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AcceptFun fact: No one wants to hire you when your resume says “served as monk for three years” under “Experience”. At 26 years old, I was $25,000 in debt and living with my parents. I was directionless, depressed and confused about my purpose.
I was working 80-hour weeks but felt like I wasn’t living up to my potential. I knew I had more to offer the world, and I wanted to serve. Ten media companies rejected me when I pitched them my mindfulness-based video ideas, and three media executives told me I was too unqualified and too old to have a career in media.
I had just gotten married, moved to another country and become an entrepreneur all in the space of 12 months. I wanted to live my purpose and use my passion to serve others, but I didn’t know where to start.
Two weeks before my podcast launched, the producers told me they didn’t think it was going to be a “big” show.
Hearing a monk speak for the first time at age 21 changed my life. For the next three years, I spent half my summer vacations working for a large financial organization with suits, steak houses and bars and the other half living as a monk in India wearing robes, sleeping on the floor and living out of a gym locker. After three years of back-and-forth, I chose the self-growth and service-focused life of being a monk. For the next three years, I went to live with monks. I woke up at 4 am, meditated for 4-8 hours, studied timeless wisdom and served others in nearby communities. But I couldn’t stay there forever. I knew there was a different purpose for my life. It was time to go home.
Gratitude wasn’t just a concept, it boosted my immune system, mood and quality of sleep. Mastering the mind didn’t just make me feel calm, it helped me manage negativity and overcome overthinking. Discipline wasn’t joyless, it was a meaningful and powerful force to make an impact. Meditation wasn’t just a practice, it gave me clarity, confidence and focus. Empathy didn’t just apply to monks, it improved all my relationships. Mindfulness wasn’t just a tool, it was a way of life.
Living as a monk was like going to life school, and the last seven years have been the exam. The Monk Mindset works. Whether you want to find your purpose, manage negativity, build real confidence or overcome your fears, the tools I learned when I lived as a monk truly do work.
My vision is to Make Wisdom Go Viral. I want to make timeless wisdom and behavioral science about life and the mind more accessible, relevant and practical for each and every single one of you!
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