There's always time to become a better dad. Your best impact is still right now in this moment; it can be made with your kids no matter how old they are. Men have to know themselves. This process all begins when you're willing to take a look at if you're really being present. Can you see all the parts of yourself and accept them? - Jon Vroman

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Wellness + Wisdom Episode 487

Jon Vroman is a full-time dad, author of the book, The Front Row Factor, and Founder of Front Row Foundation and Front Row Dads community. He joins us today for the second time after many years to talk about what it means to be a front row dad, the positive impact a community has on men, and why being a dad and a family man is still not considered as valuable as being a businessman.

Are you ready to redefine fatherhood and understand the importance of space in relationships?

Join Jon and Josh as they talk about the essence of Front Row Dads, the current image of an uncool dad, and how to be a family man with a business.

 

 

Front Row Dads

Juggling work and family life is complicated, and yet some men are winning at both.

If you’re a dad who wants to be the absolute best for your family, you should check out FrontRowDads.com/live: December 2-4 in Austin, Texas.

It’s the first event of its kind – designed specifically for high-performing, hard-charging dads who want to win at home, even more than winning at work.

I’ll be there, and I hope you can join me!

 

Use “JOSH” at checkout for 10% off!

Hope to see you there!

 

Listen To Episode 487 As Jon Vroman Uncovers: [1:30] Learning to Understand the Ego

• Front Row Foundation
• Jon Vroman
• The Front Row Factor by Jon Vroman
• Front Row Dads Live Event - 10% discount “JOSH”
• 021 Master Your Mindset: Life In The Front Row With Jon Vroman
• Dumbing down Dad: How media present husbands, fathers as useless
• What Jon has been up to since he was last on the podcast 7 years ago.
• Discovering the authentic self and co-creating life with close ones.
• Rock bottom: The strongest foundation for growth.
• The difference between a dad and a father.
• Doing the ego work: Understanding the ego instead of trying to get rid of it.
• Kelly Flanagan
• The Ego Castle: How children go from building ego walls to protect themselves to letting the drawbridge down and walking out to be ourselves.
• Why the ego castle cannot be destroyed, stays with us our entire life, and serves a purpose.

[13:00] Jon’s Journey to Storytelling

• Jon talks about using storytelling to get love and attention in the past, and why he uses the truth to tell stories now.
• How storytelling can be used to fulfill the need to fit in and be loved.
• How Jon found inspiration in Tony Robbins.
• Tony Robbins
• Paul Chek | All is God
• The 4 questions a shaman would ask his patients: What makes storytelling one of the medicines?

[15:38] The Uncool Dad Stereotype

• How adding the word “dad” to something makes it immediately uncool, and why Jon would like to change that story.
• The current societal norm of representing fathers.
• How Jon came with the idea of Front Row Dads.
• Cutko Knives
• 194 Rob Dial: Peace, Purpose, & Psychedelics

 

[24:40] Masculine and Feminine Energies

• Learning to understand masculine and feminine energy.
• How to shift between the two gender energies: From the feminine openness to receiving to the masculine drive and achievement.
• Overcoming shame around dancing at Burning Man: Letting the body express itself freely.
• Tatyana Vroman
• Shifting from playing by the rules to wanting to dance with the energies.
• The reason why Josh renamed Wellness Force to Wellness + Wisdom: Making a shift away from constriction.
• 369 Josh Trent | Death & Rebirth: Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Wellness Force…
• Emotional intelligence: Growing up with fathers who wouldn’t express their feelings or gratitude.

 

[30:30] Reforming Fatherhood

• Why men have to know themselves and accept all parts of themselves.
• Front Row Retreat
• The need to control the environment, spouses, or kids to feel safe.
• Jon shares a story about how he tries to get his needs met by his wife using control.
• Blind spots: Recognizing that you might now know what you don’t know.
• Surrounding yourself with the right people and community: Why Jon’s community appreciates family men with businesses and not businessmen with families.
• David Packard - HP
• Jon looking at people’s biographies and noticing they are only proud of their achievements, not their family life.

 

[35:30] Creating Space in Life

• Front Row Dads’ Core Values: 5 Whys (curiosity), Lead Domino (intentional action for impact), Rising Tide (community).
• The 3 R’s of Front Row Dads: First relationships, then resources, then the results, and why the order matters.
• Exploring the sacredness of creating space in a relationship.
• The 5 love languages: Why Jon’s wife believes space is the 6th love language.
• How creating distance is beneficial to men, and how Jon applies space at his events to spark conversations.
• The way Josh has been able to create more space in his life through theta breathwork.
• Man cave: Why the intention matters.
• Jon explains how he was overworking at his job and ended up too exhausted to be there for his family, and how creating space in his calendar helped him be more present at home.
• The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World by Dan Ackerman
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
• The Tetris effect in real life: How Jon wasn’t able to get his work out of his mind when he was at home with his kids.

