RUSS ON: How to Focus Your Self-Determination to Successfully Manifest Your Goals and Visions

You can order my new book 8 RULES OF LOVE at 8rulesoflove.com or at a retail store near you. You can also get the chance to see me live on my first ever world tour. This is a 90 minute interactive show where I will take you on a journey of finding, keeping and even letting go of love. Head to jayshettytour.com and find out if I'll be in a city near you. Thank you so much for all your support - I hope to see you soon. On Purpose has been nominated for a Webby Award - help us win by voting NOW! https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2021/podcasts/general-series/health-wellness Dreams don’t just come true on their own. Manifestation doesn’t come to fruition without constant embodiment and tenacity. Goals don’t set themselves. On this episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Jay speaks with rapper and author, RUSS, about how to gear your mentality towards success even when you’re surrounded by the doubts of those around you. Grab a copy of RUSS’ book It’s All In Your Head here today! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jay Shetty?

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• 0:30Speaker 01

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• 1:00Jay Shetty?

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• 1:43Jay Shetty?

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• 1:52Speaker 02

  What does it feel like when you see your mom's reaction to getting the beach house? Can you feel the car turning the corner? It's about immersing yourself in that feeling as if it was going on right now. And when you do that on a daily basis, it's not long before reality catches up.

• 2:13Jay Shetty?

  Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. Thank you so much for tuning in every single week to listen, learn and grow. And I am so excited to be talking to you today. I can't believe it. My new book, Eight Rules of Love, is out and I cannot wait to share it with you. I am so, so excited for you to read this book, for you to listen to this book. I read the audiobook. If you haven't got it already, make sure you go to eightrulesoflove.com. It's dedicated to anyone who's trying to find, keep or let go of love. So if you've got friends that are dating, broken up or struggling with love, make sure you grab this book.

• 2:54Jay Shetty?

  And I'd love to invite you to come and see me for my global tour, Love Rules. Go to jayshettytour.com to learn more information about tickets, VIP experiences and more. I can't wait to see you this year. Now, you know that I like diving into the minds of unique individuals, people with incredible stories, fascinating backgrounds, people with insights that are going to help us understand how we can level up our own mindset. Now, today's guest is going to do just that. Today's guest is Russ, an American rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. He's also the author of the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller, It's All In Your Head.

• 3:36Jay Shetty?

  Russ has made 14 studio albums in his career with several of his songs going platinum and gold. His latest album, Shake The Snow Globe, came out in January of last year and debuted at number four on the Billboard album chart. Russ, welcome to On Purpose.

• 3:52Speaker 02

  That's so crazy. It's just like crazy hearing those things out loud. I don't know, it just like trips me out sometimes.

• 3:59Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, how does it make you feel?

• 4:00Speaker 02

  Well, like every once in a while I un-Jade and I'm like, I go back to being 17 and I'm like, what's going on? It's crazy. I'm super grateful.

• 4:08Jay Shetty?

  How would have your seventeen year old self felt if they knew that this was gonna be the life you lived?

• 4:15Speaker 02

  They would have thought I was lame that I didn't do it earlier. They would have been like, they would have been like, took you to twenty eight, what a loser. But you know when when people ask like artists or anyone like, oh, did you see this coming? It's like, well, yeah, how else do you make it happen? I don't even know how you would make something extraordinary happen if you don't have like an extraordinary level of belief.

• 4:38Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I feel like there's a difference, though, between like seeing, believing and knowing. Like, some people just know.

• 4:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 4:45Jay Shetty?

  But I think sometimes we believe, but knowing is like even a deeper like, I know, right? Do you know what I mean?

• 4:51Speaker 02

  I agree with that. That's interesting, because I definitely, when I was coming up, it was that knowing feeling. There was no doubt, like doubt did not exist in my brain. I knew that it was gonna work, and you couldn't tell me any different.

• 5:03Jay Shetty?

  I feel like if we look at the world today, especially what's happened in the last twelve months, but even before that, you see that there are a lot of people who doubt themselves. Why do you think we do that to ourselves, and how did you not fall into that?

• 5:16Speaker 02

  I don't know if it's necessarily age or if it's exposure to outside chatter. See, when I was seventeen, it was really easy to believe in myself because there was no one saying anything. Like, there was no haters, or I had nobody telling me you can't do it. Maybe some friends like joking like, oh, yeah, you're gonna be a rapper producer. But it's like, you know, I think a lot of it is you were you're born a certain way. I think the other thing is good parenting. My parents, especially my dad, always told me I could do anything. And would like constantly tell me I was special and all those things. And I know there's people who think that you shouldn't tell your kids certain things like that. But for me, I really commend my dad for putting the battery in my back and making me think I can do anything I want. Because.

• 6:01Speaker 02

  That's why I wrote a book. I don't read that much, but I was like, I could write a book. Why not? You know, so it's like, I don't know, man. Shout out to my dad. My dad is like the confidence guru.

• 6:10Jay Shetty?

  Shout out to your dad. Yeah, I love hearing about a positive father role model. Mine was more interesting. My dad was more aloof and detached.

• 6:17Speaker 02

  Interesting.

• 6:18Jay Shetty?

  Which actually helped me because it helped me craft who I wanted to be because I didn't have any pressure from him.

• 6:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:24Jay Shetty?

  And so it's interesting how we all respond.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  Funny you say that because then it just made me think that the other thing is, is I was always super, super competitive and I looked up to my dad a lot. Like he was really good at basketball. He was super smart. He could just like do any. He's one of those people like he could just do anything and like you ask him any question, he knows the answer to it. And since I'm super competitive, I was like, I have to be better than you. I have to like beat you at basketball. Like he would always beat me at ping pong pool. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like I just was always so competitive. So I think that really pushed me. He used to challenge me even with like school, extra assignment projects where he always loves telling this story. I think it's slightly overrated, but I'll tell it and he'll be happy that I did. I think seventh grade,

• 7:10Speaker 02

  there was this class wide or grade wide extracurricular thing like, oh, answer 200 of these math questions online and you'll get something. And my dad just used to give me a hard time about not applying myself. So just to shut him up, I answered like all a thousand and like won the whole thing. But like he usually always uses that story as just sort of this way, this thing that I do where a lot of times I'll just do something to prove y'all wrong and prove me right, you know?

• 7:39Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 7:40Speaker 02

  Even if I don't really want to do it, but sometimes that's enough motivation. So I related to the Michael Jordan, the last dance thing where like he would use any little thing to be like, that was enough for me.

• 7:48Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 7:48Speaker 02

  You know what I'm saying? Like y'all pick Karl Malone as the MVP? That was enough. That's how I be feeling. I only need a little bit. Sometimes I make them up in my head. I'm like, it's like a made believe level of motivation, source of fuel.

• 8:02Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I've heard you talk about that before, like this idea of. Having some level of delusion.

• 8:08Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 8:08Jay Shetty?

  And one of my favorite people who had that, and I've studied his life through many books and teachings, is Steve Jobs. And so when you read the life of Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs had something they call reality distortion field, where he would distort the reality he experienced to be what he wanted it to be. Now, that can be very dangerous.

• 8:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 8:28Jay Shetty?

  But it can also be-

• 8:29Speaker 02

  Is that like a real thing? That's like a psychological real thing?

• 8:32Jay Shetty?

  I believe so.

• 8:32Speaker 02

  That's for sure what my entire life was from like seventeen till now.

• 8:37Jay Shetty?

  Now you've got a word for it. Yeah, now it's, that's-

• 8:38Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 8:39Jay Shetty?

