1262: A Weighty Matter of Mind Over Platter | Feedback Friday

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Jordan Harbinger Show — Episode 1262: A Weighty Matter of Mind Over Platter | Feedback Friday (December 26, 2025)

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Overview of the Episode

In this special end-of-year Feedback Friday episode, host Jordan Harbinger and producer Gabriel Mizrahi tackle a single listener question about the challenges of overeating, discipline, therapy, and self-compassion. They use this conversation as a springboard for deep reflection on personal growth, therapy, and the messy process of change. The second half of the episode is devoted to Jordan and Gabriel’s personal reflections on 2025—travel adventures, listener mail, major recurring themes, and their most hard-earned life lessons. They end with heartfelt advice about creating meaningful experiences and practicing vulnerability in the year to come.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Jordan’s Patagonia Adventure & Pushing Comfort Zones

(02:55 – 08:24)

• Jordan returns from Patagonia with the adventure group Wayfinders, describing intense activities like canyoning, paragliding (“you jump off a cliff literally with a man strapped to your back”—05:04), and mountain biking.
• He reflects on the value of leaving his comfort zone and being the least experienced in a group of ultra-athletes:
  • “That’s part of becoming better, right? Is just forcing yourself outside your comfort zone.” (06:52)
• Key Insight: Growth often requires doing things you’d never ordinarily do—with people who push you.

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2. Listener Letter: Overeating, Discipline, and Therapy

(09:18 – 24:35)

The Letter (09:18)

A listener writes about struggling with overeating and self-discipline, worrying that abandoning calorie tracking equates to failure, and questioning the pace and process of progress in therapy.

Jordan and Gabriel’s Response

• On Discipline vs. Self-Compassion

  • “Are you holding yourself up to a certain standard, or are you tearing yourself down in order to achieve this?” (10:05)
  • Discipline should be about supporting oneself, not berating.

• Jordan’s Personal Experience:

  • Shares candidly about years of calorie-counting and the mental traps of “beating yourself up” versus self-support.
  • “It's so hard to want to get better without simultaneously turning on yourself. It's not easy.” (11:08)

• Gabriel on Making Therapy Work:

  • “There’s no right way to do therapy... But I do think there are more helpful and less helpful ways.” (15:29)
  • Tips: arrive with a direction or something pressing; allow vulnerability; even confusion is useful (“Even that is a place to begin”–16:01).
  • Taking notes after sessions enhances growth and self-awareness.

• Guidance on Progress:

  • Progress in therapy isn’t linear or easily measured. “There’s no real answer... It really is a process. Everyone's process is different.” (19:36)
  • Often, simply noticing feelings and naming overwhelm is significant early progress.

• The Real Work:

  • Therapy is not about “making your problems disappear, but changing your relationship to your problems.” (21:16)

Notable Quote:
Gabriel:

“There are a handful of problems in life that will challenge you no matter what. So I love that you want to make tangible progress... But fast-forwarding through stuff to turn your problems into non-problems—sometimes that's just another manifestation of the problem itself.” (21:16)

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3. Special Offer & Therapy as Gift

(24:35 – 25:58)

• Announcing 16 three-month therapy sponsorships from BetterHelp for listeners who need help accessing therapy.
• “There’s nothing more on brand for this show than using therapy as a stocking stuffer.” —Gabriel (25:44)
• Encouragement to persist: “Keep going. ... If you do the work, if you stick with it... you’ll be amazed by what you can achieve.” (25:58)

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4. End-of-Year Reflections: Purpose, Meaning & Community

(29:00 – 61:27)

The Power of Connection

• Jordan shares a heartfelt listener review by Paula from Canada, describing the podcast as “my ride or die distraction through my journey with stage four cancer.”
  • “Not just information, but connection, community, company... and love, really.” (31:55)
• Memories of past listener Pete Donnello and the deep privilege of being part of listeners’ lives in serious moments.

On Travel, Experience, and Not Waiting

• Both hosts reflect on the power and necessity of carving out meaningful experiences now—not waiting for the mythical “later.”
• “There is no real later. There just isn’t. ... If you want to have these experiences, you have to force yourself.” (41:18)
• The best time and money spent is on experiences with people you love, no matter how small: “The who you’re with and the who you become with the whos you care about—that’s what matters.” (47:01)

The Case for (Healthy) Selfishness

• Many listeners sacrifice their own well-being for others. Advice for 2026: “Many of us could afford to be a little more selfish here and there.”
• “Sometimes we need to leave money on the table in order to get the most juice out of life.” (49:23)
• Try saying no, even if you feel guilt. “Find out if that guilt is actually a symptom of a misprioritized life.” (49:33)

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5. Gabriel’s Nomad Year & The Quest for Meaning

(53:42 – 72:44)

The Maple Syrup Metaphor

• Drawing on Ken Burns: “It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.” (53:59)
• Gabriel’s year as a traveling nomad didn’t always make sense, but provided a surplus of new, confusing, sometimes lonely experiences.

On the Messiness and Ambiguity of Life

• “Real life doesn’t always make sense... it doesn’t cohere like that. ... We also need to know when to stop looking for a story and just enjoy.” (60:39)
• Sometimes, there’s no narrative arc until much later—if ever.

Notable Quote:
Gabriel:

“The point of these experiences is not necessarily to learn anything or get anywhere, but just to enjoy.” (57:39)

A Story from Sachsenhausen (Concentration Camp)

• Gabriel describes being moved by prisoner-made cartoons in the camp’s kitchen—a moment of art and humanity amidst horror—linking to themes of resilience, injury, and baggage.

On Loneliness and Gratitude

• Japan tested Gabriel’s capacity for solitude and introspection—he came away more grateful for his relationships and the show itself, which served as a “through line.”

• “There are really...only a few things that matter...especially your relationships. ... When I couldn’t find the through line this year, this show was the through line for me.” (70:51)

• James Joyce quote:

  “Think you’re escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.” (73:00)

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6. On Vulnerability & Creating Connection

(78:07 – 80:00+)

• Jordan on sharing circles in Wayfinders:
  “Everyone stopped protecting themselves and wanting to look cool and they just got real. ... It was like everyone stopped protecting themselves and wanting to look cool and they just got real.”
• The importance of taking risks in vulnerability, creating “containers” for real conversation, and going first to help others open up.

Final Invitation:
“Share more of yourself, create the container if there isn’t one, and see what happens. It can be life changing, but sometimes you have to go first.” (80:00+)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the difference between discipline and self-criticism:
  Jordan: “Are you holding yourself up to a certain standard, or tearing yourself down in order to achieve this?” (10:05)

• On progress in therapy:
  Gabriel: “Progress isn’t linear. Sometimes you have to feel worse before you feel better.” (20:10)

• On why we travel and create experiences:
  Jordan: “There’s no such thing as too many experiences or too much close friend time. ... You can never get enough of those.” (43:35)

• On learned loneliness in Japan:
  Gabriel: “I experienced a kind of loneliness in Japan that I don't think I've ever experienced before. ... You need other people, you need their presence, you need other minds to really function at your best.” (70:51)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Jordan’s Patagonia recap: 02:55 – 08:24
• Listener question: 09:18
• Deep dive on overeating, discipline, therapy: 10:05 – 24:35
• Special offer for therapy through Better Help: 24:35 – 25:58
• Heartfelt listener review and show’s deeper meaning: 29:52 – 32:57
• On the importance of now, not later: 41:18 – 44:42
• Selfishness and life priorities: 48:05 – 51:00
• Gabriel’s nomad year reflection: 53:42 – 61:27
• Story from Sachsenhausen: 63:03 – 65:58
• Lessons on vulnerability: 78:07 – 80:00

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Conclusion & Takeaways

Central lessons:

• Change and healing are non-linear, ambiguous, and require patience and self-compassion.
• Discipline should be about supporting—never berating—yourself.
• There is never a perfect “later” for creating meaningful memories; prioritizing relationships and experiences now is essential.
• Vulnerability and authentic connection—even if it means going first—can transform relationships and the experience of life’s challenges.

Episode Tone:
Warm, honest, candid, and often humorous, with plenty of personal storytelling and encouragement for listeners to “be a human being.”

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For more, listen to key segments above or visit jordanharbinger.com for show notes and transcripts.

Transcript

[Jordan Harbinger]

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[Gabriel Mizrahi]

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[Jordan Harbinger]

Welcome to Feedback Friday. I'm your host Jordan Harbinger. As always, I'm here with Feedback Friday producer the wise man standing with me in this manger of life drama, helping me make some frankincense of these conundra so you don't murder your family this holiday season because you know his advice is going to be gold. Gabriel Mizrahi.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Nicely done. I am a big fan of that one.

[Jordan Harbinger]

On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories, secrets and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. Our mission is to help you become a better informed More critical thinker. During the week we have long form conversations with a variety of amazing folks. Organized crime figures, drug traffickers, cold case homicide investigators, hostage negotiators. This week we had John Young on Quantum computing in Q Day, which is when quantum computing can essentially break all existing encryption in a matter of minutes or hours, throwing our entire society into chaos. We also did a skeptical Sunday last Sunday on Vaping. And these seemed like the right episodes to air after Christmas. Super relevant. Hey, at least we're not talking about dicks or onlyfans. That doesn't mean we won't do it again. I'm just. We're just not doing it this holiday season by accident, really. On Fridays though, we share stories, take listener letters, play obnoxious soundbites, and. And enjoy these chestnuts roasting on an open dumpster fire.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You're killing it today with the puns and the nicknames. Well done. So you just got back from Patagonia?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I did. I just got back. I went with Wayfinders. This is a group I've talked about on the show before. It's essentially a business owner adventure travel group.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That's code for group orgy for two weeks. Yeah, it's a bunch of very like minded business owners, if you know what I mean.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Friendly. There may be a cuddle puddle here and there with some folks. There's some talk about your feelings. That definitely is a part of it, but there's more. Paraglass hiking, white water rafting, horseback riding.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Is that what you guys call it these days?

[Jordan Harbinger]

That's what I call it these days.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You guys. Bareback or side saddle?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yes, side saddle. We flew in. I don't even know what that means. I'm afraid to say that, because that could be anything. We flew on small planes, boats, small bush planes landing on soccer fields. And it was just like biting my tongue. Yes, it was just one of those, like something you'd see in a movie where you're like, I'm getting on that thing, this like rusty plane. And then you fly really low, thinking you're gonna hit the mountain on the either side of the valley. You're in the middle of nowhere. And suddenly he's like, all right, we're gonna land. And you realize that you are landing on a soccer field where the people below you have just chased the goats and, or cows or horses off of this thing.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Dude, you sent me a video of the plane landing and I was like, what scene from Narcos is this? This is me in Patagonia right now.

