Justin Narayan shares 3 rules for life
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It's that transformative power that food has to take strangers and make them best mates or spouses or wives or husbands. And it's this wild experience, this magical tool I think we have in life.

Hey there, I'm Matt D'Avella and welcome to my short form podcast, Three Rules. Each episode, I ask a guest to share three rules that help them find success and happiness. Today, I'm joined by MasterChef Australia 2021 winner, Justin Narayan. Justin's story goes beyond the competition. He's really a creator at heart.

From crafting small batch hot sauces to running a pop-up taco shop, Justin has turned his passion for sharing food into a platform for creativity and entrepreneurship. I'm really curious what your three rules for success and happiness are. Let's start out with rule number one. I was trying to think of like cool ways to say it, but it's just journaling. Like every day, finding a notepad and a pen, physical journaling.

I got a very specific pen, 0.1 felt tip and I'm all skin. Oh, I haven't got away from it yet, but it's just therapy. Like I love it. Just getting your thoughts out there every day. And I think this is more about grounding, gratitude, but also just letting...

I don't know, for me, it's kind of like your brain kind of disconnects from your hands. And like, it's almost like your soul, like what's in you. You get to this point where it's like, I didn't even know I had this in me, some of these thoughts, some of these ideas. And so that's something that,

I think I've done since I was 13 or 12. I picked it up very early on. I grew up like in a church context and I think we like journal, like I had, you know, a youth pastor talk about journaling more of a spiritual discipline and it kind of started like that for me. And I still would consider it almost like a spiritual discipline. Um,

So I've been doing that for years. And without fail, even when I was on MasterChef every single morning, I'd kind of like, these would be the habits that I felt would help me. Like you said, like reading recipes or like studying, I'd be like, no, I'm just going to go get a notepad and pen and kind of like,

you know, just write. Walk me through that routine. What does that look like for you as you approach journaling every day? Sometimes it's, I would read a book or a passage or a couple of quotes and journal about that, about some of those thoughts. Um, sometimes it would be like just gratitude. Think about, you know, top three things I'm grateful for today and just start journaling that. Sometimes it's after, uh,

you know, being in nature, kind of journaling about those things. And sometimes I just start writing. Like I literally just say, I'm going to start writing and you just, you know, see what comes out of your soul. And yeah,

Yeah, it's harder some days than others. You know, especially after like you have a, you know, you have a, like a, you know, an argument with your wife or partner or something's gone wrong and you're kind of like, it's the last thing you want to do and you kind of have to force yourself to confront yourself. I'm always fascinated by people who say they do something every single day. Cause I'm like, I, there's very few things I do every single day outside of brush my teeth.

and maybe drink a glass of water. You know what I mean? Because, because, uh, like even something like exercise or, or like taking vitamins, those things, there are periods of my life where I completely fall out of my routines. So I'm curious what it, what it looks like in practice. Say you have 365 days. How many days do you realistically think that you would be journaling? Yeah, look, I'm not doing it every single day. It's not perfect, but, um, I reckon I'm going shooting for like

at 200 to 50 days, like most, most times. And so I'd wake up in the morning, um, get ready, get out of the house, go to a coffee shop. Um,

And just whip out the notepad pen. Sometimes if I'm like shy, just like pull out the laptop, leave it off. And it's just covering, you know. Are you serious? Yeah, I'll be so serious. You get a little embarrassed. Yeah, yeah. I'm a little bit like, oh my God. Like, I don't know these people here. So, it's like if you... I do it all the time. It's so funny. Is that like an Aussie thing, do you think?

I don't know. Like a bit of like a tall poppy, like, oh, you think you're so great at journaling. I think it is a bit of that. Like, I don't want this weird dude here. You know, everyone else got their laptop out. Like, so I'll do that. It's completely off. Like...

- That's hilarious. - Yeah, yeah. And then I usually date it. So it gives me like a little bit of a, I know where I'm at. And then I would write, you know, a page or two on average, probably like a page of a Moleskine. And then usually I try and title whatever it is that I've written about that day, like whatever the major thought is. And then I'd write that at the top of the page. - What are the main benefits of this journaling practice?