  So yeah, reality distortion field. So tell me about, why do you think delusion is useful? And where have you also seen it be dangerous? Because I think both is important to me.

• 8:47Speaker 02

  Well, I think it kind of depends on what reality you're trying to create. But I do believe in, you know, I used to walk around saying, all my beats are a million dollars a beat, and I'm a billionaire, and I just went platinum eight times. These are all things I would say like that would not have happened. And they were insane. Me and Boogis, my best friend who started Diamond, he put out a project back in 2011, and we called it 2020. And I produced the whole thing. And we did the entire album from the perspective of 2020. So it was like, we're on Rolls Royces, and we just made millions. Like, it was all just distorted reality. But it ended up becoming reality.

• 9:30Speaker 02

  So I do believe that if you want to change your reality, you have to already believe that it is your reality. But obviously, if you like are trying to do something evil or ill-intended, it's not gonna be great for everyone else.

• 9:43Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. Just before we started recording, we were talking about, you know, being creative and being busy. And you said something really interesting. You were just like, you know, I'm always creative. I've always got stuff going on here. And then you were like, there's some days where I don't, you know, feeling lazy. Like, walk us through that. Because as someone who's super creative, who's loved for your creativity, and how original your work is, and that's why I've always liked you. I've always felt your sound is very original and unique. And it's hard to like, be like, it's not, oh, it sounds like that person, or it sounds like this. It's like, oh, no, no, this is original. Like, that's where I've always resonated with your work. Tell us about how that-

• 10:23Jay Shetty?

  Is something you achieve even though there are days where you kind of feel like I just wanna sleep all day or whatever.

• 10:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's tough because me and Booyes talk about it all the time. The highs and lows of an artist is really dramatic, at least for me. Like, I'll have days if I go into the studio and make something I love, I'm like on cloud nine. Like, everything is great in my life, but then I go to sleep and I wake up and that next day, none of that matters. Like, I move on very quickly and I'm just like, okay, now I need to make another one. But if I can't make another one, if that day I'm just not feeling it, or I go to the studio and I try and nothing works, I'm like, this is, I should just give up. This is, this is it. I'll never get a creative source again. You know what I mean? And it gets very like, you sink really low sometimes, especially if you go, for me, I make so much music

• 11:10Speaker 02

  that if I don't make a song for four days, I'm like, this is crazy. Like, what's happening? I'm depressed. So it's hard, but you gotta just remember that you just have to have faith in sort of the creator, in the infinite. And I don't feel like I really make music. I feel like I deliver it. When I have those moments, it's just something that's coming to me and I'm the vessel and now I'm just delivering it and I'm executing it and I'm almost discovering it in the studio. I don't know if I'm creating, I'm discovering it, if that makes sense. So you're not always gonna be in that place where you're getting the message and you're getting the energy. So this is what it is. It's just hard. It's the waiting time in between will make you feel like this is it. I'll never make another song again.

• 11:54Jay Shetty?

  I love what you just said about delivering versus creating. I think that's phenomenal and it's explained really well. What makes you feel like you're in alignment where you can deliver versus forcing you to create?

• 12:06Speaker 02

  Lack of thought.

• 12:08Jay Shetty?

  Right.

• 12:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, lack of thought. Those times where you get into that place where you're not thinking and you're just feeling and like I said, just delivering, like, I'm not even thinking about what, oh, should I say this? Like, you get the inspiration and you just execute it. That's when you just enter that flow state and it's just special. But it's tricky. It's hard, especially like I said, as I got not even necessarily older, just more visibility. There's outside chatter now in my head, you know, what people are gonna think. I know that I'm not just releasing it to my friends anymore. Like, it's become trickier to tune out everything, but yeah, man, just try to focus on the present moment. That's like, the one thing that I learned this past year was really like, how do I slow down? Time. And I was like, okay, well, the way I slow down time is to slow down my thoughts.

• 12:53Speaker 02

  And the way I slow down my thoughts is to be present. You know, you notice if you're just mindless and you're, you know, you're making a sandwich, but you're thinking about, oh, my God, what I need to do tomorrow. And what I, all of a sudden, two hours passes, right? But if you really think about like, you know, you cutting the sandwich and what that's like, and you stepping on the grass and what your feet feel like, time moves really slow. You realize how slow time moves. So I just try to do that. I try to stay in the present, even in the studio. You know, I don't try to have my thoughts already be on when this comes out and this is gonna be like this and how's it gonna go. I'm just like, man, let me just like actually hear the music and feel the music and just operate from this place.

• 13:36Jay Shetty?

  I love hearing you talk about this, man, because, you know, these are some of the principles that I'm constantly sharing in my work.

• 13:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:42Jay Shetty?

  But hearing how it applies to a music artist in your career brings me so much joy.

• 13:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:49Jay Shetty?

  Because it's practical, it's real, like you've got time pressures. You've got, you've got pressures from labels, collaborations, whatever it may be. Like there were real life pressures. But when I hear you say that, and that's how you feel aligned, how did you get introduced to this work or this set of thoughts and beliefs and mindsets? Was it something that you had since you were a kid? Or where did you start exploring with the idea of being present, experiencing?

• 14:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, the present moment is recent. Because you know what? I felt almost like I didn't need to be present, I guess, when I was coming up because there wasn't anything pulling me away from the present moment. I kind of only had the present moment, if that makes sense. It was just me and Boogus in the basement making songs and that was it. There wasn't tours coming up and videos, you know, there was none of that. But as this past year and past couple of years have been happening, I got into the Power of Now book and just sort of just the whole ideology around just being present and started reading more into that whole theory. And I just, I bought, you know, I bought into it. A lot of this stuff, people don't realize that a lot of this stuff, like the teachings, the self-help stuff.

• 15:02Speaker 02

  You have to be open to receiving it, you know? And if you're not open to receiving it and you're not willing to buy into it, then I, you know, I hear you, but God bless, you know? I can only tell people what works for me, but it worked for me, you know? Being present.

• 15:15Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love that you mentioned the power of now and then when you talk about Flow State.

• 15:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:19Jay Shetty?

  For anyone who's listening, if you've not read that book, it's a brilliant book as well.

• 15:22Speaker 02

  Flow State, I haven't read that book.

• 15:24Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, it's called Flow. And for anyone who doesn't know, Flow, the way it's defined in that book is where your skills meet your challenge.

• 15:32Speaker 02

  Exactly. I saw like a YouTube video and that was like enough for me. I should read the book though.

• 15:37Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, no, no, no, but you brought it up and it's a brilliant concept and you're experiencing that because most people, it says, experience when their challenge is above their skills and so they feel frustrated and disappointed.

• 15:48Speaker 02

  And then they give up.

• 15:49Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, or their skills are above their challenge and then they feel bored because they actually have more skills than what they're trying to achieve.

• 15:55Speaker 02

  I fell into that a little bit, which is why I started working with outside producers because it was so easy for me to just like go downstairs and make like a Russ song, you know, like I have a million beats, I can make it be boom, do this. And it's like, all right, cool, whatever, you know, but it kind of, I got into like a rut creatively because I was making songs, but I was like, I don't even, it just wasn't even that fun. And I think it was because it wasn't that challenging anymore. So I started working with outside producers where it was like, okay, this is a bit of a challenge. And then further, I started trying to get on beats, even if no one hears them, I started to get on production that I don't like in a sense, almost to just be like, can I make a song out of this?

• 16:37Jay Shetty?

  Wow.

