Why You Don't Need a Why

Daily Boost - Clarity for Life and Work

Scott Smith

Business, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

3.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Everyone tells you to find your why. But what if that's backwards? I've had tens of thousands of conversations with people trying to figure out their lives. And I've noticed something controversial: nobody leads with their why. They lead with what they want. The why comes later when things get hard and you need fuel to keep going. Most of your happiness comes from stumbling into things you love, not from some mythical why you discover on a mountaintop. Today I'm pushing back on popular advice and sharing what actually works when you're trying to build the life you want. Featured Story My wife once told me she decided to date a bad boy. That bad boy was me. Then when I asked her to marry me, she said yes. But she also said something that made me laugh: "I figured out you're just a little bit bad. Mostly good." We used to plan these elaborate dates. Dinner, dancing, the whole production. Those nights were usually just okay. But the nights we stumbled into with zero planning? Those were magic. That's how life works too. You can be intentional all you want, but sometimes the best stuff happens when you're just bumbling around and something sticks. Important Points Your passion isn't sitting out there waiting to be discovered. You trip and stumble into it when you're out there trying things and something clicks. People don't lead with why. They lead with what they want. I've seen this play out thousands of times in real conversations with real people. The why becomes critical when you're chasing something so big it scares you. That's when you need to know why you're doing it to keep going. Memorable Quotes "Life is long. You're going to change. I have people all the time say, Scott, you're not the same guy you were 20 years ago. That's the whole point." "What happens if you have no idea what you want, but still the good things keep arriving in your life?" "If you just bumble and stumble around, find the what you like, it won't be long before you find purpose. And purpose becomes your why." Scott's Three-Step Approach Get up and take a step. Stop overthinking your why and start trying things. When you find something you like, stick with it a little bit. Focus on the what first. Ask yourself what you want to do, not why you want to do it. The why reveals itself when the work gets hard. Let purpose become your why. When you're doing something long enough and you're committed to it, your purpose becomes clear and that's your real why. Chapter Notes 0:03 - The what and why question that drives everyone crazy 0:37 - Building your peaceful base between here and there 1:27 - The bumbling and stumbling truth about colorful lives 2:51 - Why passion isn't waiting to be discovered 3:52 - My controversial take on leading with why 5:37 - When stumbling around creates your best happiness 6:33 - The only time your why really matters Connect With Me Search for the Daily Boost on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify Email: [email protected] Main Website: motivationtomove.com YouTube: youtube.com/dailyboostpodcast Instagram: @heyscottsmith Facebook Page: facebook.com/motivationtomove Facebook Group: Join the Daily Boost Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Harry.
0:00.7	Hello mate.
0:01.5	Got any tips for the football?
0:02.8	Your best bet is to head over to Bet Victor.
0:04.9	They're giving new customers a terrific welcome offer. If you bet a minimum of £10, they'll give you £30 in three bets. Four, that's a steel of a deal. It's a good darn deal that'll make your squirrel for real. Neil? My name's not Neil. I know, bet it rhymes. Listen to Harry and make your best bet on the football at Betvictor.
0:23.4	18 plus opt in and bet on any football marketing at odds of evens or greater no, cash out seven-day expiry terms and conditions apply. Gamblerware.org. So I have a birthday coming up and I know they say don't worry about the age and I'm not really, but I am a little concerned about what they call my biological age. That's the age of my cells and my organs because I recently learned that's the number one predictor for serious disease like heart disease and cancer and dementia and a whole lot more. Iick. So when my sponsor, True Diagnostic sent me a true age test, I was like, yes, let's do this thing. It's a simple at-home test. It helps you uncover your true biological age. You get personalized insights and you take control of your health, basically. Did you know, by the way, that if your biological age is just five years older than your actual age, your risk for major disease goes up by 30 to 50 percent. I didn't know that. It's a little scary. But this is good news, I guess, up to 90% of biological aging is driven by lifestyle so you can change it. I'm really excited to see my results. I'm a little scared, but I'm also really motivated. If you care about protecting your health and you want to find out what your real age is, head over to Truediagnostic.com and use my code, Boost, to get 20% off your entire order or subscription.
1:28.8	That's truediagnostic.com.
1:30.8	Use boost at checkout to get 20% off your future self.
1:34.5	Well, thank you.
1:39.3	Chipper wake up in the morning and go, what am I going to do today?
1:43.0	Why am I here? The what's the wise, the why is the what?
1:46.5	Sometimes you dream about it too. It drives you crazy right. Everybody does it. Don't worry about it.
1:50.0	You're not alone. What and why? We'll talk about that today.
1:53.3	I need a boost. I need a daily boost. I need a daily boost. I need a daily boost. I need a boost. I need a daily boost. It is the daily boost. How are you?
2:05.4	It's me, Scott Smith. Good to have you. Thanks for stopping by today. The Daily Boost is very simple stuff.
2:09.2	You know, we all have things you want to do. Okay, come here real close. Let me explain this to you.
2:13.6	I believe in building a peaceful base of a life. In other words, right now, life is cool. It's peaceful. You're getting what you want. It's going your way. And then I believe that we should build a future peaceful base where we want to go and grow to. And then I see this show and see some of the other work I do as the bridge between here and there. That's the goal. So if you need a little motivation, we'll give you that today.
2:35.0	But today I'm going to go just a witty bitty bit, bad boy. I'm not much of a bad boy. I'm usually a good boy. I'm enough of a bad boy that it caught my wife's attention when I was dating her. And she said, I'm going to date myself a bad boy. and then I asked her to marry me and she said, okay, I said, why did you ask me to marry you?
2:50.9	She said, well, I figured out you're just a little bit bad. Mostly good.
2:54.6	Wink, wink, wink, ladies, you know what I'm talking about, right? So here's my controversy.
2:58.9	A while back, I was chatting with a friend. Happens a lot, sometimes in groups as well.
3:05.1	And you know what we were doing the same thing you do.
	...

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