On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Sometimes the hardest part of healing isn’t what the world did to you, it’s unlearning the version of yourself you became just to survive it.
Today, Jay sits down with Hayden Panettiere for a raw and powerful conversation where she shares the truth behind a life the world thought it knew, but never truly understood. What unfolds isn’t just a story about fame, it’s a powerful reckoning with identity, pain, and resilience. From losing the innocence of a normal childhood to carrying the emotional weight of growing up in the spotlight, Hayden shares how early success came with hidden costs, bullying, isolation, and a lifelong struggle to feel like she truly belonged. This conversation goes beyond the headlines and into the heart of a woman who has spent decades learning how to separate who she is from who the world decided she should be.
As the conversation deepens, Hayden opens up about the hidden battles that shaped her adulthood, including addiction, postpartum depression, and the weight of living her trauma both privately and in public. She reflects on the surreal experience of playing a character whose struggles mirrored her own, where the line between performance and real life pain began to blur. Together, they unpack the patterns, the pressure to please, and the emotions she never had the space to process that kept her stuck in cycles she couldn’t break. Within it all, a powerful truth emerges: healing isn’t linear, and even in the darkest moments, there’s a quiet strength still fighting to rise.
Through grief, loss, and unimaginable challenges, Hayden is learning to reclaim her voice, trust herself again, and step into a new chapter defined not by survival, but by intention.
In this episode you'll learn:
How to Heal When Your Identity Was Shaped by Others
How to Rebuild Self-Trust After Years of Self-Doubt
How to Break Free from Toxic and Abusive Cycles
How to Cope with Anxiety That Feels Never-Ending
How to Navigate Postpartum Depression Without Shame
How to Stop Living for Approval and Start Living for Yourself
How to Let Go of the Need to Fix Everyone
How to Set Boundaries with People You Love
How to Keep Going When Life Keeps Breaking You
If you see parts of yourself in this story, the doubt, the pain, the patterns you wish you could break, know that you’re not alone, and more importantly, you’re not stuck. Healing doesn’t happen all at once, and it doesn’t require perfection.
This Is Me: A Reckoning is Hayden’s memoir where she shares a rare and intimate glimpse into her life behind closed doors, opening up about postpartum depression, addiction and recovery, trauma, domestic abuse, and loss. To get a copy, visit: https://www.amazon.com/This-Is-Me-A-Reckoning/dp/B0G7L8QSTK
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
JAY’S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe
Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
01:53 A Childhood Memory That Shaped Your Strength
03:11 Realizing Your Childhood Wasn’t “Normal”
05:03 Feeling Too Much While Trying to Find Where You Belong
08:08 Turning Early Bullying into Inner Strength
12:12 Growing Up Before You Were Ready
14:55 The Moment You Stop Living for Your Family’s Expectations
18:09 Releasing the Need for Everyone’s Approval
22:33 Meeting Your Real Self For the First Time
24:42 Choosing Yourself and Finding Peace
27:07 Finding Strength When You Don’t Feel Safe
31:21 Learning to Rise After Betrayal
35:18 Learning to Trust Yourself Again After Being Let Down
37:04 Staying Steady When Everything Around You Isn’t
39:19 The Cost of Living for Applause
44:21 Letting Yourself Love Again
48:25 Finding Strength Through Anxiety
55:35 The Reality of Postpartum No One Talks About
01:00:27 Losing Everything You Built and Starting Again
01:03:52 The Truth About Postpartum Depression
01:07:41 Letting Go Even When It Hurts
01:14:57 Choosing What’s Best for Your Child
01:17:18 Staying Close Even When You’re Far Apart
01:21:16 Finding the Strength to Leave an Abusive Relationship
01:30:41 Rebuilding Yourself After Trauma
01:35:36 Finding the Courage to Ask for Help
01:37:46 Walking Away and Reclaiming Your Power
Episode Resources:
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/haydenpanettiere/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peace is something we often treat like a destination, something we’ll finally reach once life quiets down, problems fade, and everything feels under control. In this episode, Jay challenges that idea. Peace isn’t something you arrive at, it’s something you build in real time. It’s the ability to stay grounded, even when life isn’t. He explains how peace rarely disappears in one dramatic moment. It fades gradually through small compromises, unspoken truths, tolerated behaviors, and the quiet ways we begin to lose ourselves just to keep everything else running. Over time, those choices add up, leaving us feeling drained without always understanding why.
