[Music]
the advice I give to people today is
fast-forward where you are look at
yourself in 10 15 20 years time and ask
yourself the question is that where I
want to be if you’re in a company look
at the person who’s 20 years ahead of
you and ask yourself is that where I
want to be if you’re in a start-up look
at what other startups have got to in
similar roles and go is that where I
want to be and if the answer’s no then
you need to find a new part and for me
the answer at that time from observing
was no the path that my parents or
society or the university I went to or
the community I had that was carving out
for me it didn’t feel like the path for
me so I was almost seeking an
alternative or a new path I was just so
fortunate that it happened to be an
uplifting powerful path as opposed to
something that could have actually taken
me down the wrong road because that
could have been possible too I was
really really fortunate that very early
on I started to experiment with what
mattered to me sometimes I got me in a
lot of trouble what people don’t know
about me is that I was suspended from
school three times for trying out all
sorts of things like things that people
would never imagine if someone who goes
on to be a monk I was experimenting with
all the drugs in the world I had
multiple relationships I was really
trying to search for some sort of
meaning fulfillment and as far as long
as I’ve known I’ve been chasing thrill I
really value thrill and feeling like did
my not see that coming ya know not many
people do it’s it’s very different from
14 to 18 I was like this kid who just
wanted to try new things out and my
parents rhetoric would always be well
make sure you get good grades and I used
to think well if I can be bad and get
good grades and then it’s all works
right everyone’s happy so that’s that’s
kind of what I did and at 18 I was
really fortunate when I met a monk and
this monk was invited to speak and I
kind of just went because when my
friends forced me to at that time I was
missing two CEOs and entrepreneurs and
business people and marketers who who I
thought that’s what I was aspiring to be
like and then I hear this monk
and he captivated me like no one had
ever captivated me before it was like
staring at the most beautiful woman on
the planet you know I was completely
fixated on him and his message and that
is the beginning without going into too
much detail before we probe that was the
beginning of what changed me because I
went from being someone who did only
want all those things to become
successful and trying to but I started
hearing my own inner voice much more and
all that noise that I had around me I
remember one of my my parents had a
maths tutor for me because I wanted to
be amazing at math and I was I was
pretty good at numbers and I’d have this
tutor and he’d tell me that he goes the
reason that you’re struggling with the
next question is because you’re always
worried about what your parents think
and and that really stayed in my head I
was just like wow so as long as I’m
trapped by what my parents think I can
actually never find the answers to the
real questions of life and there are all
these little things happening I lost two
great friends when I was 16 one girl
died in a car accident one guy died
because he was involved in drugs and
violence now that made me rethink
everything I just thought to myself wait
a minute these were beautiful people
people that I loved people that in my
opinion were good people and I just lost
him in a moment and it was kind of like
this collation of little things that
just made me think wait a minute having
money having Fame this that just doesn’t
seem to add up and then and then meeting
the monk kind of made that shift
possible and as I said he was completely
captivating and then I found out that
he’d given up jobs in Google and
Microsoft to be a monk and I thought to
myself who does that
you know he’s given up everything that
I’m chasing and that all my friends are
chasing but he seems happier than anyone
I’ve ever met before and he spoke about
this incredible principle where he said
that we should plant trees under whose
shade we do not plan to sit and he was
speaking about this principle of
selfless sacrifice and I kind of just
penetrated me right there when he said
the words selfless sacrifice for the
first time in my life I felt a thrill
about something that I’d never felt
before at a while
giving up everything you have for the
service of others sounds like the best
thing you could possibly do and I don’t
know why I had that thought because I
wasn’t a spiritual kid growing up I
wasn’t a religious kid growing up I
wasn’t even a good kid growing up I was
just a rebel a misfit trying things out
and experimental which I still consider
myself and so what I started to do is I
was interning at companies and firms and
corporates thinking I was getting a grad
job afterwards and then I’d spend the
rest of my summer holidays interning in
India living with him as a monk so I’d
use all my summer and Christmas holidays
to just be out there with the monks and
he introduced me to another 200 to 500
monks that would just like him just as
smart just as bright giving up
everything they had and using all their
skills to make the world a better place
so walk me through yeah the first time
you step off the plane in India it’s
summer and so I’m living there I’m
waking up I’m almost doing all the
practices just as if you were shadowing
a CEO I’m just shadowing a mom and so
I’m just shadowing his lifestyle so we
wake up he’s like one of the most elite
monks so we’re waking up at like 2:00
a.m. every day after sleeping at like
9:00 or 10:00 p.m. and then we study
