MiB: Dan Harris on Getting “10% Happier”

August 5, 2023

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This week, we speak with journalist and entrepreneur Dan Harris, author of the New York Times bestselling book “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.” Harris also launched the app Ten Percent Happier, and hosts the Wondery podcast “Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris.” He lives in New York City.

Harris explains how when he returned home from wartime Iraq coverage, he was suffering from Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD; he soon after began self-medicating. He had an on-air panic attack, which led him to seek help.

He gets assigned to cover fait and spirituality. He read a book by Eckhart Tolle (A New Earth) and found himself intrigued by the ideas. Since nothing else was working for him, he followed some of the precepts in the book, including meditation.

We also discuss the overlap between good investing advice and meditation. The ideas of reducing noise levels, focusing on what matters, and eliminating distractions all resonate and improve results in both areas.

A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Ted Seides, founder of Capital Allocators, an advisory platform to managers and allocators. Previously, he worked under David Swensen at the Yale Investments Office, where he invested directly with three of Yale’s managers. We discuss his famous bet with Warren Buffett about whether a selection of hedge funds could beat the S&P 500 over a decade. (Buffett won).