In this motivational talk, Noah St John explains that achieving goals involves two opposing forces: the driving force of desire (the gas pedal) and the restraining force of fear (the brake). He uses a car‑driving metaphor to illustrate how many people lack a clear destination (their "why") and therefore waste time driving in circles. He labels limiting beliefs and fear as "head trash" that keeps the brake engaged, slowing progress. St John critiques common self‑help gurus who sell external fixes—expensive fuel, tires, or even a new car—while the underlying brake remains pressed. His solution is to help clients recognize and release the brake by removing head trash, thereby gaining focus and speed toward their goals. He reinforces this with a personal story: after escaping an abusive relationship in 2006, he was $40,000 in debt, worked from his parents' basement, and hired an expensive business coach. By discovering his "why," he turned his life around, becoming debt‑free, a best‑selling author, and traveling to the Caribbean within 24 months. The core message is that identifying a compelling why reveals the way forward.
Chapters
When you are trying to reach your goals, right, there are 2 forces at work. There's the driving force of our desire and the restraining force of fear. Okay, now I want you— and this is what I do with my clients— it's like driving a car. All right, so if you're in your car, you have the driving force of your foot on the gas and the restraining force of your foot on the brake, right? Those are the 2 forces at work in your car. So I want you to imagine that you have a destination. All right, so let's just say you want to go from your home down the street to the grocery store. All right, so here's what you don't do. You don't get in your car, drive to the grocery store, then go to the grocery store, walk around for an hour, leave, and come home. That wouldn't make any sense, would it? That would be like, why did you do that? Right? Also, you wouldn't just get in your car, drive around in circles for a while, and then come home. That doesn't make any sense either. But see, that's what happens with millions and millions of people. Number one, they don't know why they're going to where they're going. And number two, they don't have a destination in the first place, right? That's called driving around in circles, which millions of people are doing. The second is you go to the grocery store and you don't know why you're there, right? So, that's why it's really important when you go to the grocery store, you know why you're going. Well, I need milk, eggs, bread, and cheese. Okay, that's what I'm going there for. I have a purpose. I have a what I call a why to, right? That's your why to. My why to is going to here doing this thing. So what is it in your business? What is it in your life? What is it in your relationships, right? What is it in your health, right? Where is it in your life where your beliefs, where your habits don't affect you? Well, there's no place your habits don't affect you. There's no place your beliefs don't affect you. So that's why I call it your head trash. This head trash. is what is keeping so many people stuck, meaning they are literally driving down the road of life with one foot on the brake. So, imagine if you're driving down the road, you know where your destination is and you know why you want to get there, but you have one foot on the brake at the same time you have your foot on the gas. How long is it going to take you to reach your goal? Well, it's going to take you forever. You may never get there, and yet you're using all of this time, money, and energy. So, here's what happens in this industry, and I want to point this out to everyone watching. This is so crucially important. I want people to get this. So, guru number 1 comes up to you and they say, hey, you know why you're not reaching your goals? You need to put a better type of gas in your car. This gas isn't good enough. Put this really expensive gas in. So, you go to the gas station, you put expensive gas in, but you're still doing the same habit, so you get the same result. Guru number 2 comes along and they say, you know why you're not reaching your goals? You need to get a new set of tires. These tires aren't good enough. Use these really expensive tires. So, you go to the tire store, you buy these really expensive tires, you put them on, you get back in your car, you're doing the same habit, you still get the same result. Guru number 3 comes along and they say, you know what you need? You need a new car. This car isn't good enough. Get this really expensive sports car. And you're like, all right. I mean, I kind of like my car. I didn't really think I need to get a new car. But you buy, you go, you buy a really expensive sports car. You're spending more money. You get back in the car, you're still doing the same habit, and you still get the same result. So, by now, you're very frustrated. You spent all this money and time and effort, and you're still not getting what you want. So, here's what I do. I come in and I say, did you know you have your foot on the brake? And they're like, no. And I say, did you know if you get your foot off the brake, you can actually reach your goals a lot faster? And you're like, really? Yeah. So, just do these few simple things. Just do these few, you know, things we talk about. and you can get your foot off the brake. Not only that, you'll reach your goals a lot faster, easier, and a lot less time and effort. And they go, where do I sign up? Okay, that's what it is in this industry. We've got a lot of people out there, gurus, who are saying, get new gas, buy new tires, buy a new car. You don't need it. You do not need it. What you do need, however, is to take out your head trash. Your head trash is that fear, that foot on the brake. When people say to me, Noah, I want to write a book, or I want to do an online program, or I want to start my business, or I want to whatever, But I don't have the time. I always say, bullshit. Of course you have time. You what you don't have is focus, and the reason you don't have focus is because you don't have a why to. This is what I've been teaching for 25 years. Once you find your why to, you find the. So one of the phrases that I'm known for is when you find the why, you find the way. When you find the why, you find the way. I'll give you another example of that. Back in 2006, I had been in a very, very destructive, very abusive relationship. And I stayed in that relationship for 4 and a half years, which was really dumb, very, very stupid. But I didn't have any belief in myself. I was very down on myself during that time frame. Anyway, when I got out of that relationship, I was $40,000 in debt and I ended up working out of my parents' basement. That was really, really awful. That was humiliating. It was embarrassing. It was terrible. And I said, what am I going to do to get out of this lousy situation? And I realized that if you keep doing the same thing, you're going to keep getting the same result. So that's when I realized that I had to hire my first real business coach. I hired— because prior to that, I was like piecemealing it together, and I had never really hired a business coach. I was doing it all by myself, and it didn't work. And so I realized I've got to hire a business coach. And that business coach was very, very expensive, and I was $40,000 in debt. But you know what? I found the way because I had the why. When you find the why, you find the way. And after that, that's when my whole life changed. And that's when I, you know, got out of debt, uh, became 100% debt-free. I moved here to Ohio in 2007, and I met my beautiful wife here. I, I actually became a best-selling author for the first time. I took us on a honeymoon to the Caribbean and Barbados. So I literally went from basement to bestseller to Barbados in 24 months. You know, using the system that I now teach to my clients. And so the lesson for everyone watching and listening is when you find the why, you find the way.