these ancient Vedas which are 5,000 plus
years old together and we spend two
hours I’m studying with the best of the
best here so he can like analyze and
assimilate and I’m learning fast taking
notes then 4:00 a.m. we go to collective
meditation we do those practices with
the other monks as well 6:00 a.m. we
have personal meditations so I’m
literally going through the life of a
monk and falling in love with it step by
step going wow I’ve never had this
experience before I just drew myself in
and I was practicing it to the tee right
it wasn’t like oh no my back hurts when
I sit on the floor I can’t stay here for
too long or you know today when people
are like oh I can’t meditate longer than
two minutes I was like no I’m gonna do
it for two hours if that’s what they’re
doing I’m gonna give it a go because I
can only test the hypothesis will only
be true if the experiment is carried out
to the degree that they are so if the
hypothesis is if you live like this
you’ll are happy more fulfilled then I
want to do that you meet people who are
just like us most of the time and we
talk about this in business wallet if
you want to be a billionaire spend time
with billionaires if you want to be a
millionaire spend our millionaires if
you want to be a tech startup spend time
with you know that’s that’s the common
rhetoric that we hear all the time but
what if you want to find purpose and
master the mind there’s no one better
than a monk who’s mastered the mind so
for me the first step is just opening
yourself up to new experiences and new
role models because most of us can’t see
ourselves in people so then we try and
fit ourselves into the boxes that we do
see and and I mean there’s this
beautiful quote that I’ve been saying it
everywhere and I wish I wrote it but I
didn’t so it’s by a philosopher and
writer named Cooley and he said that
today I’m not what I think I am I’m not
what you think I am I am what I think
you think I am
and just let that blow your mind for now
it’s a so powerful I’m not what I think
I am I’m not what you think I am I am
what I think you think I am so we live
in this perception of a perception of
ourselves
hence my identity is made by what my
parents think I should be my identity is
made up by what my college or university
thinks I should achieve while you’re
living in that bubble and that echo
chamber getting to what you really want
to do is impossible because maybe that
just doesn’t fit and I think so many
people feel that way today that they
don’t fit into the current education
system they don’t fit with the three or
four or five careers that you’re taught
exist so that process of self excavation
and actualization first requires being
exposed you can’t be what you can’t see
if I never saw a monk I would never have
wanted to be a monk if I never meet a
billionaire I wouldn’t want to be one
because I don’t know what that feels
like I don’t know what it looks like I
don’t know what it takes and and I think
that’s the biggest challenge of our
society that we’re not exposed so that’s
the first step being exposed to unique
experiences and role models second step
is finding that experience or role model
that you’re passionate about and exactly
like you said taking
seriously shadow there network with them
spend time with them observe them even
from afar it takes that observation
being addicted to observing that
person’s lifestyle and then the third
step is growing yes or no does that work
for me not everyone who’s gonna go off
from become a monk is gonna feel like
the way I did and that’s cool
but not everyone is gonna go and follow
and shadow a billion anger that’s
exactly the lifestyle I want they may
want the result but do they want the
hard work that goes with it and so for
me that’s the third step its observing
focusing shadowing getting as close to
the process of that individual and then
going yes or no do I want that process
not do I want the result everyone wants
to be that monk who’s fully enlightened
you know can walk through as an
incredible or that people just gravitate
towards but when you realize he has to
wake up at 2:00 a.m. every day and
stitch about four to six hours you like
you know the greatest power is to be
self-controlled to be able to train the
mind and energy to focus it exactly
where you want it and when you want it
to be you are completely detached and
undeterred from external ups and downs
you’re able to navigate anything that
seems tough challenging fun excitement
with the same amount of being equipoised
and balanced an equanimity without being
too excited in pleasure or being too
depressed and pain but knowing how to
navigate every situation to me that’s
great strength and great power for me
actually the mind set is completely
trainable to bring it into the real
world that’s that’s what I’m trying to
do and what it allows you to do is it
allows you to bring clarity and
perspective when you need it because you
know when you can just take a bird’s-eye
view from something you know when you
need to get close into something you
know when you need to pull back from
something there’s a beautiful verse in
the Bible Gita that says that detachment
is not that you own nothing detachment
is that nothing owns you and and I love
it because to me that summarizes
detachment in a way that it’s not
usually explained
usually people see detachment as being
away from everything actually the
greatest detachment it’s been close to
everything and not letting it consume
and own you and that’s real power that’s
real strength how many people do we know
that have had fame and then that Fame
has ruined them so for me that
definition of detachment is possible to
