Mindful Moments with David Larbi

Welcome back! I took an unscheduled and unexpected break from the podcast for health reasons, but I feel rested, recovered and very, very happy to be back with you. During the past few months I've really had to rely on my support network and rely on some of the things I find most challenging - vocalising my needs and asking for help. This year has been a lesson in letting myself rely on people and getting over my fear of actually asking for what I need. Hinting isn't asking for help - sometimes we need to clear our throats, dig deep and ask aloud for what we need!Doing so is good for us, good for the people who care for us and good for our relationships. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another Q&A Episode, as is tradition every tenth episode! As ever, I chose the questions that I feel best positioned to answer according to life right now - I hope my answers are well-received and of value. As ever, thank you for being here and thank you for listening. Here's to the next ten episodes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to tackling tasks I know will likely bring discomfort, I can find it difficult to get out of my head and into gear. Sometimes, though, that's all that's left to do. We can only think so much before doing, and sometimes difficulty is far greater in the hypothesis than in reality. It's up to me to act, then deal with any difficulties as they arise rather than letting hypothetical difficulty stop me from acting. Make it real, then deal! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When encountering familiar difficulties which we've overcome before, it can feel frustrating that we're finding the same things difficult once more. It causes me to question my own growth and progress. Some things, however, are simply difficult in nature. To struggle with the same things does not mean we haven't grown, it's simply indicative of life's changing nature. We can find the same things difficult, but deal with them better than we ever would have before. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes, good things come to an end. Things being fleeting can make them precious; good things don't have to last forever for them to have the impact they need to. They still resonate into the future, and are always worth experiencing even if they don't last as long as we hoped. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've been making a conscious effort to occupy my time wisely. If I'm not careful, I give in to my need to constantly feel as though I'm actively working hard and doing something all the time - in other words, sometimes I busy myself needlessly. Being more intentional about my time is much better for my health, and something I am doing my best not to compromise on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When things are difficult, I think about quitting. It's a logical thought process, and one I no longer take any shame in. To understand and explore my desire to quit is to give my feelings credibility and make a decision I can truly stand behind, and continuing when I know I could have given up is when I see how strong I can be. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The thought, “I can't be bothered to do this” happens at the time when I could, in fact, conveniently do this - I just don't feel like it. Getting over that feeling and deciding more often to think “might as well” and do it, is something I never regret. It's not the biggest deal in the world, but the more I decide “might as well”, the better my life is in the small ways that add up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've been working for a long time, years, on being consistent in many areas of my life. I'm in a place now where I can see progress even as I look to improve, which feels really nice. Building consistency isn't easy but the principles are simple, and it's something we can all do! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When I mess up, I find it hard to forgive myself and let go. The problem with this is it that I then miss the opportunity to be present, understand my actions, move forward and heal. Forgiving myself is a practice I am working hard on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If I'm not careful, I find it all too easy to equate my self-worth to how productive I'm being and what I'm achieving at the present time. Building better self-esteem comes from understanding that I have value no matter what I'm currently achieving, and productivity and achievement are useful but should not be my only validation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to another Q&A Episode! I meant to answer 20 and realised I accidentally fell one short - let's say I owe you one! 30 episodes is quite a few, and I only grow to love this more the more I do it, so thank you so very much for listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I often find myself wishing time away over small inconveniences and the type of general difficulty that comes as a part of life. It stops me being present and appreciative, and it's something I want to work on doing far less of! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Self-sabotage: behaviour or thoughts, especially of an involuntary or unconscious nature, that are harmful to one's own interests or development.'Self-sabotage, as the name suggests, is deeply personal and everyone has their individual reasons for engaging in it. I'm very much a work in progress, but I've really become much better at understanding the root causes and thought processes that have lead me to do so in the past. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

January is underway, and I'm feeling different to how I was this time last year. I'm in a rest period, which feels strange at a time when it seems as though everybody is hitting the ground running and building momentum. It's hard not to feel like I'm missing out on something or doing something wrong, but this is an excellent opportunity for me to act on one of my principles: what's good for someone else may not be good for me. What's most important is that I run my own race. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy New Year! It feels wonderful to be back after my short break, in perfect timing to welcome in a new year. Today we're talking about resolutions and the way I enter a new calendar year. A year is a long time and though we can't know what to expect, there are wonderful moments ahead that we can't even begin to anticipate. Here's to 2024! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last episode of 2023, before I take some time off, I'm thinking about being more present. It was something I tried to work on throughout this year, but it's still very much a journey! Thank you for all your time this year - I can't wait to see you again in January. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I love to plan. I love it when plans go to plan. I struggle when I have to change my plans, for many reasons - I feel like I'm giving up, like I'm “failing”, like I'm letting myself down in some way. Being flexible and knowing when a plan isn't working anymore isn't failure, it's pragmatism. Resetting and redirecting our steps can feel like a setback, but often it's the most necessary recalibration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following last week's episode, a listener drew a really interesting comparison between something I said in Episode 22 about the differences between motivation and discipline. They said that these differences sound similar to the differences between love and passion, and asked me to expand on those thoughts. It felt right to do so this week. Love and passion work marvellously in tandem but are very different things and mean different things to all of us. I hope you enjoy my thoughts, and I'd love to hear yours too! