<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p>---</p> <p>On hitting Rock Bottom, de-armoring, and worthiness.</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/jadapinkettsmith/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jada Pinkett Smith</a> is a multifaceted artist whose career spans over 30 years. Raised in Baltimore, she studied dance and theater at the Baltimore School for the Arts before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Her breakthrough came in with the NBC series A Different World, followed by her first feature film, Menace II Society. From there, Pinkett Smith became a global star, appearing in numerous films like The Nutty Professor, Set It Off, The Matrix franchise and the comedic hit Girls Trip.</p> <p>In addition to her acting work, Pinkett Smith has also executive produced projects such as Karate Kid, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, The Queen Latifah Show, Red Table Talk, Red Table Talk: The Estefans, as well as Queen Cleopatra and Queen Njinga for Netflix. She expanded her skills further as the host of the Emmy award-winning talk show, Red Table Talk, where she engages in multigenerational discussions about social and cultural issues with her daughter, Willow Smith, and mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. She is now heading out on a worldwide book tour to promote her memoir, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/worthy-jada-pinkett-smith/19879653" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Worthy</a> (a NYT Bestseller).</p> <p><strong>Related Episodes:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-playlists/non-negotiables" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Non-Negotiables Playlist</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3QtGRqJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Follow Dan on social:</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3tGigG5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Instagram</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FOA84J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>TikTok</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Ten Percent Happier online</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/46TZglY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>bookstore</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Subscribe to our</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FybRzD" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>YouTube Channel</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Our favorite playlists on:</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3Qa8kMT" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Anxiety</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3MjtMxF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Sleep</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QvyA5J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Relationships</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QxZASc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Most Popular Episodes</strong></a></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Full Shownotes:</strong> <a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/jada" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/jada</a></p>
Actionable Insights
1. Cultivate Higher Power Connection
Cultivate a deep relationship with a higher power (Great Supreme/God/universal source) and filter all life decisions, relationships, and work through this connection to manage ego and serve a greater good.
2. Practice Daily Surrender
Practice surrender by releasing and letting go in moments when the ego pushes to make something happen or seeks a specific outcome, trusting a higher intelligence to guide the flow of events. Balance intense effort with the wisdom of knowing you cannot control everything, aiming for ‘peaceful striving’.
3. Embrace Suffering with Grace
Understand that suffering is a sacred and inherent part of the human experience, and learn to sit with intense feelings of grief, despair, and disappointment to cultivate compassion for yourself and others. This process brings you closer to love and authentic connection.
4. Open Your Heart in Adversity
Learn to keep an open and ’elastic’ heart even in uncomfortable or ‘hellish’ situations, surrendering the ego’s urge to fight when attacked or faced with pain. Choose to respond to hatred and aggression with an open heart to avoid perpetuating negativity.
5. Set Loving Boundaries
Understand that having an open heart does not mean unconditional tolerance; it is crucial to protect your peace by setting clear boundaries. Develop personally to learn to set these boundaries from a place of love and self-care, rather than from anger, resentment, or hate.
6. Build Intrinsic Self-Worth
Focus on cultivating self-worth for yourself, rather than seeking validation or a sense of worthiness from others. A strong sense of self-worth reduces concern about others’ opinions and allows you to give love from a place of abundance.
7. Confront Your Inner Turmoil
Drop ego walls and examine the ‘shadows’ of your own heart and psyche to understand your own behaviors and inner turmoil. This deep self-awareness allows you to empathize with others and avoid taking their negativity personally.
8. Establish a Morning Routine
Wake up early (around 5 AM) to meditate (sitting or walking), engage in physical activity like Qigong or yoga, and read scripture of some kind daily. These practices serve as non-negotiable foundations for spiritual and physical well-being.
9. Seek Beyond Material Success
Recognize that material success, clout, and fame do not equate to true happiness or nourish an existential void. Seek deeper spiritual understanding and meaning beyond worldly achievements.
10. Explore Diverse Spiritual Paths
Be open to studying different spiritual practices and traditions, as each can offer unique gifts and understandings of a higher power. This continuous exploration enhances and nourishes life.
11. Reframe Rock Bottoms
View rock bottoms and extreme circumstances as necessary catalysts that can force you onto a new, more beneficial path. Be grateful for these difficult experiences if you can survive them.
12. Don’t Personalize Others’ Hate
Recognize that much of the hate and negativity projected by others stems from their own self-hatred and lack of self-love. Therefore, do not take it personally, but rather have compassion for their internal struggles.
13. Contribute to World Sanity
Engage in personal processes to confront your own ‘ugliness’ and inner turmoil, as this self-work makes you a better person and increases the quotient of sanity in the world. This individual effort also leads to personal happiness.