practice even in the real world rather
than saying oh I’m just gonna have a
really simple life I’m just gonna have
nothing in life what was the best part
about being a monk the best part about
being a monk is that your morning
routine and practices are so powerful
that you can actually aspire for more
incredible values in life because your
mind is clear because your mind is clear
and you have that ability to have more
clarity so you can seek that which is
which is higher so I’ll give an example
of what I’m defined yes are we about to
the yeah what is higher yes exactly so
for me being able to overcome ego being
able to overcome envy being able to
overcome jealousy being able able to
overcome the negative of competitive
State there’s a positive competitive
state and there’s a negative competitive
State today when people are looking on
Instagram or Facebook or YouTube all
you’re looking at is oh she got that
many likes or he got that many likes she
got engaged or he got married or oh my
god look at her body or look at that and
it’s like that stuff’s destroying us
inside and the jealousy ego greed to be
able to have enough clarity to purify
yourself of those things is going to
alleviate the biggest anxieties and
depressions of our time and mental
health problems and and we know that we
know that because all the mental health
research survey suggests that things
like isolation over exposure we now can
have more pain consumption in one day
because of what we were exposed to than
the pain we would have had in a lifetime
that’s huge
like that that’s ridiculous to think
then one day because of the media news
and social media we consume more
negative than we did in a lifetime
for me being able to have time energy
and clarity to focus on self
purification that is the best thing
about being a Hmong so I often say to
people that you get to where you want in
life just not in the way you imagined
and that’s because the path that’s paved
up and down is far different to the path
we pave so you can have a great head and
a great vision and a great mission and
know where you want to go but if your
heart’s not able to have that resilience
and be able to adapt and and have
compassion and care and all of that then
then you’re not going to be able to make
the toughest decisions without your
heart but to be able to realize that we
need to care and be sustainable and
long-lasting requires a heart and a hand
is that service wanting to pass that on
that which you have wanting to give it
forward pay it forward the idea of
serving with what you have I often say
to people your passion is for you your
purpose is for others your passion makes
you happy but when you use your passion
to make a difference in someone else’s
life that’s a service that’s a purpose
and that’s the Hat so those are my three
elements of an ideal life and one of the
first things we were trying to do when
we were a monk was to pay our respects
to the earth for what it gives us and
you do that first thing in the morning
what is that if not gratitude when you
wake up in the morning you thank the
earth for the food you thank the earth
for the water you thank the earth for
allowing yourself to walk you start your
day with gratitude today the biggest tip
on Forbes and ink and everything is
start your day with gratitude like where
does it come from it’s it’s right there
these things are old so I’ll I get
fascinated I’m intrigued by the
parallels and patterns because it saves
you time it’s the same way as which if I
say that this business person got
invested by this company and that’s why
they’re successful because they had the
right investors etc that’s a pattern so
I know if I’m building a business in
that area I’m gonna look for investors
like that it’s the same thing that
pattern saves you time rather than you
trying to figure out does gratitude work
how shall I be grateful creating your
own process almost the biggest challenge
is that there’s just so much noise it’s
like have you ever had someone in your
maybe it’s your wife or maybe it’s a
friend or whatever just play a really
bad song too often I just playing a song
that you really don’t have actually
heard my wife laugh because she knows
how guilty right okay there you go right
there you go and just play a song and
just think Oh turn that off and after a
while it’s been on for so long that you
become immune to it like it’s just there
and it’s still on it’s there in the back
of your mind and you didn’t manage to
turn it off so the noise that I describe
in life whether it’s your parents
expectations whether it’s society’s
expectations whether it’s your partner’s
expectations all of those are like noise
in the background and that noise drowns
out your ability to understand the mind
and the intelligence that’s one of the
biggest trip ups so how do I find my
passion my simple model which and it
talks about an intersect of four areas
what am I good at what do I love what is
the world need and how do I get paid for
it to me those four help you unlock your
passion when you find the intersect
across all of those four you’re making
your passion your purpose you’ll unlock
your passion you’ll find your purpose
this is path one there’s two paths path
one I find my skill set and I engage it
to help other people and become better
at it so I’m becoming better at what I’m
good at and I’m using it to help other
people because I’m aware of what I’m
quite good at and I know what more
knowledge I have what skills I have I
have some self-awareness the other path
that people often miss is actually I
just start serving people I just start
helping people and I start to notice
what I enjoy about that and what I’m
