EmPowered Couples with The Freemans

In this special episode, you will get to hear us being interviewed on the “Confident Couples Podcast” hosted by Bud and Sara Dunn. This was such a fun, humorous, and much needed topic about the impact that technology and social media has on modern day relationships (who doesn’t experience this right?!) Both sides of the positive impact and some of the areas that there may be ‘negative’ impacts on your connection, both of which you will even be surprised by!

In this episode you will know some of the positive and negative impacts of social media (that you wouldn’t normally think about) on modern relationships. You will then be able to make new agreements, set healthy boundaries, release the hold onto some assumptions you may have about your partner, and maintain (even restore) trust and connection within the relationship. With all this said, you will be able to use social media and technology within your relationship to continuously be even more connected and on the same page with your vision!

Questions asked in this interview

1. What are the things you see that are impacting and challenging modern couples with social media and technology?
2. You say a big takeaway for couples is to make agreements around using technology, what are some examples?
3. How can couples use social media and technology productively within their relationship?
4. What advice is there for one partner when they do not agree with the type of content their partner looks at and consumes?
5. How can a couple recover from a “trust breaking event” as it pertains to social media and what they look at?
6. Is it necessary to make these grand public professions of love for our partners for every single life event? If I don’t, does that mean I’m not being the best partner I can be?

Quotes:

“Most couples are just holding on to assumptions about their partners, when what they really need is agreements. This makes all the difference in your trust and connection”. - Jocelyn

Connect More With The Guests:

Connect with “Confident Couples” and Bud & Sarah more at: 1)Website: https://budandsara.com/

2) Instagram: @BudandSara

Other Resources:

1) Get a FREE hard copy of the book The New Power Couple (just pay for shipping). Then join the “POWER COUPLE Book Club”

2) Follow us on Instagram

The scenario is that your partner makes a comment, you sense they are a little irritated. They may very well have a frustration but have expressed it with a mild (level 2) upset. Yet you are not in a conflict or argument. But as you talk back and forth, you start giving explanations and justifications and an early onset of defensiveness starts to create a divide. This is a critical moment where you could even say to each other “this doesn’t have to become a thing ...”

Often these moments are not handled properly and now it does turn into something. You have this energy between you and your partner that for many can cause you to go do your own separate things and even have you ruin/cancel plans you had together for the evening. We have heard this happens for date nights, and even Valentine's Day plans, which happens to be tomorrow from when this podcast came out.

This episode is about how to discern between tension and a true issue in marriage with 5 actions to take to “bounce back” faster.

Resources:

Join the "Prioritize Us" Couples Challenge starting Feb 14th, 2024 for Valentines Day - the 30 day challenge for couples to simplify how to make positive changes in their marriage and prioritize loving actions and respectful communication.

Find all our other guides and resources here on our website resources page

“How do I get my partner to _____?” This is one of the most common questions we get. Obviously this is referring to wanting a partner to change a behavior in a certain area of the relationship. Underneath that question is the real question of “what is going to motivate my partner?”

If you have ever had this experience of wanting your partner to change something, but they didn’t, you likely felt discouraged or even burnt out. This was likely because you have been asking for things to change for some time now, but nothing did.

In this episode you will hear about the process of motivation and being able to achieve a result you have been wanting to have in your relationship. You will get the 6 steps of the decision making process and how to overcome the motivation threshold so that you do not feel that same burnout or discouragement from not seeing a change happen. In the end you will realize there was something even better for you than the goal you initially set out to achieve!

Relationship Resources:

1) For use in your "Evaluation Step" from the episode, here is the link to the Family Meeting Guide - https://thecouplesexperience.com/family

2) Start the level 1 Prioritizing Us 30-Day Couples Challenge and get the Family Meeting guide as a free bonus. - https://mycoupleschallenge.com/

3) Start the level 2 Rebuiulding Us Couples Challenge - https://mycoupleschallenge.com/rebuilding

The Danish people have ranked as the “happiest people on earth” for 40 years in a row starting in the 70’s, only to be rivaled by Norwegian and Finish people over the last several years. And their happiness isn’t dependent on things like: the weather or low taxes (it’s actually pretty cold and dark there, and they have relatively higher taxes)....so they must be doing something else right to be so happy.

So in today’s episode we cover 3 of the traits that they focus on to be the happiest people. Many of the traits we KNOW are critical to having a happy marriage. Of course just being a happier individual will lead to a happier relationship, but you will be able to know exactly what traits to improve in your relationship, so that your own happiness is intentional and not just based on better life circumstances.

Episode Resources & Links:

1. If you’re a parent, attend the WebClass taught by parenting expert, Amy McCready, on November 10th. Details and registration HERE.
2. Read the book we referred to in the podcast, The Danish Way of Parenting HERE
3. Read our book, The Argument Hangover and claim $200 worth of bonuses HERE.

About Us:

We’re The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved.

Raising one’s emotional intelligence (EQ) is a critical factor in the long term satisfaction and maturity within a marriage. Without this, the depth of a couple’s connection will be limited and small emotional disruptions will turn into bigger conflicts (and likely never address the root cause). This is a term you have likely heard of before in terms of marriage and other important relationships in your life. But it can often be too abstract and conceptual to be put into practice.

In today’s episode you will hear 5 skills that build EQ. You will get a clear definition of each of these skills as well as the practical action to take to strengthen that muscle. These 5 skills do build on themselves and can be seen as sequential. So as you work on each of these, be sure you are completing each step before moving to the next. By listening to this episode you will have a clear understanding of how to raise your EQ and the benefit it will be for your relationship.

Relationship Resources:

➡️ As you listen, make sure you register for our Live + Free Marriage WebClass coming up February 19th, 2025. We only host this ONCE a year, so don’t miss it!

➡️ Find the links to all the guides and 30-day challenges with our resources page here. https://www.meetthefreemans.com/links