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The Mel Robbins PodcastThe Mel Robbins Podcast

9 Habits That Will Help You Feel Better, Heal Better, and Live Better This Year

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory 👉 https://melrob.co/let-them-theory 👈 The #1 Best Selling Book of 2025 🔥 Discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words. Let Them. — In this episode, you’re getting the best of the best of The Mel Robbins Podcast. These are the 9 moments people couldn’t stop talking about this year. In 2025, Mel released 106 episodes of the podcast and featured 75 experts who shared their transformative insights on health, relationships, mindset, and more. Together, this adds up to thousands of takeaways. Because your time is valuable, Mel is giving you a gift today: She and her team crunched the data, reviewed hundreds of hours of content, analyzed listener feedback, and pinpointed the moments you saved, replayed, and wrote about – the moments that made people sit up straighter, breathe deeper, and whisper, “Oh… that explains everything.” Whether you’re new to the podcast, are figuring out which episodes to listen to next, or want to hear the most impactful advice summarized, today’s episode is for you. These 9 ideas changed something in how you see yourself, how you heal, how you eat, how you love, how you relate to your family, and what you believe is still possible for your life. If you’re ready for the kind of insight that rearranges how you think and how you live, start with these 9 moments people couldn’t stop talking about – including the #1 most-shared episode of the entire year on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This episode is the cheat sheet for the level-up in life you have been looking for. Want more from these experts? Check out the full episodes here: Jay Shetty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOVQponoBmI Danielle Bayard Jackson: http://youtube.com/watch?v=kIiGtwPLSvI Dr. Dawn Mussallem: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WlxbVMfvir8 Vanessa Marin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoPJEzhtypc Jason Wilson: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0LM4-TqhiaA Dr. Stacy Sims: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVAjm_ETtY Dr. Vonda Wright: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO_x3gnXBzg Dr. Gabor Mate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tool-R8VJ2Y Bryan Stevenson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4RNQk77Qro As a gift to listeners of The Mel Robbins Podcast, Mel has created a free 20-page workbook to help you make 2026 a great year. This workbook is designed using the latest research to help you get clear about what you want and empower you to take the next step forward in your life. Get it here: https://www.melrobbins.com/bestyear/ To learn more about Pure Genius, which Mel mentioned in today’s episode, get on the waitlist here: https://www.puregeniusprotein.com/MY For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page: https://www.melrobbins.com/episode/episode-355/ Follow The Mel Robbins Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themelrobbinspodcast I’m just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good. I’ll see you in the next episode. In this episode: 00:00 Welcome 01:33 You Made This Year Extraordinary 06:03 Jay Shetty: What’s Really Keeping You Stuck 14:06 Danielle Bayard Jackson: Why Friendship Feels So Hard 25:28 Dr. Dawn Musallem: The 5 Foods That Fight Cancer 35:49 Vanessa Marin: A Simple Fix for Better Sex and Intimacy 46:05 Jason Wilson: Why Men Shut Down Emotionally 54:06 Dr. Stacy Sims: Women Are Not Small Men 01:00:42 Dr. Vonda Wright: Aging with Strength 01:11:21 Dr. Gabor Maté: Childhood Trauma 01:18:44 Finding Hope with Brian Stevenson — Follow Mel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@melrobbins Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melrobbins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrobbins Website: http://melrobbins.com​ — Sign up for Mel’s newsletter: https://melrob.co/sign-up-newsletter A note from Mel to you, twice a week, sharing simple, practical ways to build the life you want. — Subscribe to Mel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/melrobbins​?sub_confirmation=1 — Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Monday & Thursday! https://melrob.co/spotify https://melrob.co/applepodcasts https://melrob.co/amazonmusic — Looking for Mel’s books on Amazon? Find them here: The Let Them Theory: https://amzn.to/3IQ21Oe The Let Them Theory Audiobook: https://amzn.to/413SObp The High 5 Habit: https://amzn.to/3fMvfPQ The 5 Second Rule: https://amzn.to/4l54fah

Mel RobbinshostDr. Becky KennedyguestLewis HowesguestBryan Stevensonguest
Dec 24, 20251h 28mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Nine life-changing insights from experts on health, habits, and healing

  1. Mel Robbins recaps nine of the most impactful moments from her podcast this year, drawing on conversations with world-class experts in personal growth, health, relationships, and justice. These clips cover getting unstuck, navigating adult friendships, preventing disease, improving sex and intimacy, understanding men’s emotions, women-specific health, aging with strength, healing childhood patterns, and sustaining hope. Each segment combines compelling science or lived experience with extremely practical, behavior-level advice. The episode functions as both an emotional reset and a tactical masterclass on building a better life in the coming year.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

You’re not stuck; you’re grieving a past version of yourself.

Jay Shetty explains that what feels like being stuck is often an attachment to an old identity, relationship, or life chapter; momentum comes not from knowing every step ahead, but from deciding you no longer want to stay where you are and consciously releasing what you’re clinging to.

Friendships naturally “prune” every seven years, and that’s normal.

Danielle Bayard-Jackson’s research shows we typically replace about half our friends every seven years, and around 40% of adults don’t have a best friend; instead of seeing this as failure, treat it as a cue to proactively cultivate new connections and draw support from a collective “village,” not just one person.

Specific plant foods can measurably reduce cancer risk and mortality.

Dr. Dawn Mussallem highlights evidence for berries, purple sweet potatoes, cruciferous vegetables, beans (fiber), soy/edamame, and kiwi in turning off tumor-promoting genes, activating tumor-suppressor genes, and lowering cancer incidence and death—framing diet as a powerful, research-backed lever for prevention and survivorship.

For better sex, move it earlier, schedule it, and build daily micro-intimacy.

Vanessa Marin notes that late-night sex is often sabotaged by exhaustion; couples should intentionally plan sex earlier in the evening and layer in small daily practices—gratitude, 20–30 second hugs, six-second kisses, and real eye contact—to deepen emotional and physical connection.

Many men only learned to express anger, not their full emotional range.

Jason Wilson explains that societal norms teach men that softness equals weakness, making anger a “safe” default that masks hurt, fear, or shame; recognizing this and encouraging men to name their true underlying emotions can transform communication and intimacy with partners, sons, and fathers.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

You’re not stuck, you’re actually grieving a past version of yourself.

Jay Shetty

What’s holding you back is what you’re holding onto.

Jay Shetty (via a Zen teaching he cites)

You will replace half of your friends every seven years.

Danielle Bayard-Jackson

Getting old is inevitable; getting weak is not.

Dr. Vonda Wright

No siblings grow up in the same house. No siblings have the same parents.

Dr. Gabor Maté

Reframing feeling stuck and letting go of past identities (Jay Shetty)The science and reality of adult friendships and best friends (Danielle Bayard-Jackson)Food, lifestyle, and cancer prevention/survivorship (Dr. Dawn Mussallem)Improving sex, intimacy, and daily connection in long-term relationships (sex therapist Vanessa Marin)Men’s emotional lives: anger, silence, and limited emotional language (Jason Wilson)Women-specific health and exercise: “women are not small men” (Dr. Stacy Sims)Aging, strength, mobility, and preventing decline in later life (Dr. Vonda Wright)Sibling differences, childhood impact, and trauma-informed self-understanding (Dr. Gabor Maté)Hope as a disciplined practice and “orientation of the spirit” (Bryan Stevenson)

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