anyone who has studied Buddhism in even a basic fashion will recognize much of this material, but Shetty’s life experiences (he’s lived both in an ashram and in the real business world) gives him a unique perspective and the authority to share how to apply these ancient and great ideas most effectively in our modern world. Think Like a Monk is not just one of the best leadership/life books I’ve read recently, but also one of the best books about Buddhism.

I think this book works well for a general audience, especially for readers who want practical ways to think about peace, purpose, and daily life. I grew up Buddhist, so from that perspective I did not find it very deep as a Buddhist text. To me, much of it reads more like modern self-help with Buddhist-inspired ideas. That said, I don’t think it is really meant to be a serious religious or doctrinal book. It gives accessible frameworks and simple ways of thinking that can still be useful. I can see why many people like it, especially if they are new to these ideas. For a general audience, I think it is good.

I like how easy it was to read the content of this books and the exercises there were throughout the book. I definitely would read again.

Absolutely loved this book! So much I could say about it but let’s just say, get your highlighter ready, a notebook and pen and even tune into his podcast for an added challenge to self. There are soooo many gems in this book and it’s a lot to digest so plan for take your time and treat it as a journey! If you’re going through life with questions and feelings of unrest or entrapment, this book will free you in a way (even though you ultimately have to make the decision to free yourself). Personally, I would ignore the negative reviews about him recycling content because what does that have to do with anything? Isn’t everything basically recycled? Only thing you can’t recycle is your own personal experience—-those are facts and you own them. And for people to say there is no proof of him being a Monk is BS because what was he supposed to do?—-take a picture of himself being a Monk and post it for “proof”? That defeats the entire purpose of being a Monk. I swear people are so miserable and they use any and very chance to devalue others and their experiences—-henceforth their need to read this book and open their hearts while doing so. Anyway, this is a book you won’t regret buying and you can read it multiple times throughout life. Took my three months to read it because not only was I reading other books but I was also purposely taking my time to digest the material and complete the exercises, all of which I found very helpful! If you happen to start reading it and you don’t find it appealing, I recommend putting it down and trying again in 6months to a year. Sometimes we can’t read certain things if we aren’t in that season or head space to receive it. If after a year, you’re still not feeling it —-gift it to someone else. But this is definitely an awesome read and I can tell her put his heart into it!

The book is really practical and filled with mind blowing information. I love the exercises and meditation instructions, so good!

There is no real way to articulate how life-changing a head-injury is, it is like trying to explain the intricacies of, and why human fingerprints are all different, and in uniqueness, we are not unique. That is a long-story-short hahaha After listening to Jay Shetty talking with Dave Aspery on Bulletproof Radio, well I bought it on my kindle while listening. Jay - who has written so beautifully and eloquently, like his speech - has provided a calming space while navigating my hectic head-injured life. I am always on the lookout for techniques to ease the burden of my experience and gain more energy. I will be recommending Jay Shetty's book to everyone.

Highly recommend

2020 has been a tough year for most people. There has been lots of chaos and challenges which have made having calm, balance and peace quite difficult. In many cases, this has been particularly difficult because of our ways of thinking. There has been lots of fear and negativity and there have been opportunities for us to better connect with our intention and purpose and find greater meaning in life. Jay provides great frameworks which combine ancient wisdom with the practicalities of living in the modern world. Jay was a Monk for 3 years and he is able to bring to life stories which show how he developed his thinking and how you don't have to be a monk to think like a monk. Jay has had phenomenal success and it is clear that his way of thinking, daily routines, practices and habits have helped shape this success. He uses lots of anecdotes of his journey and then combines this with references to ancient texts to highlight concepts and practices. What I love is how humble Jay in his writing, he applies thinking like a Monk through his writing. The book does not preach, it just lays out several different concepts and puts a "Try this" frame around it. The combination of anecdotes, ancient text references, exercises and diagrams really help to bring out the concepts but most importantly provide a practical framework to use. Jay is a powerful storyteller and he uses the power of story nicely in the book. Just like any other self-development book, it does have concepts that you would have seen in other books. However, lots of people read lots of self-development books and know these concepts at an intellectual level but don't necessarily do anything with this. Lots of people know about Morning Rituals and Gratitude but they still find it difficult to apply these on a daily basis. This book provides some simple but really powerful ways to change your thinking which will help you train your mind for peace and purpose every day. I liked the meditation examples and also the Vedic Personality Test in the Appendix. Again this is provided with a frame to explore and try it out as opposed to being the exact thing you need to do and use. If you want to have more conscious, purposeful living then I highly recommend this book. Remember though, reading the book itself will not change your thinking, it will be practical aspects of reflecting and trying out the various concepts within which will support you with your personal growth.