[Jordan Harbinger]

And then you go to a lodge that has solar panels on the roof and Starlink Internet, that's, like, faster than my home connection half the time.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

And.

[Jordan Harbinger]

And, yeah, it was actually quite amazing. Obviously, we spent no time online or anything like that. This is just really in the middle of nowhere. Patagonia Canyoning, which is essentially hiking up a river, in the water, over the rocks, upstream. I don't know, it's. Yeah, it's crazy.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Wait, so sorry, I feel really ignorant. Patagonia is off the coast of South America, right?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Well, it's in South America.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It's an island, isn't it?

[Jordan Harbinger]

No, no, it's a huge region of the Andes Mountains. Oh.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It's a piece of land. Okay, I know nothing so ignorant about this, so in case anyone else doesn't understand, can you explain? All I know is that's supposed to be really beautiful.

[Jordan Harbinger]

It is. Yeah. It's Chile and Argentina. The mountains and the valleys there.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Am I thinking of Easter Island? Is that off the coast of Chile?

[Jordan Harbinger]

I have no idea where that is.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Okay, so it's a. It's a region.

[Jordan Harbinger]

It is a region. Yeah. And we went mountain biking and rafting and pack rafting and whitewater rafting and paragliding. Supposedly the best spot in the world for paragliding, which, if you don't know, it's not parasailing. There's no boat. You jump off of a cliff, literally, with a man strapped to your back, and you rip the parachute, and then the parachute's already out, thank God.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

These still sound like sex metaphors, but go on.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, it sure does. The parachute's already out. And then you ride these thermal currents and you just fly around. It's actually insane. And I can't believe I did it. And, yeah, horseback riding. It's gorgeous. Patagonia is gorgeous. It's unspoiled. There's almost no tourists there, at least for us, because it was the beginning of the season. Also, we were kind of off the tourist pack. There's a couple of trails that, like, everyone does, and we were just nowhere near any of that stuff. Crazy beautiful views. And with wayfinders, you drop your shield, you talk about what's important to you. You ask big questions. I can talk about that a little later. But I'm also going to Egypt and Saudi Arabia next year with the same group, and so I'm looking forward to that, too.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

So cool. Sounds gorgeous.

[Jordan Harbinger]

It's stuff I would never plan on own. I'm never going to plan a trip like this. Usually my version of camping or Roughing it is like being barefoot in a four star hotel. That's usually about the limit for me. I don't paraglide, horseback ride, canyon, whitewater. I love white water rafting, but still I don't do this stuff.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Was it super fun the whole time or were there times when you're like, ugh, this is really. This sucks. This is hard.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Mountain biking was brutal because it's a trail where they were like, oh, this is really tough. And I'm like, I've never done this and it's really hard and it was muddy and there was roots and rocks everywhere and like piles and piles of horse crap all over the trail and you're like spinning your wheels, trying to get through and it's like going everywhere and you're like, this blows.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

How much further is this type 2 fun?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, that was it. But other than that it was great. I don't have a problem roughing it a little bit. But you're not in a tent, right? I wasn't camping in Patagonia. I was in like lodges that are just in the middle of absolutely nowhere that are usually attached to a farm or something. And I would never do it on my own. But that's part of becoming better, right? Is just forcing yourself outside your comfort zone. And often when I'm in a group, I'll be like the guy who's in good shape in that group. This is not the case with this group. There's all these endurance athletes and stuff, professional adventure racers that run like 90 mile ultra marathons in the desert and stuff. So I'm like the guy who's like, hey, we're growing up that thing. And they're like, relax. So it's cool being at the bottom of that and not knowing what you're in for. They don't tell you the itinerary. You can't really opt out of stuff unless it's going to be unsafe. Then they'll give you a little heads up. It's a surprise.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Oh, that adds a whole layer of anticipation to everything.

[Jordan Harbinger]

So I'm going to Egypt and Saudi Arabia and all I know is we're going to be in the desert, big shock. And I think we're going to live with Bedouins for a couple of weeks in yurts, I guess. I don't know.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

So every day is a surprise. You're just every day on your toes.

[Jordan Harbinger]

So they tell you what to pack and they give you a list of stuff that you definitely need. Like they'll say you definitely need to Bring sunscreen, a bug net, stuff like that. And you're like, okay. And then it's like, optional water shoes. You're like, all right, that's it.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Optional condoms.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. Well, certainly mandatory for some people. Anyway, so I'm looking forward to the Egypt and Saudi trip. Could be anything, but it's one of the only times in the year where I get to just relax and go, I don't know what's next. I'm just here, I'm going along for the ride, and I like that.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah, nice.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Gabe, you're back from Japan.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I am. By the way, if I went on this Patagonia trip, I think the biggest surprise would be finding out that it's not an island.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I don't remember landing on the island. Yeah.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yes. I'm back from Japan. Finally.

[Jordan Harbinger]

How's the jet lag?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Brutal, bro. I'm up all night. I'm sleeping till 11.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Are you going to tell us about Japan at all?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Maybe in the back half of the show. I know we're going to do a little end of year kickback. I'll tell you some stuff then.

[Jordan Harbinger]

All right, sounds good. Oh, we've got just the one doozy today. We're doing something different on this end of year episode. Good point, Gabe. Thanks for reminding me. I'll be taking just the one question, and then after that, Gabe and I are going to be reflecting on 2025, talking about some of our favorite letters and themes from this year, our travels, what we're taking into next year, stuff like that. So I just wanted to give you all a heads up. So if you listen to the first question, it's all downhill from there. So if you just came for the questions, don't be surprised when there's only one. All right, Gabe, what is the first and only thing out of the mailbag?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Hey, Jordan and Gabe. I struggle with overeating, and sometimes my main struggle is really the fact that I feel as though I lack discipline. It's bothering me that perhaps I've only decided to give up tracking calories because I lack discipline and was unable to follow through. I've also started therapy recently. I think the only change I've been feeling is really just noticing my feelings and being slightly more aware of when I'm becoming too overwhelmed. But I don't feel like my problems have completely disappeared. How do you balance discipline with not beating yourself up? How should I get the most out of each counseling session? And how fast is progress supposed to look? Signed. Looking for a guide on how to make strides As I start to confide, but hopefully on a timeline that's specified.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Okay, fair questions all around. So, first of all, I'm sorry you're struggling with overeating. I know that's a tough challenge, addiction, and I can hear that the thoughts and feelings around it are difficult, including this whole discipline thing. I'm very glad to hear you've begun therapy, though. I think that's great. I hope that's a helpful space for you to work on this and everything around it. Food stuff, any stuff really, is connected to a number of other things, as we often talk about in an addiction, even a relatively mild one. It's never the real problem. It's your solution to the other problems. And therapy is definitely the place to go and explore all that. So good on you for that. So what is that balance between discipline and. And beating yourself up? Is there even a difference? It's a good question. And for me, I feel like the difference is, are you holding yourself up to a certain standard or are you tearing yourself down in order to achieve this? And look, by the way, I say this as the damn near undefeated national regional, whatever, champion of beating yourself up. If there were an Olympics for this, I would at least take a bronze.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I would take silver.

[Jordan Harbinger]

So it's so hard to want to get better without simultaneously turning on yourself. It's not easy. So, in other words, are you going, okay, I need to take better care of myself. I need to not use food in this way. So I'm going to track my calories because that's my system for keeping an eye on things. Or are you saying, oh, you have to track your calories because you're out of control and you can't be trusted and you never stick with anything or however your internal monologue might go, which I imagine only creates more difficult feelings. And again, that only makes overeating more appealing. I counted calories for years. I still do, actually. It depends. I weigh my food. I did that for years. I had to do it because I was serious about losing weight, which, looking back, I wrestled with that for a while. Not that I couldn't lose weight. I just wasn't serious in putting a system in place. I was like, I'm going to work out and it's okay. Well, you can't outwork your appetite, and you have to count your food. You have to get an app that says how much you're supposed to be eating based on your weight and what you're eating. That's the only time that any sort of real change Actually happened and lasted for me. I think I talked about this on the show. I dieted for like 10 months. It wasn't miserable at all. I just had to actually do it. And listen, I know how complicated this can get. Some days you're like, man, I'm so proud of myself. I'm on top of things, I'm seeing results. And some days you can't be trusted. You need a tedious system to make this work. What is wrong with you? So you have to be very aware about which spirit you approach this in. And I say that knowing that a lot of the time that inner voice is not totally under our control, but what we do have control over is how much we listen to it, how much stock we put in it. Also which other voices we tune into. Like this more helpful voice, this more inspiring one that's telling you to rise to the level of your standards, not berate yourself for falling short of them. Look for some people that can have some short term utility. I think it probably keeps you in check. But that is not sustainable. It's usually not healthy. And more often than not it just reinforces the underlying problem. Holding yourself to a higher standard, creating systems and habits around your goals so you don't fall off. Being passionate about taking care of yourself rather than afraid that you won't. That is sustainable, that is kinder to yourself. That's going to get you way further. I do want to be clear though. This is an important caveat when it comes to food specifically. This is just a really complicated topic for most people. I think counting calories in order to lose weight, it's different from sticking with a workout routine. It's different from becoming more productive at work or trying to watch less TV food stuff. Weight, body struggles. It's all so personal. It's very sensitive. And I'm fully aware that me going, hey, hold yourself to a higher standard by counting calories. Don't beat yourself up. Okay, first of all, way easier said than done. And second, encouraging you to count calories, even in a quote unquote good spirit, I do understand that could contribute to an unhealthy relationship with weight loss. It could also end up reinforcing certain anxieties or conflicts you have around this stuff. That is absolutely not my intention. When I started weighing my food, I did it because I literally had no idea how many calories were in portions of food. It wasn't like an orthorexic thing. It was a more of a bodybuilder fitness thing. And you got to kind of Figure out what this is for you. I'm not making light of this, but I've heard people who, they weigh their poop in the morning and stuff, and they count everything they eat, and it's like, very unhealthy. They're doing it because it gives them a sense of control. For me, it was just literally about losing weight and putting it into an app. I didn't have this sort of ecosystem of complexes around it. So if you think you might obviously do this in combo with your doctor or your therapist. So the best advice I can give you here, really, is to keep working with that therapist on getting to the root of your relationship with food. Trace that back, Try to figure out what role it plays in your life. What about the relationship makes it difficult? And really talk with them about what tracking calories or not tracking calories brings up for you, what thoughts and feelings come up when you feel the need to track them, and when you feel that you lack the discipline to track them, and what discipline actually means to you, what beating yourself up looks like, where that tendency comes from, other ways you can meet yourself in this goal. I think all of that is ultimately going to be much more helpful than trying intellectually to figure out the difference between discipline and beating yourself up. It is a good question, also a.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Good question, how to make the most out of each session with your therapist or really any kind of meeting. So I don't think there is a right way to do therapy. I think that's actually one of the beauties of therapy, especially when you're working with a good clinician. You can show up to a session in a variety of ways. You can show up one day you're super on point, the next day you're a little messy, or you show up clear one day, and then another day you're confused or you're energized or you're tired or whatever. And this person should be able to meet you where you are and help you find the most useful thing to be talking about that day. But that said, I do think there are more helpful and less helpful ways to meet your therapist in general. And there are some things you can do to maybe maximize your time together. For example, I'm a big fan of coming into session with one or two things to talk about, even one thing, and just taking a few minutes during the week or the day of your session to sit with yourself, get quiet, notice what feels most important or pressing to you or what you know you should talk about, but you don't really want to talk about and then come into the session with just a little bit of direction, at least a place to start. Now, if you go into session not knowing what's most important or not even knowing how you're feeling, that's okay. And again, I think that actually can be useful too. But even that is a place to begin. If you go in there and you say, I don't really know how I'm feeling today, I'm confused about what's worth talking about, or I'm feeling disconnected, or I'm feeling overwhelmed, whatever it is, that can be really good information. Another way to get the most out of your session, Share as much as possible with your therapist. Go to the tough parts, the scary parts, the icky parts. Now, if you're still developing trust with your therapist, of course that takes time. But a therapist can only really help you with what you bring to them or what they help bring out of you. They can't read your mind, although the good ones, I think sometimes it feels like they can a little bit. Right? Because they can read between the lines, or they can, and they should pick up on things like affect and subtext and what goes unsaid. So the sooner you get to the good stuff, so to speak, the faster you'll probably make progress, as opposed to.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Avoiding stuff or tap dancing around it.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

