In 'Think Like a Monk', Jay Shetty shares his experiences as a monk and provides practical advice on how to overcome negative thoughts, stop overthinking, and find purpose. The book is divided into three stages: Let Go, Grow, and Serve. It emphasizes the importance of letting go of distractions and fears, growing through self-reflection and mindfulness, and serving others to find true fulfillment. Shetty draws on ancient wisdom and his own experiences to offer exercises and advice on reducing stress, improving relationships, and cultivating kindness and compassion.
In this book, Cal Newport challenges the conventional wisdom that following one's passion is the key to career happiness. Instead, he argues that passion often follows mastery and that developing valuable skills and expertise is essential for creating work you love. Newport presents four rules: Don't follow your passion, Be so good they can't ignore you, Turn down a promotion, and Think small, act big. He supports his arguments with case studies from various professionals who have found satisfaction in their careers through hard work and skill development.
In this book, Dr. Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and Senior Lecturer at MIT, reveals the surprising science that supports the Law of Attraction as an effective tool for self-discovery. She guides readers through the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience and behavioral psychology, including lessons in neuroplasticity, magnetism, emotional and logical thinking, hydration, self-care, and relaxation. The book also describes her personal journey from skeptic to believer and how these ancient tools of manifestation and visualization can free readers from self-limiting behaviors and propel them toward their truest, most authentic selves.
In *Love It Or Leave It*, Samantha Clarke provides a straightforward approach to enhancing work happiness and achieving a better work-life balance. The book offers tools and tips for those stuck in unfulfilling jobs, considering career changes, or struggling with toxic work environments. It helps readers either find ways to love their current job or identify the skills needed to transition into a more fulfilling role.
David Sax explores the lives of various entrepreneurs, highlighting their motivations and the realities of running a business. The book distinguishes between lifestyle businesses that offer work-life balance and those where work is the lifestyle.
On average, most of us will spend one third of our lives at work. That’s a lot of time. But even though we spend so much of our lives at work, according to a 2022 happiness study over one third of Brits are unhappy in their job. Samantha Clarke is a work happiness consultant, author of Love It Or Leave It: How to Be Happy at Work and resident lecturer and facilitator at The School of Life, Simon Sinek's platform and The Guardian who gives masterclasses on career potential, navigating transitions and change, managing stress and anxiety, finding confidence and purpose at work. During the conversation me and Samantha break down the traditional prescription around what a career needs to look like and tackle all the big questions facing someone navigating a career: how do you figure out what career path to choose, how do you know when it’s time to quit, how do you reinvent yourself in ease phase of your career, how do you negotiate emotional barriers to change, and most importantly, how do you design a career that you love.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
2:20 Overcoming the title trap
3:47 Evolving understandings about work
08:53 Navigating emotional barriers to pursuing your dream career
12:32 Exploring the hidden assumptions in coaching
17:13 Love It or Leave It: how to be happy at work
20:59 The 6 happiness pillars for work
23:35 How to assess your happiness at work
25:12 Can everyone find purpose in a job?
28:32 The relationship between career purpose and money
35:20 Human Design Profiles
42:17 Manifestation and affirmations
46:26 Decision making
51:09 The signs and symptoms of burnout
59:02 Following your passion vs finding your passion
01:07:28 Coaching Ali on company mission and happiness
01:20:20 Takeaways
🔗 CONNECT WITH SAMANTHA
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/samanthaand_
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/samanthaand
💻 Website - https://samanthaand.co/
👥 Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthaclarke/
📕 Love It or Leave It: How To Be Happy At Work - https://geni.us/dPkwD
🔗 CONNECT WITH ALI
💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter
🎥 YouTube Channel
💻 Website
📸 Instagram
🐦 Twitter
👥 Linkedin
💙 The Friendzone Discord
Find the show notes and the transcript on the website: https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/
Sponsored by Shortform
This episode is kindly brought to you by Shortform, the world's best provider of guides for non-fiction books. Shortform gives you comprehensive coverage of thousands of books, the key ideas, clearly and simply explained, plus smart commentary and analysis. It’s like your smartest friend teaching you about a book. Go to https://shortform.com/deepdive to get 20% off the annual premium subscription.
📚Check out my New York Times Bestselling book Feel-Good Productivity!
Amazon
Website
Leave a review
If you enjoy listening to the podcast, please do leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts - even one line helps! You can also Tweet @AliAbdaal with any feedback, thoughts from the lessons you've learnt from the episodes and we can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏
Want to start your own podcast? We use Transistor! https://go.aliabdaal.com/transistor
Check out the episode on the Deep Dive YouTube Channel.
See privacy policy at https://transistor.fm/privacy
Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal 