 

[46:30] Dancing with Life: Finding Balance in Work, Family, and Marriage

• How creating space helps Josh be more patient with his son.
• Matt Sharp - KidStrong
• Work-life blending: Why Jon tells his kids about his struggles balancing his work and life, and why he compares it to a dance.
• He tells a story from their vacation where there was a lot of tension between him and his wife, and he completely lost it.
• Anxious-avoidant dynamic in relationships: Pushing and pulling away.
• Why it’s important to bring personal transformation to the relationship instead of demanding the other person to change.
• 435 Dr. John Gray | Wellness In Relationships: Testosterone, Estrogen, Semen Retention & Sexual Polarity
• Rewire Retreat
• 481 Scott Jackson | Rewire Yourself: How To Create A Life You Love With Freedom From Subconscious Sabotage
• How Josh tries to stay aware of his wife’s trauma that gets triggered in their relationship.

 

[57:20] What is Real Power?

• Why FRD members are able to go so deep on the retreats?
• 438 Justin Donald | Why Wellness Is A Pentagon: The Art of Financial Intelligence & Lifestyle Investing
• 009 How To Live An Extraordinary Life With Hal Elrod
• Why Jon’s community believes that in order to be a great dad, you have to have your marriage dialed in.
• How having important conversations changes men’s perspective on their marriage and children.
• Loveable, The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell by Kelly Flanagan
• Why Kelly Flanagan turned from a speaker to a member of the FRD community.
• Jon explains how men finally accept the full responsibility for their part, that they are the ones who need to change without pressuring their partners or kids to change.
• Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins
• The meaning of “real power only comes from peace.”
• How does ego get in the way and the one question that helps Josh take responsibility for himself.
• Why the vibration in Jon’s body changed when they came back from Burning Man.
• How Jon played with energies to see how others react, and stepped into his “king”: Becoming rooted in his energy without attaching to people’s reaction.

 

[01:05:10] Front Row Dads Live Event

• Front Row Dads Live Event - discount “JOSH” for 10% off
• Investing in ourselves to work on ourselves as fathers.
• What the FRD Live Event in Austin is going to be about: A space for men to express themselves, let others express themselves, and ask big questions.
• The breathwork and other teachings Josh plans to share at FRD.
• breathwork.io
• Why it’s not all about learning something new but about remembering something true.
• Generations of fathers: How Jon’s dad never received hugs from his dad, and Jon had to teach him how to hug him the way he needed.
• What made his dad eventually join FRD despite being in his 70’s.
• Josh’s exciting news about him and Carrie expecting their second child.
• Why Josh thinks Jon is the embodiment of his work, and in what ways Jon is inspired by Josh’s hard work on himself.

 

[01:18:00] The Essence of Front Row Dads & Their Journey of Endless Possibilities

• Why does anybody could be a father but not anybody could be a dad?
• How Jon came up with the name Front Row Dads and what the essence of it is: Witnessing and holding space for their children.
• What makes Jon believe everyone is a possible expression of who we are in our core.
• John Lee Dumas
• Dean Karnazes
• What made Jon commit to an ultramarathon even though he wasn’t a big runner, how it changed his life and led him to raise money for his foundation.
• Trying to earn the right to be a good person: Chasing significance and love through FRD Foundation.
• What made Jon step out of the board of his own organization.

 

[01:29:45] Setting on The Healing Journey

• Jon’s healing journey: Why he thinks he has a broken leg in his soul that wouldn’t allow him to dance.
• Why he believed he was a burden to others his whole life.
• How he accessed the awareness of having subconscious beliefs through plant medicine and what types of psychedelics he has experimented with.
• What he did to put aside the ego to truly see things with clarity.
• Why he thinks everyone should be called to do plant medicine, not pushed into it.
• The one question Josh asks during ceremonies to create space, and why he believes that plant medicine can be dangerous.
• 462 Ben Greenfield: Should You STOP Using Plant Medicines? Wisdom on Microdosing, The Muscle of Faith + How to Grow Your Spiritual Strength
• 196 Aubrey Marcus: Owning The Day, Open Relationships, & Skipping Breakfast?
• Josh Trent with Aubrey Marcus: Becoming Fit For Fatherhood

 

[01:38:10] Protecting Our Children

• Why Jon’s dad believed being disciplined and providing for his family was his mission in life, and why he thinks Jon is a much better dad than he was.
• How he protects his own family from being too conservative.
• 437 Josh Trent | Death & Rebirth: Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Wellness Force…
• Jon’s definition of wellness: The fullest expression of his full authentic self and providing the space for others to be their authentic selves.