• 16:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, just like, because I got the studio in my house and I don't need anyone to record me, so I can just be down there like experimenting. So there's been beats that producers send me and I'm like, I don't like this at all, but I wonder if I can make a song out of it. And it becomes this cool little like fun project and a lot of times it's turned into songs that I'm like, this is crazy.

• 16:57Jay Shetty?

  Wow.

• 16:57Speaker 02

  I get so much more fulfillment out of it because I couldn't see it coming. A lot of my songs, I'm like, when I'm making the beat, I already know what the whole song's gonna sound like. And most of those usually end up being very successful, so I'm not gonna downplay them. But it does make the process not as on an Easter egg hunt.

• 17:16Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 17:17Speaker 02

  So.

• 17:17Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 17:18Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:18Jay Shetty?

  I love hearing that because that's putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation.

• 17:22Speaker 02

  Right.

• 17:23Jay Shetty?

  And most of us avoid that.

• 17:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 17:25Jay Shetty?

  Like, most of us just wanna hear a beat and feel something straight away.

• 17:27Speaker 02

  Because people are around other people. I would probably never do that if there was people in the studio.

• 17:31Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 17:31Speaker 02

  With me, like, actually, out of all the beats you played, give me the one I don't like and I'm just gonna try to make some, you know what I mean?

• 17:38Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 17:39Speaker 02

  I'd like, that's why I always tell people, whatever your craft is, make sure you have it in your house, if you can. Because those moments of solitude, when you can kinda just be weird and experiment and dance around crazy and be nuts, that's where you're really gonna, you know, I have a, I have a line where I say, the public praises people for what they practice in private.

• 18:00Jay Shetty?

  Hmm.

• 18:01Speaker 02

  You know, I just feel like that's when you gotta hone in on everything, is what you're doing in private. So I like, when I'm by myself in the studio, I be getting weird.

• 18:09Jay Shetty?

  What's the, can you tell us what's the weirdest thing that's ever happened?

• 18:13Speaker 02

  I mean, it's not that weird, but it's just like, when I'm by myself, I'll put on a beat that I'm like, I don't even know what I'm about to do on this, and I'll just put the autotune all the way up and go stand in the booth for sixty takes.

• 18:25Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 18:25Speaker 02

  Just wailing and just making noises. And I'll be like, this is wild, or this is trash, or this was really cool.

• 18:32Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 18:32Speaker 02

  You know, like, I sent my manager some song I did where I made a beat and I just put the autotune on full blast and just freestyled the whole song. And I was like, I just had to get it out.

• 18:43Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 18:43Speaker 02

  But it was cool. But like, I would never put it out, but it was awesome.

• 18:46Jay Shetty?

  Dude, this is so inspiring. I, I, that's, I love that approach. It's so refreshing hearing that.

• 18:52Speaker 02

  Well, it's a refreshing process.

• 18:54Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 18:54Speaker 02

  You know, because you get so rigid with like, your process and this is what I do. And we sit here and I make this kinda song. It's like, every once in a while, you have to shake the snow globe. That's where that whole

• 19:04Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 19:04Speaker 02

  concept came from. You have to just. You know, it's like the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz. It's like, turn the auto-tune up and put on some crazy eating. Let me just be a maniac for an hour.

• 19:14Jay Shetty?

  It breaks the formula.

• 19:15Speaker 02

  It does.

• 19:15Jay Shetty?

  We work in this formulaic.

• 19:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, it does.

• 19:18Jay Shetty?

  Product line, manufacturing. And you don't, you can't manufacture greatness.

• 19:22Speaker 02

  And that's from school.

• 19:23Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 19:24Speaker 02

  That's from school. School is such a factory setup, you know.

• 19:28Jay Shetty?

  How were you at school? What kind of?

• 19:29Speaker 02

  I was incredible at school, to be honest. I'm not even gonna lie. I was just like, I'm really not. I was not one of those like, yeah, I struggled in school and it was difficult. I was really, really good at school because I wouldn't apply myself. But I was definitely the kid who like, didn't study, never did homework. But I would get As and Bs on all the tests. And so everyone was just like, but I would be like, you know, I was second. I always say this, and it's not even something I'm necessarily proud of, but it just gives context. But like a senior superlative, I was second for most likely to make a teacher retire. Because I was just a kid in class, like constantly talking, distracting people, challenging the teacher. But I had an A in the class. So I was just super annoying, which I know is a surprise to so many people.

• 20:12Jay Shetty?

  And so tell me, go back to the point you were making before, before I interjected around why you think that factory, yes?

• 20:18Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, because you know, you're, you have an expiration date as a kid in school. You gotta be out by a certain time in high school, whatever age it is. Go to this department of the building when the bell rings. You know what I mean? It's just very like, like there's no creativity in there. You know, that's why I'm really big on having arts in schools and just because otherwise you just, I don't know. Just like creates these robots.

• 20:42Jay Shetty?

  I love that you break the mold. How do you get to a point though, where you've? What I find fascinating, already your process is fascinating to me. What I find more interesting though, is your ability to trust yourself.

• 20:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:55Jay Shetty?

  When you come up with something insane. Because very few people ever allow themselves to do a wildcard thing.

• 21:03Speaker 02

  Right.

• 21:03Jay Shetty?

  Now, when you do a wildcard thing in the studio on your own and you discover something like a sound or an auto-tune or whatever it is, and you discover a beat or a sound that you're like, "Oh, I like this," how do you then trust yourself to go with that when now when you play it to someone, they might be like, "All right, you're crazy, Russ. Like, this is never gonna work." How do you then approach that?

• 21:26Speaker 02

  It's that level of, it's that stain of confidence that's just you can't remove. I just still, like, Nas has this quote in an interview, I believe, where he said, "If it doesn't scare you, you shouldn't put it out." So I've always kind of like kept that in the back of my head, you know? I usually move with that. And I'm cool with that. And I like that with my fans, what I've created is this trust and this predictably unpredictable sort of relationship where they know, they can expect me to be doing the unexpected, meaning they know it might be raps, they know it might be singing, but they don't know what it's gonna sound like, but they know it's gonna be me. And so I think I've done a very good job at painting my canvas and kind of giving people who I am. So it's allowed me a lot of creative

• 22:11Speaker 02

  freedom. I always tell up and coming artists, like, when you're coming up and you're building your fanbase, you're conditioning them to expect a certain thing from you, a certain sound or whatever. You're creating this creative window. A lot of people, if you just come up only rapping, right, and you get your whole fanbase off of only rapping, let's say, you know, you just, you haven't really fully tapped into you yet, and now you want to start singing, a lot of fans are gonna be like, "You switched up. What are you doing?" And, you know, you could lose a lot of people, and they might think that you're changing, when really the whole time that's been you, you just didn't have enough time to discover it. So I was really proud of myself that I was able to kind of give people the whole scope of my creativity, so that when I do go left field, no one's gonna be

• 22:55Speaker 02

  like, "What are you doing?" Because it's kind of like, "Oh, yeah, that's Russ just being Russ." Like, we know that sometimes he's giving us red, sometimes it's yellow, sometimes it's orange, whatever, you know? That's kind of why I did the artworks all like that, too.

• 23:08Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 23:08Speaker 02

  Just to let you know that all my music is all different colors. It's not just one.

• 23:15Jay Shetty?

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. I know how important every hire is for a business. If you need to make the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed sponsored jobs helps find quality candidates when you need them most. You can reach who you need based on whatever criteria you're looking for, like skills, certifications, or location. In fact, people are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. That's indeed.com/podcast.

• 24:01Jay Shetty?

  Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. The best habits are the ones we hardly notice, the ones that quietly shape the way we move through life, giving us the confidence to focus on what really matters. That's Mazda's approach to safety. Every Mazda is designed with proactive safety features that help keep you more aware, more connected, and more engaged with your drive, so you can stay present behind the wheel. That commitment has earned Mazda recognition as Consumer Reports' safest new car brand. And as of July 2026, Mazda has won more 2026 IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus awards than any other car brand. Visit www.iihs.org to learn more.

• 24:46Jay Shetty?

  A lot can happen when an accident doesn't. Mazda, more of what matters to you. Visit MazdaUSA.com to learn more. Consumer Reports does not endorse products or services. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. We talk a lot about intentional decision making, and that extends to the practical stuff too, like making sure your coverage actually works for your life. State Farm is there to meet you where you are, and they know how sweet it is to feel good about your decisions. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts, and savings and eligibility vary by state.

• 25:32Jay Shetty?

  Just spending this time with you already and even when you came in and stuff like you're someone who's very comfortable in their own skin, but at the same time, you're not arrogant and egotistic.

• 25:41Speaker 02

  Really?

• 25:42Jay Shetty?

  And so I don't feel it.

• 25:43Speaker 02

  Did everyone hear that?

• 25:44Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I'm just.

• 25:44Speaker 02

  That's a first.

• 25:45Jay Shetty?

  You know.

• 25:46Speaker 02

  No, I agree too. I think I've caught into the only.

• 25:48Jay Shetty?

  He agrees he doesn't have an ego. I love it.

• 25:50Speaker 02

  No, I definitely have an ego.

• 25:51Jay Shetty?

  No, I mean, in the sense of let, yeah, let's talk about ego for a bit because and I mean it in a good way. I was saying as a compliment that from what I'm hearing, or at least, and I'm only basing on this conversation I've had with you, but it's like there's a stability between like knowing you want to learn more and be better.

• 26:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:07Jay Shetty?

  But you are confident about who you are and where you are, which is, which is a beautiful place to be, by the way.

• 26:11Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 26:12Jay Shetty?

  Who doesn't want to be between those two things?

• 26:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:14Jay Shetty?

  How have you tempered that ego that we all have with the desire to learn and grow and realize there's more to go, but I'm really happy with what I've done because that's what I'm hearing.

• 26:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:26Jay Shetty?

  But I want to kind of break that down for people because I think a lot of people live in either extreme, either they're celebrating their last win.

• 26:33Speaker 02

  Right.

• 26:33Jay Shetty?

  For like seven years.

• 26:35Speaker 02

  Right.

• 26:35Jay Shetty?

  Or they're just like, oh, I'm the worst. I'm never gonna win. I'm never gonna win. And they don't appreciate where they are.

• 26:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think for me, to be honest, despite perception or whatever, I had to hype myself up. I had to be the biggest believer of myself. That's the only reason why any of this worked. And because I'm very vocal about it, because I'm putting it out into the universe so that it comes back, it could come off like I think I have nothing left to learn and no, nobody can offer me anything and I know it's like, no, y'all just don't know what self-belief sounds like clearly. You might know what it looks like and some people are just more quiet about their self-belief just to get people to like them. Otherwise you get kind of my perception, but, um, but no, I've always still been a massive fan of people and a massive supporter of anything dope.

• 27:23Speaker 02

  Anyone that knows me from when I was nothing to now, from two years old to now, like if you're dope at anything, I'm always the first person to like root for you. DM you, send you advice, like, "Bro, hit me anytime." And even just looking up to people, "I'm a fan out." "I'm like, 'Yo, you're incredible. I would love to work with you.'" I'm that person too, so it's the duality. You are able to have the utmost confidence in yourself, while still also knowing that, "Okay, but this person is really dope too, and if we come together, it could be really fire." I'm just really confident in myself, and so I'm not desperate to reach after collabs and things like that, but it doesn't mean I don't think that I know everything.

• 28:08Speaker 02

  And, you know, I'm always asking all my engineer friends, like, "Yo, what plugin is that? Like, this is crazy. Yo, you're fire." You know, people get, you could ask even like Kid Super. When I first met him, the dude who made this sweater, he did my Gypsy video years ago, like 2014. And when I first met him, he thought I was hella weird, because, or like socially awkward, because I kept giving him mad compliments. Because I was so, it was like my first real kind of video-ish, even though it wasn't like some big production. But I was just so enamored by the process, and I thought it was so dope, that I'm just like, that's who I am. I'm a very complimentary person, and like, I'm always gonna give people their flowers. And he was just like, I'm like, "Nah, I genuinely feel like that."

• 28:51Speaker 02

  So I don't know, I've always been able to have that level of duality.

• 28:55Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love the idea of that paradox. Like, it feels like, it feels like it's not allowed. Like, it sounds like it should not be possible to think both those things.

• 29:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:06Jay Shetty?

  But actually, that's where all the magic happens.

• 29:08Speaker 02

  I agree.

• 29:08Jay Shetty?

  Right, like, we always think, "Oh, you have to choose. You have to decide, or you're either or." But actually, hearing you say that, "Yeah, actually, I think both those things."

• 29:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:18Jay Shetty?

  I love how that doesn't stop you from appreciating others.

• 29:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:21Jay Shetty?

  Who was it that appreciated your sound earlier on that you think made a difference to you and guided you? Or was it just you for yourself?

• 29:30Speaker 02

  It was me and probably Boogus. Like, you know, for the longest time, it was just Boogus rapping and me producing. And that was my closest example of like, someone who I thought had really good taste, and I trusted their opinion artistically. So when Boogus gave me the green light to be like, "Yo, yeah, you should rap." It was just kinda like, okay, well, game over for everyone else. Like if Boogas thinks it's tight. And that's how it still is. Like, you only need one, but it's important to have at least one person who believes in you, sometimes almost more than you. And, and there is no jealousy or weird, oh, you can't win, cause then I won't win. Like, it's a very weird thing.

• 30:12Speaker 02

  So, I always, you know, commend Boogas for being like the best friend you could have in something that I'm doing. You know what I mean?

• 30:18Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's talk about that. I like what you brought up there about men specifically, like, and you took me straight back to like my teenage years where I'd be best friend with a dude and he'd be like my brother, but then we'd go out and he'd be like, all right, let's see who can get more girls today. Right? That would be his mentality or like, or like, oh, let's see who, who'll be better at the sport. I've realized that everyone in my life, or male relationships, if every time a guy, a friend of mine, has tried to turn a friendship into a competition.

• 30:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:45Jay Shetty?

  They haven't lasted in my life.

• 30:46Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:47Jay Shetty?

  Like, they're no longer in my life because I just wanted to be friends.

• 30:50Speaker 02

  Well, now, don't get me wrong, me and Boogas dumb competitive. We played basketball together. Like, anything me and Boogas will turn into a competition for sure. But, when it comes to a dream you're following after, like, it's never like, yo, how many streams did your song do, bro? You know what I'm saying? It's never been that. But like, me and Boogas, well, we've been competing and going at each other since we were 12.

• 31:10Jay Shetty?

  So, how do you, how do you build that balance? What is it about him and what is it about you that allows you to build that kind of a friendship? Because I think that's rare.

• 31:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, I do too.

• 31:18Jay Shetty?

  Especially in today's social media world, stream world, I mean, followers, views, comments, engagement, all this stuff that we all talk about.

• 31:25Speaker 02

  I think we're both trying to do the same thing. We were both real friends before all this. You know, we read Napoleon Hill, so we understand the power of a mastermind. And we just, as big of egos as me and him have, we never let it get in the way of like supporting one another and... Any of that, you know, so I don't know, I just think it comes down to the person like, how real are you? You know, some people are just fake. It is what it is.

