Marriage is both challenging and rewarding. One of the reasons for this is that it takes evolving into a better and better partner as the years pass. If both people accept this evolution then it leads to a great marriage, even through the inevitable challenges that a couple will face. 

With all the marriage content out there it can seem overwhelming, complex, or even uncertain about how one can become a better version of themselves in terms of the relationship. In this episode you will be given the acronym COMMITTED to outline the 9 things that an individual needs to do over the course of a marriage to become their best version and play their role in experiencing a truly great marriage together.

From the episode mention, join the brand new January ONLY "Best of Us" Couples Challenge starting January 1st, 2025 - this new 30 day challenge is for couples to get out of the function and routine of a busy life and spark more closeness, excitement, & intimacy for the new year.

If you are not experiencing this already, having a structured, reliable, and well functioning marriage is definitely a goal. This brings a great sense of relief, peace, and being a team. However, at different times for each of you, there will be a feeling that something is missing, that there is something more that is needed. A marriage is meant to go beyond the function and to strong connection and closeness. 

What can make this slightly complicated is the timing for each of you, but also the activities that have you each feel connected are going to be different. This is where communication and meaningful conversations are needed that go beyond the daily tasks. You will also need to gain awareness of the more subtle “ways of being” with each other if you truly want to enter the state of connection, joy, closeness, and love. In this episode you will hear about the state of function and how to move into the state of connection and closeness in ways that are meaningful to each of you.

Relationship Resources

Join the brand NEW January ONLY "Best of Us" Couples Challenge starting January 1st, 2025 - this new 30 day challenge is for couples to get out of the function and routine of a busy life and spark more closeness, excitement, & intimacy for the new year.

36,000 couple have taken our previous challenges and so many of you asked for more daily prompts. Your requests have now been answered with this Best of Us Challenge! 

Every couple experiences this particular moment of decision making when a small topic can turn into a bigger conflict. Here you are, minding your own business, your partner says or does something that frustrates you… this is the moment that can keep it as a “blip” or turn the tides towards escalating into a conflict. 

Surely you can look back at moments like these and think it would be so simple to keep the conversation constructive. So why do these moments get the best of us and go the way of conflict? 

In this episode we dive into the topics of the subconscious, memory, and emotion that gets stored in our bodies and drives our reactions over simple reasoning that would keep us on the same team with our partners. You will hear 3 steps to take to better handle these blip moments and stay more on the same team together (especially when holidays are around the corner)! 

Relationship Resources from the episode:

1) Get The Family Meeting Guide - either on its own here, or as a bonus for starting the Prioritize Us Challenge that starts Dec 1st. 

2) If you want to get access to the discounted 3 Guide Bundle we mentioned, go to our Instagram (@meet_thefreemans) and send us a DM using the word "special". We will then send the link to this extended limited offer.

Yes we have a secure relationship and marriage now. But we certainly had to overcome our initial anxious and avoidant tendencies early on. Even now, those tendencies can still show up; we have just done the work to handle situations, emotions, and conflicts in healthy and secure ways to stay on the same team. 

In this episode you will hear us tell our relationship story as the background for how you can overcome any of your own insecure attachment patterns. You will hear the quick reminder of:

• the 4 attachment styles, 

• the 5 core pillars within each style,

• and then the things we did in our own life to be in the secure place we are now, and no matter what life events happen to us. 

In telling our story you will take away many great steps you can take to further cement yourselves a secure foundation to add to your connection, closeness, and trust in your marriage.

Relationship Resources mentioned in the episode:

1. Get The Family Meeting Guide - either on its own here, or as a bonus for starting the Prioritize Us Challenge that starts Dec 1st. 

2. If you listened all the way to the end, take the action we mentioned while using the word "special". Be sure you listen all the way through for the special offer of the 3 guides together! 

Imagine a scenario where you and your partner are having a conversation. In the middle you begin to feel as if what you are saying is clear, but your partner doesn’t seem to be getting it. You start to get frustrated, your tone or volume changes, so then they get annoyed or irritated and the conversation begins to escalate. 

