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    10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story
    Unavailable
    10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story
    Unavailable
    10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story
    Ebook303 pages5 hours

    10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story

    By Dan Harris

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    From Scribd: About the Book

    In an effort to explore the world of spirituality and self-help, "Nightline" anchor Dan Harris takes us on an unexpected, comical, and wildly skeptical journey to discover if getting happier is truly achievable.

    After suffering a nationally televised panic attack while reading from the teleprompter on "Good Morning America," which he considers to be the most embarrassing moment in his life, Harris recognized that it was time for a change. As a lifelong nonbeliever, his investigation into finding help took a bizarre path. From a disgraced pastor to a mysterious self-help guru, and brain scientists, Harris sought out the root of his problems, eventually discovering that the root was a voice within his own mind, driving him to be hyper-competitive in all facets of his life.

    Although many people have this voice, Harris wanted to dig deeper to find out why his voice was driving him to panic attacks and severe self doubt. It wasn't until he came across meditation, a method to control his inner dialogue, that he began to see a path he'd completely disregarded.

    10% Happier takes the reader on a journey alongside Harris, through neuroscience and pseudoscience, and to a conclusion that might be able to bring a little bit of change to a lot of lives.

    Editor's Note

    Hilarious & engaging…

    After suffering an on-air panic attack, news anchor Dan Harris embarks on a personal journey to understand happiness. Told with the right mix of empathy, humor, and a journalist’s skepticism, Harris’ story is great news.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 11, 2014
    ISBN9780062265449
    Author

    Dan Harris

    Dan Harris is host of the 10% Happier Podcast. For 21 years, he worked at ABC News, where he was the co-anchor of Nightline and the weekend editions of Good Morning America. He also reported from all over the world, including war zones and presidential campaigns. Before joining ABC, he worked for local news outlets in Boston and Maine. He lives in New York with his wife, son, and a gaggle of rescue cats. 

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    Reviews for 10% Happier

    4/5

    539 ratings57 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I really struggled to get through this book. I don't watch Good Morning America or Night Line so I didn't know the author. It is the story of his life of drugs, having a breakdown on air, and then turning his life around by meditation. He learned to "Live in the Moment.." I don't know that I would ever give meditation a try, and he certainly did not make it very appealing to me.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this quite a bit. Dan Harris has an engaging writing style, and I related to his skepticism. I think I might give this whole meditation thing a try.
    • 5/5
      Excellent memoir on the author's experience with discovering meditation and mindfulness and their benefits. Many times Christians have a fear that meditation will somehow corrupt their spiritual practice, but given what science is learning about the mind, meditation and mindfulness could enhance the spiritual experience of individuals regardless of their religious affiliation. The author himself is not even religious, appearing to consider himself an atheist, and even he sees, and has reaped, the benefits of meditation and mindfulness. To top it off, Harris' writing is by degrees hilarious, insightful and brutally honest.
    • 4/5
      An excellent portrayal of ones discovery of the benefits of meditation. From dismissal to believability Dan Harris explains how he struggled along the way to ultimately find the answers he didn't know he was looking for.
    • 4/5
      Dan Harris is a national television news broadcaster who discovered meditation as a way to quiet his mind, ease anxiety, and find a little more happiness. Early in his career on national television, he was dealing with a lot of anxiety, and doing some pretty self-destructive things, which led him to have a nationally televised panic attack while delivering the news. When he was assigned to be the religion correspondent for his network, he was able to meet with all sorts of religious leaders and self-help gurus. A lifelong skeptic, he was surprised to find himself beginning to take to heart some of the things these gurus were teaching. Slowly, he finds his skepticism waning (though never vanishing) as he begins a daily meditation practice, befriends mindfulness teachers, and even participates in a 10 day meditation retreat. I liked Harris's take on meditation. He is initially turned off to the idea, because so much of what is written and said about it feels so spacey, unrealistic, and sometimes just way too far out in left field. I found the questions that Harris asks Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra regarding their teachings to be some of the same questions I would ask, and I found myself equally unsatisfied with their answers. I had a similar reaction to Harris when reading Tolle, a mix of awe and skepticism. Throughout his meditation journey, Harris had mostly decoupled meditation from spirituality, as many are doing since meditation is becoming more and more mainstream. The military and corporate executives are using meditation to sharpen focus and mental clarity, and many on the more Buddhist end of the spectrum see that sharper minds in these fields might not be such a great thing if not backed with the Buddhist tenants of compassion and loving-kindness. Harris ends up working a little bit of that into his practice. In the end, I liked Harris's story. I appreciated his skepticism, but also his ability to not let this skepticism close his mind, but instead to keep exploring, challenging himself, and asking questions.
    • 3/5
      Interesting story of his life experience and his process of getting involved in meditation. There is a lot of humor and his move into meditation is very down to earth. The book is not designed to teach meditation, but there is an appendix with good information on technique for a beginner.
    • 3/5
      10% is a great part of the title for this book. The first 90% of the book, I seriously wondered why I was reading it (hint: put on your speed reading to power though). The last chapter is thoughtful and has some good analysis of what works. A newscasters summary.
    • 5/5
      Give it a read - give it a try.. I did and instantly saw the benefit. Now I'm a meditator & proud of it.