As opposed to tap dancing around it or defending yourself too much. Now, here's another interesting thing. Encountering your defenses in therapy, and just the general concept of resistance in therapy is also part of the therapeutic process. So even that can be very useful, again, especially if you're working with a good clinician who's very interested in that kind of stuff. So it's not entirely your job to be completely on top of all the ways you might be protecting yourself in therapy. And in fact, most of the time, you won't know because a lot of the time it's unconscious. But you can notice when something is hard to talk about or when you might be holding back, or when you want to come across a certain way with your therapist.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Like, you want to look good.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah. If you want to come across as, you know, in control or morally upstanding or low maintenance, that's a common one, or whatever it is. And you can say, okay, so this is something I don't really want to go near, or I'm noticing myself, myself not wanting to look bad in front of you in this moment, or I don't want to let you in on this part of my life just yet. And then you guys can Talk about that.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Sometimes just talking about that resistance, that is the most important thing to be discussing.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yes. And it's also an important part of your relationship with your therapist. And the relationship is almost everything. But if you're able to call that out sooner again, you will probably move a little faster.

[Jordan Harbinger]

You ever take notes in your sessions, Gabe?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I don't, but I know some people who do. I take notes afterward, though.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. Either way, I feel like that could be helpful.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I think so. I'm a big fan of taking notes because oftentimes the details of a session can fade after a few days. Like, you're left with maybe a feeling or an impression, but you can't remember exactly what you discussed. I have a little, like, therapy journal. It's just a file on my computer, and I'll jot down some notes after every session. If I have time and I'm feeling inspired, sometimes I'll write a little journal entry, kind of expanding on what came up in session or connecting it to some other ideas. And I find that very helpful, too. But whatever version of this you do, it is a helpful way to build on what you learn in session. And then you also have something to refer back to from time to time, which I also find very useful.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I can see that. Making it easier to track the arc of therapy, see the themes and all that.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

And sometimes you read an entry from six months ago or a year ago, and you go, oh, wow, look how far I've come. Or, oh, that's something I'm still struggling with. I need to keep an eye on that. I'm still working through that one, but it's nice to look back.

[Jordan Harbinger]

As for your last question, how fast is progress supposed to look? Gabe? Tell me if you agree, but I feel like there's no real answer to.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That, not in my experience.

[Jordan Harbinger]

If you're going to therapy for nine months or a year and you don't see any meaningful changes whatsoever, that's a sign something needs to change. Either you need to ask your therapist why you're not feeling any progress, or you need to find a new therapist or try a new modality. But I don't think there's any one timeline here. It's not like progress should happen by month four, or you're doing something wrong. No, therapy doesn't work like that. It really is a process. And everyone's process is different.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Everyone's process is different. And also progress isn't linear. Sometimes you do have to feel worse before you feel better, especially if you're getting into Difficult stuff that you haven't dealt with before, or you go through periods of confusion on your way to, oh, aha, now I understand this is a key insight.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Or you spend weeks or even months talking about something and then one day you actually do something about it, or you get a win, or something shifts and you go, oh, wow, I am changing. Even if it felt like you were swimming in circles for a while, and.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That might be especially true for our friend here, because like you said, Jordan, food is a very complex topic. And this is her first time in therapy, it sounds like. So this could take a little time.

[Jordan Harbinger]

She said that the only change she's been feeling is just noticing her feelings, being slightly more aware of when she's becoming too overwhelmed.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

But she doesn't feel like her problems have completely disappeared.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Which is interesting, I would say for a lot of us. Just noticing your feelings, understanding when you're overwhelmed, being able to name it even that could just be a huge step forward. And that sort of foundational work. Until you can feel this stuff, it's hard to actually work on it.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It's also important to remember that therapy is not about making your problems disappear.

[Jordan Harbinger]

That's a good point.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It's much more about changing your relationship with your problems, giving you new tools, new insights to meet your problems in new ways, and also helping you make new meaning out of them and coping with and working through the feelings that those problems stir up in you. Yeah, in a lot of areas. Hopefully that will resolve your problems, which is wonderful when that happens. But we all know that there are some problems in life that can't be solved that do not go away completely. And there are people and situations and goals like the one that you're in now that will continue to challenge you no matter what. So I love that you want to make tangible progress. I love that you're trying to figure out how to move as quickly as possible. You're clearly passionate about growing and I love that. But if there's a layer to that passion that is also about maybe fast forwarding through stuff, trying to turn your problems into non problems as soon as possible so you can just get past them and be done with therapy. Or who knows, maybe even have a reason to call it quits with therapy because, you know, like it's been six months and I still have problems, then that is something to keep an eye on.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. And something I would actually share with your therapist because again, that could be a great thing for you guys to talk about. How you guys define progress, why it's so important to hit certain milestones on a certain timeline. All that. I feel like there's just a lot to unpack just in that idea alone.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I agree. I'm just realizing I can't quite put my finger on this. Maybe you can help me, Jordan. But wanting her problems to go away and worrying about making progress on a certain timeline, that is especially interesting in the context of her struggle with food and counting calories.

[Jordan Harbinger]

You mean, like, is overeating also a way to make her problems go away?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Oh, I hadn't thought about it like that, but sure, yes. That could be one connection. Absolutely. I was more thinking about this idea of discipline, sticking with this calorie counting thing, beating herself up when she falls off. One way to understand this goal is as a relationship or a nexus of relationships. Obviously the relationship with herself, which is her present self, her future self, but also, I'm sure, her past self, and also her relationship with food in general and what this system that she has developed for managing her intake brings up for her, which I agree can be very complicated, very fraught for someone who struggles with food. And I don't want to gloss over that either. But all of that entails a relationship that, if it's going to be successful, needs to be consistent, needs to be supportive and supported, and needs to be big enough and sturdy enough to contain all of her feelings around this area of her life. Right. Her passion for taking care of herself and what I imagine can be frustration, disappointment, shame. This tendency to beat herself up. And that relationship, I think, mirrors the relationship you hopefully develop in therapy, which also needs to be big enough to contain other difficult feelings, like being angry at your therapist or being embarrassed or being demoralized or confused or whatever it is. So you're asking, how can I stay disciplined? And that is a good question. There is an element of discipline to any goal. But I wonder if what you're really asking is, how can I stay connected, connected to myself when this gets hard, when I don't see results immediately, which.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Is so much of the work in therapy.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah. To build up those aspects of self necessary to sustain commitment and excitement and interest. I have a feeling that will get you a lot further than looking for ways to keep yourself in line and definitely further than beating yourself up.

[Jordan Harbinger]

On that note, I'm happy to share an opportunity with y'. All. Little Christmas gift from us to you. So, our friends at Better Help have generously offered three months of free therapy to 16 people. So, I know that's a random number, but if you've Been wanting to give therapy a try, but money's been tight. Or you've been looking for the right moment. Here is your chance. You hear me talk about betterhelp all the time. I won't do the whole pitch, but it's awesome. It's all remote. You pick your therapist. You can do it from anywhere in the world. It's a fantastic opportunity. So the way it's going to work is this. If you want to jump on the offer, Write [e-mail], mention the offer. We have to do this on a first come, first serve basis. We can't be deciding who gets it based on need or your amazing storytelling abilities or anything like that. It's really just about who gets there first. I highly suspect these are going to go super quickly, so write us ASAP. Hopefully you can be one of the 16. And if we run out of vouchers, please don't be mad at us. I would give away 100 if I could. And don't despair. It's not personal. It's a timing thing. I'm almost sure there will be more opportunities like this in the future. I'm happy to partner with better help on this. Big thanks to them for their generosity and sponsorship. And Happy holidays. Famous.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

There's nothing more on brand for this show than using therapy as a stocking stuffer.

[Jordan Harbinger]

No, it's a brain stuffer. That's right. Truly, people can't get mad at us for telling people to go to therapy if we are literally giving it away for free now.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Your point?

