Mindset · editorial rating
Jay Shetty
A bestselling book and a free podcast keep value at 15 (S1, S3). The Guardian package puts the 2010 to 2013 India monk story and the early unattributed posts in dispute, and it records the Ofqual exchange, which keeps honesty at 9 and the 50 total in OVERSTATED (S1).
Editorial opinion: SG Score 50 out of 100. Verdict: OVERSTATED. This is not a customer star rating and not a finding by a court.
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Strengths
- Think Like a Monk is a mass-market book, so the public entry is a book price (S1 S3).
- The On Purpose podcast is free to sample before buying a book (S1 S3).
- Some themes, including gratitude, overlap practices with limited positive evidence in the research library (R40).
Weaknesses
- The Guardian investigation challenged the India-centered three-year monk narrative and documented a 2019 wave of unattributed posts, more than 100 deletions, and a later attribution practice (S1).
- Positive-fantasy and mental-contrasting research (R12 R13) cuts against treating inspirational imagery alone as a reliable change method.
- The Guardian reported that the Jay Shetty Certification School site referenced Ofqual, that Ofqual said it does not regulate the school's accreditations, and that OTHM told the paper it does not treat the school as recognized by Ofqual. His lawyers said the school is an OTHM Approved Center (S1).
Claims
partly. After graduating, he lived as a monk for three years, from 2010 to 2013, including training tied to India ashrams, before returning to share wisdom publicly.
The Guardian reported that he has given the impression of three years, 2010 to 2013, in an ashram in India. Associates place him for significant stretches at Bhaktivedanta Manor, a UK ISKCON site, and his 2011 blog described an initial India stay of less than four months. His lawyers told The Guardian he lived as a monk between 2010 and 2013 and that teaching, in India and the UK, was part of training.
partly. Think Like a Monk trains readers to find peace and purpose every day using monk lessons.
His site calls the book a guide to thinking like a monk, and The Guardian calls it a bestselling self-help guidebook. Mindfulness and gratitude practices have some research support (R40). The book is not a clinical protocol.
fails. Early social growth was built on original viral wisdom content.
The Guardian reported that a 2019 video from Nicole Arbour exhibited reused posts and quotes without attribution, that Shetty then deleted more than 100 posts, and that his lawyers called it a learning experience and said they were not aware of ongoing unauthorized-use issues after that cleanup.
Public record
- 2024-02: The Guardian published a long investigation into Shetty's monk timeline, ISKCON context, social-content attribution, and the certification school's Ofqual references. His lawyers said he lived as a monk between 2010 and 2013 and disputed key characterizations. S1
Also in Mindset
- Carol S. Dweck (76, EVIDENCE-BACKED)
- Angela Duckworth (76, EVIDENCE-BACKED)
- Mel Robbins (61, MIXED)
Sources
- S1 Uncovering the higher truth of Jay Shetty. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2024/feb/29/jay-shetty-self-help-empire
- S2 Jay Shetty lied about time spent with monks in India, plagiarised people's stories: Report. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/world/jay-shetty-monks-plagiarised-stories-report-9195388/
- S3 Jay Shetty official site. jayshetty.me. https://www.jayshetty.me/
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