We’ve all met someone who seems to run on a different kind of fuel. They’re busy, sometimes tired, but not bitter about it.And we’ve all met the opposite kind of person too, one who is successful on paper, but perpetually drained, looking forward to the next vacation like it’s the only thing keeping them upright. The difference between these two people usually isn’t how hard they work. It’s why they’re working in the first place.Former monk turned author and podcaster Jay Shetty weighs in on this thought, and it is one of his most-shared lines.
Photo: Jay Shetty/ X
Quote of the day
When your focus is service you will never need a break
Jay Shetty
What does the quote mean?
Even though the quote is shared as a shorter version, the complete quote goes like, “When your focus is success, and you don’t get your break, it will break you. When your focus is service, you’ll never need a break because there are so many opportunities.”Shetty spent three years living as a monk in India before becoming a bestselling author and one of the most-followed podcast hosts in the world, and his work consistently returns to themes of purpose, service, and inner calm.
Shetty describes two engines fueling our work
The quote describes two different engines that can power our effort. The first is success. When success is the goal, work becomes a means to an end, be it a promotion, a milestone, a number in a bank account, and that goal is always somewhere out ahead of you. You end up in a holding pattern, waiting for the “break” to finally arrive.But when it doesn’t come on schedule, or is achieved and doesn’t feel like enough, it doesn’t just disappoint you; in Shetty’s words, it ‘breaks’ you, because your sense of worth got tied to an outcome you couldn’t fully control.But the second engine and the more meaningful one is service, which genuinely helps someone else, not because of what it earns you. Here, the reward isn’t a distant milestone, but it’s built into the doing itself.Every person you help is its own small return, so you’re never stuck waiting on a single big achievement to justify the work. It’s worth being clear that this isn’t a claim that people who serve others never need sleep or downtime.