This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hello, everybody. How we doing? Today, we are going to examine a pretty intriguing set of questions. Can you change your personality? Should you change your personality? And what exactly is a personality anyway? The science says you can change your personality and that there are evidence-based ways to do it.

So today we're going to be a journalist who took on this very project and came back with some hilarious stories and also some very concrete takeaways.

Olga Hazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic.

Her new book is called Me But Better. Great title.

In this conversation, we cover the definition of personality, the so-called big five aspects

of personality and her attempts to work on each of them, how to spice up your social life,

the concept of conscientiousness and how to get better at it, and antidote to procrastination,

tips for reducing neuroticism, the role of psychedelics, and practical,

and this is incredibly helpful, practical ways to make reasonable, marginal, but meaningful

changes in the middle of your very busy life.

By the way, if you're looking to turn down the volume on your own pension for procrastination,

we have a custom meditation

for you, specifically designed as a companion to this episode. That meditation comes from our

teacher of the month, Don Maricio. It's available for paying subscribers over in Dan Harris.com.

Paid subscribers also get regular live video sessions where I do a guided meditation and answer your

questions.

In fact, there's one with me and Dawn today at Four Eastern.

Join the party over at Dan Harris.com.

We'll get started with Olga Hazan right after this.

Have you ever been at a hotel and you get into the bed and you realize, oh man, I wish my bed felt like this.

That is what you can expect with Lisa.

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