Jay invites us to take a closer look at the hidden cost of your relationships, your work, and even your own thinking. From the emotional weight you carry for others to how tightly your identity is tied to being productive, he shows that a lot of your exhaustion is not just about what you do, it is about what you are constantly holding together. Jay also challenges the idea that loyalty means sacrificing yourself, encouraging a more honest look at the people and patterns in your life. Real peace, as he explains, comes from clarity. It requires the willingness to see things as they are, not just how you wish they were.
In this episode you'll learn:
How to Identify What’s Draining Your Energy
How to Reduce Emotional Labor in Relationships
How to Break Free from Family Roles That Exhaust You
How to Separate Your Identity from Your Work
How to Build Daily Habits That Restore Your Peace
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or quietly disconnected from yourself, know that it doesn’t have to stay that way. Peace isn’t something reserved for a different life or a future version of you, it’s something you can begin rebuilding right where you are.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
JAY’S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe here: https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe
Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Reclaim Your Peace
03:59 When Family Dynamics Start Draining You
06:58 Choosing Depth Over More Friends
09:58 Who Are You Without What You Do
11:31 The Pressure to Always Be Available
14:51 How You Might Be Undermining Your Own Peace
18:05 #1: Identify What’s Quietly Draining You
19:25 #2: Build a Non-Negotiable Anchor for Peace
20:41 #3: Learning to Disappoint Without Guilt
22:23 #4: Designing a Space That Protects Your Energy
23:08 #5: The Power of Doing Nothing
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jay sits down with trailblazing entrepreneur and investor Anjula Acharia to explore what it really takes to turn pain into purpose. Anjula opens up about her early experiences with bullying and feeling like she never quite fit in, and how those moments ended up shaping her rather than breaking her. Growing up between different worlds, Anjula unknowingly developed the superpower that would define her career: the ability to see what others miss and connect things that seem completely separate. What once felt like isolation became intuition, and what once felt like rejection became a powerful redirection toward a life of impact and influence.
Together, Jay and Anjula explore the side of success we rarely see. Beyond the headlines of billion-dollar brands and global icons is a journey shaped by failure, self-doubt, and constant reinvention. Anjula opens up about a time when she lost everything at once, her business, her marriage, and her sense of identity, and how hitting rock bottom became a turning point rather than an ending. She shares that success is not about having a clear plan, but about trusting your instincts, listening closely, and having the courage to grow. Anjula’s story is a powerful reminder that the moments that feel like everything is falling apart are often the ones quietly setting us up for something greater.
In this episode you'll learn:
How to Turn Rejection Into Your Greatest Advantage
How to Build Confidence When You Don’t Fit In
How to Network Even When You Have Nothing to Offer
How to Become a Connector People Value
How to Pitch Ideas That Actually Get Attention
How to Attract Mentors Without Asking Directly
How to Trust Your Instincts in Uncertain Moments
How to Reinvent Yourself After Hitting Rock Bottom
You don’t need to have everything figured out to move forward, you just need the willingness to keep going, especially when things don’t make sense yet.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
JAY’S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe
Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
03:30 Overcoming Childhood Bullying
07:24 Turning Difference Into Your Superpower
10:52 The Unexpected Rise in Podcasting
14:17 Is Networking Actually Important?
17:00 The Power of Connecting People
18:50 How to Network With Confidence
18:50 The Networking Shift That Changes Everything
22:27 What Great Mentorship Actually Looks Like
24:12 Who Deserves Your Time and Guidance
26:00 The Skill of Trusting Your Own Instincts
32:06 How to Make Anyone Say Yes
37:54 The Bet That Brought a Global Star to Hollywood
41:27 The Moment You Stop Trying to Belong
43:55 Turning Culture Into Global Influence
46:05 Saying What You Mean So People Actually Listen
48:40 What’s Really Changing in Film Right Now
51:01 Why Bumble Was More Than Just a Bet
52:12 The Unexpected Rise of AI Influencers
55:39 Using AI to Multiply Your Impact
56:45 The Hidden Reason Most Businesses Collapse
58:13 Starting Over Without Fear
01:00:18 Staying Steady When Everyone Doubts You
01:03:58 The Comeback Mindset After Failure
01:22:15 Anjula on Final Five
Episode Resources:
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/anjula_acharia/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjula-acharia-206735
X | https://x.com/anjulaacharia
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Jay Shetty welcomes back Esther Perel to unpack a growing tension in modern relationships: in a world more connected than ever, why so many people feel deeply disconnected. Esther reframes dating struggles as something deeper than love itself, pointing to a broader loss of real-life social practice. Without the everyday interactions that once taught us how to approach, connect, and handle rejection, dating now feels like a high-stakes performance instead of a natural progression. What was once built through play, curiosity, and gradual connection has been compressed into a single moment of pressure, turning love into something overwhelming rather than something we can explore.