      And to boot??? It's the next BIG thing!
    • 3/5
      Amusing anecdotal account of how meditation helped an insecure overachiever become a well known correspondent and newscaster without losing his mind and all his friends. Anti-spiritual in a way but he gets the results. Perhaps "real" in the sense that his practice takes the edge off rather than curing his anxieties.
    • 3/5
      Best for: People who find meditation interesting but maybe aren’t ready to jump into reading the Dalai Lama’s works just yet.In a nutshell: TV journalist has panic attack on air; tries to do something about it.Worth quoting: “Make the present moment your friend rather than your enemy.”“Acceptance is not passivity. Sometimes we are justifiably displeased. What mindfulness does is create some space in your head so you can, as the Buddhists say, ‘respond’ rather than simply ‘react.’“Perhaps ask yourself the following question: ‘Is this useful?’”Why I chose it: Over the holidays I was visiting my parents, and they often have morning news on. Mr. Harris was on promoting his newest book. I was about to move across the world, so decided that maybe a thick hardcover wasn’t the best purchase; then I saw this one (which is a few years old) and picked it up instead.Review: I’ve meditated before. I’ve read books on Buddhism and mindfulness and meditation. I even have a little meditation timer. My partner meditates. I haven’t done it in awhile, so this seemed like a good idea for what has ended up being some of the most stressful weeks of my life.Mr. Harris has worked for ABC news for years, hosting at times the weekend edition of Good Morning America, as well as reporting segments for the national evening news. He also had a panic attack on TV one time, which led him to reevaluate how he was living his life. Turns out that part of that panic attack was related to cocaine use (hello!), but also by his constant need to be in his thoughts. So he took the opportunities alloted to him as a journalist to research more about meditation and mindfulness, interviewing folks like Eckard Tolle, Depak Chopra, and even the Dalai Lama himself. This book is the story both of how he overcame his skepticism as well as how meditation has helped him in his life.I appreciated how Mr. Harris was upfront about his faults and flaws, and didn’t act as though meditation fixed all the things in his life immediately, or even ever. In fact, his overall premise is that it can help you be about 10% happier. That seems reasonable. I also appreciated that he did look at the religious aspect of it, but there were definitely some moments where I wondered if this was the equivalent of the 20-something white woman who decides to teach yoga without really investigating the history behind it. Is this another example of white westerners picking and choosing things from other cultures without properly respecting them? I’m not sure.That said, I’ve meditated a bit since I moved 7000 miles from home last week. It’s been exhausting, stressful, and at times a bit scary (I mean turning my cats over to cargo at 3AM, knowing we wouldn’t see them again for at least 24 hours was horrible), but as we’ve faced unforeseen challenges (who knew that it’s extraordinarily difficult to internationally wire money from credit unions ?) I’ve mostly been able to sort of keep my shit kind of together by taking to heart some ideas from this book. Especially the “is this useful” concept. Yes, I can be worried about a lot of things, but once I’ve done what I can do, that worry is only giving me a headache and/or stomachache. It was useful in helping me to be careful in the steps I took, but now it’s just a literal pain. So am I going to meditate every day? Maaaaaybe. Maybe not.
    • 4/5
      Audio Book review. Interesting perspectives. Takes a bit to get going as he goes through the back story. Some parts are a bit long winded, but over all worth a listen.
    • 5/5
      Simply put - a very useful book. Notwithstanding the title - which is a bit too catchy for my taste. But the subtitle - that's the vital thing! This is a hands-on take on mindfulness meditation and Buddhism in general, coming from the experience of a modern man who learned how to meditate and profoundly benefited from it.Dan Harris, a TV news anchor, is mercilessly candid, not without dark humor, in the description of the road that took him to meditation. The first few chapters are about that. But the rest of the book is what impressed me most. It's very relatable, as for the struggles any newcomer to meditation might face. And his insights and revelations are quite valuable. The concepts such as "Acceptance in not passivity" (!), or "Respond, not react" are so monumental that reiterating them only serves us best. Harris went straight for and managed to bring to light "an accurate diagnosis" of numerable examples of "our inner lunacy".I am with Harris - I don't think it's over-reaching to say that "Mindfulness.... could... change the world". In the long run, I think he has really managed to make meditation more appealing to anybody even hardly interested in it. Somebody who couldn't understand Eckhart Tolle - would surely get this guy, even though the message is basically same. After all, as Harris says - "If it could help a monumental skeptic like me, I could imagine what it could do to others."
    • 3/5
      Oh, Dan Harris. You knew guys like Dan Harris in college. They wore white baseball hats and those Adidas flip flops with socks. They made it very far on their charm, then in their 30s realized that life was more than partying and making money and started having Deep Insights that the rest of had when we were 22. Dan wrote a book about his Deep Insights--which happened to be Buddhist meditation, though it just as easily could have been about a conversion to Islam or his discovery of energy vortexes. Luckily, Dan is a very good writer, is very funny, has good stories to tell, and is very good at explaining the benefits that he has found. This is a very good introduction to meditation. How much you enjoy it depends entirely on what you feel about guys like Dan. (Also, if you are concerned about the state of journalism in America, this is not going to make you feel any better about it.)
