Change your thinking: Louise Thompson’s advice for dairy women
How you approach life is everything.
Those are the words of life coach Louise Thompson, one of the headline acts at this year's Dairy Women's Network conference, DWN17 Connect, in Queenstown, 11-12 May.
Thompson is a no-nonsense life coach, wellbeing writer and speaker with an easy-to-digest ethos: how you think is how you live. She says no matter how busy, stressful and full your life is, the way in which you think and approach your thoughts is at the heart of true wellbeing.
She'll share her "fluff-free" tips and advice to an audience of extremely busy New Zealanders – dairy women – at her workshop 4-Dimensional Wellness on 11 May.
"Health and wellness today is such a confusing, overloaded space," says Thompson. "There's so many voices and opinions on what's 'right' that often you end up feeling bad about yourself because you haven't cut out a certain food group or you don't drink a green smoothie every day.
"True wellbeing is so much more than what you eat and how much you exercise. Those things are important, but it's more than that – it's also about how you think and what you choose to focus on.
"Life rarely goes according to plan, and if we really know that and let it sink in, we can change our thinking to better approach and adapt to stressful situations."
The word 'stressful' would seem synonymous with 'dairy', and on top of that, 'dairy woman'. Can you really tell a farmer during an 18- hour day in the middle of calving that 'stress' is just a choice they make?
"It's not to say that challenging situations don't exist. Of course they do," says Thompson. "But when you have resilience, you choose to respond to challenges in a different way.
"The more you practice resilience, the more your energy and focus is spent on solutions instead of excuses. And almost always, we surprise ourselves with just how strong we are."
Thompson says true health is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – four dimensional. For dairy women in particular, simple tools to help encourage mental and emotional resilience is at the top of the wellness list.
"It's important for every woman, regardless of their job.
"There is certainly intense pressure on dairy women. They're riding the highs and lows of the industry as well as managing finances, bringing up a family, and of course all the other 'regular woman' issues, such as putting others' needs before their own and perhaps dealing with body image issues or anxiety."
At her conference workshop, Thompson will discuss strategies for developing resilience that are simple and practical to implement and general health and wellness tips for busy women. She will also give away an annual membership to her online wellbeing programme Wellbeing Warriors. For more about Wellbeing Warriors, visit louisethompson.co.nz/shop/wellbeing-warriors
Those are the words of life coach Louise Thompson, one of the headline acts at this year's Dairy Women's Network conference, DWN17 Connect, in Queenstown, 11-12 May.
Thompson is a no-nonsense life coach, wellbeing writer and speaker with an easy-to-digest ethos: how you think is how you live. She says no matter how busy, stressful and full your life is, the way in which you think and approach your thoughts is at the heart of true wellbeing.
She'll share her "fluff-free" tips and advice to an audience of extremely busy New Zealanders – dairy women – at her workshop 4-Dimensional Wellness on 11 May.
"Health and wellness today is such a confusing, overloaded space," says Thompson. "There's so many voices and opinions on what's 'right' that often you end up feeling bad about yourself because you haven't cut out a certain food group or you don't drink a green smoothie every day.
"True wellbeing is so much more than what you eat and how much you exercise. Those things are important, but it's more than that – it's also about how you think and what you choose to focus on.
"Life rarely goes according to plan, and if we really know that and let it sink in, we can change our thinking to better approach and adapt to stressful situations."
The word 'stressful' would seem synonymous with 'dairy', and on top of that, 'dairy woman'. Can you really tell a farmer during an 18- hour day in the middle of calving that 'stress' is just a choice they make?
"It's not to say that challenging situations don't exist. Of course they do," says Thompson. "But when you have resilience, you choose to respond to challenges in a different way.
"The more you practice resilience, the more your energy and focus is spent on solutions instead of excuses. And almost always, we surprise ourselves with just how strong we are."
Thompson says true health is physical, emotional, mental and spiritual – four dimensional. For dairy women in particular, simple tools to help encourage mental and emotional resilience is at the top of the wellness list.
"It's important for every woman, regardless of their job.
"There is certainly intense pressure on dairy women. They're riding the highs and lows of the industry as well as managing finances, bringing up a family, and of course all the other 'regular woman' issues, such as putting others' needs before their own and perhaps dealing with body image issues or anxiety."
At her conference workshop, Thompson will discuss strategies for developing resilience that are simple and practical to implement and general health and wellness tips for busy women. She will also give away an annual membership to her online wellbeing programme Wellbeing Warriors. For more about Wellbeing Warriors, visit louisethompson.co.nz/shop/wellbeing-warriors
