The real hardship of our time isn’t only the challenges we face, it’s that we rarely slow down enough to fully experience and process them.

Jay is joined by bestselling author and journalist Michael Pollan for a deeply thoughtful exploration of consciousness, attention, and what it truly means to be present. Known for reshaping how we think about food, nature, and the human mind, Michael shares why his work always begins with curiosity rather than certainty. Together, they unpack how perception shapes reality and why the most important questions in life aren’t meant to be solved quickly, but held with patience.

Jay and Michael dive into how modern life pulls us away from awareness, leaving many of us distracted, overstimulated, and disconnected from ourselves. Drawing from research on meditation, neuroscience, and psychedelic therapy, Michael explains how rigid thought patterns, rumination, and ego-driven narratives can keep us stuck. They discuss how practices that quiet the mind don’t erase our identity, but soften it, creating space for clarity, creativity, and deeper connection with the world around us.

In this invterview, you'll learn:

How to Stop Living on Autopilot

How to Train Your Attention in a Distracted World

How to Use Curiosity Instead of Certainty

How to Break Free from Mental Rumination

How to Quiet the Ego Without Losing Yourself

How to Interrupt Stuck Thought Patterns

Awareness isn’t something you have to earn or master, it’s something you already possess. Small moments of attention, pausing before reacting, listening more deeply, and learning to sit with your thoughts, can quietly reshape how you experience life.

Michael Pollan’s A World Appears is a sweeping exploration of consciousness, what it is, who has it, and what it reveals about the essence of being human. Get your copy here: https://michaelpollan.com/books/a-world-appears/

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.

Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast

What We Discuss:

00:32 Why Great Thinkers Start With Questions

02:32 Is There Such a Thing as a Bad Question?

05:53 What is Consciousness?

07:55 Why Consciousness Matters in Daily Life

12:54 What Happens When You Put Your Phone Down

14:05 Building a Daily Meditation Practice

16:05 When Consciousness Transcends the Self

19:47 Is Everything Conscious?

25:46 What’s the Difference between the Mind and Consciousness?

31:16 Meditation and Psychedelics: The Overlap

33:36 Using Psychedelics With Intention

35:30 Is the Brain Creating Reality?

41:09 Breaking OCD Thought Loops

44:24 The Real Risks of Psychedelics

49:04 Why Psychedelics Can Help Break Addiction

51:23 How Altered States Change Our Fear of Death

53:54 Do Near-Death Experiences Change Science?

57:21 Redefining Consciousness in the AI Age

01:02:41 What Our Need for Constant Validation Says About Society

01:05:06 What Makes Humans Different From Machines

01:10:38 Why Asking Better Questions Matters

01:12:17 Michael on Final Five

Episode Resources:

Website | https://www.jeffersonfisher.com/

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/jefferson_fisher/

YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXjnpu6lK0HoUyOMh2ZBwhQ

TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@justaskjefferson

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/justaskjefferson/

X | https://x.com/jefferson_fishr

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffersonfisher/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Manifesting love isn’t about attracting the right person, it’s about being ready for the love you’re asking for.

Today, Jay challenges the way people have been told to manifest love. Rather than focusing on affirmations, visualization, or waiting for the perfect person to arrive, Jay reframes manifesting as an internal process of alignment. He explains that love doesn’t appear simply because someone wants it badly enough, it shows up when beliefs, emotional availability, habits, and identity are aligned to support a healthy relationship.

Drawing from psychology and attachment theory, Jay explains why chemistry alone can often be misleading. He unpacks how feeling emotionally safe, knowing your worth, and staying grounded shape attraction far more than intensity or butterflies ever could. When chaos feels exciting and calm feels unfamiliar, Jay explains, it’s often because the nervous system is drawn to what feels familiar, not what is healthy. Jay shares that Manifesting love actually means learning to choose consistency alongside chemistry, clarity over confusion, and emotional availability over emotional pursuit without lowering standards or losing self-respect.

In this episode, you'll learn:

How to Manifest Love Without Chasing It

How to Become Emotionally Available for the Right Relationship

How to Regulate Your Nervous System Before Dating

How to Stop Repeating the Same Relationship Patterns

How to Create Environments Where Love Can Find You

How to Make Space for Love to Stay

Trust that the work you’re doing matters. Love grows when you do. And when your life finally has room for it, love won’t feel confusing or exhausting, it will feel safe, steady, and real.

With Love and Gratitude,

Jay Shetty

Join over 750,000 people to receive my most transformative wisdom directly in your inbox every single week with my free newsletter. Subscribe here.

What We Discuss:

00:00 Intro

01:02 Attract the Relationship That Matches Your Growth

02:29 Principle #1: Emotional Availability

05:53 Principle #2: Identity Shapes Attraction

09:26 Principle #3: Proximity and Probability

12:04 Principle #4: Nervous System Compatibility

15:57 Principle #5: Standards Versus Defenses

20:00 Four Things to Focus on to Manifest Love

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We often think change will make sense once we get to the other side, but what if the real work of change is learning how to stay present in the uncertainty itself?

Today, Jay sits down with cognitive scientist and author Dr. Maya Shankar to explore why unexpected change feels so threatening, and why losing what we thought our life would look like can feel like losing ourselves. From a career-ending injury early in her life to deeply personal losses later on, Maya reflects on how life’s unexpected turns can quietly reshape how we see ourselves, our worth, and our place in the world.

Maya explains that one of the biggest mistakes we make during change is tying our self-worth to roles, titles, or outcomes. When those fall away, it can feel deeply destabilizing. Instead, she invites us to root our identity in something more stable: our “why.” The deeper reasons behind what we love—connection, service, growth, creativity. When we stay connected to those, we can move through change without losing ourselves. Jay reflects on how often we seek external validation and why redefining success during loss is essential for resilience.

In this interview, you'll learn:

How to Handle Change You Didn’t Choose

How to Anchor Your Self-Worth Beyond External Success

How to Find Your “Why” When Life Falls Apart

How to Rebuild Yourself After a Dream Ends

How to Grow into the Person Change Is Shaping You To Be

If you’re going through a season of change right now, remember this: you’re not broken for struggling with it. Change is meant to shake us, to slow us down, and to make us question who we are beyond our titles, plans, and expectations.

A quietly powerful read about resilience and reinvention by Maya Shankar, The Other Side of Change invites you to meet yourself again when life takes an unexpected turn - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729180/the-other-side-of-change-by-maya-shankar/

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.

Check out our Apple subscription to unlock bonus content of On Purpose! https://lnk.to/JayShettyPodcast

What We Discuss:

00:00 Intro

02:11 How Change Has Shaped Your Life

04:52 Why Does Change Feel So Scary?

11:45 Why We Tie Our Identity to What We Do

16:25 What Awaits on the Other Side of Change

24:47 Using Self-Affirmation to Stay Grounded

30:51 Finding Gratitude in Who You Become

39:31 Maya on Final Five

Episode Resources:

Maya Shankar | https://mayashankar.com/

Maya Shankar | https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar

Maya Shankar | https://x.com/slightchangepod

A Slight Change of Plans | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-slight-change-of-plans/id1561860622

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.