• 31:52Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, no, and that and that idea of being able to have at least even one person, like you said, just one, you don't need, yeah, because sometimes we try and we want 10 or 20 like that. And you're right, for most of us, we're lucky to have one.

• 32:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:06Jay Shetty?

  And that's that's a good enough start. You mentioned Napoleon Hill and Mastermind. When, what age were you when you read that book?

• 32:12Speaker 02

  Seventeen. Boogies gave me the book. So Boogies was putting me on to a lot of that stuff. He put me on to Napoleon Hill. He put me on to The Alchemist. That's the thing. We weren't just like the, I would say, the like typical 17, 18 year olds, you know, hanging out. We graduated high school 17 and we just were locked in the studio from then until now. You know, so it was a lot of self-discovery, but out the gate, once we left high school, we were reading those books. So it was just kind of like, we were ready to go mentally. Like, we read those books and we were both the kind of, the kind of people that we buy into something quick and then we latch on to it and then that's that. You know, if that's what we believe,

• 32:54Speaker 02

  you can't tell us anything different. I went vegan for a year because I watched one documentary and like, that was that. Like, once something clicks in my brain, I'm done. You know what I mean? Like, right now, I haven't had bread or grains in two weeks because I just like woke up and it clicked. Like, my brother, a nutritionist, told me and I latched on to him. Boom, that's it. I've like, me and him have always been very good at just, once we decide something, that's what it is. He lost a bunch of weight, you know, 30, 40 pounds because he just decided, I'm done, you know, so once me and him decided this is what we were doing with our lives, there was no, yeah, but maybe we're not doing it with our lives or this was it. And we were both fully committed and every day and every, like, every second of our lives was committed to this, you know?

• 33:39Jay Shetty?

  That requires such a level of discipline to like make a choice and to stick with it. And I find like that's something a lot of us struggle with today, like.

• 33:47Speaker 02

  I'm terrible at discipline and I've always been terrible at work ethic. But then I realized that it was the work and not my work ethic. It was the work, you know? I didn't have good work ethic in school because I didn't like the work. It's not hard to get up and do something you love every day. And I think, I think people get judged off their work ethic incorrectly because they get judged. Their work ethic is judged off of how well and how consistent they're doing work they don't enjoy. How can you, how can you judge somebody off of that?

• 34:17Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 34:17Speaker 02

  Judge me off of, you know, what I love. That's how I can really tell if you're about it or not. Like, you say you love this. You say you love basketball, and I know you do. But you just, you're not putting in the work. That's how I know you're not really about it. Now I can judge you accurately. But if you're like, if you're a basketball player and you love basketball, but somebody's judging you off of how well you do paintings and every day you're in the art studio, that's not even fair.

• 34:42Jay Shetty?

  I love that. What, what do you think is the most difficult thing you've been through personally? Like, what's been a moment, a time in your life where you felt you were really battling with something to overcome it?

• 34:56Speaker 02

  2018 was pretty rough for me, just because when I was 17 and I had this vision of what my life was gonna be and what it was going to be like to be on and successful and a musician and money and fame and whatever. I had this very innocent, just the world is made out of like marshmallows and cotton candy perspective on it, you know? And when I got on, it started off like that. But then it very quickly turned and I got this very nasty side of like fame where there's a lot of negativity and hate and narratives and things that are out of your control and things that are so frustrating. Trying to fight everything, because I'm, I'm a fighter, you know, and I'm competitive and I don't, I don't like just rolling over.

• 35:41Speaker 02

  So this isn't a broken version of success. This just is success. This comes with it. I didn't plan for that. I thought like, once you get on, everything is perfect and everything is fine. Because that's what you think when you're 17. So that was tough, just like the dose of reality of like, oh, okay, this is not what I thought it was gonna be. But that has to be okay, because this is what it is.

• 36:03Jay Shetty?

  That's such a brilliant thought that you just said, that it wasn't a broken version of success. That just was success. And it's so interesting, because you're so right, that when we're teens, we think we're gonna get to a place where it doesn't matter. And even now, I think a lot of people look at people like yourself and other people that we both may know in our lives. And people just be like, oh yeah, but that, that person's life, everything probably just works out just the way they want it.

• 36:28Speaker 02

  Well, like, that's what's so frustrating, right? Is that people on the outside looking in, their response to everything any famous person is going through is. You have millions of dollars, why do you care about anything? It's like, what do y'all think money is? According to most people's theory, once you have fame and money, you have no emotions. That's it. You're no longer a human is what you're trying to tell me. I shouldn't feel sadness, I shouldn't feel anything because I have money and fame. It's like, okay, let's run with that. Fine, I'll buy into that for the sake of the conversation. However, if you're telling me now that because of money, I'm above certain human emotions, then you're telling me I'm above you.

• 37:12Speaker 02

  So now when I act like I'm above you, don't now also come back and say, why are you acting like you're better than me? Well, you just told me I'm better than you because I don't even have the same emotions you have. So which one is it? Am I better than you or do I experience the same emotions as you? It can't be both. That's why I encourage people on the outside looking in to just shut up.

• 37:33Speaker 02

  You know, it's like...

• 37:34Jay Shetty?

  In a, I'll take a more compassionate empathetic line, but yes. In the same idea of, yes, like the idea of, and I love the way you explained that. I think it's a, it's a great way of cutting through the noise.

• 37:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:47Jay Shetty?

  Because it's so easy because also when we think someone is safe

• 37:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:53Jay Shetty?

  from human emotion because of money and fame, then we think when we get money and fame, we will also be free of human emotions. So...

• 38:01Speaker 02

  And you're in for a rude awakening.

• 38:03Jay Shetty?

  Right, exactly. We're projecting it onto you, but then you're setting the same standard for yourself.

• 38:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:08Jay Shetty?

  Of, I hope, and I, and literally I've heard, I think every person who's rich and famous will say the same thing. It's just like, hey, this was, this is what it really ended up as. Go on, sorry.

• 38:18Speaker 02

  No, no, and it doesn't matter what any rich and famous person says. Everyone on the outside looking in won't believe it.

• 38:24Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 38:24Speaker 02

  They'll be like, nah, that won't be me though.

• 38:26Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 38:27Speaker 02

  It's like, you know what, I hear you. I was there too. But, you know, I think the beauty of understanding is understanding when you don't understand. And I always say that. I think there's understanding in understanding that you don't understand.

• 38:41Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 38:41Speaker 02

  Like, a lot of people need to accept that you don't get it.

• 38:43Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 38:44Speaker 02

  And that is being compassionate.

• 38:47Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 38:48Speaker 02

  Like, I can hear you, but it doesn't mean that I feel you. It doesn't mean that I get it. You know, that's it. That's it.

• 38:54Jay Shetty?

  Well said, man. That is so true. I, I think that was, yeah, that's such a great definition of compassion that you just gave because I think even when... It's even when someone calls you up and said, hey, my, my parent just, I had a friend tell me this. My parents just got diagnosed with stage four cancer.

• 39:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:10Jay Shetty?

  It's like, I can't empathize. I, I've never been in that position. So I can't be like, oh, I feel you. I, I get it.

• 39:16Speaker 02

  Right.

• 39:16Jay Shetty?

  I have to understand that I don't.

• 39:17Speaker 02

  That you don't understand.

• 39:18Jay Shetty?

  That I don't understand.

• 39:19Speaker 02

  But that is understanding.