[Jordan Harbinger]

And to our friend who wrote in Keep going. Keep looking for the insights and habits and people you need to stay connected to your goal in a healthy way. And I promise, if you do the work, if you stick with it, if you don't cling to the idea of hitting certain magical milestones on a certain timeline, you'll be amazed by what you can achieve. Sending you a big hug and wishing you all the best. You know what you can gorge yourself on guilt free, the lip smacking, good deals and discounts on the nutrient dense products and services that support this show. We'll be right back. This episode is sponsored in part by Momentous. One of the most important supplements I take every day is creatine. I wish I'd started sooner. I used to think creatine was just for people trying to get swole. But the benefits go way beyond the gym. Yes, it helps with strength and recovery, but it also supports focus, aging, cognitive performance. Basically, it's one of those fundamentals everyone can benefit from. And now Momentous has made it ridiculously easy to stay consistent with their new creatine chews. These little lemon lime chews give you exactly one gram of creapure creatine monohydrate. That's the gold standard single source from Germany, NSF certified for sport, which means it's independently tested for purity, safety, label, accuracy. This is the stuff that is trusted by Olympic athletes, pro teams, elite military operators. Momentous spent years perfecting these chews to meet the Momentous standard. Uncompromising science, meticulous sourcing, real transparency. There are no artificial sweeteners. There's no fillers. Just clean, clinically proven performance in a portable format that you'll actually want to take. So whether you're training, working, traveling, or just trying to keep your brain firing on all cylinders, this is performance without pause, supporting your body and your brain every single day.

[Sponsor Representative]

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[Jordan Harbinger]

This episode is also sponsored by Mint Mobile. Don't let big wireless and your ridiculous phone bill suck the joy out of the holidays this year. Mint Mobile is basically out here playing Santa because right now all of their unlimited plans are 50% off. You can lock in 3, 6, 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for 15 bucks a month. 15 bucks. That is their best deal of the year. It makes it really easy to give your overpriced wireless build the Scrooge treatment. I've tried Mint Mobile. The service is great. Mint Mobile uses the same 5G network as my old provider, but at a quarter of what it used to cost. And all Mint plans come with high speed data, unlimited talk and text and coverage on the nation's largest 5G network. The thing I love most is just how much money you save without sacrificing anything really. You keep your same phone, same number, same service quality. 15 bucks for unlimited wireless. Hard to beat.

[Sponsor Representative]

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[Jordan Harbinger]

See mintmobile.com thank you for listening to and supporting the show. Your support of our advertisers keeps Gabe's crippling matcha addiction in check. Actually, not in check, the opposite. It funds his crippling matcha addiction. To learn more and get links to the discounts you hear on the show, visit jordanharbinger.com deals Please consider supporting those who support the show. Now back to Feedback Friday. All right, no more questions. Just our fancy pants end of year message. End of year monologue monologuish dialogue where we take a step back and we look at this year in dues. We talk about some of the interesting themes that popped up this year. You know, just pause and take stock of what we learned, what we want to focus on as we enter the new year. Not gonna lie, Gabe. I always feel overwhelmed when it comes to this episode because how do we do all the stories that we hear, even a remote sense of justice? How do we sum up the year we just had?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It is a tall order. I know. I feel you.

[Jordan Harbinger]

It really is. But. Okay, let me start by sharing something that really moved me. It's a review we got last month from a listener and it went like this. We get a lot of reviews and a lot of them are moving, but this one just stuck out. In all of the podcasts I've explored over the years, the Jordan Harbinger show is high above the rest. With his outstanding gift to bring the best out of his guests, Jordan weaves together intellect, storytelling, adventure and excitement. I learned something new and interesting in every single show. Jordan, Gabe, and their guests have been my ride or die distraction through my journey with stage four cancer. At 39 years old with a one month old in moments of fear, the rich content kept me distracted in the best way possible. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen in advance. You're welcome. That was from Paula from Canada and I wanted to share that, by the way, not just to gas myself up. I promise you that was a very fortunate side effect. I'm proud of this show, but really I wanted to share it because it was one of those reviews that make me stop what I'm doing, lean back in my chair and just go like woo. Okay. These are things that our listeners are going through. These are things I might go through one day or people I love will go through one day, who knows? And these are the experiences that we meet people in and that is extremely meaningful to me and Very clarifying in terms of what the purpose of this show is because, yeah, the intellect, the wisdom, the adventure, the excitement this listener talked about. I mean, I love getting that out of our guests. I love bringing that stuff to you. That is obviously what the show is about in the obvious sense of the term. But when a listener says, you've been my ride or die through stage four cancer, you keep me company while I'm fighting for my life and I have a one month old baby, you distract me when I'm scared. I mean, that's just a moment where I go like, okay, that's what this show is really about for me. Not just information, but connection, community, company. I'm going to go all wayfinders on you. Love, really. And there are just no words to express how much that means to me to receive a message like that and to have an opportunity to really remember why I do this.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Bruh. Well said, man. Yeah, I agree.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Bruh, indeed. I don't talk about the show in these terms very often because frankly, who wants to sound like a sanctimonious self important turd all the time? But this end of year episode, this is my excuse to be a little sentimental. So there it is. So thank you, Paula, for listening, for meeting this challenge with what sounds like a ton of strength and a ton of vulnerability, for spending so much time with us while you go through treatment. We're honored to be there with you or at least take your mind off things for a little while. You know what this reminds me of? Gabriel. Remember the guy who wrote in and was like, I have X months to live. This is maybe a couple years ago.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Our boy Pete Donnello. I was thinking about him while you were reading that review. It's so funny you said that. Yes, he's been on my mind.

[Jordan Harbinger]

And then we just wrote to him and he's like, oh, this is gonna be my last letter. And we're like, okay. And then that was just kind of it. Paula and Pete, when somebody spends their time with you when they don't have that much left, or maybe don't have that much left, that is. Oof. Man, it's goosebumps and chills all the way down.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Very touching.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Thank you to everyone else who's listening right now for being part of our show. Fam. For sharing your responses and your criticisms and your questions with us. For. And I know I say this every year, but I really do mean it for being the best damn show fans a podcaster could ask for. With the amount of email I get I can't always communicate that properly throughout the year. But from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I love y'. All. And this show really only exists because of you and the sponsors and the fact that you use our sponsor codes. So really it is you at the end of the day, bro.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Well said. That was really lovely. Thank you for sharing that. Who is cutting onions in here? Is my question.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Not me. Definitely not tearing up thinking about Apple reviews. All that said, if you'll indulge me for just a few more minutes, I want to share a couple of things that I've been turning over as we close out the year. On my flight back from Patagonia, I was sitting on the plane thinking about what a gift it is to travel anywhere. Low key, exotic, near, far old, new, cheap, fancy, easy, hard. Even when some piece of garbage leaves his window open on a nighttime flight.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Just so everyone understands what Jordan is talking about, I sent him a photo from the plane back from Japan because one of our shared pet peeves is people who open the window in the middle of the flight and just let like sunlight flood into the cabin because they want to have a little look, see out the window. Oh, it drives me crazy, dude. This guy. I'm sorry to interrupt you, Jordan. I know you're on a roll, but we have to talk about. This is a big theme from this year for me, this guy. On my plane back from Tokyo, they make an announcement. The flight attendant at the beginning of the flight says, once we're done with meal service, please close your windows. Because we're going to be crossing that line, whatever that line is called, where we meet the sun again and it's just going to be sunny the whole time. So people are going to want to sleep. Please close your windows. Everybody does it. It's dark in the cabin for hours. And then in the middle of the flight, I wake up from a nap and there's just bright sunlight stabbing through the window and there's a guy looking out the window. I'm like, are you fucking kidding me right now? And then I'm like sitting there, like, do I get up and say something? But then I'm that guy and it's awkward and how is he going to respond? This is the constant conundrum, as you know, calling a holes out in public. Do I do it? Do I not? And then I look over and I'm like, he better be enjoying it because his head is against the wall and he's asleep and he didn't close the window.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Just a total ignorant Thoughtless dickhead.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I was like, you're not even going to be enjoying it. You just opened it to take a nap. I was furious. And so a flight attendant passed by, and I said, hey, would you mind closing that window? And she goes, I can't do that. I was like, what do you mean? She's like, we're not allowed to wake up the passengers or touch them. And he's in the way of the window, so everyone in the area is looking back at him.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Like, hundreds of people have to deal with this because you have this dumb policy.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Everyone's looking at him. I looked back and a woman was, like, stirring. She had her head on her husband's shoulder, and she woke up like, what the. And so we all had to deal with it for the rest of the flight. It was like two hours more. So annoying. Anyway, I sent Jordan a photo of that, and he wrote me back in all caps. I can't with these people.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I can't. I've definitely closed people's windows. I've gone to ask them if they can close it.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You've gotten up and closed their windows?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Oh, dude. This is something that I'm not proud of. Doing this particular thing. I haven't gone up in front of them, looked them dead in the eye and be like, now. I haven't done that. If they're awake, I'll be like, can you close that, please? There's a few people trying to sleep. There's some old ladies, and they're having trouble sleeping. And unless they are a complete scumbag, they will almost certainly do it. I've also seen people who are asleep, and I'll lean over and close it and then just, like, quickly scurry away, hoping they don't notice. And maybe they haven't. I don't care if they have. There was one time, though, I was flying back from, like, China. This is, like, 2013. I was flying, like, the economy, whatever, like, packed in back from China. And this guy. This is an American airline, and we're flying back to the States. And this guy opens his window, and it's the middle of the night, and I shut it because it's one of those windows that's, like, between his seat and mine. So I'm like, is it yours or is it mine? So I'm like, all right, that's kind of mine. I'm shutting it. And he opened it again right away, and I was like, oh, if you need light, there's a light above you. And I shut it, and he opened it. Again. And I walked in front of him because he was in like the. Before the galley. And I go, there's a light right here. Please keep the window shut. And he, like, ignored me. And I went back and shut it. And he opened it again. And I was like, okay, that's fine. And I heard him like, smugly saying. I didn't understand Chinese much at the time, but I heard him smugly being like, screw you, pal. So when I got to immigration, I said the guy who was sitting in front of me talked about having a bunch of meat in his luggage.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

No, you did. Oh, you petty labelle. You threw this guy under the immigration bus.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. And they were like, who? Who is it? And I was like, oh, it's this one of these guys. And I found him and I was like, yeah, that's the guy. Low key. I don't want anything to do with it. They took him into a separate room and they absolutely tore all of his shit apart. I know it because he. I waited for a long time, but waited. Got my bags hit. Dude did not leave the room. And his friends are like, where is he? And I was like, yeah, that's right. You sit here all afternoon.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

How's that sunlight feel now, buddy? Oh, my.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Here's the thing. I hope he had meat in his bag. And they were like, up $5,000 fine. Screw you, pal. Keep that window shut. I will find a way to hurt you.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

This is one of my favorite stories I've heard from you about this as.