good at helping people with so that’s
Gandhi’s part Gandhi said that you find
yourself when you lose yourself in the
service of others so for me those are
the two paths of how do I find my
passion and finding the intersect
between those four areas the second one
is Jay my relationships falling apart I
get asked that all the time so the
answer to that is much harder
it’s it’s hard to summarize it but I
always start with self-actualization
that the problem is we have a list for
the one that we want and we don’t have a
list for what we need to become and I
don’t mean become to attract
I mean become to just be to just get to
understand yourself you don’t know what
you need in your life until you figure
out who you are
and so I find too many people rush into
relationships without really recognizing
and being fully aware of what they need
from a relationship so it all comes back
to how aware are you how much
understanding do you have of yourself
and what you need and what you want what
are your top three books they’re not
groundbreaking in the sense that people
may not be like oh that’s the best book
I’ve ever read for me they changed my
life so that’s where I’m coming at a
point from I love start with Y by simon
Sinek
and not because I applied it to
businesses because I applied it to my
life and even today I’m constantly
refining my why that’s all I do every
day my deepest morning routine and
practice is to refine why I do what I do
it’s so easy for me to now do it for
money it’s so easy for me to now do it
for followers it’s so easy for me to now
do it for fame and every day I have to
refine that because I know having lived
as a monk and what I practiced that if
those become what I want then I’ll
forget who I need to be so my daily
practice and my daily routine is
refining my intention which in modern
language is why so for me Simon’s a book
helped me do that I’ve got one more yeah
yes I want to hear you talk about your
three E’s Oh what are they why do they
matter so for me my three e’s are
element environment and energy every one
has an element that they thrive in if
you take someone out of it their element
they won’t be the same a modern-day
example would be Michael Jordan he was
incredible at basketball you took him
out a basket or put him into baseball no
one remembers his career we’re talking
about one of the best athletes of all
time your environment is the environment
around you you can take a fish out of
water and give it a beautiful mansion
and a
and all the money in the world but it
would die and that’s what we are like
our environment everyone is an
environment which they thrive which we
have to craft your boss if you’re at
work is never gonna ask you anyway what
environment you succeed in right like
that never happens so we have to create
an environment where we thrive and then
finally it’s energy we some of us love
high energy environments high pressure
some of us succeed in lower energy
environments and low pressure figuring
out your energy and the frequency on
which you operate best will help you
thrive as well so for me those are the
three keys to really create a thriving
environment know your element know your
environment and know your energy and so
on all times if I see anything going
wrong I’m going is my element out of
alignment is my environment out of
alignment or is my energy out of
alignment that’s a great three question
test you can do to yourself and you
don’t think things are going right and
all you have to do is bring that back
into alignment all right what’s the
impact that you want to have on the
world
I think you’ve you’ve said it so
beautifully so many times and shared my
vision which is wonderful and it’s
wonderful to know that we share the same
thing it’s making wisdom go viral
there’s an incredible study in 2017 that
said the most successful people in the
world healthy wealthy and wise choose
education over entertainment the impact
I want to have from the world is I want
to transform and revolutionize the
entertainment industry so that it
becomes educational without anyone
knowing so it’s still completely
entertaining it’s still like watching
Netflix but you’re learning about human
behavior the mind neuroscience and
everything without even knowing you are
to me that’s the greatest win that we
can have for our society how many people
are gonna quit watching Netflix and
reading a book every night I don’t know
but if we can make that book come to
life on Netflix that’s gonna change the
world because that’s what people are
going to consume so for so long
media has been used to numb people to to
switch people off if we can use it to
excite elevate and lighten people
not by just not by like the cheesy way
of like a let’s follow someone through
their journey of enlightenment not like
that kind of stuff I mean like really
entertaining programming where you can
learn by being entertained at the same
time if I can do that by changing the
the most powerful industry in the world
then I will feel that I’ve had some
somewhat of an impact because that way I
think will reach the world without
having to get everyone to change their
habits too much my my thing is how do we
meet people where they are and and
really deliver a message and a powerful
expression of love and to me that’s the
highest form of compassion the highest
form of empathy love and compassion is
to meet people where they already are
rather than expecting them to change and
yeah that’s the impact I’d like to
happen to our fingers crossed with your
help with the help of everyone who’s
watching you know it’s gonna be a team
effort I can do it on my own I’m not
expecting to but yeah that’s the same
you you
the advice I give to people today is
