Breaking it down by Dr. Dell Mabunda

24/12/2025

🎄 On the eve of Christmas, I can’t help but echo a gentle reminder:
Extend the same kindness and love you offer others — to yourself, too.

The message of loving yourself is applicable to ambition too— it’s a core quality of sustainable success. As without the fundamental ability to be kind and loving to yourself, your dreams may come at the unnecessary cost of burnout, when compassion could have helped you build the kind of resilience that lasts the kind that helps you not only reach your dreams but be present enough to enjoy them.

✨ Add this episode to your must-listen before the end of the holiday season. But also let this holiday season remind you of what compassion, love and kindness looks like and
Ask yourself if this is what you have been giving to yourself throughout the year as well?

Happy Holiday season 🫶
Be to yourself what you hope to see in the world.


EmotionalFitnesd

17/12/2025

The last Episode of BID with Dr. Dell Mabunda for 2025

Self-Compassion’s Mental Tug-of-War: Pushing Hard vs. Punishing Hard.

In this episode of BID, we break down a truth many high achievers—especially in healthcare—rarely confront:
The tug-of-war between being driven and being too hard on yourself.

Because when the pressure to always perform never stops, how do you stay mentally healthy?

We take a deeper look at how self-criticism, while often worn as a badge of ambition, may be doing more harm than good.

We break down how self-compassion rewires the brain for resilience, while self-judgment and shame activate stress pathways that drain motivation and erode emotional well-being.

This isn’t about being soft —
It’s about staying strong, and BIDing on resilience in a healthier, kinder way.

Whether you’re a high achiever, a healthcare worker, or simply tired of being your own worst enemy — if you’ve ever asked yourself,
“Am I pushing too hard?”
This episode will help you find clarity, calm, and a more compassionate way forward.

15/12/2025

New Episode now out: “Self-Compassions Tug-of-War: Pushing Hard vs. Punishing Hard”

As the year winds down and the pressure to reflect, reset, and rise ramps up — many high-achievers, especially in healthcare, face a silent inner battle:
👉 The mental Tug of war about Where is the line between being driven… and being too hard on yourself?
In this deeply honest episode, I sit down with guest Angelina Chatzaki to Break Down a truth we rarely confront:
That self-judgment, often mistaken for ambition, may be the very thing burning us out. While Self Compassion, often seen as a weakness, may actually be the key to building resilience for success. Drawing from clinical research, and real-life experiences we explore how self-compassion rewires the brain for resilience, while self-judgment and shame activate stress pathways that drain motivation and erode emotional well-being.
In a world where most plateforms confront us with the statistical view of the year eg Spotify ect , this episode could not be more relevant. I hope you will listen and have th courage to show self compassion where it is needed.
Now on Spotify, Apple and everywhere on line.

28/11/2025

Recent events reminded me just how blessed and lucky I am — for my job, for the country I get to work in where there are laws in place to protect doctors’ rights to decent working hours thus giving us an opportunity to have a life outside of medicine.

This month’s episode was possible because I now have a boss who honours those laws and creates an environment where I can grow and still be human while being a doctor. Managing the weight that comes with the huge expectations from the hippocratic oath and society.

May we never get so comfortable with the good things in our lives that we forget that bad exists — and may we always stay humbled by the difference.

Remember: you may feel stuck, but you are not broken.
So get up and give thanks for the strength you have today.
Because there are parts of your life that someone else is still praying and working tirelessly to make their reality.

So let our gratitude go deeper than a single day.
Let it show up in how we treat people.
Let it reflect in how we work.
Let it known in how we show up.

May our lives be a blessing to others: a quiet, steady display of gratitude in motion.

✨ Gratitude Challenge
Share one thing you’re grateful for today — in the comments or in your own story. Gratitude multiplies when we speak it.

23/11/2025

Could not agree more with this:
- You are the working version of the end product you are hoping for but if you never start, never try then you never stand a chance of being who you need to become! Because becoming starts with not knowing but doing it anyways, it means living with a growth mindset by staying open to feedback.

One of the strangest things about being a news anchor is that you have to project absolute authority even while you’re still learning.

When I started at the BBC, I was on air every day, reading bulletins to millions of people. But behind the scenes, I was also seeking feedback, practising late at night, recording myself, adjusting, improving. And that’s just a more visible version of what we all have to do at work.

You have to speak up in front of senior leaders, volunteer to lead the sensitive project, pitch your idea to the room; even when you don’t feel fully qualified. Because if you wait until you feel fully qualified, that may never happen. And if you ever do feel fully qualified, you’re probably not stretching yourself enough.

That creates this uncomfortable tension: how do I act confident when I’m still learning? Won’t people see through me? And that’s exactly why so many of us don’t show up. We think confidence means having it all figured out, so we wait. “I’ll speak up when I’m more experienced. I’ll volunteer to lead when I know more. I’ll pitch my idea when I’m certain it’s perfect.”

But that day never comes. Or by the time it does, the opportunity is gone.

