Book Review: 10% Happier

I don’t share this often, but I used to suffer from severe panic attacks.

My head would spin, I couldn’t breathe, and it felt like the world was ending right in that moment. It was terrifying.

The panic attacks were triggered by an extremely stressful job I was stuck in, and thankfully, I found ways to cope by using breathing techniques, meditation, and getting a new job as quickly as possible.

It was a wakeup call for me to take my self-care (or white space) seriously.

Your health is your top priority because you can’t be of service to anyone else if you’re struggling to live your life.

None of our goals are reachable if we’re not taking care of our own minds and bodies. That’s why I want to recommend a book that has changed my life and helped me be more purposeful with my white space even though I’m a bit high strung.

10% Happier is a memoir by someone who I relate to very much.

News anchor Dan Harris was living a life so full of stress, competition, dangerous work conditions, and drugs that he lost control and had a panic attack on live TV.

Watch the embarrassing moment below.

It was his rock bottom wakeup call that set him on a path toward a more spiritual and balanced life.

Through a lot of trial and error, he found a way to incorporate some woo-woo practices into his Type A life.

At its core, this book is about life editing. Little edits count just as much as sweeping transformations.

Dan Harris wasn’t looking for a complete happiness transformation or to become a guru sitting on a mountain top. He just adopted a few tiny changes to become 10% happier.

And that was enough.

Next Steps

• Get your copy of 10% Happier. Have you ever tried meditating and what do you do when your life feels out of control?
• Start small and meditate 5 minutes per day. Download the free app Insight Timer and try one of the thousands of guided meditations.
• Join the Life Editor Clubhouse and watch the video training classes “Type A Meditations” and “How to Silence the Critical Voices in your Head” for more help easing your anxiety.

This post focuses on Step 5 of the Life Editing Process, Make White Space for Personal Self-Care. For more about life editing and what it can do for you, click here.