fast-forward where you are look at
yourself in 10 15 20 years time and ask
yourself the question is that where I
want to be if you’re in a company look
at the person who’s 20 years ahead of
you and ask yourself is that where I
want to be if you’re in a start-up look
at what other startups have got to in
similar roles and go is that where I
want to be and if the answer’s no then
you need to find a new part and for me
the answer at that time from observing
was no the path that my parents or
society or the university I went to or
the community I had that was carving out
for me it didn’t feel like the path for
me so I was almost seeking an
alternative or a new path I was just so
fortunate that it happened to be an
uplifting powerful path as opposed to
something that could have actually taken
me down the wrong road because that
could have been possible too I was
really really fortunate that very early
on I started to experiment with what
mattered to me sometimes I got me in a
lot of trouble what people don’t know
about me is that I was suspended from
school three times for trying out all
sorts of things like things that people
would never imagine if someone who goes
on to be a monk I was experimenting with
all the drugs in the world I had
multiple relationships I was really
trying to search for some sort of
meaning fulfillment and as far as long
as I’ve known I’ve been chasing thrill I
really value thrill and feeling like did
my not see that coming ya know not many
people do it’s it’s very different from
14 to 18 I was like this kid who just
wanted to try new things out and my
parents rhetoric would always be well
make sure you get good grades and I used
to think well if I can be bad and get
good grades and then it’s all works
right everyone’s happy so that’s that’s
kind of what I did and at 18 I was
really fortunate when I met a monk and
this monk was invited to speak and I
kind of just went because when my
friends forced me to at that time I was
missing two CEOs and entrepreneurs and
business people and marketers who who I
thought that’s what I was aspiring to be
like and then I hear this monk
and he captivated me like no one had
ever captivated me before it was like
staring at the most beautiful woman on
the planet you know I was completely
fixated on him and his message and that
is the beginning without going into too
much detail before we probe that was the
beginning of what changed me because I
went from being someone who did only
want all those things to become
successful and trying to but I started
hearing my own inner voice much more and
all that noise that I had around me I
remember one of my my parents had a
maths tutor for me because I wanted to
be amazing at math and I was I was
pretty good at numbers and I’d have this
tutor and he’d tell me that he goes the
reason that you’re struggling with the
next question is because you’re always
worried about what your parents think
and and that really stayed in my head I
was just like wow so as long as I’m
trapped by what my parents think I can
actually never find the answers to the
real questions of life and there are all
these little things happening I lost two
great friends when I was 16 one girl
died in a car accident one guy died
because he was involved in drugs and
violence now that made me rethink
everything I just thought to myself wait
a minute these were beautiful people
people that I loved people that in my
opinion were good people and I just lost
him in a moment and it was kind of like
this collation of little things that
just made me think wait a minute having
money having Fame this that just doesn’t
seem to add up and then and then meeting
the monk kind of made that shift
possible and as I said he was completely
captivating and then I found out that
he’d given up jobs in Google and
Microsoft to be a monk and I thought to
myself who does that
you know he’s given up everything that
I’m chasing and that all my friends are
chasing but he seems happier than anyone
I’ve ever met before and he spoke about
this incredible principle where he said
that we should plant trees under whose
shade we do not plan to sit and he was
speaking about this principle of
selfless sacrifice and I kind of just
penetrated me right there when he said
the words selfless sacrifice for the
first time in my life I felt a thrill
about something that I’d never felt
before at a while
giving up everything you have for the
service of others sounds like the best
thing you could possibly do and I don’t
know why I had that thought because I
wasn’t a spiritual kid growing up I
wasn’t a religious kid growing up I
wasn’t even a good kid growing up I was
just a rebel a misfit trying things out
and experimental which I still consider
myself and so what I started to do is I
was interning at companies and firms and
corporates thinking I was getting a grad
job afterwards and then I’d spend the
rest of my summer holidays interning in
India living with him as a monk so I’d
use all my summer and Christmas holidays
to just be out there with the monks and
he introduced me to another 200 to 500
monks that would just like him just as
smart just as bright giving up
everything they had and using all their
skills to make the world a better place
so walk me through yeah the first time
you step off the plane in India it’s
summer and so I’m living there I’m
waking up I’m almost doing all the
practices just as if you were shadowing
a CEO I’m just shadowing a mom and so
I’m just shadowing his lifestyle so we
wake up he’s like one of the most elite
monks so we’re waking up at like 2:00
a.m. every day after sleeping at like
9:00 or 10:00 p.m. and then we study
