Start your day with practical philosophy that actually works. In under 10 minutes, Scott Smith cuts through the noise with straight talk about navigating life's messy middle—where personal and professional challenges collide. No hype. No fluff. Just 20 years of hard-won wisdom, Stoic principles, and real stories from someone who's been there. Monday through Friday, learn to think clearly, act wisely, and build a life that's actually yours.
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Scottsmith Podcasts
December brings those annual bad habits back for about six weeks. You know the ones. I sat on the couch all day after a neighbor's wine party and had one word: incompatible. Not sustainable. Compatible. That's the question that changes everything about your habits. You already know what you should be doing. I walk you through my Good Habit Generato…
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You know what you want. You're clear on that now. But you just don't know how to get there. You need the map, right? Most people want me to tell them exactly how to get from here to there. And honestly? You need a bridge. Not a vision board. Not a prayer. A real foundation on both sides with a solid plan connecting them. I share the Hoover Dam stor…
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You've heard it before: listen twice as much as you speak. Two ears, one mouth. Makes sense, right? But I'm taking that advice to a whole different level. Because most people are so busy listening to everyone else — to Google, to AI, to social media, to the noise — that they've stopped listening to themselves. They can't move forward without social…
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You set a goal. You write it down. You're ready to go. Then life blows you off course. Your boss keeps you busy. Your spouse questions your plans. Your kids need you. And suddenly you're nowhere near where you wanted to be. Sound familiar? Pilots deal with this every single flight. The wind blows them off course, so they course correct. They crab i…
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The Law of Attraction isn't some mystical secret. It's actually dead simple: know what you want, believe you can get it, and get your ass to work. Three steps. That's it. So why does it fail for most people? Because they're focusing on the wrong thing. They're thinking about what they don't want instead of what they do want. They're maintaining vis…
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Ever ask someone to hold you accountable, only to get annoyed when they actually do it? Yeah, I've seen that pattern destroy more goals than I can count. And that whole "announce your goals publicly" advice? That might be setting you up for failure. Because accountability isn't about crowdsourcing support from people who barely know you. It's about…
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You're getting distracted and you don't even know it. Your attention gets grabbed, you become interested, and suddenly you're doing things that weren't on your plan. I'm going to walk you through two advertising principles that explain exactly how this happens. One shows how your mind naturally works. The other shows where you are right now. Unders…
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It's the end of the year and you're thinking about what's next. But here's what most people get wrong about goals. I'm not talking about those 10-year vision things or tiny incremental goals. I'm talking about something so big it changes how you live right now. A goal that's actually worth your time has to grab your attention and redirect your enti…
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Ever meet someone who wants to be great at something but has no idea where to start? That was me in a sauna on Thanksgiving morning, talking to a young guy who wanted to be a motivational speaker. He had the passion but zero clue about the path forward. Sound familiar? I shared a classic Zig Ziglar lesson about the stages of competence that changed…
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You think 2025 flew by? I get it. My whole family said the same thing at Thanksgiving. Everyone was busy, busy, busy all year. But when I asked what they actually accomplished, it was maybe one or two big things. That's the hustle trap. I spent this past year doing the opposite. I dropped almost everything that wasn't serving me. I focused on deep …
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I just hosted Thanksgiving for 15 people. Youngest was my grandson Evan at four months old. Oldest? That was me, cutting the turkey and saying the prayer. How did I get here? Same way you'll get where you want to go. By deciding what you want, paying the price, and taking massive imperfect action. As we head into year-end planning, I'm sharing the …
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My wife Joy is a creature of habit. She has a rule. After Thanksgiving, nobody goes to a restaurant for breakfast, lunch, or dinner until every single piece of Thanksgiving food is gone. Magically, it always lasts right through Sunday evening. One year we went to someone else's house for Thanksgiving. Joy brought leftovers home. The next day she we…
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Happy Thanksgiving. My entire family comes over today. Four kids between us, six grandkids including a four-month-old. Some in-laws too. This is the place to come now and I'm so grateful for it. I also understand it won't go on forever. Guys miss the whole grateful thing sometimes. I wrote A Gratitude Journal for Men a few years ago because I kept …
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You have an ideology whether you know it or not. Not political. We're not going there. I'm talking about your personal rulebook. The boundaries you set. The values you stand for. Who you actually are when nobody's watching. If you haven't decided who you are, the world will decide for you. They'll tell you who you're going to be and that's how you'…
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You're sitting around waiting for your shot. Someone else is losing sleep because they can't find you. They have a problem only you can solve. A gap only you can fill. But they don't know you exist yet. My mother-in-law taught me this years ago and it changed everything about how I approach opportunity. She didn't let me sit around hoping things wo…
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Your morning routine is broken. Not because you're doing it wrong. But because you're doing what someone else told you works for them. I tried all the guru stuff. The ice baths, the 5 a.m. productivity sprints, the meditation marathons. Some of it worked. Most of it didn't. I spent years punishing myself with morning routines that looked perfect on…
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Episode Description Ever feel like you're stuck on repeat? I'm celebrating my birthday today and starting a new nine-year life cycle. Yeah, you read that right. About 25 years ago, a spiritual pastor taught me something that changed how I see patterns in my life. It's a nine-year cycle that repeats over and over. Once I learned it, I started seeing…
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