Hacks for taming your runaway mind

Buddhist earworms from Joseph Goldstein

Jan 05, 2026

We’ve officially moved into our new home: the 10% with Dan Harris app. Paid subscribers can find step-by-step instructions here to get set up. If you’re not a paid subscriber, now is the time to sign up. Get a 30-day free trial that includes the New Year’s Challenge—a seven-day masterclass in mindfulness and meditation led by the inimitable Joseph Goldstein. The Challenge starts today and is only available in the app!

Happy New Year. Whether you’re a resolutions person or not, I think we can all agree that the uber-resolution—the move that sits upstream from everything we do—is the ability to work skillfully with the runaway mind. It’s harder to reach your goals when you have no way to surf the nonstop waves of wanting, not-wanting, comparing, complaining, fretting, ruminating, resenting, and randomness.

For the last 15 years, I’ve been studying with the eminent meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein. One of his main modes of instruction is through pithy little phrases. I think of them as Buddhist earworms. They wiggle their way into your psyche and then surface at the exact moment when you need them most.

Let’s kick off 2026 with three phrases that Joseph uses to get unhooked from mental spiraling. I’ve chosen three that will work whether you’re interested in meditation or not.

Is this useful? A certain amount of worry makes sense, in my opinion. But we often take it too far, crossing the line between constructive anguish and useless rumination. The next time you find yourself looping on a problem for the 27th time, maybe ask yourself this question: Is this useful? I’ve found it to be a great way to wake up.
Dead End. This is a more forceful alternative. If the above hack doesn’t cut it, you can bring down the hammer of “dead end.” This is not to be confused with compartmentalization or the unhealthy squelching of emotions. This phrase is to be used for when you know full well that there’s nothing more to gain from another round of worrying, wanting, or raging. Dead end. Let that shit go. (NB: Don’t worry if it takes repeated application. I often have to use this phrase many times until it does the trick. Which leads me to…)
Just begin again. This phrase lies at the heart of meditation—and of life. This being-alive thing is difficult. The world is insane. The mind is unruly. Without grit and resilience, it’s hard to move forward. So when you find yourself breaking a resolution five minutes after making it, or when you realize you’ve been lost in thought in the middle of your meditation, don’t judge yourself. Just begin again. The return is the practice.

If you want to hear Joseph talk about the above phrases and many more, listen to these two new 10% Happier episodes:

Great news: Our New Year's Challenge, which will help you put these ideas into practice, starts today! This seven-part guided meditation series from Joseph is a great way to kickstart your year, with teachings you can return to again and again whenever you want to get to know your thoughts, your emotions, or just need a little help with the general insanity of being alive.

The seven-day New Year’s Challenge kicks off today and consists of:

Daily meditations Jan. 5 through Jan. 11 from Joseph Goldstein (only available in the app)
Three special live sessions: Jan. 6, 8, & 11 at 4:00 p.m. ET (join via the dedicated Challenge Zoom link)

To support you during the Challenge, I’m hosting three special live sessions on Zoom. The first Challenge live is during our regular Tuesday session tomorrow, Jan. 6 at 4:00 p.m. ET. I’ll also be on live on Jan. 8 and Jan. 11 — all at 4:00 p.m. ET.

These three live sessions for our New Year’s Challenge are open to everyone, paid as well as free subscribers. They use a different Zoom link from our regular Tuesday Zoom lives. You can find the Challenge Zoom link here. We will also email the link out before each live. And you can find it in the new app under “Upcoming Events.”

Also out today: A brand new 10% Happier episode with the legendary Esther Perel. We talk about how the modern world saps your life force and how you can recapture it. The cheatsheet and transcript can be found in the episode post in the app.

As a reminder, Jan. 12 is the last day you’ll be able to access our library of paid content on Substack. After that, all meditations and the ad-free podcast will live exclusively in the new 10% with Dan Harris app, so now is the time to make the switch. I’ll continue to publish my free newsletter for all subscribers here.

See you tomorrow on Zoom. Again, our Challenge live sessions are open to everyone, whether you’re a paid or free subscriber, so please join us!

IPMF,

Dan