Dan Harris is the quirky, witty and boyish-looking anchor of the "Good Morning America" weekend edition and co-anchor of "Nightline" on ABC.

In his first book, "10% Happier," he chronicles his rise from local reporter to national news anchor, which was full of anxiety, drug use and competition. His memoir is full of honesty, self-discovery and some advice on meditation, which he believes is one reason why he is currently successful, married and 10 percent happier.

One fateful morning in June 2004, Harris had a televised panic attack on a weekday edition of "Good Morning America," while he was reading the news, filling in for his colleague Robin Roberts.

He writes, "Out of nowhere, I felt like I was being stabbed in the brain with raw animal fear. ... My heart started to gallop. My mouth dried up. My palms oozed sweat."

He attempted to finish the news incoherently, trying to get through the six voice-overs he was supposed to do. But he ended early and sent the broadcast back to a surprised Charlie Gibson.

According to Harris, his bosses at GMA were sympathetic, and he read the news again in one hour with no problems. But inside, his nerves were shaking constantly, and he soon went to a psychologist, specializing in panic attacks, who informed him that his recreational use of cocaine messed with his brain and had a hand in causing his panic.

This is how Harris begins his memoir, with a shocking and revealing story of his early days of success at ABC News.

Throughout the beginning of the memoir, he tells stories of working with Peter Jennings, of covering war zones in the Middle East and of meeting Ted Haggard, a televangelist whom Harris was quite fond of. Haggard ended his religious career in shame when it came out that he was dealing drugs and having an affair with a man.

While Harris went on assignments all over the world, met new colleagues such as David Muir and Chris Cuomo and continued to receive promotions with the ABC News family, he struggled with anxiety, negative self-image and a desire to do drugs.

Then he turned to meditation. The second half of his memoir fascinatingly recounts his story of looking for life meaning and self-help through books and public figures, like Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra. One of the most engaging sections of the book is when he gets to interview the Dalai Lama, and they discuss how even this important religious figure loses his temper.

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Sharing a story of near self-destruction and a new path