For me, I think it adds a routine consistency to like a very inconsistent rogue type of work schedule and life that I have. But also it's a grounding kind of practice. Like sometimes when things are going really good, things are going really bad, whatever's happening, it kind of just keeps things in perspective for me.

And also a way to process thoughts, emotions, and also like creatively express myself as well. I feel like, you know, I've never been one to be like a big writer or anything or big reader, but I never really saw myself like that. But I think after...

doing this practice for a long time, you're like, I am a, I'm a writer. Like I write every day. Like this is, I'm like a storyteller writer. This is one medium I can do that in. I hadn't really ever drawn that connection between a daily journaling practice, how you're actually developing a skill. Yeah. You're building your skill as a writer, as somebody who can curate interesting ideas. Yeah, exactly. So for me, it was, it's kind of bringing,

like a bit of confidence in myself. - Let's move on to rule number two. - Rule number two for me, the habit of kind of trying to find awe and wonder in the world. The act of like getting out into nature, going for a walk, sometimes in the busyness and just chaos of life, we like, I lose touch with that all the time. So usually this kind of habit comes in like usually before I journal or after, or I'd go for a walk to a cafe or,

you know, trying to do a hike or something on the weekend or wherever or being near water or nature. But that's something I think every day.

is one of those things that's really helped me find happiness, success. And, you know, at times it kind of intersects with like a little bit of meditation. I almost find the act of walking itself a sense of, you know, I pretend to put AirPods in and like it's something I don't play anything and I just walk around and that kind of like, yeah, yeah.

I feel like that's that grounding experience where you just sit on the edge of, you know, water and just stare at the ocean for ages. It's just this energy and perspective and wonder that, yeah, it brings to life. If you can ever get to a place where you can see the stars, which is,

pretty much impossible in any big city. But if you ever get to a place where you could like sit there, look at the night sky and you can just stare up at the stars or look at like how vast and big the ocean is, it kind of just puts things into perspective of like how

how small and insignificant we are in this universe and just how grand and like majestic and wonderful like this world is i'm so glad you said that rule because that is just it's so simple yeah um but most people don't give themselves the time to do it like it's such a bummer to live

in a city as beautiful as Sydney. But like, I mean, there's so much that I love about Sydney. It's one of the most beautiful cities I've ever lived in. Uh, but living in any city, the fact that you can't just walk outside and look up at the stars is a huge disadvantage because I remember just nights, uh,

Growing up, you know, when I was maybe 16, 17 years old, I'd come home late and I'd get out of my car and I'd look up at the stars and it would just be like an explosion of stars, like tens of thousands of stars in the sky. And I just sit out there for like 30, 40 minutes. And something about looking up at the stars just evaporates all your problems. Your problems seem so insignificant when you remember the context of where we are. Yeah. There's this rogue...

you know, pandemics of mental health and isolation and loneliness and all these things. And I'm not saying nature is the one thing that will fix it all, but I think that perspective that you just spoke about, the lack of that happening, there's a huge correlation, you know, between it. Like there'd be a time in human history where you'd be in nature more than you would, you know, inside a house. But I think it's wild.

that it is so easy for us to go days without being in touch with nature. Like we could live in this house, get an Uber, go to a restaurant, go home, go to the office, like never see a tree or the sky for a day is a wild thing. But I also think there's something about it that regulates the human soul. It's kind of like this, all right, my problems are getting bigger and bigger. And then you just need to like,

go out there and stare at a tree for like an hour and just see how your body just kind of regulates.

I'm going to be back with the third and final rule in a moment. But first, one of the ways I'm supporting this podcast is through Patreon. By becoming a patron, you get access to the full unedited episodes of the show, which for this episode with Justin Narayan is more than twice as long as we dive into these rules even further, as well as covering some of the things he learned from being on MasterChef. What I think got me through the show in a huge way is like, am I happy?

happy with what's on this plate. Am I proud of it? As a patron, you'll also get additional unused footage from my YouTube videos and access to a members-only area where you can ask me questions for my Patreon-exclusive AMA podcast. And most importantly, you'll feel good knowing that you're supporting a creator you like. And really, what other incentive do you need? Simply go to patreon.com slash mattdavella to support the show. That's patreon.com slash mattdavella. There's a link down in the description below. Thanks for considering.