these ancient Vedas which are 5,000 plus
years old together and we spend two
hours I’m studying with the best of the
best here so he can like analyze and
assimilate and I’m learning fast taking
notes then 4:00 a.m. we go to collective
meditation we do those practices with
the other monks as well 6:00 a.m. we
have personal meditations so I’m
literally going through the life of a
monk and falling in love with it step by
step going wow I’ve never had this
experience before I just drew myself in
and I was practicing it to the tee right
it wasn’t like oh no my back hurts when
I sit on the floor I can’t stay here for
too long or you know today when people
are like oh I can’t meditate longer than
two minutes I was like no I’m gonna do
it for two hours if that’s what they’re
doing I’m gonna give it a go because I
can only test the hypothesis will only
be true if the experiment is carried out
to the degree that they are so if the
hypothesis is if you live like this
you’ll are happy more fulfilled then I
want to do that you meet people who are
just like us most of the time and we
talk about this in business wallet if
you want to be a billionaire spend time
with billionaires if you want to be a
millionaire spend our millionaires if
you want to be a tech startup spend time
with you know that’s that’s the common
rhetoric that we hear all the time but
what if you want to find purpose and
master the mind there’s no one better
than a monk who’s mastered the mind so
for me the first step is just opening
yourself up to new experiences and new
role models because most of us can’t see
ourselves in people so then we try and
fit ourselves into the boxes that we do
see and and I mean there’s this
beautiful quote that I’ve been saying it
everywhere and I wish I wrote it but I
didn’t so it’s by a philosopher and
writer named Cooley and he said that
today I’m not what I think I am I’m not
what you think I am I am what I think
you think I am
and just let that blow your mind for now
it’s a so powerful I’m not what I think
I am I’m not what you think I am I am
what I think you think I am so we live
in this perception of a perception of
ourselves
hence my identity is made by what my
parents think I should be my identity is
made up by what my college or university
thinks I should achieve while you’re
living in that bubble and that echo
chamber getting to what you really want
to do is impossible because maybe that
just doesn’t fit and I think so many
people feel that way today that they
don’t fit into the current education
system they don’t fit with the three or
four or five careers that you’re taught
exist so that process of self excavation
and actualization first requires being
exposed you can’t be what you can’t see
if I never saw a monk I would never have
wanted to be a monk if I never meet a
billionaire I wouldn’t want to be one
because I don’t know what that feels
like I don’t know what it looks like I
don’t know what it takes and and I think
that’s the biggest challenge of our
society that we’re not exposed so that’s
the first step being exposed to unique
experiences and role models second step
is finding that experience or role model
that you’re passionate about and exactly
like you said taking
seriously shadow there network with them
spend time with them observe them even
from afar it takes that observation
being addicted to observing that
person’s lifestyle and then the third
step is growing yes or no does that work
for me not everyone who’s gonna go off
from become a monk is gonna feel like
the way I did and that’s cool
but not everyone is gonna go and follow
and shadow a billion anger that’s
exactly the lifestyle I want they may
want the result but do they want the
hard work that goes with it and so for
me that’s the third step its observing
focusing shadowing getting as close to
the process of that individual and then
going yes or no do I want that process
not do I want the result everyone wants
to be that monk who’s fully enlightened
you know can walk through as an
incredible or that people just gravitate
towards but when you realize he has to
wake up at 2:00 a.m. every day and
stitch about four to six hours you like
you know the greatest power is to be
self-controlled to be able to train the
mind and energy to focus it exactly
where you want it and when you want it
to be you are completely detached and
undeterred from external ups and downs
you’re able to navigate anything that
seems tough challenging fun excitement
with the same amount of being equipoised
and balanced an equanimity without being
too excited in pleasure or being too
depressed and pain but knowing how to
navigate every situation to me that’s
great strength and great power for me
actually the mind set is completely
trainable to bring it into the real
world that’s that’s what I’m trying to
do and what it allows you to do is it
allows you to bring clarity and
perspective when you need it because you
know when you can just take a bird’s-eye
view from something you know when you
need to get close into something you
know when you need to pull back from
something there’s a beautiful verse in
the Bible Gita that says that detachment
is not that you own nothing detachment
is that nothing owns you and and I love
it because to me that summarizes
detachment in a way that it’s not
usually explained
usually people see detachment as being
away from everything actually the
greatest detachment it’s been close to
everything and not letting it consume
and own you and that’s real power that’s
real strength how many people do we know
that have had fame and then that Fame
has ruined them so for me that
definition of detachment is possible to
practice even in the real world rather