This episode is all about how the meaning of conversations can easily get misunderstood and misinterpreted. The longer you are in a relationship the higher chance there is of this happening. Now you do have two choices, you can keep trying to get your partner to understand in that moment, which leads to tension.

Or you both can take these 3 actions from this episode to better understand where these misunderstandings come from. It’s a common and natural thing to happen, but it takes awareness and execution to keep it from persisting in your relationship.

Relationship Resources

The 30-day challenge and all of the guides that were mentioned can be found with our resources link here: https://www.meetthefreemans.com/links

• Be sure to take advantage of the Family Meeting Guide as you begin to refelct on your year and start to set your goals and intentions togther for the next year. 
• You can get this guide as a FREE bonus for starting the Prioritize Us 30-Day Couples Challenge

Whenever you meet an obstacle it is common to ask “why” it happened or even “why” you started down this particular path. You might even ask yourself why you got married or why you should continue when it feels particularly challenging with your partner. There are different ideas (and even studies) that give reasons for why people get married. The top ones are for love and companionship while the next on the list are to have kids, followed by financial and legal reasons. 

In this episode you will hear us propose our reason for getting married, which is different from any you will find on these lists. If being married was only for love and companionship for example, how would you then handle the harder moments and when you aren’t ‘feeling’ those positive emotions? Throughout this episode you will hear 3 alternatives for being married in hopes that it radically alters your current perceptions of difficulty in your marriage and gives you renewed strength to go forward as a team.

Relationship Resources:

The 30-Day Couples Challenge starts 3 days from the time this is posted, so you’ll want to pick between Level 1 and Level 2. Go to MeetTheFreemans.com/Challenges. See why over 36,000 couples have loved the prompts, no matter how busy you are.

Is feeling emotion within yourself something you welcome or try to avoid? What about when emotion is expressed by your partner, do you experience that as a sign of something bad starting up or as an invitation to listen? Emotion is at the root of relationships, it is what makes it satisfying and fulfilling as well as the starting point of conflicts. 

So what is the role of emotion and does it have a real place in a relationship? In this episode you will hear the answer to this question as well as the common barriers and challenges to “holding space for” your partner’s emotions? This is not a simple task so you will know what this “holding space for emotions” term really means and get practical tips for being better at this type of listening with each other. This can lead to more connection and emotional closeness, which is a fundamental aspect of a satisfying relationship over the long term. 

Relationship Resources

If you haven’t done our Level 2 “Rebuilding Us” Couples Challenge, we highly recommend doing that before the end of the year. We dive deeper into 10 foundation builders in a marriage, like emotional intelligence, the art of apologies, the needle-movers for each of you in the marriage, and more! You can look at both our Level 1 and Level 2 Couple’s Challenges at MeetTheFreemans.com/links

In marriage, unresolved hurts can pile up over time, creating distance and eroding trust. That’s why forgiveness is one of the most crucial (yet challenging) elements to maintaining a healthy, connected relationship. But what does true forgiveness actually look like? And what blocks it from happening?

In this episode, we dive into the depths of forgiveness: what it is and what it isn’t, why it’s essential for moving forward, and how it affects your closeness as a couple. We’ll also explore real-life examples of where forgiveness may be needed in marriage, what keeps couples stuck in hurt, and practical steps to move towards genuine healing. Whether you're navigating small offenses or deep ruptures, understanding forgiveness could be the key to breaking free from repetitive conflict cycles.

As you listen, we recommend these two relationship resources:

1. The Level 2 “Rebuilding Us” Couples Challenge

     2. The Steps to Rebuild a Marriage Guide

Does it ever feel like you and your partner have different goals or even that your needs are conflicting with one another? This can be obvious when one partner is saying they need more quality time and the other is saying they need more time for themselves. But there is another conflicting goal that men and women have that is hard to detect. 

In this episode you will hear what this conflicting goal is, that you would likely never guess. From all the sessions we do, as well as having hosted our Couples Workshop, this is an underlying subconscious goal that is more pervasive than you realize. Listen in to make sure it is not affecting your relationship and hear what a better more collaborative goal is to have.

Relationship Resources

You can find all of our best resources from guides, 30 day challenges, and webclasses, with this link: https://www.meetthefreemans.com/links