Let's move on to rule number three, Jazzy. What do you say? It's doing something you love for yourself and for someone else. In my case, it's cooking. Huge surprise, huge shock. I know. It's something I love. It builds confidence within yourself. It's a way to express yourself. It's art. It's transformative. And then doing it for someone else. I think it's the design of food, really. It's like that connection around...

you know, a dinner table, sharing a meal together. It's that transformative power that food has to take strangers and make them, you know, best mates or spouses or wives or husbands. And it's this wild experience, this magical tool I think we have in life. And, you know, I think the network you grow and the people you connect with, people you surround yourself with are super important in life. And all of that happens around us.

meal for me or and something I love or something you know you love whether it be sport, art, music I think there's this

this powerful thing that happens when you share that with someone. For me, it's extremely universal. We all eat. So I lucked out there. I talked to Mark Manson recently, and he said that after he published the subtle art of not giving a fuck, it went to number one. He got depressed. He was like,

I peaked at 31. Like, where do I go from here? Did you have any of those feelings after winning MasterChef where any of these moments where you're like, well, what do I do next? Like, how do I follow that up? Yeah, dude, all the time. Like still to this day. Like I just opened a restaurant and it's like, crap, what are people going to expect from the winner of my, you know what I mean? Like all these things.

And even after the show, it's kind of like there's the show because it gets filmed and there's like a six-month...

Yeah.

then the real purpose of striving towards perfection becomes clear. To make people happy, that is what cooking is all about. And for me, that quote has just been this real grounding type force. It's like, it's just food...

And cooking, it's just about making people happy. What I think got me through the show in a huge way is like, am I happy with what's on this plate? Am I proud of it? And when someone consumes this, will they feel what I am trying to get them to feel through the food? And usually the first two are good enough for me. And that third one is a bonus. And so...

That was what I had to keep reminding myself of is like, am I happy with this? Am I proud of this? Am I happy with this? That's what kind of like helped me get through it. And then whether it's a 10 out of 10 or technically perfect and all these things,

is just more of a systemic type, you know, consequence of me being happy and proud of. Yeah. Symptomatic. Yeah. I think anybody watching these shows knows that it's quite subjective. I mean, obviously like people watching these shows can't taste it. But even when it comes to reviews, people leave on Google, so much of it is subjective and about even where that person is at in their life when they left that comment. Yeah. Like I got this comment,

one bad review at the restaurant and I reckon I was like depressed for like a week and there's I reckon there was like a hundred good reviews that I got from customers and people going that was amazing and there's one bad one just sticks but it was there was a part of me that was like

Like, obviously for the surface level reason, but the deeper reason for me was like, I didn't give him the experience I wanted to give him. And so I was disappointed in that. And I'm like, that's okay. Next time I'll do better. And that's where I settled with it and feel good about that now. But it's kind of like, yeah. It's hard, man. Yeah, it's hard. Like...

negative comments bad reviews on something that you poured your heart into yeah it never gets easy 100 and for me like food and cooking it's about the other person most of the time it's about like how you feel when you eat this or experience and the conversations that happen so you always like you know there's this there's this serving nature of it that you want to be able to

you know, bring joy and happiness to the other person. And when you miss that mark, it's like, damn, that was disappointing. But you, you know, give it a crack again and understand that it's not for everyone. People can have different preferences. Not everyone is going to like, you know, the flavor of vanilla ice cream. Some people will like chocolate and that's okay. So it's just, it's just balancing that. Thank you so much. Thanks for making the time. Can't wait to come by to the taco shop and... Do it.

have some tacos. I've got some hot sauce waiting for me downstairs, which I really appreciate. Perfect. Perfect. Or just come over for dinner if it's closed. Oh yeah, that would be great too. Yeah. Cool. Awesome. Thanks again for doing this. If you want to get these rules summarized into a weekly newsletter, you can subscribe at mattdiavella.com slash three rules. Thanks so much to Justin for taking the time to chat today. You can find him on Instagram at Justin Narayan. Until next time.