Episode Overview

Podcast: 10% Happier with Dan Harris
Episode: A Meditation for Overthinking and Perfectionism | Jeff Warren
Air Date: December 21, 2025
Theme:
This episode features a guided meditation led by Jeff Warren, focused on addressing overthinking, perfectionism, and the deep human craving for certainty. Drawing from the Zen concept of “Don’t Know Mind,” Jeff invites listeners to gently loosen their grip on the need for answers and allow themselves to rest in direct, present-moment experience. The episode is practical, warm, and aims to provide a pressure release for those feeling trapped by worry or perfectionism.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Human Need for Certainty (00:04)

• Dan Harris opens with the observation that craving certainty about our lives is universal, but reality rarely accommodates us:

  “One of the hardest parts of being alive is that we desperately crave certainty about our health, about our loved ones, about the state of the world, on and on. We want certainty, but reality does not cooperate.” — Dan Harris (00:08)

• He frames the episode’s meditation as a practical tool for those struggling with overthinking and perfectionism.

2. Introduction to “Don’t Know Mind” (04:47)

• Jeff Warren shares wisdom from his former teacher:

  “‘If you can give up the need to know, you might start to know in a whole new way.’ Best advice ever. Which I instantly forgot. But I did remember it again.” — Jeff Warren (04:49)

• Sets up the practice as an antidote to the “neediness” for certainty. It isn’t knowledge itself that’s the issue, but the craving for it.

3. Guided Meditation Practice (05:24–12:25)

Instructions & Mindset

• Listeners are encouraged to close their eyes (if comfortable), take deliberate breaths, and soften the body:

  “Smooth out the worry lines of your forehead… You can let the jaw be sort of goofy and slack, already practicing not knowing anything…” — Jeff Warren (05:40)

• The main instruction: whenever a thought or worry arises, repeat to yourself:

  “Don’t know, don’t need to know.” — Jeff Warren (06:34)

• Direct attention to a simple sensory “home base” (breath, touch, sounds) and notice the raw experience, rather than ideas or labels.

Handling Wandering Thoughts

• Gently redirecting the mind when it wanders:

  “If the mind wanders off or has a question, you can just say to yourself, don’t know, don’t need to.” — Jeff Warren (07:36) “Let it go. Coming back to your direct experience.” — Jeff Warren (08:26)

Exploring Not Knowing

• Describes the effect of practicing in this way:

  “You’re just letting the world do its thing without you needing to have an opinion about it… If thoughts come...just good naturedly say to yourself, don’t know, don’t need to know.” — Jeff Warren (09:00)

• Acknowledges that not knowing can feel “spacey, uncomfortable, disorienting, frustrating”—and that’s perfectly fine. Encourages cultivating humility towards the moment.

Liberation in Non-Attachment

• Shares a favorite Buddhist teaching:

  “There’s a great line from Buddhism's famous Diamond Sutra: ‘Cultivate a mind that dwells nowhere.’ This state of non-attachment… can be very liberating because a mind that dwells nowhere is free to go anywhere.” — Jeff Warren (11:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan Harris, on meditation’s relevance:

  “If you struggle with overthinking, perfectionism, worry, or the constant background hum of ‘what if,’ this is a meditation for you.” (00:30)

• Jeff Warren, on the heart of the practice:

  “So we’re practicing being aware without any need to lock down what’s going on.” (09:24)

• Jeff Warren, on the freedom of not knowing:

  “A mind that dwells nowhere is free to go anywhere. And that's our practice, friends.” (11:20)

Important Timestamps

• [00:04] — Dan Harris introduces the human craving for certainty
• [04:47] — Jeff Warren begins; shares Shinzen Young’s advice on the need to know
• [05:24] — Start of the guided meditation
• [07:36] — Meditation instructions for when you notice thoughts or wondering
• [09:00] — Embracing not knowing; letting go of opinions about experience
• [11:08] — “Cultivate a mind that dwells nowhere” — Buddhist teaching
• [12:25] — Meditation ends; Dan Harris closes episode

Final Reflections

Tone:
Encouraging, down-to-earth, and good-humored. Jeff normalizes uncertainty and makes space for discomfort, making the episode accessible for anyone struggling with the drive to know and control.

Utility:
This episode is a practical invitation to experiment with gentle self-kindness and curiosity, rather than succumbing to habitual mental stressors. Listeners receive both the “why” and the “how” of not knowing, as well as reassurance that liberation and humility can be found in uncertainty.

For Listeners:
Even if you’re new to Zen or meditation, this episode is a welcoming, relatable entry point to a powerful practice for those wrestling with overthinking and perfectionism.