#1037 - Life Hacks: A Christmas Special (2025)

Former ABC News anchor Dan Harris believes anyone can benefit from meditation. In 10% Happier, he offers a skeptic’s journey through the world of self-help following his meltdown on live television. Harris explains how meditation allowed him to get control of his anxiety, manage his ego, and become a more compassionate person. This book explores how mindfulness and meditation can improve your life and career—even by just 10%.

In this guide, we’ll explore Harris’s understanding of mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhist principles. We’ll also discuss the lessons meditation can teach you, explain how to start meditating, and debunk some common misconceptions about mindfulness. Along the way, we’ll provide research on meditation and other actionable tips from experts.

Do people who turn their backs on religion leave something crucial behind? Atheist philosopher and scientist Sam Harris thinks they do. He argues that those who reject the contemplative aspects of faith traditions are missing out on the contentment that comes from seeking transcendental states of mind, which has historically been the domain of religion.

Harris is known for encouraging skeptics to confront religion. In 2017’s Waking Up, he lays out a reason-based approach to spirituality that’s rooted in what science and meditation teach about the workings of the human mind.

In this guide, we’ll explore Harris’s definition of spirituality, what neuroscience says about the nature of consciousness, and Harris’s argument that while consciousness is real, your sense of self is an illusion. We’ll examine what spiritual enlightenment looks like from a secular worldview, its implications for self-improvement, and what science and theology have to say about consciousness, the soul, and the mind.

In recent years, meditation and mindfulness have swept across the West and become popular tools for everything from stress management to productivity, focus, and spiritual seeking. But amidst this excitement, say Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, the facts have been distorted and the signal has been lost in the noise. In Altered Traits, they clarify what we do and don’t know about meditation—as well as what’s been overhyped.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how they define meditation, why it’s proved difficult to study, and what we know about its effects. We’ll also discuss what the research on meditation shows: that meditation alters traits, or produces lasting changes to your brain, behavior, and experience of life. Throughout the guide, we’ll comment on related research and perspectives, and we’ll broaden the authors’ discussion of traditional Buddhism, Buddhist terminology, and Buddhism in the West.

What if the traditional approach to setting and pursuing goals is fundamentally flawed? In Tiny Experiments, neuroscientist and entrepreneur Anne-Laure Le Cunff challenges our ingrained beliefs about achievement and offers an alternative: Treat your life as a laboratory for discovery rather than a linear path to predetermined destinations.

Our guide explores Le Cunff’s experimental framework that can transform how you pursue growth and fulfillment. You’ll learn why conventional goal-setting often leads to anxiety and burnout, how embracing curiosity and intentional imperfection creates more sustainable progress, and techniques for designing tiny experiments that reveal what engages you. We’ll also explore how Le Cunff’s approach aligns with neuroscience research on habit formation, connects to both scientific and artistic traditions of experimentation, and addresses fundamental human needs and cognitive biases that often derail traditional goal-setting.

What’s the common thread among the world’s most successful business leaders? In Discover Your True North, business leadership educator Bill George argues that it’s not about being the most talented or the most charming person in the boardroom—it’s about being true to yourself and staying focused on your core priorities and values (your “True North”).

After analyzing interviews with 48 international business leaders about their career journeys, George distills their most salient insights into simple guidelines that anyone can follow to become a leader in their organization. In this guide, we’ll explain how to identify your core purpose and ethics by reflecting on your unique life experiences, common mistakes to avoid on your leadership journey, how to hone a team-oriented approach to leadership, and how to maintain a personal support system. We’ll also compare George’s recommendations to those of other business leaders and include tips for executing his guidelines.

Do you struggle to make friends? Have you ever wanted to learn how to read people? If so, Jack Schafer and Marvin Karlins’s The Like Switch can help. Schafer spent 22 years as a Special Agent in counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, and behavioral analysis at the FBI. In The Like Switch, Schafer—with the help of Karlins, a management and organizational behavior expert—applies his experience earning the trust of witnesses, suspects, and spies to the art of making friends and fostering powerful connections.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to use nonverbal signals to identify potential friends and show others that you’re open to friendship. We’ll also outline techniques for attracting new friends and for maintaining strong relationships. Finally, we’ll look at the unique dynamics and challenges of online connections. In our commentary, we’ll discuss the research behind the book’s psychological principles and some alternative points of view on relationship building.

Is there a research-backed way to make love last? In The Love Prescription, relationship researchers Julie Schwartz Gottman and John Gottman argue that long-lasting love is sustained by small, daily acts. They explain that regularly practicing behaviors such as expressing gratitude for your partner and being honest about your needs make all the difference for long-term love.

In this guide, we’ll explain why small acts sustain healthy relationships and discuss how to implement the most crucial habits in your romantic life. You’ll learn how to express gratitude for your partner’s admirable actions, ask deep questions to stay connected with them, and make time for date night no matter what. We’ll also compare the Gottmans’ approach to the ideas of other relationship and communication experts, including Mark Goulston (Just Listen) and Gary Chapman (The 5 Love Languages).