I’ve learned that learning is not a stage you ever graduate from. Which means confidence can’t come from knowing everything. It comes from knowing that you win either way; if it goes well you get success, if it doesn’t, you get feedback. The faster you get feedback the faster you improve. So if you’re always hiding, you’re limiting your chances of getting better and going further.

The version of you that gets promoted, recognised, or trusted isn’t the one who was born knowing how to do everything. It’s the one who was willing to never stop learning.

23/11/2025

Now that you’ve identified it’s a toxic work environment—or a toxic relationship—what’s next? Do you leave? Do you speak up? Do you stay?
On the surface, it sounds simple. But the why behind your decision matters more than the act itself.
Because if you leave just because you realised it’s toxic, when the good days come—or they suddenly seem to be “changing”—you’ll find yourself conflicted all over again.
You’ll be tempted to give them another chance. It may look like they heard your complaints, that your demands were finally met…
But let’s be real: “A leopard never looses its spots, it only disguises them better. So don’t be fooled into thinking that recognising toxicity is enough to give you the courage to walk away.
You need more than just “they’re not good for me.”
You need clarity, conviction, and a plan for your peace.
👉Swipe through to help you gain clarity—because you may be stuck, but being broken is a choice.
🎧 Listen to the full episode “Stuck But Not Broken” out now.
📍 Link in bio

16/11/2025

“A toxic job doesn’t just stress you out—it rewires your nervous system.”
That should be motive enough to ask yourself of where you are is challenging to be better or it is a toxic environment that requires you to start calling it what it is “TOXIC”!

This month on B.I.D, I sat down with my first South African guest, , to talk about what it really feels like to work in a toxic environment—and I dare to say one can have joy while you in it. We also go on to talk about how to protect your mental health when quitting isn’t an option just yet.

📌 This isn’t about quitting on impulse.
It’s about being honest with yourself and calling things the way thy are: Toxic not tough!
If your workplace feels more like a survival zone than a place to grow, this one’s for you.
🎧 “Stuck But Not Broken” is now streaming
Tag someone who needs to hear this today.

12/11/2025

You’re not burned out because you’re weak. You’re burned out because the environment is unsustainable

This one is for the quiet survivors.
The ones who can’t just quit.
Who show up, do the work, and carry the weight in silence.

In this episode of BID I’m joined by my first South African guest and a childhood friend.
We talk surviving toxic work environments—and how to hold on to your joy when leaving isn’t an option.

Stuck doesn’t mean broken.
And you deserve better than survival mode.

🎧 New episode out now
📍 Link in bio

13/10/2025

Today’s Quote: Not knowing is holy ground — it’s where trust is built.

When life doesn’t make sense, it’s not a failure of faith; it’s the invitation to faith. You don’t need all the answers to walk with confidence — you just need to know Who walks with you.

Happy Monday
Lets make it work

16/09/2025

Having my mother here right now makes this episode hit a little differently.

The reality of my choices and decisions are consistently confronting me, as I am having to show my mother what I have built for myself far from the nest she provided for me as a child.
I am having to say out loud what the driving forces were and are for my decisions. Explain my reasons for staying because ofcourse mother would rather I come home and we all enjoy the fruit of my labour and share her senior year together (that is a post of its own- the aging element of the parents and family members we leave behind).

Heimweh - german for homesickness. Direct translation is home hurts. I personally like the german word better as it hits the heart of the matter without too much explanation.

Have you listened to the episode yet?

Link in Bio and can be every where on the internet.

21/08/2025

This episode is a continuation if you may about my road away from home. I always get asked if I miss home and if I intend to go back. I talk about that and more, so tune in so we can connect and Id love to hear how you are dealing with Heimweh, chasing the dream and the conflicts that come with it. — Chasing Dreams, Missing Home🎙️ We’re talking about the part no one prepares you for — when you’ve moved, started fresh, followed the plan…but still find yourself wondering:“Why does chasing this dream feel heavier than I thought?”Because ambition is powerful — but it comes with a price.Sometimes that price is distance. Loneliness. Questioning if it’s still worth it.If you’ve ever felt torn between where you are and where you came from — if you’ve ever wondered what you’re giving up while going after “more” — this one’s for you.📍Now live on Spotify + all platforms.📲 Link in bio. Let’s break it down with the two greek doctors who thought it was a good idea to leave the mediterranean. Both answer this question if it’s worth it and the answers cause one of them to reconsider. What’s that like and how to process not wanting to pay the price, is it even fair to say that?! Or does she simply pick her family back home? But how do tell the difference that this isn’t for you or giving up on that ambitious idea. 🚨🚨🚨🚨

17/08/2025

✨ Sunday Checkin ✨

Sometimes it’s not the job, or the dream, or even the people…
It’s the place.

Because when Purpose meets Place, you find a resilience that no storm can break. 🌍🔥

Before the new episode lands this week, catch up on Place Meets Purpose 🎧 — a reminder that where you are can shape who you’re becoming.

🔗 Link in bio.