Will Smith Says He Can Cultivate a ‘Joyful Spirit’ with ‘No Women, No Drugs’ and ‘No Money’

“… You realize that ecstasy isn’t happiness, peace is happiness, balance,” Smith shared of what he’s discovered is the key to his own joy.

Will Smith. 

Will Smith is sharing his own journey in the pursuit of happiness.

The Bad Boys: Ride or Die star, 55, shared some insight on the Full Send podcast into how he’s found “joy” after reaching “cliff top,” which he defines as achieving everything you possibly can.

“People talk about rock bottom and I coined a phrase that there’s a corresponding place, I call it ‘cliff top,’ right?…  There’s no more sex that’s going to be anything but a lateral move.

There’s no more money.

There’s, you know, no more success, and it’s a f—— abyss,” Smith said.

The actor went on to say that once people reach that place they have to make a decision and “trust that the universe wasn’t created for you to run out of things,” and that they have to then look internally.

“And then you realize that the final frontier is getting your inner house in order, right?

With no women, no drugs, with no money, with nothing, can you cultivate a joyful spirit just with you and you?,” Smith explained.

“And the undertaking of that work is excruciating.”.

When asked by the podcast hosts about how to get to that point, Smith noted that people had to “do everything they want to do” and get it all “out of their system first.”.

“Just exhaust the joys of this world and you’re going to have a really, really hard night one night, and you’re going to be laying there by yourself and nothing is going to f—— mean anything to you,” he said.

Will Smith on the Full Send podcast.

“And then you’ll have to detox,” he continued.

“And then as you detox you’ll start to be able to start to look at your mind and realize the monsters in your mind — the same monster that made you climb and reach for those things — is the monster that keeps you from being happy.”.

“All of that craving, all of that scratching, all of that clawing… and then you’ve got to just make peace with that, dude. And you realize that ecstasy isn’t happiness, peace is happiness, balance,” he concluded.

It helps that the Emancipation actor also has some support from wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

He previously shared in an interview with Entertainment Tonight last month while promoting his new film Bad Boys: Ride or Die with Martin Lawrence that he counts on his wife to be his “ride or die.”.

Will Smith in 2023.

“It’s funny, I was just talking about this, I have always been blessed that there has never been a time in my life when I didn’t look to the side and have a ride or die right there,” Smith said.

“Jada is one of the most gangsta ride-or-dies I’ve ever had.”.

He also listed longtime friends and collaborators of his, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Alfonso Ribeiro, as “ride-or-die” people in his life.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is in theaters June 7.