• 39:21Jay Shetty?

  Correct. Yes. Yes.

• 39:22Speaker 02

  And sometimes that's all people are looking for in those moments is just like, I just want you to be here and present. I don't expect you to get it, you know? It's the people who try to act like they get it.

• 39:33Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 39:33Speaker 02

  That actually makes you feel even more alone. It's like, wow, you're really showing me that you have no clue what's going on. It's one thing to not know what's going on and to not understand. It's a whole nother thing to act like you do when you don't.

• 39:46Jay Shetty?

  When you're talking about this time in your life, the 2018, when you're experiencing success, not broken success.

• 39:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:53Jay Shetty?

  In your words, what's your process of?

• 39:56Speaker 02

  Getting out of it?

• 39:57Jay Shetty?

  Of figuring it out even before you try and get out of it?

• 40:00Speaker 02

  Letting go of my hold onto what it needs to be. That was the ego. The ego was like, it's supposed to be like this though, and it's, it's supposed to be what it is, you know? And once I let go of all of that, and then that's why I came out with Shake the Snow Globe, because I realized I just needed to reset and un-Jade. I was like, man, it is what it is.

• 40:22Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 40:22Speaker 02

  It just is what it is. Like, it's, it's what it's supposed to be. And as long as I'm still operating from a place of love and a place of wanting to share, I'm gonna be all right.

• 40:31Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 40:31Speaker 02

  It'll be what it needs to be, you know?

• 40:33Jay Shetty?

  And that time is also what led to the book in 2019. It's all in your head.

• 40:37Speaker 02

  Which it was all in my head. A lot of times in my life, I kind of sometimes accidentally speak things into existence. So I had the title of It's All In Your Head for years. Like, I always had this idea of writing that. From a positive standpoint, obviously, like, you know, manifesting and self-belief and all those things. But it's funny that I had this title, It's All In Your Head, right? You're your own worst enemy or your, your own biggest fan. You pick, whatever it is. And then while I have this title, 2018 happens and I'm losing to myself mentally. You know, I had to snap out of it. It was just one of those things where I needed to like. Listen to my own advice and be like, bro,

• 41:21Speaker 02

  it's all in your head now, you know, like, but now on the negative side.

• 41:26Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 41:26Speaker 02

  But it's a choice at this point. Do you want to fight everything and fight the whole world? Or do you want to let it go?

• 41:31Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, and was writing the book quite therapeutic in that? Because I almost feel like when you're writing a book called It's All In Your Head, it's far more simpler to go inward because you're kind of dealing with topics and themes that work for you. What was the biggest thing that you put in the book that you felt was what helped you overcome and work through some stuff?

• 41:48Speaker 02

  Man, that whole book, and especially the process of it, it was like an interview. So I had this woman who would come and she had the tape recorder. Man, I had all the chapters mapped out, like what I was, you know, because it was all song titles. So I knew what the chapters were going to be. I knew what I was going to talk about. I just needed somebody to help me organize all my thoughts. She would come with the tape recorder and just we would go chapter by chapter. And she would say, okay, we'll talk about manifesting, what it means to you. And I would just talk. And so it was really like a week and a half of therapy sessions. And then we organized all of it together and I, you know, did my stuff and whatever. And it was like, man, this was, that's why I love that book because it's really me. Like that was me talking to a therapist for a week and a half in a book.

• 42:32Jay Shetty?

  I love, yeah. And how amazing is that, that people have that accessible to them?

• 42:36Speaker 02

  Right.

• 42:37Jay Shetty?

  Because if everyone could have a diary of them being in therapy.

• 42:40Speaker 02

  Right.

• 42:40Jay Shetty?

  I think that'd be phenomenal.

• 42:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:42Jay Shetty?

  To be able to look back and work through it. You've mentioned manifestation a few times and I think you've taught us some really, in my opinion, again, very personal and refreshing ways.

• 42:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:53Jay Shetty?

  We hear about the word a lot. And randomly, you're obviously someone who believes it, lives it, knows it, is experiencing it. What is the process that you have practiced for you that has worked for you that others could understand? Because I think. There's a lot of misconceptions around it, but for someone who it's working for and someone who believes in it.

• 43:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:13Jay Shetty?

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• 43:57Jay Shetty?

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• 44:41Jay Shetty?

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• 44:53Speaker 03

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• 45:22Jay Shetty?

  Describe it for yourself.

• 45:22Speaker 02

  It's that knowing thing you were talking about. It's not necessarily just seeing it, oh, I can see myself with money. And then like, then that's it. Now you're gonna get money. It's more so knowing it and also feeling it. And not just, oh, like I said, you can see the beach house you bought your mom. It's what does it feel like though? What like, what does it feel like when you see your mom's reaction to getting the beach house? And can you, can you feel that? Can you feel the car turning the corner to the beach? It's about immersing yourself in that feeling as if it was going on right now. And when you do that on a daily basis, it's not long before reality catches up with your thoughts. You know? And like I said, it just has to be something you believe and buy into this whole theory. You know?

• 46:06Speaker 02

  If you believe that we are just the universe experiencing itself and, you know, we're all in tune and connected to the infinite and all these things, then you're gonna be fine. As far as this, you know, method goes. But if you don't, then it's not for you, you know? And.

• 46:21Jay Shetty?

  Was that the best thing you manifested?

• 46:23Speaker 02

  The beach house?

• 46:24Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 46:25Speaker 02

  It was one of them for sure. But just like this whole career, man, just this whole life was a complete product of law of attraction. But also being proactive. I wasn't just sitting there.

• 46:35Jay Shetty?

  That's what I was gonna ask you.

• 46:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, you don't just like click your heels and go back to Kansas. You know what I mean? Like.

• 46:41Jay Shetty?

  Tell us about the work. Tell us about the product, the actual like, so we get it, the immersion, the feeling.

• 46:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:47Jay Shetty?

  And I know you're doing the other part too. Tell us about the strategy, the networking, the, the.

• 46:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:53Jay Shetty?

  The actual skill.

• 46:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:55Jay Shetty?

  Because you have to have a skill, right?

• 46:56Speaker 02

  Well, skill can get developed, you know? Skill is developed. I was not the most skilled when I started at all. All of it sucked. You know, you develop skill through repetition and through practice and putting in the work. But yeah, I don't think people understand that you actually need to put in the work and be persistent. You just also have to couple it with a very positive mindset. But Will Smith talks about the concept of, and I've like mentioned this a lot, like laying a brick a day until you have a wall. You know, I think his dad took them. You know the story I'm talking about? They like did the brick a day. Like, how are we gonna build a wall? And you go out there and you lay a brick a day. So I really resonate with that whole story and concept. And I think it's really true. I think a lot of people are just focused on the whole bigger picture and like,

• 47:41Speaker 02

  how am I gonna be this famous musician? Like, I haven't even made a song yet. It's like, you're not supposed to be thinking about like, all that to the point where it's daunting and crippling. You're just supposed to, you know what? I know I'm gonna get there. I can feel what it's like. But in the meantime, I'm gonna lay a brick a dam or make a song a day, or make a beat a day, or find samples every day, or study every day. Like, as long as you're doing something towards the bigger picture, a small thing every day, you're good.

• 48:05Jay Shetty?

  That's real. That's real. And that's how it has to be built.

• 48:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:08Jay Shetty?

  Everyone always think it's like that, the wallet analogy that you're talking about. You kind of just turn up. I was thinking about that one day. I was, I was looking out into the city of L.A. And I was just thinking like, someone had to think about this.

