Book Byte #228 "10% Happier" by Dan Harris

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

📣 Curious Quotes from the Author

“Make the present moment your friend rather than your enemy. Because many people live habitually as if the present moment were an obstacle that they need to overcome in order to get to the next moment. And imagine living your whole life like that, where always this moment is never quite right, not good enough because you need to get to the next one. That is continuous stress.”

“When you have one foot in the future and the other in the past, you piss on the present.”

“What mindfulness does is create some space in your head so you can, as the Buddhists say, “respond” rather than simply “react.” In the Buddhist view, you can’t control what comes up in your head; it all arises out of a mysterious void. We spend a lot of time judging ourselves harshly for feelings that we had no role in summoning. The only thing you can control is how you handle it.”

“There’s no point in being unhappy about things you can’t change, and no point being unhappy about things you can.”

“Striving is fine, as long as it’s tempered by the realization that, in an entropic universe, the final outcome is out of your control. If you don’t waste your energy on variables you cannot influence, you can focus much more effectively on those you can. When you are wisely ambitious, you do everything you can to succeed, but you are not attached to the outcome—so that if you fail, you will be maximally resilient, able to get up, dust yourself off, and get back in the fray. That, to use a loaded term, is enlightened self-interest.”

“Pursuit of happiness becomes the source of our unhappiness.”

“Meditation is not about feeling a certain way. It’s about feeling the way you feel.”

“But it was in this moment, lying in bed late at night, that I first realized that the voice in my head—the running commentary that had dominated my field of consciousness since I could remember—was kind of an asshole.”

“Your demons may have been ejected from the building, but they’re out in the parking lot, doing push-ups.”

“Everything in the world is ultimately unsatisfying and unreliable because it won’t last.”

“May you be happy. May you be safe and protected from harm. May you be healthy and strong. May you live with ease.”

“Perhaps the most meaningful exchange I had on the subject was a completely random discussion with my uncle Martin at my parents’ annual summer pool party. Martin, a former entrepreneur who was now in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, turned to me and asked an intriguing question: “Which is more exciting to you? Reality or memory?” I paused, considered it, and said, “I wish I could say reality, but it’s probably memory.” And then I asked, “What about you?” At which point Martin stared blankly back at me and asked, “What was the question?”

📚 Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea

Our contemporary lifestyles force us to constantly feel anxious and stressed, which has detrimental effects on both our physical and mental well-being. By practicing meditation, we can reduce this tension and eventually live a more productive, compassionate, and satisfying life.

You can cultivate compassion by practicing "metta meditation." Repeat these words while you visualize yourself clearly: May you be happy, may you be well, may you be safe, may you live easily. Next, recite the same phrases or mantra while visualizing a kind person, a close friend, a neutral third party, a person you are having trouble with, and ultimately, all living things.

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Try out the "Think and Grow Rich Challenge" by Russell Brunson and Learn more about the First Self Help Author Napoleon Hill

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