What if you believed you were PERFECT, JUST AS YOU ARE. 

Not when you have lost the last 5 kilos. 

Or finally cleared out the garage like you have been saying for 18 months. 

Or finished that qualification you have been slogging away at. 

Or made up with your sister who you haven’t spoken to for years. 

Or baked all the cupcakes FROM SCRATCH for the school fete and run the tombolo. 

BUT RIGHT NOW? 

The weight of “who we should be” is a heavy thing to carry around each day. 

Truth is, there is no “should be”.

We are all a permanent “Work In Progress”.

We will never be done, finished, complete

We are perfect imperfect works of progress at all times.

And we wish away so much of our “now” happiness carrying the weight of who we feel we “should be” or how our life “should be”.

Should is one of the heaviest words in the English language and I would like to ban it. It makes us feel unnecessarily bad about ourselves!

Who you are right now is just perfect, you can take that from me.

Put the weight down.

And have a very happy day.

PS. Celebrate yourself here and now with some real self-care action, my book “101 Self-Care Ideas”. Grab it for just $17 NZD / £7.50 GBP!

The post The heavy weight of “who we should be” appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

Even if it was a difficult and dark time (it was for me as it happens) there were things, looking back, that WERE going great. Like my health was really good when I look back at that time. Maybe for you your money situation was epic. Or your relationship was brilliant. Or you were on fire at work. Or it was the sweetest chapter with your children. Or you’d just bought that great house.

Thing is, as we get caught up in the happy busyness of life, or just getting through a dark chapter, we can forget to appreciate what IS good, and what objectively IS going well. We can assume those things will be like that always.  Not so, as you will know! Life can be twisty and turn-ey!

So, let’s take it as a Heads-Up today, that 10 years from now there is a version of us who will be looking back at us RIGHT NOW in this chapter we are in right now, and wishing we had BEEN HAPPIER about where we ARE RIGHT NOW.

Yes I am sure not all your ducks are in a row as you would like (mine either), but that doesn’t mean we cannot EXTRACT MORE JOY AND APPRECIATION FROM THE RIGHT NOW.

If your health is great – really connect and celebrate that fact.

If you have no money worries – how fantastic. Acknowledge and appreciate!

If your life is filled with love and romance – yahoo! Relish that feeling!

There is, for sure, a version of us – 10 years from now – who would be literally begging us to enjoy where we are, right here, right now, a lot more than we are. 

So, today, your task my friend, is to enjoy this day, whatever it may be bringing you and regardless of how orderly your ducks are, EXACTLY AS IT IS.

Enjoy, right now, all we ever really have is right now .

The post If you could fast-forward 10 years… appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

If you are having a rough ride at the moment this one’s for you…

There is no more important time to be taking good care of yourself than during a crisis. Unfortunately, this is generally when it feels the hardest to do it!

 It’s difficult to connect with eating nourishing food being a priority when you have suffered such a huge loss that nothing can fill it. However, improved self-care is exactly what we need to do at this time.

 We can meet adversity with more resolve when we have slept well, have eaten well, are hydrated, and up and dressed ready to face the world, even when we just want to hide under the duvet and hope it will all go away.

 Going back to basics with sleep/nutrition/exercise non-negotiables gives us a platform of physical resiliency to deal with whatever faces us emotionally.​​​​

 A crisis situation is what it is; but it is always going to be better to face it with a good night’s sleep and a full belly than being wired and tired.

When life has thrown a curve ball and looking after yourself feels like more than you can handle right now.

1. Reach out for support. People care. They WILL help you. At my darkest times I have been amazed at the kindness of friends gently shepherding my self-care forwards. Looking after me when I can’t do it myself.
2. Don’t try and do All The Things. Just doing ONE piece of self-care will feel empowering and that you are controlling SOMETHING, when life itself feels out of control. Just do ONE good thing for yourself. Don’t set the bar too high. Just do ONE.
3. If you need ideas, you can get my book (it’s so pretty and easy to use you will love it) and tick off one new self-care action each day. You don’t even need to have the energy to think of a thing, I’ve done it for you, and broken it down into 8 different categories of self-care. All you need to do is ONE a day. They will all gently move you forwards.

You can get it here: 101 Self-Care Ideas

The post When life gets rough… appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

Start with YOU.

NO-ONE is as hard on us as we are on ourselves!

Stop it boo!

Be kind. TO YOU.

I know you are kind to others, you have that on lock, but please

BE KIND TO YOU first. Start with YOU.

Lower the bar a little.

Cut yourself a little slack (like you would for others)

You are doing just fine.

Perfectly imperfectly fine.

More than good enough.

Be kind where it matters MOST.

Inside your own head and heart

Please don’t say things to yourself in your own head that you would never ever E V E R  say out loud to any other human being.

There is wayyyy too much secret internal chatter of the “your bum looks big in that”; “you need to be more efficient” ;“you are just not good enough” variety.

You would not whisper that in the ear of a stranger (let alone a loved one).

We cannot give away what we do not replenish: so please, say some nice things to yourself today. Be kind. Give grace. Be patient. Be loving.

I can see you from here. And to me, you look pretty damn fantastic.

The post Being Kind to….who? appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.