• 48:20Speaker 02

  Right.

• 48:20Jay Shetty?

  I was in Dubai recently. I was thinking the same. It's like, it's just a desert.

• 48:24Speaker 02

  No, it's a bunch of ideas.

• 48:25Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, and someone had to think about it first. Like, they would have looked out until like desert. And had to think about it. But we don't think about that because we walk into a city.

• 48:33Speaker 02

  That's what I find fascinating is that every day you're walking around in somebody's idea. That's how you know thoughts are powerful. Like, we're sitting in, like, this chair was somebody's idea to make it look like this, and the cushions to be this soft, and these shoes. Like, you're just constantly surrounded by other people's ideas. And I think the really cool thing about free will is contributing your ideas back into the infrastructure of what's already going on.

• 48:58Jay Shetty?

  That's so powerful, man. What you just said now is so powerful. How do we know if our idea is good? Or is that even the right question?

• 49:05Speaker 02

  I don't think that's the right question. I think, is it serviceable? You know? Does it help? Is it just for you? Or is it, are you serving a bigger purpose? That's why I think music is really great. Because it's a service for the world we're providing. You know, big or small, however you want to quantify it is on you. But it's definitely a service that we're providing. And I realized, you know, after I got money and fame and whatever, I was like, man, the whole point of this, like, I had, I literally said this to myself the other day in the shower. This is where all my ideas happen. And I don't feel bad, I don't feel bad about that because Pharrell said the same thing.

• 49:42Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 49:43Speaker 02

  But I literally just blurted out, I was like, I need more money so I can help more people. It was just like a thing that blurted out. I was like, yeah, that's the whole point of all this. I had this like epiphany where I was like, I'm 28, I made it. The only thing left to do is, obviously I keep making it, but it's to help other people make it. You know, and I just think that our goal is to just give. And I think there's a very misled sort of idea that we're supposed to be getters. Boog has actually mentioned this concept to me about being a go giver instead of a go getter.

• 50:23Speaker 02

  I think a lot of times, especially with music, success, fame, we're just thinking about what can we get? You know, and what can I get from the world when I put this song out and so on and so forth? But it's more so about what can I give to the world?

• 50:36Jay Shetty?

  Tell me about a message or a piece of fan mail or an experience you've had with a fan or a listener that made you realize how impactful music is on someone. I'm sure you've had some phenomenal and you know.

• 50:50Speaker 02

  It's so many, man. To be honest, and I'm so fortunate that it's so many, but every day people are sending me messages of, you saved my life and you meet people and they're crying their eyes out because it's like you helped them so much. And that's, you know, that's when you realize it's just way bigger than you, you know? It's just way bigger than you. I'm just excited to keep giving to the world. And I know that could sound cliche and like you don't believe that I'm actually that generous. But it's really like, you know, anyone around me knows like I'm always trying to help. You know, I'm always trying to like give people money or whatever, just because it's like that's, you know, my mom told me a long time ago, when I first started getting money.

• 51:33Speaker 02

  She said, money is meant to change people's realities. And so if you have the ability to do it, you should. So I get a kick out of just like. You know, I'll see a fan on Twitter and they're like raising money for like their dance program and I'm just like, here, you know, a kid will send me a DM like, you know, my mom's funeral and I'm just like, why not, you know, and I don't need to post about it. It's just, it's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to give it back. And I, and I think I'm also a very big believer in not blocking the natural flow of the universe. And I think money is a force of energy. And when you get it and you're just focused on keeping it, you're gonna lose it. So I always get money and give it right back. And

• 52:18Speaker 02

  I think that's why it keeps coming in. I just give it away.

• 52:21Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. And it's given in your own way, right? Like I think what I love about what you're saying and you're talking about the cliche of giving, to me, it's you've figured out how you like giving.

• 52:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:31Jay Shetty?

  And, and that's what matters for all of us because some people are gonna do charity work, some people are gonna build schools, some people are gonna support the people around them, some people are gonna help a person on Twitter or whatever who, who can't even pay for their mother's funeral, or whatever it is. Like, you know, the point is of supporting in the way you can.

• 52:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:50Jay Shetty?

  And in the way you feel called to.

• 52:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:52Jay Shetty?

  Because that's all you have.

• 52:53Speaker 02

  And it tripped me out when, like I said, when Boogie's brought this concept to me.

• 52:58Jay Shetty?

  Of Go-Giver?

• 53:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, Go-Giver. And I was like, man, I never fully understood the complete reason why I got so much out of life already. And he was like, it's because you gave so much. And I never thought about it like that. But you know, when you think about, you know, I have more songs out than some of the veterans in the game, most of them, you know, I got 500 songs. I just like, the game I give, to try, like, I give a lot and I don't think about it while I'm doing it. I'm like, I'm about to give this so I can get it.

• 53:32Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 53:33Speaker 02

  You know, I'm just like giving it because I naturally want to do that. But it makes a lot of sense that, you know, givers get more than the getters.

• 53:41Jay Shetty?

  Yeah. And even when you're giving and it's not even being loved or received that way, but you continue to give.

• 53:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:47Jay Shetty?

  Because sometimes it's easy to give when everyone's kind of like, oh, we love you, and they give it a validation. But sometimes you're just giving because...

• 53:54Speaker 02

  Well, see, but if you're only giving it to get something back, then you're not giving me anything, you're loaning it. That's what I always tell people. I like... Women, I don't care who it is, don't give me love if you're only giving it to get something back. Then it's conditional and it's not giving, you're loaning me love. You're only loaning me love for an extended period of time until I give it back. I don't do that. I give love and give game and give money and whatever it is. I don't expect anything back. I give it because that feels like the right thing to do and it aligns with my spirit.

• 54:26Jay Shetty?

  How do you feel or how do you respond when you realize someone just loaned it to you? When you thought that they were giving it to you?

• 54:33Speaker 02

  I expect most people to act like that.

• 54:36Jay Shetty?

  Right.

• 54:36Speaker 02

  Cause most people are like that. Most people are out for self. They're very self-serving. I know that most people are operating from a place of, I'm not doing any favors and I'm not doing anything for free. And so I'm not really surprised. I'm not that naive. You can be naive if you want to the point of like, I really thought you were just helping me out. It's like, okay, you know, I don't assume anyone's just helping me out. I like, you get in trouble and you get your feelings hurt when you assume people are as kind as you. Or people, you know, not to be like, I'm the most kind person ever, but you can get your feelings hurt if you assume everyone is like you. That's when you get disappointed and, you know, and you suffer and the whole thing with suffering, it comes from attachment.

• 55:19Speaker 02

  So if you get attached to the idea that, oh, well, they're gonna operate how I'm operating, you're gonna suffer. You know, so I try not to get attached to anything really.

• 55:27Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:27Speaker 02

  That's the only time people suffer is when there's attachment involved.

• 55:30Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:31Speaker 02

  You know, you're not gonna freak out if a water bottle right here gets like burned or your table gets burned. You're not that attached to the table, you know? So that's when you gotta like choose in life what you're, what's worth getting attached to, which I really think it's people and animals. People and pets. It's about it. You know, everything else is pretty replaceable off the top of my head.

• 55:52Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I'm gonna add people, pets and purpose. We'll add a third one.

• 55:54Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 55:55Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:55Speaker 02

  People, pets and purpose. I like that.

• 55:57Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 55:58Speaker 02

  But even the purpose, it's hard, you know, you get so attached to that, you can suffer a lot along the way. Things don't go the way you want them. That's, that's what happened to me in 2018. I was suffering because it wasn't going the way I was attached to. And once I let go of that attachment to how I thought it was supposed to go, I was fine.

