Do you have true companions in your life? 

And let’s back up for a minute — how do you define a true companion anyways?  

Is your wife a true companion? 

Returning to the show, my friend Dr. Kelly Flanagan and I are going to talk about how to build true companionship with the people who are most important to us. 

Before Kelly joined the Front Row Dads brotherhood, I knew him as a speaker, elite-level coach, and badass author of the book Loveable, which our guys raved about.

In his new book, True Companions: A Book for Everyone About the Relationships That See Us Through, Kelly shows us what happens when we quit sabotaging intimacy by demanding unconditional love.

Gold Nuggets

• The only perspective that can keep us focused on our true companions
• Why loneliness is the shadow side of your uniqueness
• The uncomfortableness of being alone
• The value of the Enneagram
• The process of building belonging
• Why lying and secrecy is a form of withdrawing from a relationship
• How to shift from defensiveness to empathy and compassion
• The 4 main words for love
• How we often use unconditional love to say “Lay off me!”
• The 5-session study guide to help you and your partner make the most of Dr. Kelly’s new book

PS: If you like this episode and you’d like a FREE copy of Kelly’s book, True Companions, simply write an honest review of this podcast on iTunes, take a screenshot, and send it to jon@frontrowdads.com along with your address. I love to read your feedback, and I want to know what was of value to you!

''Loneliness is the shadow side of our uniqueness.'' - Dr. Kelly Flanagan Share on X

Big Questions Asked

• What is a true companion? 
• How do we live with our true-self and our false-self?
• How does loneliness enrich companionship? 
• How can we repurpose defensiveness to grow our relationships, instead of tearing them apart? 
• Why do we lie to try to protect people? 
• Why is it so hard to be okay with being wrong?

Go Deeper

• DrKellyFlanagan.com
• Follow Dr. Kelly Flanagan on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn
• TrueCompanionsBook.com
• Loveable: Embracing What Is Truest About You, So You Can Truly Embrace Your Life
• True Companions: A Book for Everyone About the Relationships That See Us Through
• True Companions Study Guide: Five Sessions on How to Show Up in Your Most Important Relationships
• Enneagram Personality Test
• The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
• The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge

Props

• Justin Donald
• Hal Elrod
• Tim Nicolai
• Tatyana Vroman

More About Dr. Kelly Flanagan

Dr. Kelly Flanagan is a clinical psychologist, author, consultant, and speaker who enjoys walking with people through the three essentials of a truly satisfying life.

Kelly has a Ph.D. from Penn State University and is the founder of Artisan Clinical Associates in Naperville, IL. In 2012, he began his now popular blog, where he writes regularly about those three essentials: worthiness, belonging, and purpose. His writing has been featured in Reader’s Digest, The Huffington Post, The 5 Love Languages, and in 2014 a letter he wrote to his daughter led to their appearance on the TODAY Show.

In 2017, Kelly published his first book—Loveable: Embracing What Is Truest About You, So You Can Truly Embrace Your Life—and it debuted as the #1 New Release in Interpersonal Relations on Amazon. His next book—True Companions: A Book for Everyone About the Relationships That See Us Through—will be published in February 2021. Kelly is married to another clinical psychologist named Kelly—because they decided to make life more complicated than it already is—and they have three children: Aidan, 17; Quinn, 13; and Caitlin, 11. They live in a small town outside of Chicago. Connect and learn more at www.drkellyflanagan.com

Want to learn more about Front Row Dads?

We are in the business of building better families.

While most dads would say that family matters most, the challenge is they feel guilty knowing their careers get the best of them, and their family seems to get the rest of them.

We help Dads become family men with businesses, not businessmen who have families, so they can thrive personally AND professionally.

Subscribe to the Front Row Dad podcast to learn about fatherhood, marriage and how to level up your game at home, or if you’re ready for the best coaching and true brothers to grow with, Join The Brotherhood

Are you getting all the shows? Subscribe today! Want to leave a review? THANK YOU!  http://FrontRowDads.com/review