10% Happier

How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works

By: Dan Harris

Narrated by: Dan Harris

Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Nightline anchor Dan Harris embarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable.

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 both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.

We all have a voice in our head. It's what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we're not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we're stuck with this voice that there's nothing we can do to rein it in but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. It's a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it's something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. 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.

10% Happier takes listeners on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America's spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2014 Daniel Benjamin Harris (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

Not really a self-help book, but a great listen

Initially, I felt put off by this book's "self-help" label because it seems most books in that genre simply repackage stuff your mom told you for free. What changed my mind were reviews on Goodreads and audible.com where readers tend to be a tough crowd and a book generally has to be very, very good to rate a 4 or 5-star rating. So, I figured why not, and picked up the audio version. As I began listening, I found the author (who also narrates the story) to be funny in a self-deprecating way and disarmingly honest -- I also realized this isn't really a self-help book.

The author describes what contributed to his on-air panic attack on "Good Morning America" and the details of his subsequent journey of self-discovery. He describes interviewing self-help authors like Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and others... and rather than revering them as gurus, is skeptical about the uniqueness of their insights and approach. He decides the "voice in my head is an a--hole" and seeks actionable ways to cultivate a more effective coping mechanism. He ultimately tries meditation and finds it to be a useful way to cope with stress and cultivate compassion. This book has something for everyone:
- For folks who meditate, this story is a nice reminder of the benefits of meditation.
- For those not into meditation, it feels like listening an old friend tell his story of moving beyond a life altering event by "upping his game and becoming a leading man."
This is one of those books that would be good read on a Kindle or paperback, but is an absolutely great audiobook. Highly recommended.

Meditation 2.0!

I'd definitely recommend this book. It's a biography and a meditation guidebook. It is definitely not a regular meditation guide though. There is no transcendental bu****it on it.
The author who is a reporter in his spare time (a popular one by the way) has a very analytical mind and tries to uncover what is truth and what is not in self help. He talks about many self help books I read in the past .Eckhart Tolle, Joe Vitale Deepak Chopra he interview all of these guys and they are full of s**t, Eckhart being the only exception;

The author is able to go straight into the most important questions about meditation, self help and controlling the ego. The closest to a mystical free of bias meditation teachings.
It is a biography as well. Very enlightening because I face many of the difficulties he faced as well;

One of the best meditation and self help book I read. Already listen to it twice, planning to listen again at least once every year.

Memoir with a self help subtext

Any additional comments?

This well written book is part memoir and part an explanation of mindfulness meditation as derived from Buddhist sources. It's not so much a guide to or argument for meditation, as an account of the author's experience. The book is clear, stimulating and reasonably honest, written with passion and compassion, but also with the reflective detachment which he has worked to cultivate. Interesting observations on short attention span and distraction, the inefficiency of multitasking, and on the nature of human happiness. Wonderful word sketches of mentors, friends and colleagues. Far more substantial than most self improvement books. No fads, dogmas or extravagant claims. A good listen.

Enjoyable memoir that's neatly motivating

What did you love best about 10% Happier?

The author's narration was really entertaining and perfectly suited to an audiobook

What did you like best about this story?

Harris goes from sceptic to devotee in a believable way but meets lots of interesting people along the way

What about Dan Harris’s performance did you like?

His humour

What insight do you think you’ll apply from 10% Happier?

To meditate daily - his journey was really motivating but it never felt like it was trying to be.

How Dan Harris found Buddhism

First of all, I agree with other reviewers who says that the ~first third of the book is not particularly interesting. Basically the reader learns that Harris early on desired a career on television, and eventually he ended up at abc. Readers who are not specifically interested in Dan Harris could skip this. However I was impressed by Harris frankness concerning own excessive egocentrism, which is a theme present throughout the book.

The best part of the book starts after Harris suffered his panic attack on television. (Out of curiosity I actually went online to check out this panic attack and it did not seem nearly as bad as described in this book). This panic attack, caused in part by Harris use of cocaine, triggers a crisis following which this middle aged man, like so many others, starts to search for meaning. First he has a short flirt the famous gay/anti-gay pastor Ted Haggard, who Harris thinks is crazy but is still kind of impressed by. Even if Dan Harris never seems to seriously contemplate becoming an evangelical, this story about Ted is actually quite entertaining. Harris quickly moves on to self-help Guru’s meetings with, among other, Deepak Chopra. Harris is intrigued by their claims that they never succumb to their own feelings. Yet Harris also observes that for a man who claims to be so immensely “spiritual”, Deepak Chopra seems to care an awful lot about PR and selling stuff. I liked how Harris asks self-help guru’s and spiritual leaders the kind of questions I would ask them like for example “so it doesn’t bother you if you really need to go to the toilet and you can’t?”. Deepak, unlike some more sane people that we meet later, maintains that it doesn’t bother him (yeah right)...

Harris eventually decides that self-help is terrible when it comes to practical advice and moves on. He then finds buddhism. To my surprise, Sam Harris, a renowned skeptic, is one of the people who encourages Dan Harris to learn mindfulness.

The remainder of the book basically describes how Dan Harris gradually buys into meditation, mindfulness and other Buddhists practises. However up until the end Harris maintain at least some distance, and his mantra that he had become 10 percent happier, is sobering and makes the whole story much more believable (unlike say self help gurus who claim to always be at peace). Indeed this title was one of the reasons I even gave this book a chance.

QUITE HAPPIER 😊

I had all the reasons in the initial stages to say to myself that this book was a no performer, but as the story advanced, it really got me hooked! Especially the last 1.5 hours is very humble & warm. A must try !

Book could be shorter

this book can be summarized into smaller straightforward book. meditation is important and that it will improve your well being. Nice book though

Hilarious, Honest, Helpful. Made my commute 100% happier!

Would you listen to 10% Happier again? Why?
Yes. I didn't want it to end. (Not that I'm attaching or anything:)

Any additional comments?
If you're curious, skeptical, and /or thinking about starting a mindfulness meditation practice, whether or not you're turned off by some of the patent absurdity and weirdness that seems to go along with the "spiritual path" you will love this book.

Highly recommended!

Practical, relatable, and frequently hilarious

I really liked the fact that the first half of the book is Harris simply narrating his own life story. It’s quite interesting, and even more importantly it provides a context for everything else he did when he began to experiment with meditation. Without this, the book would not have been nearly as relatable or inspiring. It probably would not have been useful at all.

I love that he is a total skeptic – and I completely identify with the experience of growing up as a child of the generation following the hippie dippy one. I, too, have always fled from crystals, caftans, incense, people who talk about chakras, etc., etc. Shelving the self-help section in a book shop where I worked used to be an experience of both self-superiority and despair - definitely not very helpful, but the irony was OK.

In addition to being a sincere, sane, and unabashed skeptic, he is also self-deprecating, skilled at delivering laugh-out-loud anecdotes, and equally unashamed of throwing in both big “smart-person” words and “lowly” but well-chosen “swear” words.

I “don’t do” nonfiction (just like I “don’t do” self-help, but I recommend this unreservedly.


Aside: I also “don’t do” meditation, but with a fair amount of cringing & self-mockery, I’ve just started to give that a bit of a go. Who knows? It might turn out to be good, and I think it’s certainly worth a try at the very least.

Humble and Real

I enjoyed this book, Dan was able to bring up many points in which I related too. Genuine and real. I would recommend this to friends, I already have.