    • 5/5
      Excellent. Except that unnecessary jab at The Power of Positive Thinking. But Norman would forgive him.
    • 4/5
      It’s not called a memoir, but it’s a memoir. Had I known this, I’m not sure if I would have chosen to read it; I’m not one for celebrity memoirs. Glad I didn’t know this, going in. Yes, it’s a memoir, but it’s also a book about a person who is not very happy becoming a little bit happier. He shares ways that we can all become a little bit happier, too. And that’s worth the cover price.
    • 4/5
      As sardonic in his writing as he is on tv. Enjoyed reading the book about his search for inner calm.
    • 5/5
      I've read a fair share of self-help books, most of them underwhelming, and I can tell you this is not the case with 10% Happier by Dan Harris. First off, it's not self-help; it's a memoir. And it's a side-splitting, hilarious one at that.
    • 5/5
      I picked this book up by chance not thinking that I would like it a lot. I did not anticipate that a news anchor would have much new insight on the topic of happiness and meditation. Boy, was I wrong. I found Dan Harris' book very absorbing and surprisingly insightful.I enjoyed his witty and often very funny narration style and could easily relate to his struggles. In the first part of the book the author details his career in television which was quite interesting. Then he gets into the meat of the story and details his battle with anxiety and compulsive/obsessive thoughts. Almost by accident he stumbles onto spirituality and meditation. A skeptic by nature Harris is not easily won over by the claims of Buddhism that meditation can lead to greater calm and peace in his frantic life. However, when he begins to practice meditation he quickly notices an improvement in his daily life. It helps him to calm the voices in his head and to let go of petty obsessive thoughts. The book concludes with some detailed instructions on how to start a mediation practice and some great tips on how to stay focused. Overall,I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can only recommend it.
    • 5/5
      After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the rans of a hyper competitive business but, he now recognized, had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak out. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.
    • 4/5
      This is a book, a very personal book, about meditation,10% happier by Dan Harris. He is a major network T.V. journalist, anchorman, an announced agnostic who professionally researched and covered various spiritual avenues/events for his work assignments. It seems a courageous memoir in that he shows an exposed side that searches for meaning and self improvement . He tries searching for things to support his emotional needs for growth, to keep his "chattering" ego under control, often going against the grain of his professional peers and the milieu in which they operate. It is refreshing and honest as he faces the ideas he has and the conclusions he draws and he admits that he often gets it wrong. I liked this book! It is practical, gives lots of explanations for Buddhism and its practises, especially meditation and gives lots of real information. He certainly puts a very big postive plug in for this practice. He's a bright guy and he writes well. We saw his interview on Charlie Rose about this book and he is funny and self depreciating while being smart. He mentioned that while he was 10% happier from his new meditation regime, he is, according to his wife, still 90% of an a**hole! I thought this was funny!
    • 5/5
      I will applying some of the mantras to my daily life.
    • 5/5
      I picked this book up by chance not thinking that I would like it a lot. I did not anticipate that a news anchor would have much new insight on the topic of happiness and meditation.
    • 5/5
      If I could give a 100, I would. The book is a blend of authenticity, creativity and factuality. I love it.
    • 5/5
      Harris knows how to tell a story, with self-deprecating humor and good sense. The story of a reluctant meditator, well told.
    • 5/5
      Loved the skeptic angle this had. Very Refreshing! Great story and even had me laughing at points. Definitely recommend!
    • 5/5
      This book just opened me up to the whole realm of meditation. I find it useful that he covered some of the thought leaders in this field.. Many of whom I have heard of but have yet to read their books. Good way to gain a quick insight! I loved his candid yet informative writing although 1-2 chapters were pretty Long-winded. Overall, it was one of the book that captured my attention pretty well. There are many nuggets of wisdom that I found useful for me.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book for people that want to know more about or how to start meditation through the teachings of Buddhism. Also for people who are skeptical about it. The author gives a ton of insight about the subject and "behind the scenes" through his interviews and spiritual retreats. Dan assimilates a lot of his learnings to his work as an ABC correspondent which is great insight and simplistic enough to apply it to your own life. It is a great read and a great "step" to anybody that is starting in spiritual mindfulness and meditation. A bonus is Dan's exceptional and self deprecating (in a laugh-out-loud type of way) writing style. The book flows easily and Dan does a great job of pulling the reader into his mind and his world. I recommend the book for the reasons above and to anybody that decides to read it....enjoy it!
    • 2/5
      Such a very long, exhaustive, too many private life details only to discover that it is about mindfulness and meditation after all.
    • 5/5
      Entertaining, informative, funny, well-written. I highlighted many words and phrases due to my not having encountered them before and/or their poetic or comedic worth.
    • 4/5
      As someone who ha severe anxiety, I must say that this has been helping me to acknowledge my terrible thoughts for what they are, which is just thoughts, and the breathing techniques are really helpful too. I think I might give meditation a try!