Jay Shetty, a former monk who hosts the world’s leading health and wellness podcast On Purpose, has interviewed thought leaders and celebrities, from actress and mental health advocate Selena Gomez to longevity scientist Dr. Peter Attia. Today, he launched a class on MasterClass about navigating life’s changes.
“I’ve often wished that somewhere I could find a guidebook to help me deal with change. That’s what this class is designed to do,” Shetty said in a press release ahead of the launch, where he also speaks on the pivots of his life from living as a monk to becoming a public figure. “Members will get clarity on how to approach the uncertainties in their lives, and they’ll walk away with the ability to see change as a beautiful guide and teacher, no matter how uncomfortable it may feel.”
Shetty unpacks how people can embrace change rather than fear it. After all, whether we like it or not, change is one of the only constants in life.
Alongside renowned cognitive science, grief, and psychology experts, Shetty explores how the fear of change is the real enemy, underlining a collective discomfort with uncertainty. Closing the gap between the fear and the potential for change can help us weather the storm.
“So often our instinctual reaction to change is actually blocking us from growing,” Shetty says in the MasterClass, exclusively obtained by Fortune.
Here are three steps to reframe how you think about change from Shetty’s MasterClass.
1. Prepare for the realities of change
There’s no one-size guidebook for facing unexpected and traumatic change such as a loss. While Shetty touches on moving through grief in one section of the MasterClass, he also discusses how to handle purposeful change.
In this context, preparing for the realities of change is helpful, despite not knowing the outcome. Using a growth mindset, we can see uncertainty as potential for growth. When people decide to change something, they can prepare by knowing there will be ups and downs in the process. See these roadblocks as learning opportunities rather than signs of defeat.
“A lot of us feel that if something is meant for us that it should be easy. It should flow. It should work out, and we see that as a sign. Some others think that if it's hard, then it’s right for us,” he says in the class. “I’m here to tell you that neither is true or false. The reality is that any new fresh pursuit will have inherent struggle within it.”
If you're contemplating making a personal change in a job or relationship, consider learning first. What about the status quo do you like, and what do you not like? This pause helps people make changes aligning with their passions, preferences, and expertise, Shetty explains in his class.
2. Ask yourself this question
When Shetty leaped into a media career, he was uncertain of the outcome. He thought he may fail, which, admittedly, he did at first. However, he asked himself this question: Will I regret it if I don't try or will I regret it if I do try?
Shetty draws on research showing how people on their deathbed regret the things they didn’t do versus the times they did something, faced a change, and learned something from it.
“We don’t regret the changes we did try,” Shetty says.
3. Talk to yourself in the third person
What advice would you give your friend, spouse, or co-worker? Often, it is harder to imagine change in the confines of our doubtful minds, Dr. Maya Shankar, a cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans, tells Shetty in the class. However, when we talk to ourselves as we would a friend, it’s easier to believe the comforting words.
“It’s hard for us to see our situations through an objective lens because we have all of these emotions that are swirling about,” Shankar tells Shetty.
Throughout his four lessons, Shetty challenges us to focus on the positive ways change has helped shape where we are today.
“Change is never easy. Change is never comfortable. Change is never as graceful as we like it to be,” Shetty says in the MasterClass. “Our desire for it to be easy and simple and graceful is what makes it so complex.”
