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Robert A. Emmons

Robert Emmons

Researcher, author and speaker on all things related to gratitude & joy

In addition to his academic appointment at UC Davis, Robert Emmons is director of the Emmons Lab, a long-term research project designed to create and disseminate a large body of novel scientific data on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its potential consequences for human health and well-being. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, International Society for Quality of Life Studies (Fellow), International Network for the Study of Personal Meaning, International Positive Psychology Association and APA, Division 36 where he served as President from 2003 to 2004. Emmons is editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology. He has also served as consulting editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Personality. In addition, he has been an editorial consultant for the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and a guest editor for the Journal of Personality special issue Levels and Domains in Personality (with D.P. McAdams).

PhilosophersNotes on Robert Emmons's Books All PhilosophersNotes

Gratitude Works!

A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity

by Robert A. Emmons

I’m grateful for Robert Emmons. He’s dedicated the last three decades of his life to understanding the science of how to boost our well-being. In the process, he’s conducted ground-breaking research on the power of gratitude. In fact, he’s basically THE researcher we have to thank for understanding *just* how powerful gratitude journaling is.(He's also served as editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology.) I consider myself a reasonably grateful guy but this book has opened my eyes to JUST how powerful gratitude is. And, to just how important it is to DELIBERATELY PRACTICE it. Big Ideas we explore include: How to give yourself a 25% (!!!) boost in happiness, the top gratitude practices, the #1 obstacle to gratitude (and its remedy), and using challenges for grateful fuel!

Pack:

Positive Psychology

positive-psychology

Thanks!

How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier

by Robert A. Emmons

Robert Emmons is one of the world's leading experts on the science of gratitude and this book is packed with the whys and hows of getting our gratitude on. In this Note, we'll explore Big Ideas on how we can boost our happiness by 25% by simply keeping a daily gratitude journal, how to get our relationships flourishing, the importance of seeing challenges as opportunities for growth and more goodness.

Packs:

Journaling & Positive Psychology

Heart Modern Classic Spirit Volume II

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Gratitude
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Science Says: It Works!

Gratitude is a very powerful thing. Shockingly so. In fact, research shows that something as simple as writing down 5 things you’re grateful for once a week can boost your happiness by up to 25%. Really?

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Conquering Depression & Positive Psychology

Gratitude Happiness Heart sad science Science of Mind Spirit tool

Smile!
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A Surprisingly Powerful Way to Boost Your Mood

Get this: Scientists can bring people into a lab and have them hold a pen in their mouths in one of two different ways to elicit two very different outcomes. One group comes in and holds a pen between their lips. The other group holds the pen between their teeth. (Try it to feel the difference!...

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Conquering Depression & Positive Psychology

action Body Energy Happiness tool

Thanks! Thanks! And Thanks!
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Three Ways to Give Thanks Today

For everyone in the US celebrating today: Happy Thanksgiving!! For everyone else: Happy Day of Thanks!! 😃 Let’s celebrate by recapping three great ways to boost your gratitude today. First, we have our standard Gratitude Practice. Remember:

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Packs:

Connection & Positive Psychology

Compassion connection Family Gratitude Happiness Heart positive-psychology Spirit tool

The Ultimate Gift
#1067

Existence Itself

In our last +1 we talked about David Brooks’ two mountains and connected them to the metaphor of stepping out of our shiny race cars and into the pit crew to help OTHERS win THEIR races in life. I encouraged us to get tactical about it—picking three people and thinking of one thing we c...

+1 inspired by Note: Gratitude Works!

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Conquering Anxiety & Love

conquering-anxiety Gratitude Happiness Heart Hope Love optimism Spirit

Science Says: Gratitude Works
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Some EYE-POPPING Stats

In our last +1, we talked about the power of gratitude. We soaked up some science-wisdom from Robert Emmons, the leading researcher on gratitude, who told us that gratitude is the best approach to life. When things are going well, it amplifies the awesome. When things aren’t going so well...

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Depression

conquering-anxiety conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Heart journal-exercise optimism Spirit Virtue

How to Cultivate Gratitude
#1069

Science Says: #1 Practice = …

Robert Emmons joined us to give us some EYE-POPPING (his words, my all caps!) stats: “People are 25 percent happier if they keep gratitude journals, sleep one-half hour more per evening, and exercise 33 percent more each week compared to persons who are not keeping these journals.” ...

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Conquering Anxiety & Journaling

conquering-anxiety Gratitude Happiness Heart journal-exercise journaling optimism Spirit Virtue

Taking Things FOR GRANTED vs. AS GRANTED
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Let’s Choose Wisely

In our last couple +1s, we talked about the science of gratitude and explored some tips on Robert Emmons’ #1 practice: Gratitude Journaling. Today I want to chat about one of the distinctions I most loved from his book

+1 inspired by Note: Gratitude Works!

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Depression

conquering-anxiety conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Heart Hope Practice Spirit

The #1 Obstacle to Gratitude
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And Its Remedy

In our last +1, we continued our exploration of the science of gratitude by practicing the grateful art of shifting from taking things “for granted” to seeing all the gifts “AS GRANTED” to us. Today I want to talk about the #1 thing that gets in the way of gratitude....

+1 inspired by Note: Gratitude Works!

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Depression

conquering-anxiety conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Heart Hope Practice Spirit

Memento Privilege
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The Science of Memento Mori

Let’s continue our exploration of the science of gratitude for another moment (or three). In his great book Gratitude Works!, Robert Emmons walks us through a nu...

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Depression

conquering-anxiety conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Heart Hope memento-mori Spirit

Memento (Time) Flies
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28 Days Later

In our last +1, we talked about the science of Memento Mori. And, for the courageous among us, we actually walked through the “death” scenario scientists use to create more gratitude in their test subjects. Now… Right after I typed that +1, I cruised into the b...

+1 inspired by Note: Gratitude Works!

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Depression

conquering-anxiety conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Heart Hope memento-mori Spirit

OMMS Journaling
#1074

Science of: Gratitude, Suffering, and Redemption

In our last couple +1s, we reflected on the fact that we’d be wise to remember that time flies and the fact that (newsflash!) we’re not going to live forever. That “contrasting” as the scientists call it, provides a healthy perspective shift that tends to force us into a...

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Antifragility & Confidence

antifragility confidence Gratitude Grit journal-exercise Mental Toughness Mind omms

Gratitude Letters
#1076

Write One Lately? (Science Says…)

Wrapping up our foray into the science of gratitude, let’s chat about one more INCREDIBLY powerful way to boost our gratitude and, therefore, pretty much every aspect of our well-being: Gratitude Letters. Let’s go back to Robert Emmons and Martin Seligman. In

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Conquering Anxiety & Conquering Depression

community conquering-anxiety conquering-depression Gratitude Happiness Heart journal-exercise Love Spirit