Jay and Esther explore the illusion of connection in the digital age, where texting replaces talking and screens replace presence. Esther explains how this disembodied way of relating strips away the elements that create real intimacy, like eye contact, tone of voice, touch, and shared energy. While it can feel like we are communicating more, we are often losing depth, nuance, and emotional resonance. This shift has shaped a culture that avoids friction and discomfort, yet still feels more anxious, lonely, and exhausted. In trying to make relationships easier and more efficient, we may be losing the very experiences that give them meaning.
In this episode you'll learn:
How to Build Real Connection Offline
How to Turn Dating Into Discovery, Not Pressure
How to Be More Curious Instead of Judgmental
How to Create Attraction Through Presence Not Perfection
How to Ask for What You Truly Need
How to Build Trust in Small, Consistent Moments
How to Balance Independence and Interdependence
How to Stay Open to Love Without a Checklist
If there’s one thing to hold onto, it’s this: nothing about love is broken, you’re just being asked to approach it differently. The world may have made connection feel more complicated, but at its core, it still comes back to showing up, being present, and allowing yourself to be seen without needing to get everything right.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
JAY’S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe
Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
01:11 Why Is Gen Z Dating Less?
04:23 The Disappearance of Physical Connection
06:26 Living in a Fully Contactless World
09:54 Connected, Yet Deeply Disconnected
12:01 Dating in the Age of Surveillance
14:11 Why Real Connection Feels Harder Than Ever
17:07 Why Love Falls Flat Without Friction
18:41 The Missing Skills No One Taught Us About Love
24:35 The Hidden Power Struggles Shaping Modern Relationships
27:05 The 4 Pillars of Relational Intelligence
30:07 Have We Lost the Ability to Problem-Solve?
32:38 How to Know If You Can Really Trust Someone
36:44 From “Me” to “We”
38:27 Should You Make a Dating Checklist?
41:04 Why Dating Feels Like a Full-Time Job
43:00 The Pressure Behind “Intentional” Dating
47:50 When Love Doesn’t Speak Your Language
50:25 Why Talking to AI Feels Easier Than People
55:16 The Trap of Wanting Love to Feel Effortless
56:35 Is Love Supposed to Be Hard?
57:58 Why Wanting Love Isn’t “Cringe”
01:02:43 Codependence vs Healthy Love
01:07:09 What Actually Keeps Desire Alive?
01:10:26 Breaking Down Viral Relationship Myths
01:17:38 Esther on Final Five
Episode Resources:
Website | https://www.estherperel.com/
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@estherperel
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/esther.perel/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/estherperelofficial
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherperel
TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@estherperel_official
Substack | https://estherperel.substack.com/
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel
Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Jay explores a truth most of us instinctively avoid: we no longer know how to be alone with our own thoughts. He reflects on how our constant need for stimulation, scrolling, watching, filling every empty second, is not just a habit, but a quiet escape from ourselves. What we often dismiss as “boredom” isn’t something to fix, but a signal, quietly guiding us toward clarity, deeper self-awareness, and inner peace.
Jay brings in modern neuroscience to explain why boredom is not empty at all. He introduces the concept of the Default Mode Network, the part of the brain responsible for self-reflection, creativity, empathy, and imagining the future. This system only activates when we stop consuming and allow our minds to wander. In a world engineered to keep us constantly distracted, we are gradually disconnecting from the very mechanism that helps us understand ourselves and generate our best ideas.
In this episode you'll learn:
How to Stop Reaching for Your Phone Automatically
How to Turn Idle Moments Into Creative Breakthroughs
How to Activate Your Brain’s Default Mode Network
How to Build a Daily Practice of Doing Nothing
How to Break the Habit of Constant Stimulation
How to Create Space for Deep Thinking and Clarity
You don’t need to fill every moment to live a meaningful life. The pauses you’ve been avoiding may be the very spaces where clarity, peace, and creativity begin.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
JAY’S DAILY WISDOM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX
Join 900,000+ readers discovering how small daily shifts create big life change with my free newsletter. Subscribe here: https://news.jayshetty.me/subscribe
Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
00:33 Can Anybody Just Sit Still Anymore?
03:01 What is the Scientific Definition of Boredom?
12:33 The Persuasion Machines
16:09 The Ancient Art of Doing Nothing
18:07 #1: Understand What You're Doing
18:49 #2: The 3-Minute Hold
20:13 #3: Do One Boring Thing
21:14 #4: Get Bored on Purpose
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.