 

Power Quotes From The Show You Don't Know What You Don't Know

"There are blind spots I’m sure I have. And I’m aware of them. That’s why they are blind spots... It’s recognizing that actually, you might not even know what you don’t know right now. But if you have faith in community, if you have faith that by putting yourselves around other people that have honorable intentions, like we say be a family man with a business, not a businessman with a family, that is a filter for what type of person we’re looking to surround ourselves with." - Jon Vroman

 

The Strongest Foundation for Growth

"I reframed what rock bottom is in my world, and rock bottom is also a foundation. Rock bottom is the strongest foundation for growth." - Jon Vroman

 

Playing With The Feminine And Masculine Energies

"The realization for me lately has been range. It has been expanding my range of possibilities, truly tapping into this. Openness, the feminine energy, this receiving energy… just letting the world give to you, fully receiving, curiosity…

I also thrive in the masculine, what I would call this driving energy where I want to be in my car going somewhere, focused, with a direction, achieving… And how fast can I move back and forth between those energies? How can I accept those energies and play with them?" - Jon Vroman

 

Links From Today's Show 

• Front Row Dads
• The Front Row Factor by Jon Vroman
• Front Row Foundation
• 021 Master Your Mindset: Life In The Front Row With Jon Vroman
• Dumbing down Dad: How media present husbands, fathers as useless
• Kelly Flanagan
• Tony Robbins
• Paul Chek | All is God
• Cutko Knives
• 194 Rob Dial: Peace, Purpose, & Psychedelics
• John Rullan
• Tatyana Vroman
• 369 Josh Trent | Death & Rebirth: Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Wellness Force…
• Front Row Retreat
• David Packard - HP
• The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World by Dan Ackerman
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath
• Matt Sharp - KidStrong
• 435 Dr. John Gray | Wellness In Relationships: Testosterone, Estrogen, Semen Retention & Sexual Polarity
• Rewire Retreat
• 481 Scott Jackson | Rewire Yourself: How To Create A Life You Love With Freedom From Subconscious Sabotage
• 438 Justin Donald | Why Wellness Is A Pentagon: The Art of Financial Intelligence & Lifestyle Investing
• 009 How To Live An Extraordinary Life With Hal Elrod
• Loveable, The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell by Kelly Flanagan
• Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins
• John Lee Dumas
• Dean Karnazes
• 462 Ben Greenfield: Should You STOP Using Plant Medicines? Wisdom on Microdosing, The Muscle of Faith + How to Grow Your Spiritual Strength
• 196 Aubrey Marcus: Owning The Day, Open Relationships, & Skipping Breakfast?
• Josh Trent with Aubrey Marcus: Becoming Fit For Fatherhood
• 437 Josh Trent | Death & Rebirth: Why I’m Saying Goodbye to Wellness Force…
• Shop the Wellness Force Media Store
• breathwork.io
• Paleovalley – Save 15% on your ACV Complex with the code ‘JOSH'
• Seeking Health - Save 10% with the code 'JOSH'
• Organifi – Special 20% off to our listeners with the code ‘WELLNESSFORCE'
• Drink LMNT – Zero Sugar Hydration: Get your free LMNT Sample Pack, you only cover the cost of shipping
• Feel Free from Botanic Tonics – Save 40% when you use the code ‘WELLNESS40'
• PLUNGE - Save $150 with the code "WELLNESSFORCE'
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• Cured Nutrition – Get 15% off of your order when you visit wellnessforce.com/cured + use the code ‘WELLNESSFORCE'
• M21 Wellness Guide
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• Leave Wellness Force a review on iTunes
• Jon Vroman
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About Jon Vroman

Jon Vroman is a family man, motivational speaker, author, philanthropist, personal coach, ultra-marathon runner, and founder of Front Row Foundation and Front Row Dads community.

In 2005, he co-founded Front Row Foundation to help create front row moments for people facing life-threatening illnesses. To date, the charity has raised over $1,000,000 and has been instrumental in over 60 life-changing experiences.

The same year Jon started Front Row Global, where he travels across the country to speak with college students and corporate teams about how they can move from the back row of life to the front row. The mission is to capture the key ideas individuals need for their personal growth and change through the idea of being a participant, not a spectator. This encourages individuals to step out of their comfort zone and live life to the fullest.

In 2017, Jon published The Front Row Factor: Everything You Can Learn About Life From Those Fighting For It, a story about the magic that happens when good business is fully integrated with good work.