[Jordan Harbinger]

An adult, as male now.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Not that this wasn't 12 years ago, but more mature. Man, I am not proud of that. I think it was petty, unnecessary. Yes. That guy was a jerk. Maybe I could have handled it a different way. Do I regret doing it? 50, 50. Like it wasn't a good thing to do and the climate was different. It's not like he's going to get arrested. He's going to get his stuff confiscated, thrown away, maybe get a fine if he had anything or just mildly inconvenienced. Honestly. Now I'm like, dude's gonna get deported or something. And like, I don't know, ICE agents are gonna kick down his door. I don't wanna deal with that. I don't want that guilt on my shoulders. But back then I was just kind of like, you're just willing to be that prick who keeps everyone awake because you don't care and you think it's funny. Okay, how about you get a five hour interrogation from customs when you come in?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I am experiencing a New emotion. I think it's secondhand catharsis. Yeah, whatever. The nice version of Schadenfreude is where I feel, like, satisfaction, but at a distance by proxy. That's how I feel with the story.

[Jordan Harbinger]

You know those videos you see on Reddit where somebody's like, being a jerk? Like, they have a speaker in public at a subway station and everyone's like, turn that off. And they're like, make me. And then someone's like, okay. Smashes the thing on the ground and is, what are you gonna do about it? Cause they're like 6 foot 9 and the guy's like, sorry. That's the feeling that I want everyone to have. I didn't just do that to be a petty a hole. I did this for everybody who's ever had somebody open that window in a nighttime flight. So you don't have to do that.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You Somehow did it 12 years in advance for the flight I just took. Because I'm still angry about this and it's over, which is petty on my part.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I know. Well, obviously I'm fired up about this guy and I'm like, do I admit this on the podcast? Because it does make me sound like such a total a hole.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I love that you did.

[Jordan Harbinger]

And again, I would never do that now. I feel like the stakes are too high now and there's better ways to handle it. But back then I was just like, oh, I'm going to win this one, dude.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You've encouraged me. I feel like the next time this happens, I'm going to at least go over and politely say something.

[Jordan Harbinger]

You should say something. I bet you a lot of these people would go, oh, gosh, I'm sorry, and just shut it.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

But it annoys me that people don't understand this on their own. How do you do that when you are the only person on the plane doing it and it's bright as hell and they made an announcement and then you fall asleep? There's something wrong with you, sir.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I agree. These people are thoughtless and their emotional intelligence is like single digits on a triple digit scale. Anybody who says any who should be also punched directly in the face.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I'll call you out next time. But I think you were talking about how on the flight back from Patagonia, you were sitting there and just thinking about what a gift it is.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yes, that's right. Especially these days when everything just feels so all consuming and mechanized and so fixed. We really do need to step outside of the matrix and have experiences that aren't about producing More or making more money or getting somewhere or even learning anything. Just stuff that's just about enjoying and remembering that we are, at the end of the day, human beings, not just human doings. And I can tell you, for me, I forget that all the time when you spend months on end working your butt off. You're a spouse, you're a parent, you're raising kids, you're taking your own parents to their doctor's appointments, you're going to parent teacher conferences and yada, yada, yada, the list goes on and on. The 10,000 things that make up your life. For me, it can be hard to remember, like, oh yeah, I'm also a person. I'm a person who is here to experience life, do it. And that's what travel is for me. Gabe, I know it's the same for you. Although it's kind of your new normal now. I'm very envious of that. It's a chance to step outside those roles and those duties, which just to be clear, those roles and duties, they are a joy for me. They're a privilege. I love my life. I'm so grateful to have these responsibilities, the show, the kids, the family, everything. But yeah, it's a lot sometimes and taking a trip is just really, it's a chance to step outside all that and come back to Jordan with a backpack on. But what I find is that it can be really hard to carve out that time, man. Whether it's for yourself or with your family or with some friends or whether it's in another country or, I don't know, camping in the woods near their house. There are so many good reasons to put off these experiences, to put off life. So what I'm about to say, and this is another reason I get a little sweaty doing these big end of year wrap ups. What I'm about to say is very cliche, but that's also because it's true. There is no real later. There's no real later. There just isn't. Later is tomorrow. Tomorrow is like right now. And what's happening now is going to be yesterday in a heartbeat. And yesterday is going to be last year. And last year is going to be like, I should have done it when or before. There just is no later. There's only carving out the time to do what you care about now. And I have to keep reminding myself of that. When I look at my calendar and I go, ugh, I don't know if I can really carve out two weeks to fly 15 hours to frickin Chile to take a rickety bush plane to Patagonia to go look at mountains with a bunch of people. But I know that if I want to have these experiences, I almost have to force myself. I have to force myself to act as if I don't have forever, as if there is no real later. Because there's something about the human brain and life itself that just makes you forget that. And I'm always grateful that I did it. That applies to travel. That applies to getting your family together for dinner. That applies to sending the email. That's your first step toward a potential new career. It applies to everything. There is no real later. So I have a corollary to this principle, which is, I believe.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Oh, a corollary to you.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I need to say something about that corollary. Is that better?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Someone's getting grandiose.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I didn't work for a British law firm for nothing.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Clearly not. You really took away the most important thing, which is saying words incorrectly. So what's your corollary?

[Jordan Harbinger]

So my corollary is there's also no such thing as too many experiences or too much family time or too much close friend time. Yes, you can burn out on travel. Yes, adventure can easily turn into escapism. Yes, you can cling to friendships that are changing. All of that is true, but that's a different thing. What I'm saying is the things that truly light you up, that make your life meaningful, and that ultimately comes down to a handful of things for all of us. And we know that at the end of the day, it's our relationships. You can never get enough of those. And you can never go wrong with prioritizing them in your life. Within reason, of course. Obviously, you still got to earn money. Of course. You got to exercise. You got to pay your stinking taxes. There are things we can't neglect. But why do we do those things? Earn money. Especially if not to enjoy meaningful experiences with people who matter to us. Why?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Honestly, dude, it is insane that we even have to ask ourselves that. But you are absolutely correct.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Some people are like, oh, gosh, what a cliche. And I know it's so obvious, it's tragic to forget it, but that's how easy it is to forget.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah, it's just like almost an inconvenient thought to hold around.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. There's so many times where I go like, oh, yeah, I would love to go to Arabia. I'll do that another time. When would that be? When is that going to be? I'll go to Egypt when My kids are older and they can enjoy it. I mean, God forbid that that doesn't happen. But that could be 20 years from now, right? I don't know. Something could happen and we could be unable to go North Korea. I remember telling Sailor Joe, who took you and I to North Korea that first time. I was like, I'll go next time. And he goes, dude, this is North Korea. There's not a next time. What are you talking about? And I was like, yeah, that's a really good point. And then we went four more times, but you don't know. And then, I mean, we were just getting how to go to North Korea.com off with a live chat and this and that and the other thing, and it became illegal. And I remember texting you and being like, so this is over because now it's a crime. We should sell this.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Aren't you glad we went when we could?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, exactly. Now, even though you could go, if you're not American legally, it's just a bad idea. Yeah, it was probably a bad idea then, but we were younger and stupid.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Exactly. We've established that 12 years ago, our brains did not work.

[Jordan Harbinger]

That's right. We had a different calculus for just about everything. Yes, sometimes your parents get on your nerves. Sometimes your spouse pisses you off. Usually that's me pissing off Jen. But whatever. It's easy to spend too much money or overstay your welcome or over index on fun over responsibility. I'm not saying it doesn't matter how you live your life as long as you're having a good time. Yolo. I'm not saying that. But with every year that passes, I feel more and more that there's really no good reason not to do a borderline outrageous number of interesting, fun, meaningful things with your partner, your kids, your friends, your cousins, your pets, whoever is lucky enough to hold a big place in your life. Earlier this year, I did a bunch of travel, more than I usually do. Jen and I met up with Gabe in Portugal. Jace, our editor, joined us. We got the gang together. We created a memory. I'm very glad we did. My cousin Lindsay wanted to come with us, but she didn't want to spend the money because she's in law school and has a quarter million dollars in debt or whatever it is. And I was too, when I graduated law school, and it sucked. And I feel lucky that I'm now in a position to invite her. So I was like, hey, don't worry about it. Lynn's. I got your flight. Just come with us and it was just really special to have my cousin there in Portugal just to give you one example.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Also nice low key flex that you can fly your family members to Europe.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Of course my favorite family members. The rest of them, they can stay put in freezing Michigan.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You're gonna get a lot of letters from the family this holiday season, I think.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Hey, I told you I might sound self important sometimes. Whatever. I lived in a shitty apartment with a bunch of dudes for eight years, eating ramen and rolling calls on my twin bed slash futon till 10pm it took me years to get over the hip and back problems I had from working on a futon by leaning over for that long every day. That was not good. Anyway, my point is, unless you're going to actually run into issues, I understand everyone's situation is different, but the best way to spend money and all the research bears this out. The best way to spend money and definitely the best way to spend your time is to create experiences. And the best experiences that are with people that we love. And by the way, it can be a big trip like Portugal or it could be a half day at the beach. Literally. Doesn't matter. I've gone on big fancy three week trips that left me demoralized and lonely. I've gone on 90 minute road trips to a weird little hike that I still think about to this day. The where and the what and the how. Sure, that matters. But it's secondary. The who you're with and the who you become when you're with the who's you care about. That's what matters. So my strong advice, if I may.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Be so bold, he said, hosting a literal advice podcast. But go on.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Hey, this segment wasn't my idea. I know, right? Why am I suddenly gun shy about telling people what to do? Like however long I've been doing this podcast, my strong advice is to carve out time this year to be a human being, ideally with a couple other human beings that you actually care about. And yeah, if you can swing it, go a little overboard. Whatever that means. Stay at that hotel an extra day. Get the nicer room where you and your friends can sit on the floor and tell stories till two in the morning and laugh till you cry. Pay a little extra for the bigger car so you can pack the bigger camping tent and bump a killer road trip playlist on the good speakers. And you sing while you drive. Carve out an hour to write some handwritten notes for them when you arrive, give them a little toast. Give yourself some permission to do whatever is possible to maximize the amount of experience you can pack into 2026 and whatever that looks like, really enjoy it. There doesn't have to be any deeper reason or justification for living your life. Enjoying your life. That is the deeper reason.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Damn, I feel like I needed to hear this this week for reasons that might become clearer in a moment, but Amen, brother. Yeah, slow clap over here.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I'm glad that resonates. Or am I? Like I'm not the old man shaking.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

His fist at a no, you're the middle aged man shaking your fist at everyone else with a big smile on his face. Because you're right. You're absolutely right. I needed to hear that.

