Barbara Fredrickson

Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology.

Barbara Fredrickson is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Award-winning Director of the PEP Lab at the University of North Carolina. Her research reveals how micro-moments of love and other forms of positivity nourish your health, wisdom, and longevity.

One of the most highly-cited contributors to psychological science, Barb is best known for her broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. It describes how your positive emotions were sculpted by the discerning chisel of Darwinian natural selection to serve as life-giving nutrients for growth.

Barb’s scientific contributions have influenced scholars and practitioners worldwide, in disciplines ranging from business to healthcare and beyond. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, The Economist, CNN, NPR, PBS, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She has twice been invited to brief His Holiness the Dalai Lama on her research.

PhilosophersNotes on Barbara Fredrickson's Books All PhilosophersNotes

Love 2.0

Finding Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection

by Barbara Fredrickson

Ready to upgrade your vision of love? Then you’re in for a treat with this fantastic book by Barbara Fredrickson. Barbara is one of the world’s leading positive psychologists. The book is incredibly well-written, deeply inspiring and incredibly practical as well. In fact, I just told Alexandra that this book might be the one that most positively impacts my life. Big Ideas we explore include: Love 1.0 vs. Love 2.0, taking a trip to Vagus, identifying our prevailing desire, #1 tip: create 3 loving moments today, exiting our cocoon of self-absorption via loving-kindness meditation, and Love 2.0 x 2: compassionate + celebratory love.

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Love & Meditation

+1s Inspired by Barbara Fredrickson All +1s

Celebratory Love
#26

Gratitude’s Generous Cousin

In the last couple +1s we talked about the power of Gratitude and Grateful Flow. (You try them out yet? 😃) Today, let’s talk about something Barbara Frederickson calls “celebratory love.” First, quick backstory: Barbara is one of the world’s leading researchers studying well-being. She wrote a...

+1 inspired by Note: Love 2.0

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Love & Positive Psychology

Gratitude jealous Love micro-moment optimism Practice Spirit tool

Deep Love Time Blocks
#158

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When’s Your Next Time Block?

We’ve talked a ton about Deep Work and going Deep in general. But let’s get more specific and make sure we’re prioritizing not just our Deep Work time blocks but also our Deep LOVE time blocks. Let’s start by whipping out your evolving Masterpiece Day template. If you could wave a wand and create...

+1 inspired by Note: Love 2.0

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Connection & Masterpiece Days

Family Love Spirit

Love 2.0 (vs. Love 1.0)
#401

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Ready to Upgrade Today?

Barbara Fredrickson is one of the world’s leading positive psychologists. She wrote a book called Love 2.0 in which she challenges us to upgrade our Love OS. Here’s the short story. Most of us think of love as something reserved for the precious few people in our lives — our family and our ...

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Connection & Love

Compassion flourish Love optimism relationships Spirit tool

Vagal Tone
#483

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The New Sexy (Meet Your 10th Cranial Nerve)

Your 10th cranial nerve starts at the base of your brain and then cruises down to your heart and thru your lungs and down into your gut. It kinda wanders. Which is why it’s called the vagus nerve—which, in Latin, literally means “wanderer.” (It shares a root with words like vagabond.) Why are we ...

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Breathing & Connection

Breathing Compassion connection Energy Health Recovery

Love 0.0 + 1.0 + 2.0 + 3.0
#573

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Optimizing our Love Operating Systems

In our last few +1s, we talked about MMA Champ Champs, Olympic pankration fighters and Teddy Roosevelt’s Optimizer in the Arena. Today we’re going to shift gears a bit and talk about Love. Specifically, let’s talk about Love 0.0 + Love 1.0 + Love 2.0 + Love 3.0. Quick context: My friend Matt McCall...

+1 inspired by Note: Love 2.0

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Love & Modern Hērō

Areté Love love2-0 modern-hero relationships Spirit technology

Looking for Love (2.0)
#727

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Finding Those Micro Moments of Positivity Resonance (TODAY!)

As we’ve discussed, I absolutely love Love 2.0 by Barbara Fredrickson. As a super-introverted guy, it’s easy for me to get lost in my own thought bubbles and forget to exit what Barbara calls our “cocoon of self-absorption.” In the process of spending so much time lost in our own thoughts and/or ...

+1 inspired by Note: Love 2.0

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Connection & Love

community connection Love love2-0 relationships Spirit

Love 1.5
#823

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Right There Between Love 1.0 and Love 2.0

The other day my wonderful Physical Therapist/Peak Performance (Optimize!) Coach, Dr. Julie Beck was doing her thing getting my wrist back in business so I can start hammering out my burpees again. btw: We’re on track to cut the estimated recovery time in half (as planned). Surgeon said 9 to 12 months....

+1 inspired by Note: Love 2.0

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Love

Coach community Compassion Love love2-0 relationships Spirit

“I Found Something!”
#1048

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The "I Love You” Game

As we’ve discussed many times, one of my absolute favorite things to do in life is curl up in bed next to Emerson and read together. It’s an essential part of our PM Bookend and one we miss only on rare occasions. As we’ve also discussed before, one of our all-time favorite series is ca...

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Fatherhood

Emerson Family Fatherhood Love love2-0 Parenting relationships Spirit

May I Speak With Your Supervisor?
#1124

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I Want to Tell Them How Awesome You Are!

In our last +1, we spent some time with Seneca and the Buddha and Walter Russell—reminding ourselves of the importance of doing the mundane, less-than-inspiring tasks with all we’ve got. Making it ALL a part of our practice. I mentioned the fact that we’re moving. I’ll be sharing more...

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Leadership & Productivity

community Gratitude leadership Love love2-0 productivity service Spirit

Comcourage
#1197

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A New Word for Our Optimizing Dictionary

I had a lot of fun preparing for our Carpe Diem session on Love for our Mastery Series. There was a mini-fireworks display of epiphanies as I wrapped my brain around how we can help people become Professional Lovers of Wisdom (and Professional Heros!) while redefining our sense of what Love means with a ...

+1 inspired by Note: Love 2.0

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Love & Modern Hērō

big-picture Coach Compassion courage Love modern-hero Spirit

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Barbara Fredrickson

Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology.

PhilosophersNotes on Barbara Fredrickson's Books All PhilosophersNotes

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+1s Inspired by Barbara Fredrickson All +1s

Celebratory Love #26

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Deep Love Time Blocks #158 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Love 2.0 (vs. Love 1.0) #401 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Vagal Tone #483 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Love 0.0 + 1.0 + 2.0 + 3.0 #573 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Looking for Love (2.0) #727 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Love 1.5 #823 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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“I Found Something!” #1048 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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May I Speak With Your Supervisor? #1124 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Comcourage #1197 Get instant access to all +1's! Join nearly 10,000 members in the 1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge and start optimizing your life today. Join Now

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Celebratory Love
#26

Deep Love Time Blocks
#158

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Love 2.0 (vs. Love 1.0)
#401

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Vagal Tone
#483

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Love 0.0 + 1.0 + 2.0 + 3.0
#573

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Looking for Love (2.0)
#727

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Love 1.5
#823

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“I Found Something!”
#1048

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May I Speak With Your Supervisor?
#1124

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Comcourage
#1197

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