than saying oh I’m just gonna have a
really simple life I’m just gonna have
nothing in life what was the best part
about being a monk the best part about
being a monk is that your morning
routine and practices are so powerful
that you can actually aspire for more
incredible values in life because your
mind is clear because your mind is clear
and you have that ability to have more
clarity so you can seek that which is
which is higher so I’ll give an example
of what I’m defined yes are we about to
the yeah what is higher yes exactly so
for me being able to overcome ego being
able to overcome envy being able to
overcome jealousy being able able to
overcome the negative of competitive
State there’s a positive competitive
state and there’s a negative competitive
State today when people are looking on
Instagram or Facebook or YouTube all
you’re looking at is oh she got that
many likes or he got that many likes she
got engaged or he got married or oh my
god look at her body or look at that and
it’s like that stuff’s destroying us
inside and the jealousy ego greed to be
able to have enough clarity to purify
yourself of those things is going to
alleviate the biggest anxieties and
depressions of our time and mental
health problems and and we know that we
know that because all the mental health
research survey suggests that things
like isolation over exposure we now can
have more pain consumption in one day
because of what we were exposed to than
the pain we would have had in a lifetime
that’s huge
like that that’s ridiculous to think
then one day because of the media news
and social media we consume more
negative than we did in a lifetime
for me being able to have time energy
and clarity to focus on self
purification that is the best thing
about being a Hmong so I often say to
people that you get to where you want in
life just not in the way you imagined
and that’s because the path that’s paved
up and down is far different to the path
we pave so you can have a great head and
a great vision and a great mission and
know where you want to go but if your
heart’s not able to have that resilience
and be able to adapt and and have
compassion and care and all of that then
then you’re not going to be able to make
the toughest decisions without your
heart but to be able to realize that we
need to care and be sustainable and
long-lasting requires a heart and a hand
is that service wanting to pass that on
that which you have wanting to give it
forward pay it forward the idea of
serving with what you have I often say
to people your passion is for you your
purpose is for others your passion makes
you happy but when you use your passion
to make a difference in someone else’s
life that’s a service that’s a purpose
and that’s the Hat so those are my three
elements of an ideal life and one of the
first things we were trying to do when
we were a monk was to pay our respects
to the earth for what it gives us and
you do that first thing in the morning
what is that if not gratitude when you
wake up in the morning you thank the
earth for the food you thank the earth
for the water you thank the earth for
allowing yourself to walk you start your
day with gratitude today the biggest tip
on Forbes and ink and everything is
start your day with gratitude like where
does it come from it’s it’s right there
these things are old so I’ll I get
fascinated I’m intrigued by the
parallels and patterns because it saves
you time it’s the same way as which if I
say that this business person got
invested by this company and that’s why
they’re successful because they had the
right investors etc that’s a pattern so
I know if I’m building a business in
that area I’m gonna look for investors
like that it’s the same thing that
pattern saves you time rather than you
trying to figure out does gratitude work
how shall I be grateful creating your
own process almost the biggest challenge
is that there’s just so much noise it’s
like have you ever had someone in your
maybe it’s your wife or maybe it’s a
friend or whatever just play a really
bad song too often I just playing a song
that you really don’t have actually
heard my wife laugh because she knows
how guilty right okay there you go right
there you go and just play a song and
just think Oh turn that off and after a
while it’s been on for so long that you
become immune to it like it’s just there
and it’s still on it’s there in the back
of your mind and you didn’t manage to
turn it off so the noise that I describe
in life whether it’s your parents
expectations whether it’s society’s
expectations whether it’s your partner’s
expectations all of those are like noise
in the background and that noise drowns
out your ability to understand the mind
and the intelligence that’s one of the
biggest trip ups so how do I find my
passion my simple model which and it
talks about an intersect of four areas
what am I good at what do I love what is
the world need and how do I get paid for
it to me those four help you unlock your
passion when you find the intersect
across all of those four you’re making
your passion your purpose you’ll unlock
your passion you’ll find your purpose
this is path one there’s two paths path
one I find my skill set and I engage it
to help other people and become better
at it so I’m becoming better at what I’m
good at and I’m using it to help other
people because I’m aware of what I’m
quite good at and I know what more
knowledge I have what skills I have I
have some self-awareness the other path
that people often miss is actually I
just start serving people I just start
helping people and I start to notice
what I enjoy about that and what I’m
good at helping people with so that’s