[Jordan Harbinger]

That is how I intended it. I promise. And the last thing I want to say, a big theme we heard again and again on this show this year is that there are a lot of people sacrificing themselves on the altar of taking care of other people, doing everything for the people around them, taking care of a parent or child who won't take care of themselves, bending over backward to please a boss who might or might not be doing right by them, sacrificing their needs to keep a partner stable or make a friend happy to go back to the thing we were just talking about, to avoid living their own life. I think we all know what this looks like. I think we've all done this in some form at one point or another. I know I have. It's a very human thing. And I think many of us, especially those of us who weren't taught or wired to put ourselves first sometimes. Most of us could afford to be a little bit more selfish here and there in 2026. And in fact, some of us have to be. It's funny, a few weeks ago we wrote a newsletter about how if you want to get anywhere in life, if you want to achieve anything, you're going to have to embrace the fact that you're going to be just a little annoying sometimes. And it was one of my favorite pieces, actually, was inspired by a letter we took a couple of months ago from that woman who needed to build relationships to make her company successful, but she was afraid of being pushy, being inconvenient, being too much. That was far from the craziest letter we got this year, but it was actually one of the most important because it touched on something so universal, which is this fundamental fear of being inconvenient, this hesitation we have to push for what we care about in the face of other people's inertia. Such a Great story. Thank you to that listener for writing in. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is we could have inserted selfish in there instead of annoying and it would be just as true. You know me, I'm the guy who's always banging on about always being of service. Give before you take. Put other people's interests first. I fully believe that. But I also think we also need some degree of healthy self interest to fully enjoy life and to create the life that we want to enjoy. And that is totally compatible with loving other people and taking care of them and helping out wherever you go. It's not an either or, but this is especially true if you're one of those people who tend to subjugate their needs entirely to other people's who suffer or miss out on life as a result. So getting on my soapbox one more time this year, I want you to try saying no to somebody you've said yes to too many times. Don't be a dick about it. You don't have to Jerry Maguire your amazing career. Don't alienate your family. Don't tell your best friend to screw off unless they deserve it. But when it comes to these situations where you just know deep down that you're sacrificing yourself in a way that is not fair, take a break when you need it. Recruit some support. Turn down that extra responsibility at work that you know doesn't belong to you but is being put on your plate because you're a team player and everybody knows you. Never say no. Invite someone else to step up. Invite the person you're usually saving to step up even if you feel guilty. Especially if you feel guilty. Reclaim some of your life and find out if that guilt is actually a symptom of a misprioritized life. Give yourself permission to do less, even if you're leaving money on the table. Again, going back to the earlier point, I love working my butt off and making money as much as the next guy. But again, old man Jordan talking here. I'm wisening up. Sometimes we need to leave money on the table in order to get the most juice out of life. And just as important, how is this pattern going to change if you don't experiment with drawing a line sometimes and see what happens? I know this can be really scary. And again, I'm not advocating for being reckless or disrespectful or hurtful. But there is a diplomatic way to say sorry, no, can't do it this time. You'll figure it out and then go camping with your friends without your phone or whatever and just be a human being again. I know this is not groundbreaking advice this year. What I would focus on next year. This just felt important. So I hope you take that to heart. I hope you put that into practice this coming year. Inspired by our friend Paula. Paula, you're a hero. And I know you're gonna have many beautiful experiences with the people you love on the other side of your treatment, including your new baby. We're sending you all a huge hug. And yes, confirmed by my middle age ass, who's waking up more and more each year to just how precious this life really is. So, Gabe, I just talked for quite a while. What's on your mind? Did anything even happen for you this year?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Not really. Pretty low key year.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. Feels like it was pretty mid. If you want to just skip this part because your life is too boring, that's totally fine with me.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

So you remember when we interviewed Ken Burns and he was talking about what makes a good story and he mentioned how it takes 40 gallons of SAP to make 1 gallon of maple syrup?

[Jordan Harbinger]

So you're the SAP and I'm the maple syrup? Is that what you're getting at? No, but yeah, he lives in New Hampshire, so that's like a thing that people understand over there, I guess.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I don't know exactly. It's the perfect metaphor. I can't stop thinking about that, though.

[Jordan Harbinger]

It is a good metaphor, I think, especially, I don't know, Canadians are all over it.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

He also said we asked him about how he decides where to start a story and what do you include? What do you decide to leave out? And he said, honey, how was your day? Doesn't begin with. I backed slowly down the driveway, avoided the garbage can at the curb. Unless somebody t bones you.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yes, that's exactly what you say if that's the case.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Exactly. Story happens when things go wrong.

[Jordan Harbinger]

When expectation and reality diverge. Exactly.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That's kind of how I feel about this year, really. I t boned myself in the best way by giving up my apartment and going on the road and trying this whole Nomad thing.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. I would describe your adventure as a very pleasant car accident because kind of nothing worked out. I mean, many things didn't.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Thank you. My insurance is definitely going up, but it was worth it. Yeah. Anyway, in that gap between expectation and reality, I tried to put myself in the way of a lot of stories. More stories. Some funny stories, some tough stories, some very eye opening ones. But honestly, some still that I don't even understand yet or I haven't figured them out yet. And having gone through a period for a while in Los Angeles where I felt like I wasn't really living any new stories, where my life, it felt like it had flatlined for a little while, I just. I feel very lucky that I've been able to do that and still do. The show.

[Jordan Harbinger]

That's literally what you wanted, right?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It is. And also, these travels to your point a moment ago have not turned out the way I thought they would. Hardly at all. Which I guess is exactly what we're talking about. That's what a story is.

[Jordan Harbinger]

If you wanted things to turn out as expected, you could have stayed in la, safe and sound in your recording closet or whatever.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That's right. But it's funny. Every week we get together, Jordan, I want to tell you, and I want to tell everyone listening about what happened that week. And I do feel this subtle pressure to make it interesting, to make it funny, to make it meaningful. Otherwise, like, why am I talking?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I think a lot of people wonder that.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Thank you for putting that in my head before I launch into my end of year round. I appreciate it. Well, look, this traveling life is a gift, as you said, and it is so stimulating. There is a tendency to make it sound awesome and exciting and romanticize it when the reality is.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, far from it. Right.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It's not always that way. What it is, is. It's everything. Right. All nomading is, as far as I can tell, is just more experiences, more feelings, more highs, more lows. And I can tell you firsthand a lot of midd. And there are hours you lose taking trains or trying to buy a bike in a new city or dealing with some stupid bureaucracy and days you spend wandering around a strange city going, like, why am I here again? Like, what am I supposed to be doing today? And also with the rest of my life. There are weeks where I would walk around in a state of disorientation, which, depending on what I was going through and how much sleep I'd gotten the night before, that sometimes feels like wonder and sometimes it feels like the symptoms of a tbi, to be honest.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I remember that feeling. It's that feeling of being slightly disconnected from reality because you're such a fish out of water and everything you know, has been disrupted, but you're also, like, lit up because you're so stimulated and challenged.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That's exactly it. So I look back on a lot of this year and I'm full of all of these really interesting and beautiful impressions and references and experiences, and I'M like, okay, well, what the actual fuck am I supposed to do with all of this? What did that even mean?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I feel that way about Patagonia, too. Like, I'm still making sense of it, and it doesn't entirely make sense.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

A lot of travel doesn't make sense. Maybe what you said earlier is the answer, that the point of these experiences is not necessarily to learn anything or get anywhere, but just to enjoy which I am taking in.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I really do believe that. But I can't help but be like, what's the deeper meaning of this? And then it's, maybe you just had a good time, bro.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yes, same. I find myself wanting to know what all of this means. And if it doesn't mean anything, then I'm going to create that meaning so I can at least feel like this was worth it.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yes. What journey am I on?

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah, what is the through line of this whole experience? Because it's not always obvious. There are a handful of experiences from these travels where I go, okay, that was a great moment on that road trip where I learned that thing. Or that was that dinner party where that ridiculous thing happened. And I still makes me laugh. Or, I didn't know how to handle this problem in Portugal, but then in Germany, I nailed it. Okay, cool, growth. But I have to say, a lot of the time, I'm kind of at a loss as to how to capture the last six months and figure out what it all meant. I'm just. I ask myself a lot. Is there real significance to this? Am I on some journey or is it just interesting chaos? Is it a story or is it just 40 gallons of SAP?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Good question, man. Yeah, I wish I could tell you.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I don't know, maybe Ken Burns can tell me.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Call Kenny B. I'm sure he'd love to tell you. Cue the Ken Burns effect on your most embarrassing Europe photos.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Slow pan and zoom over the photo of me in a black pleather kilt and crop top in front of the Kit Kat Club while a trombone plays in the background.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I forgot you went to the KitKat club, dude.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah, I told you about that a little bit, right?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Not really. You were like, hey, check this photo out. And I was like, send it to me. And you were like, nope, you just showed me on, like, a camera. And I was like, wait, wait, wait. I'm gonna need those photos, bro. I need to see my producer in assless chaps in a leather vest. Just saying from the front, by the way, people, just so you know, just.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

To be clear, okay? There were no assless chaps. For the record, please do not defame me.

[Jordan Harbinger]

All chaps are assless.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That's true. I've never heard of assed chaps, so you might be onto something.

[Jordan Harbinger]

They don't exist. It's an untapped market. Chaps.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Are those just pants? I think that might just be pants.

[Jordan Harbinger]

You're right. Those are just lederhosen. You're right. That's all that is.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I deeply regret bringing up this photo. I will tell this story another time. Because if I try to do it now, I think this episode's gonna be like two and a half hours long and it's gonna go off the rails. But we'll try to get to this fair.

[Jordan Harbinger]

But what a way to tease everyone. The KitKat club, for anybody who doesn't know, is like, this super famous sex club in Berlin. When you think of, like, creepy German.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Sex club, Sex Positive Club, they might take umbrage at Sex club.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Okay, look, if the BDSM kilt fits. Come on, man.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

First of all, they make you dress up, okay? This isn't like, something I have in my wardrobe that I packed from Los Angeles. I went to a friend's. I'm not going to explain where I came across the dungeon skirt.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Okay, okay.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You don't have to have sex at the Kit Kat Club. You can just dance and hang out. Anything goes.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Whatever you say, Daddy. Daddy, chill. I kid, but okay. So I get what you mean. That was actually a huge theme on the show this year.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah. You mean how to classify sex clubs?