• 56:14Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 56:14Speaker 02

  You know, sure, there's dips in here and there, but for the most part. I'm good.

• 56:19Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I always say to people, you get to where you want in life, just not in the way you imagined it.

• 56:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, or when.

• 56:24Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, or when you imagined it. And that's the challenge, right? It's like you have reality and then you have your projector screen up here.

• 56:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:31Jay Shetty?

  You're trying to make this projector screen happen, but this is reality right now.

• 56:34Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:35Jay Shetty?

  And that's what you're actually going through.

• 56:37Speaker 02

  Just have faith that whatever you want, you're gonna get it. And whatever life you want, you're gonna achieve it. But it doesn't matter when. That should be irrelevant. You know, you can't put a deadline on your own success. It's crazy.

• 56:52Jay Shetty?

  Yeah.

• 56:53Speaker 02

  It ruins people. You know, you know those people that are like, by thirty, if I don't have. And it's like, then what's gonna happen at thirty if you don't? You know what I'm saying? Like, what happens? You know?

• 57:03Jay Shetty?

  Totally. And you don't know when.

• 57:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, you don't.

• 57:06Jay Shetty?

  Like, you know, you're twenty eight now. Like, my life took off externally. Internally, my journey started at sixteen.

• 57:13Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 57:13Jay Shetty?

  But externally, my journey started at twenty eight.

• 57:16Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 57:17Jay Shetty?

  And so, you know, I'm thirty three now. And it's just interesting. It's like, you just don't know when, what's gonna happen. And you just.

• 57:24Speaker 02

  But you trusted the what? You believed in it?

• 57:26Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, I love that. Trust the what? Yeah. That's really beautiful, man. Dude, this has been one of the most refreshing conversations I've had in a long time.

• 57:33Speaker 02

  Nice.

• 57:34Jay Shetty?

  Like, I love how you've brought everything you've learned along the way and made it so practical.

• 57:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 57:41Jay Shetty?

  In your actual life.

• 57:41Speaker 02

  I had to make sense of my whole everything, like.

• 57:44Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, but you've really made sense of it. Like, when I'm listening to you, I'm like, wow, like, this is, you know, you can tell that Russ has reflected and deeply internalized these concepts. Because it's really easy to say the stuff, but the practical aspects of it, of how you live it, is what's blown me away.

• 58:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, I appreciate it. Well, I always tell people, being a musician. It's such a self-discovery thing. Like, you learn just so much about yourself and the universe when you're an artist. It's such about like diving deep into the depths of yourself and discovering you. And when you're making, when you're the type of artist I feel like I am, which is, I'm trying to talk about the truth. I'm trying to help people. I had to kind of, those self-help books and just kind of moving through this journey. I had to find the way to apply all of this stuff to my life in a practical, productive way.

• 58:37Jay Shetty?

  You can tell, man.

• 58:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, thank you.

• 58:40Jay Shetty?

  But yeah, we end every interview, the final five. So this is a rapid fire, fast five. You're gonna answer every question in one word or one sentence maximum.

• 58:49Speaker 02

  Fire.

• 58:49Jay Shetty?

  So that's for every one of them. Easy for you, you're a lyricist and you know, this will be easy for you. All right, the first question is, what's the best advice you've ever received?

• 58:58Speaker 02

  What if it can turn out better than you can imagine?

• 59:00Jay Shetty?

  Second question, what's the worst advice you've ever received?

• 59:03Speaker 02

  Be realistic.

• 59:05Jay Shetty?

  Nice, that's good, that's a good one. All right, third question, what's one thing you're trying to learn or grow and develop right now?

• 59:13Speaker 02

  More of a affinity and appreciation for the present moment.

• 59:19Jay Shetty?

  Hmm, I like that. All right, question number four. What's one thing that you think other people value, but you don't value?

• 59:29Speaker 02

  I don't know. What do people value that I think is dumb? Um, Crocs.

• 59:35Jay Shetty?

  Good answer, good answer, all right. I agree.

• 59:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, good.

• 59:38Jay Shetty?

  All right, fifth and final question. If you could create one law in the world that everyone had to follow, what would it be?

• 59:45Speaker 02

  The golden rule, bro, that they teach you in fifth grade. Do unto others as they would, you know what I mean? If everyone had to only treat people the way that they would be treated, I think obviously the world would be in a much better spot. You'd be much more conscious of like, all right, maybe I shouldn't do this. But the thing that's funny about that, I always laugh when people think they get away with something. You didn't. There's always, to me, I believe the universe is seeing everything. Jay electronic has this line where he's, the universe is listening, be careful what you're saying. You know, it's like, you might think you got over on me, you didn't. Somebody saw, you know, good luck, enjoy that.

• 1:00:25Jay Shetty?

  And the worst thing is you saw somewhere deep inside of yourself.

• 1:00:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:29Jay Shetty?

  And that's the worst one, I feel like, that's the one that eats you up the most. Everyone, Russ, this has been honestly one of my favorite conversations.

• 1:00:36Speaker 02

  Thank you, that was really awesome.

• 1:00:37Jay Shetty?

  There are so many things you shared that, I hope everyone who's listening and watching is gonna go back and listen to watch and write notes. I didn't tell you at the start, but now I'm like, you should have taken notes because this is one of those episodes where there were just so many practical examples of not listening to people's opinions, finding solitude for your creativity, allowing yourself to be wild and insane on your own so you can discover new things about yourself. The ability to balance confidence with humility at the same time. I mean, you've just been dropping bars the whole time.

• 1:01:07Speaker 02

  I really liked the way you framed all the questions though, because it had me thinking in ways I wasn't. Like, I never really thought about the duality of the ego while also being a fan and just being, I never told anyone about being crazy in the studio when you're by yourself, like the autotune thing.

• 1:01:22Jay Shetty?

  I love that. That was one of my favorite things. But no, I appreciate it, man. And I hope everyone who's listening and watching, go and grab a copy of Russ's book, It's All In Your Head. It will be a great read for you if you love this conversation. And of course, all the music, all the albums. But thank you for coming on On Purpose, man, and we hope we can have you back for part two.

• 1:01:41Speaker 02

  For sure. Thanks for having me.

• 1:01:42Jay Shetty?

  Yeah, we should do this regularly because I feel like it would be nice to see your evolution and your growth as time goes on.

• 1:01:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:01:49Jay Shetty?

  So I love you, man. Thank you, Russ.

• 1:01:50Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 1:01:51Jay Shetty?

  Thank you. Everyone who's listening and watching, thank you for watching On Purpose. And I want you to tag me and Russ on Instagram with the things that stood out to you. On Twitter as well, what is it that you heard? What is it that he said? That you just can't stop thinking about and you want to share with your friends? Make sure you tag both of us. I love noticing what really resonates with you guys. Thank you again for listening and watching. We'll see you next time. Okay, I have some big news. Thanks to all of your support, I have been nominated for a Webby Award. Pretty much the internet Oscars. Actually, we have on purpose. The podcast has been nominated in the category of best health and wellness podcast. If you enjoy this podcast, if it makes any difference in your life and has ever had

• 1:02:36Jay Shetty?

  an impact, it would mean the world to me if you vote for us for the People's Voice Award at the Webby's. The link is in the caption. Please, please, please go and vote. It will take all of 20 seconds and it would mean the world to me if you come and support me and my team. Let's go win a Webby. Check out the link in the caption. I can't wait to see if we get number one. Fingers crossed.

• 1:03:02Speaker 04

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