Gandhi’s part Gandhi said that you find
yourself when you lose yourself in the
service of others so for me those are
the two paths of how do I find my
passion and finding the intersect
between those four areas the second one
is Jay my relationships falling apart I
get asked that all the time so the
answer to that is much harder
it’s it’s hard to summarize it but I
always start with self-actualization
that the problem is we have a list for
the one that we want and we don’t have a
list for what we need to become and I
don’t mean become to attract
I mean become to just be to just get to
understand yourself you don’t know what
you need in your life until you figure
out who you are
and so I find too many people rush into
relationships without really recognizing
and being fully aware of what they need
from a relationship so it all comes back
to how aware are you how much
understanding do you have of yourself
and what you need and what you want what
are your top three books they’re not
groundbreaking in the sense that people
may not be like oh that’s the best book
I’ve ever read for me they changed my
life so that’s where I’m coming at a
point from I love start with Y by simon
Sinek
and not because I applied it to
businesses because I applied it to my
life and even today I’m constantly
refining my why that’s all I do every
day my deepest morning routine and
practice is to refine why I do what I do
it’s so easy for me to now do it for
money it’s so easy for me to now do it
for followers it’s so easy for me to now
do it for fame and every day I have to
refine that because I know having lived
as a monk and what I practiced that if
those become what I want then I’ll
forget who I need to be so my daily
practice and my daily routine is
refining my intention which in modern
language is why so for me Simon’s a book
helped me do that I’ve got one more yeah
yes I want to hear you talk about your
three E’s Oh what are they why do they
matter so for me my three e’s are
element environment and energy every one
has an element that they thrive in if
you take someone out of it their element
they won’t be the same a modern-day
example would be Michael Jordan he was
incredible at basketball you took him
out a basket or put him into baseball no
one remembers his career we’re talking
about one of the best athletes of all
time your environment is the environment
around you you can take a fish out of
water and give it a beautiful mansion
and a
and all the money in the world but it
would die and that’s what we are like
our environment everyone is an
environment which they thrive which we
have to craft your boss if you’re at
work is never gonna ask you anyway what
environment you succeed in right like
that never happens so we have to create
an environment where we thrive and then
finally it’s energy we some of us love
high energy environments high pressure
some of us succeed in lower energy
environments and low pressure figuring
out your energy and the frequency on
which you operate best will help you
thrive as well so for me those are the
three keys to really create a thriving
environment know your element know your
environment and know your energy and so
on all times if I see anything going
wrong I’m going is my element out of
alignment is my environment out of
alignment or is my energy out of
alignment that’s a great three question
test you can do to yourself and you
don’t think things are going right and
all you have to do is bring that back
into alignment all right what’s the
impact that you want to have on the
world
I think you’ve you’ve said it so
beautifully so many times and shared my
vision which is wonderful and it’s
wonderful to know that we share the same
thing it’s making wisdom go viral
there’s an incredible study in 2017 that
said the most successful people in the
world healthy wealthy and wise choose
education over entertainment the impact
I want to have from the world is I want
to transform and revolutionize the
entertainment industry so that it
becomes educational without anyone
knowing so it’s still completely
entertaining it’s still like watching
Netflix but you’re learning about human
behavior the mind neuroscience and
everything without even knowing you are
to me that’s the greatest win that we
can have for our society how many people
are gonna quit watching Netflix and
reading a book every night I don’t know
but if we can make that book come to
life on Netflix that’s gonna change the
world because that’s what people are
going to consume so for so long
media has been used to numb people to to
switch people off if we can use it to
excite elevate and lighten people
not by just not by like the cheesy way
of like a let’s follow someone through
their journey of enlightenment not like
that kind of stuff I mean like really
entertaining programming where you can
learn by being entertained at the same
time if I can do that by changing the
the most powerful industry in the world
then I will feel that I’ve had some
somewhat of an impact because that way I
think will reach the world without
having to get everyone to change their
habits too much my my thing is how do we
meet people where they are and and
really deliver a message and a powerful
expression of love and to me that’s the
highest form of compassion the highest
form of empathy love and compassion is
to meet people where they already are
rather than expecting them to change and
yeah that’s the impact I’d like to
happen to our fingers crossed with your
help with the help of everyone who’s
watching you know it’s gonna be a team
effort I can do it on my own I’m not
expecting to but yeah that’s the same
you you
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