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yes, that and how we all need to make meaning out of our lives.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah, totally. But the thing is, real life doesn't always make sense. It doesn't cohere like that. It doesn't always fit.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Real life is not a story.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

It's not a story. Which is why we need stories to make life make sense. But you and I also talk a lot on the show about how whatever story we come up with to explain our lives is never totally right. Sometimes it's completely wrong. We impose a narrative on things that happen, but even if it's true, it's never the full story. And so, hopefully, I guess, we find the most accurate meanings possible, the most helpful stories. But what I'm really appreciating more and more is that we also need to know when to stop looking for a story and enjoy. First of all, to your point. And second, make peace, at least to some degree, with the ambiguity and the confusion that are such a big part of life. And to accept that sometimes Especially when you were in the middle of an experience, the central meaning cannot be found. And sometimes the meaning is just like, meaninglessness.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Oof. Yeah. So brutal. Especially in light of some of the tragedies that happened around the world in the last few weeks, which make no sense. But, yeah, very true. You just reminded me of a letter we took this year. I wish I could remember the details and tell you the episode, but it doesn't matter. I just remember us saying, look, what you're going through right now is awful, and we can't know where it's going, but it's going somewhere. And at some point, you will look back and go, oh, okay. That's why this had to happen. Or at least this interesting thing came out of that situation. But for now, your only job is to be present and handle whatever's in front of you, because right now, there is no meaning.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I do remember. I cannot remember this story, but I remember talking. I should take our own advice from our show is what I'm learning. That's what I'm taking away.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, it's just fascinating how badly we want to know what everything means and how life is often like, yeah, no. Or not yet.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Well, what I'm also starting to notice is that, yes, these travels have added so much to my life, memories and skills, friends. But mostly I feel like this period has actually taken things from me or I dropped things in order to go do this travel. It's more like stripping away of familiar comforts and routine, stripping away beliefs and certain ideas I had about myself, about how well I can function in different cities or how much work I'm actually capable of, or I can be the guy who can write a movie and do the show and do my personal writing and go out all night and have fun and never struggle and never hit a wall. And a lot of those ideas have been seriously challenged and in some cases, falsified by these travels.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Fascinating. So not as glamorous as people think.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

So, quick story. You actually just reminded me of something. One day in Berlin, my buddy and I went to visit Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp. It's, I don't know, 45 minutes, an hour outside of Berlin. And we were walking around the grounds, and I gotta say, I went to Dachau when I was in Munich. It was quite a day, but Sachsenhausen was on a whole other level. A lot of the buildings are still standing, and you can still see the gallows on the property. It's really dark, and they have not manicured the grounds very much. The way they have at Dachau, which is kind of more of a museum now. And so you can literally walk through the rooms where this genocide took place. It is very eerie, and it's very intense. And we ended up walking through the kitchen where the prisoners would prepare their meals. And on the walls of this kitchen, still perfectly preserved, are these cartoons that the prisoners made. They were like paintings of various scenes where the subjects in the drawings were cucumbers and potatoes and carrots. These were the things that the prisoners used to make food in the kitchen. So, like, one painting was a bunch of yellow carrots interrogating and harassing a group of orange carrots. And another painting was some potatoes scrubbing one another in the shower. They were basically making art about what they were going through, the Holocaust as it happened.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Oof. That is so intense. You know what? It kind of reminds me of that book Maus for some reason.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yes, 100%.

[Jordan Harbinger]

And the Nazis let them draw cartoons.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I can't remember. They either let them or they didn't know about them. Or maybe the paintings were covered up and then later discovered. I can't remember exactly.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Fascinating.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

But yeah. So I'm walking around this kitchen, and I stop in front of this column, and I freeze. Because on this column is a painting of a cucumber, and this cucumber is being thinly sliced by a slicer, while these other cucumbers stand underneath the slicer, looking up and watching. And weirdly, they're smiling. And even the cucumber being sliced actually was smiling. And I just started crying. The whole day just hit me in that moment. I just started crying in the kitchen.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, that would do it. That's quite an image. Holocaust art is wild.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I don't know why my mind just associated to that, but I guess it's because this is a theme that came up a lot on the show this year. Right. Like injury, some physical injuries, and also narcissistic injuries. Being wounded, having your defenses laid bare, coping with the feelings that result. I feel like so many of our letters deal with that. And I just want to be very clear. I'm not trying to compare my little nomading struggles to the Holocaust, obviously, But I think about that image a lot. And for me, travel was a series of those thin slices. And that's not a super fun thing to talk about. It's way less enjoyable than telling you all my funny stories from my trips, which I still love doing. But that has been the reality of these travels for me. It's a lot of joy and it's a lot of adversity. And I would say a lot of it is subtractive. It's not additive. And in that subtraction, which can really hurt sometimes, it can just really throw you for a loop. I have to say, I have also learned a lot, man.

[Jordan Harbinger]

I was just Googling that while you were talking about that we can drop the link in the show notes because, of course, I think a lot of people would be interested to see that kitchen art. Gabe, when we interview people on the show, my favorite moments are when they talk about their struggles. Yeah. I love the wins. I love the fun stories. I love hearing how badass they are. That's great. But what I really love and what I think people learn the most from is the hard stuff. Tell me what sucked about this experience.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And the older I get, I do find, the more interested I'm becoming in failure, not so much in success, of.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Course, there's nothing to learn in success.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

So true.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. Maybe slightly untrue. There's something to learn in success.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

There's something. Yeah.

[Jordan Harbinger]

More in failure. I can just tell you anytime I read a thread on Reddit from a digital nomad who's like, it's amazing. I'm living the dream. I'm always like, okay, it's either the first week or, are you sure about that, bud? You're either a simpleton or you're in denial, or you're an influencer or a coach who's for sure selling a product related to Nomads. And sure enough, you click on their post history, and they've been hawking some course about how to work remotely in Bali for 12k a month, bro. And I'm like, okay, got it. But when I read a thread from somebody who's like, so I moved to Estonia, here's what's been really cool. Here's what's been really hard. For this and that reason, I'm always like, okay, this is a real human being. This is what moving to another country actually is. It is not this fantasy. It actually is really hard. But you go through it to have certain experiences, and one of those experiences is the suck.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Well said. So true. And thank you for that. It helps to hear it said back to me because I have to say, there is a part of my personality that I'm not crazy about, and I'm trying to work on it, and it's this part that wants to be totally in control and look good and know what everything means and get everything right. But being in control and getting everything right and knowing what everything means is first of all, literally impossible. And the opposite of what traveling is when it's at its best.

[Jordan Harbinger]

When I was in my 20s, man, I did the exchange year in Germany, and it was really hard in the beginning, and at the end it was awesome. And I was like, I need to recreate this experience. And I remember going to, like, Israel and Mexico and Panama and Ukraine and all these other places. And every time I would be like, when I go there, it's going to be like this. And then I'm going to meet these kinds of people and have these kinds of friends and these kinds of experiences and had this kind of girlfriend or whatever it is in reality, was always actually, first I'm going to be homesick. Then I'm going to realize this language is really hard and I can't showcase my personality at all. Then I'm going to find some people who speak English, but they're not really the kind of people that I would normally be friends with. And I'm going to have to be friends with them or be alone all the time, and I'd be super lonely. Like, the reality is always just quite different. And you realize at one point you're like, oh, this is escapism. Like, I'm just leaving because I'm fantasizing it's going to be better than my life at home. But what's that saying, wherever you go, there you are, and you bring your problems with you, you bring all your issues with you.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Speaking of another cliche. That is so true. So actually, on that point, the last thing I'll share is my time in Japan was really special. And I had two weeks with Dr. Margolis, and then I stayed for another three weeks or so on my own. And when I decided to go back to Japan, I knew it would be harder than Europe, because Japan, you know what they say, right? Loneliest country on earth, it can be super alienating, especially for a foreigner and if you don't speak Japanese. But this is what I wanted. One of my goals for these travels, I think I even remember writing this down before I left, was to actually encounter true loneliness or solitude, depending on how you look at it and see what happened. What is it like to be in a radically displaced in another country and go inward and not socialize as much and do just some good writing and read and have that experience so much harder than I thought it would be.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, I got that sense. Not the most exciting chapter of Eat Pray, Gabe.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

No, it Was not. Not outwardly. I could tell you some funny stories, some interesting stories, but most of my time in Japan, especially toward the end, was just me in my hotel, first of all, finishing a rewrite on this movie that I've been working on. This is the one that I mentioned, I don't know, a week or two ago when I think we were talking about letting go of expectations. And so it was very frustrating. And I was just kind of stuck in my hotel having to finish rewrites and working with my director in la. And it was. I wasn't really enjoying Japan at all. And then when I had free time, once I was done with the script, I was just wandering around Kyoto and Kanazawa alone, listening to audiobooks, reading, which was great. Writing some, which was nice. Taking a lot of trains, but not knowing why I was going to play. Just utterly without direction or purpose. And I got to a place which I think, you know well, Jordan, where I was just like, dude, I am on another planet. I am an alien here. I don't speak the language. I feel like the least important NPC in this weird video game. There is an abyss between me and everyone else here. I think it's been like three days since I said a word to another human being. Everybody here is so polite, so respectful, but no one really, you know, like, engages with you. So I'm not really meeting people. They don't even make eye contact on the subway. I love Japan. I am so glad I came, but I think I'm done. I think it's time to come home.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah, that's intense.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

I experienced a kind of loneliness in Japan that I don't think I've ever experienced before. Like, even being in North Korea, which is probably the first furthest out we've ever been in terms of. You're not supposed to be there. We were together. We had that contact. You realize when you go on a trip like this alone, you realize why people in solitary confinement go out of their minds. Because you need other people. You need their presence. You need other minds to really function at your best. But I did learn something very valuable in that loneliness. And now it's my turn to dip into a cliche. There are really ultimately only a few things that matter, only a few things that really determine your experience of life. The quality of your thoughts, of course, the state of your body and the people you surround yourself with, Especially that last thing, your relationships, to your point earlier, Jordan, and really, every single week, it is everything. It is everything. I cannot tell you how much more Grateful I am now for my friends, for my family, my colleagues. These touch points back home when I was just way off the beaten path. You, Jordan, the show which has kept me connected and full of meaning this entire time. When I couldn't find the through line this year, this show was the through line for me. And I'm just so appreciative of all of you who have written me over the last six months, all the emails and DMs, and those have been a lifeline for me and everybody who shared their stories with us. It's just amazing what we get to do together here. I know I say this every year. It just gets truer and truer. Doing this show really is one of the great gifts of my life. I feel so lucky to be part of your lives in this way. And I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for that. Thank you for helping me basically turn SAP into maple syrup. You have taught me a lot this year, and you guys have really clarified for me the kinds of experiences I want to have from now on and really how I want to spend my time and my energy in 2026. So I just want to say that and I want to say I love you guys and I love you, Jordan, and happy holidays.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Same here, man. Thank you for that, Gabe. Quite a journey you're on. And despite what you were saying before, all of that actually sounds super meaningful. And there's clearly a through line here, even if it's hard to see sometimes. Although I love that your big insight was what we bang on about on the show every single week.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

You know, one of my favorite James Joyce quotes, which is the most pretentious thing I've ever started to say in my life, but I'm just going to lean into it. One of my favorite James Joyce quotes. Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Maybe there is an upside to escapism.