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk a lot, correctly, about how discipline is better to rely on than motivation. That doesn't mean that motivation isn't extremely valuable. In fact, in these past weeks I've been making the most of the moments where I feel motivated to help me get through difficult times. Motivation is a wonderful thing when we use it well! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jealousy is one of the most complex emotions to feel. It often exists in direct conflict with other emotions, brings us guilt and shame and gets in the way of our own gratitude and progress. It's often easier to pretend we don't feel it than confront it, for these reasons and many more. However, feeling jealous is not a moral failing - it's all about how we process it and act despite feeling it. We are bigger than our jealousy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twenty questions for twenty episodes! To celebrate this mini-milestone I'm answering 20 questions, asked by listeners. Thank you for being here, and here's to many more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When I last spoke about completing the 75 Hard, I had just finished it under a week prior. Now that over three months have passed since then, I feel I can talk more about the lasting effects of completing the challenge, positive and negative. The short answer to the episode title is a resounding ‘yes', but I definitely have a more measured perspective on how and why now that some time has passed. Hope you enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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We have so many ways to connect with people. I feel like I'm always seeing people, being seen, talking to people, being talked to - yet I can so easily feel like I haven't been checking on people, or like people haven't been checking on me. I'm trying to be mindful of this and show up for my people in ways that are truly felt and really matter to the people I love. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode comes out on October 9th, which is the day before World Mental Health Day. On a visit to Meta (Instagram), I was given the opportunity to use their studios to record and film, and I thought there was no better time and place to talk about mental health: my own, our progress, my and our collective responsibility to those around us and the things I continue to learn about myself every day. Your mental health matters! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life is a lot! In adult life, there is always a task. Always. How to cope with always feeling like you should be doing something else, like you should be doing more? Realism and acceptance - I'm trying. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everyone feels insecure at some time about something. I felt a real wave of insecurity last week about something I'm never usually insecure about anymore. This was really uncomfortable to think about and to record, but it felt right to interrogate that feeling and talk about it rather than pretend it didn't happen. I'm glad I chose to. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been exactly two years since content creation became my full-time job. I've learned a lot in that time, about this industry and about myself, so it felt appropriate to reflect about how I feel about my work, two years into a job I love. These are quite unpolished and personal reflections, but I hope they're hopeful and interesting nonetheless. Have a wonderful week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anger, in my experience, is one of the most overwhelming emotions. It startles and scares me sometimes how much anger can distort, but its force isn't always a negative presence either. I wouldn't describe myself as an angry person but I do work a lot on how I deal with and process my anger when it arises. It's one of many journeys that I continue on. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giving people grace is something I'm really trying to do more of. My problem in the past has been giving too much grace and failing to protect myself in the process but I know there's a way to balance the two. Ultimately, I wouldn't be who I am were it not for the grace given to me by the people around me, and I always want to give my fellow human being a chance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ten questions for ten episodes! To celebrate the mini-milestone of reaching episode 10, I've chosen ten questions from listeners to answer in today's episode - I think I picked well, I hope you do too!NB: In the answer to question 8, I say I lived in Paris when I was 22 and graduated when I was 24 - I actually lived in Paris when I was 20 and graduated when I was 22, the pandemic years ruined my mental timeline! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For something we have to do, sleep can be really hard to come by. I decided I wanted to fix my sleeping habits years ago; it's taken a very long time to feel like I've become a good sleeper but wow, is it worth it when I have a good night. This year I've been on a crusade, a mission to clock up as many 8-hour nights as possible! I still find It difficult sometimes but a bad nights' sleep is the exception now, not the rule and I'm grateful for that. Whatever helps you sleep at night, am I right? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is for my hard-working people who never feel like they're working hard enough. I struggle to feel as though I'm as disciplined as I am, because I always feel that there's more I could be doing. Working on understanding what discipline is, applying my own definition of the idea to my life and seeing discipline as a tool rather than a punishment have been essential to me becoming a more disciplined person, for the right reasons. Hope you enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently, I've been asked a lot of questions about my positive nature. Truthfully, I don't think I have a lot of the answers myself. I know I'm a lot ore positive than I used to be, I know it's something I've consciously worked towards and it's probably a combination of many things that have worked and helped me progress. This isn't the last time I'll talk about this, I feel I only scratched the surface, but I hope this will be of some help nonetheless. Have a great week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I love reading. I LOVE reading! I lost that love a few years ago, but I'm finally back in the habit of reading and enjoying it as much as I used to. These are the reasons why, and what helped me recapture the love for one of my favourite habits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I just completed the 75 Hard - and I kept it a secret the whole time. As you can imagine, two and a half months have given me a LOT to say. Stick around to hear it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How we talk to ourselves and the things we speak over ourselves is so very important. Life is hard enough without being my own enemy! I'm trying to make sure I always talk to myself as I would a friend, because me & myself are going to be together for life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I have a lot of time to think right now, and I'm wondering if it's too much. Working through emotions is a lot. but it's honest work. It doesn't always make me happy, but it does leave me content - and sometimes, that's more important. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patience is a virtue but this is one area where I struggle to be virtuous. Waiting for my time is its own specific kind of hard work and though I'm struggling to improve, improve I slowly and surely am. I guess I just need to be patient. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A short introduction to me, and explanation to how all this started. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.