[Jordan Harbinger]

Yeah. Literally couldn't have said that better. He's a brilliant writer. Maybe you had to go to Japan just to come back with that perspective. Although I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that I am glad you are not moving to a monastery in Fukuoka or something, because I'm not sure you'd survive it. And the Internet's probably pretty bad there.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

That's a good point. Also, not without my jacket, which I think I would probably lose on the way at this rate.

[Jordan Harbinger]

That's right. A special thing we have here and that we can do it from anywhere in the world. It's been a super cool layer to the show this year. I selfishly hope that you keep going so we can keep getting stories on the road or from the road even. And especially when they're about how sad you are and they make no sense. I love all of it. But you know what always makes sense? Taking advantage of the deals and discounts on the fine products and services that support this show. We'll be right back. This episode is also sponsored by LinkedIn. As a business owner, you're on the clock 247 when it comes to hiring, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. That's where LinkedIn jobs comes in. Hiring can definitely be a grind. Writing job descriptions, posting them, hoping the right people will see them. LinkedIn makes it easy. Their tools help you craft the description, then put it in front of the right candidates with deep insights. You can post for free. You can pay to promote promoted jobs, get three times more qualified applicants and the results speak for themselves. 72% of small businesses say LinkedIn help them find higher quality talent so the candidates already feel vetted. Plus you can share your listing with your network, even add a hiringframe to your profile photo, which doubles the qualified candidates checking out your job. More than 2.5 million small businesses already use LinkedIn for hiring because at the end of the day, you don't just want somebody who can do the job, you want the right fit and LinkedIn helps you find that person. So if you're ready to make your next great hire, head to LinkedIn jobs and see why so many small businesses trust them.

[Sponsor Representative]

Post your job for [e-mail] harbinger that's LinkedIn.com harbinger to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.

[Jordan Harbinger]

This episode is sponsored in part by the Defender. Most of us like to think we're adventurous, but real life is usually school runs, errands, maybe a weekend hike if we're lucky. That's why I like the Defender. It fits both versions of you, the everyday driver and the let's get out of town version. Defender is engineered for exploration. It's got that tough, purposeful look because it's built with robust materials and a rigid body design that's made to handle real world challenges. Inside, it's comfortable and functional. Lots of usable storage, plenty of room and the kind of cabin you actually want to spend time in. There's a whole defender family. The two door Defender 90, the Defender 110 and the Defender 130, which seats up to eight. So whether it's you and a buddy heading for the trail or the whole family plus gear, there's a setup that works. The tech is what dials you in. 3D surround cameras with clear sight ground view so you can see beneath the vehicle and spot obstacles. Clearsight rear view keeps your view clear even when the cargo area is packed. Driver assist features make driving and parking easier, and the PV Pro infotainment system gives you customizable, easy to use displays. If you're ready to bring a little more adventure into your day to day, the Defender is ready too. Design your Defender 110@Land RoverUSA.com I've Got Homes.com is a sponsor for this episode. Homes.com knows when it comes to home shopping, it's never just about the house or the condo. It's about the homes. And what makes a home is more than just the house or property. It's the location. It's the neighborhood. If you got kids. It's also schools, nearby, parks, transportation options. That's why homes.com goes above and beyond to bring home shoppers the in depth information they need to find the right home. It's so hard not to say home every single time. And when I say in depth information, I'm talking deep. Each listing features comprehensive information about the neighborhood, complete with a video guide. They also have details about local schools with test scores, state rankings, student teacher ratio. They even have an agent directory with the sales history of each agent. So when it comes to finding a home, not just a house, this is everything you need to know, all in1place.homes.com We've done your homework. If you like this episode of Feedback Friday and find our advice valuable, I invite you to do what other smart and considerate listeners do, which is take a moment, support our amazing sponsors. All of the deals, discount codes and ways to support the show are searchable and clickable on the [e-mail] deals if that doesn't work, you can email me jordanordanharbinger.com, i'll dig up the code for you. Thank you for supporting those who support us. It really does keep us going and makes it possible to continue creating these episodes week after week. Alright, back to Feedback Friday. Before we close out, I just want to second what Gabe said and say thank you to everyone who listens, everyone who writes in, everyone who leaves reviews, and everyone who writes me angry emails about all the things I got wrong this year and how we said full Stop too much. And I didn't agree with them politically in every single way and how I am a right wing troll and a leftist turd at the same time. Seriously, I even appreciate most of those emails, even though I just forward them to Gabe so he can enjoy them too. So when I was on the Patagonia trip, we did a bunch of sharing circles which if you listen to the show regularly, Gabe and I hate those.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Ugh. The worst sometimes, sometimes the forced vulnerability.

[Jordan Harbinger]

The self conscious presentation, I mean, they.

[Gabriel Mizrahi]

Weren'T like that unless I will say, and I think this is where you're going is when you're with a great group, then it's amazing.

[Jordan Harbinger]

This was like. It wasn't forced. The container was there. The earlier rapport stuff was done. It wasn't hard to do. So that's actually what I was going to say because in these circles and inside conversations throughout the trip, a lot of people opened up about some pretty serious stuff going on in their lives. I'm talking I just broke up with the love of my life or my business is on the brink or I don't know if I have meaning in my life or my mom just died. And I got to say, the general level of vulnerability on this trip, it really opened the floodgates. I would say after day four or five, pretty much everyone on the trip was doing the same thing. And it's liberating. I'm kind of the slowest one. Surprise, surprise. And people will make a joke about it. They'll be like, oh my God, even Jordan's coming around. All right. The trip is peaking, you know, that's wonderful. Yeah, it's liberating and it's enlivening. It was like everyone stopped protecting themselves and wanting to look cool and they just got real. And I think everyone on the trip feels way better for having been able to do that for the past couple of weeks. The container again that we have for that on Wayfinders is unique. But you can create a mini container like that for yourself with certain friends, with certain family, with your peers. It is such a gift. And I think everyone on this earth is just dying to share something about themselves or something that's going on in their life. But a lot of people feel like nobody will understand or they don't have permission to share or it's not appropriate or whatever. When really the best thing you can do is open up about something important in your life and see who takes the bait. Not everyone will. It won't always hit, but when one or two people lean in and listen when they go, oh man, do I have a story for you. And you remember that everyone's going through their own version of the same human experience. That kind of disclosure, that vulnerability which doesn't come naturally for most of us, including me. It really deepens your relationships. But it'll also make you feel a hell of a lot better about whatever you're going through because you have somebody else in your corner, or at least a sympathetic mind and an outlet to acknowledge things, process things. I honestly don't know if there's a better feeling than that. So my final invitation for you this coming year is just that, to share more of yourself, to take a chance to create the container if there isn't one, and see what happens. My experience is that it can be life changing, but sometimes you have to go first. Happy Holidays guys. Happy New Year. Feedback Friday. We'll be back in your feed next week. As always, January 2nd the dooze cruise never takes a holiday, but you can and you should enjoy some quality time with some people who matter or just yourself. If you want to microdose some Gabe in Japan, level loneliness and we will see you soon. Go back and check out John Young on Quantum Computing and Q Day and our Skeptical Sunday on Vaping. If you haven't done so yet. Show notes and transcripts are on the website. Advertisers, discount codes, ways to support the show, [e-mail] deals I'm ordanharbinger on Twitter and Instagram. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. Gabe's on Insta Abriel Mizrahi this show is created in association with Podcast One. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jace Sanderson, Robert Fogarty, Ian Baird, Tata Sidlowskis, and of course Gabriel Mizrahi. Our advice and opinions are our own. Yes, I am a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer, definitely. So consult a professional before implementing anything you hear on the show. Remember, we rise by lifting others. Share the show with those you love. If you found the episode useful, please share it with somebody else who could use the advice we gave here today. In the meantime, I hope you apply what you hear on the show so you can live what you learn. And we'll see you all in 2026. What if the person charming your lonely aunt isn't after love, but her home, her will, and her life savings? In this preview, Javier Leyva reveals how modern romance scams have evolved into full blown identity takeovers. Hiding in plain sight, a lot of.

[Javier Leyva]

Con Artists, they are very generous at first. They're the types of people that are gonna pick up the tab when you go to dinner. They're buying you stuff, they're very generous and they're doing that. It's almost like they're fattening you up for when they need that favor, when they need that favor, when they need that loan. You wouldn't question it because this guy is so generous, why wouldn't I trust him with money? From a distance, we're thinking about these romance scams, like how could anybody fall for these things, right? But the closer you look into it and put yourself in the shoes of the victim, you realize that when you're in the center of the cyclone, it all makes a lot more sense. Another thing is when somebody smothers you and just confronts, consumes all of your time, that's a warning sign too. Because what they're doing is that they're cutting you off from your surroundings. They create the urgency so that you could make stupid decisions and you kind of bypass your reasoning. Don't forget your friends and don't forget your family. Their opinion counts and you should take it honestly. When you start seeing all these signs, you recognize that maybe this is a situation where you gotta create personal space. You have to create boundaries. Most victims of any con artists, they feel so ashamed that they don't want to tell their story because they've been violated their trust and they're no longer trusting people.

[Jordan Harbinger]

To hear how predators turn affection into control, listen to episode 1195 of the Jordan Harbinger show. With savings over $390 this shopping season, VRVO helps you swap gift wrap time for quality time with those you love most. From snow on the roof to sand between your toes. We have all the vacation rental options covered. Go to VRBO now and book a last minute week long stay. Save over $390 this holiday season and book your next vacation rental home on VRBO. Average savings $396. Select homes only.