Be. Kind. To. Your. Mind.

Find something that works for YOU to switch it off.

Might be baking

Might be running

Might be one of those meditation colouring books (so not just for kids!) (that’s why I include a new design each month in the Coaching Academy!).

For me, nothing breaks the chatter in my head like smacking the boxing bag. Real hard! Everything else just melts away. 

Whatever your thing is, engage in it with enthusiasm and consistency and (crucially!) without guilt.

The post Be kind to your mind 🧡 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

What to do, what to do? 

There are TWO important strategies for you to get unstuck: 

1. Create increased MOMENTUM in an area of life that is going WELL, where there is NO confusion. Take a step forwards or up or just any kind of simple positive action to AMP UP what is going WELL. Make what is going well go even BETTER. 

Why does this work to get you unstuck on the OTHER thing? 

By UPPING your focus in a positive direction you naturally REDUCE it on what is negative. This can unlock what is not going so well as you have stopped trying to FORCE a solution to something you haven’t been able to solve. You get in the groove of what’s going WELL and that positive energy creates a ripple effect that helps the OTHER thing start to solve not you are not poking at it the whole time. 

2. Take ONE SMALL STEP towards resolving THE THING that is stuck. You don’t need to see HOW THE WHOLE THING will solve or work out or fix itself. You don’t need to see 3 years down the track and how it will all unfold. Just take one small step, one tiny action on it, that feels even just slightly like relief or lightness. Just take a TINY STEP. Don’t think its pointless because it’s small, do it anyway. 

Why does THIS work to get you unstuck? 

Firstly because you will feel a tiny bit of relief from your tiny step, and relief is always good. Secondly, and more importantly, you will gain a NEW PERSPECTIVE from the place just one tiny step further on that you may not have seen. Think of it like a fiendishly hard 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Putting in ONE puzzle piece doesn’t seem like its really doing anything, drop in the ocean when there are still 946 still to place, BUT, that one clicking into place makes just one of the others make a bit more sense, you can see just a hint more of a pattern than you could before which unlocks the next tiny step and tiny piece of the puzzle. Each piece CHANGES THE PERSPECTIVE AVAILABLE to you of the NEXT one. You don’t NEED to see the whole thing to take the next small step, you trust that one will start to REVEAL the other.

(Image credit: wonder_doodles)

___________________________________________________________

While you’re here I have a question for you.

Does overthinking keep you awake at night?

Does this lady provide an accurate representation of how you often feel?!

If so, I would love to help you.

Join me in July 2024 for

The 30-Day Shrinking Overthinking Bootcamp

Stop negative spirals and make your mind a nicer place to live in 30 days.

Join me in July 2024 to learn 6 powerful techniques to manage your mind and reduce anxiety.

As someone who overcame extreme burnout, I’ve helped thousands of women stop overthinking.

Now, I am looking for 50 women who want to learn how to reduce stressful loops of overthinking, stop negative spirals, declutter their mind and feel more in control, to join me for this 30-day challenge inside my Coaching Academy, from 1st July 2024.

It’s £39/month | Risk free | 30-Day Guarantee | Cancel any time!

Click here to learn more.

The post What to do when you don’t know what to do appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

I think we are a lot more aware these days that Mother’s Day does not look like breakfast in bed on a tray with a hand-drawn card and loving partner supervising, like it does in the movies. Life in 2024 is much more aware and compassionate (thank goodness!), but days like this can still sting.

This sting is a natural response to complexity around this primary human relationship; whatever you feel is valid and important to acknowledge, even if that is just a moment of quiet honesty with yourself

Image credit: Bless the Messy

The post The joy and complexity of Mother’s Day 💐 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

If you are anything like me I expect you do a bit each day…put this and that away, unload the dishwasher, wipe the surfaces, pick up that towel (that only I seem able to see ) and so on…

Why? Well again, same as me I guess you do a little bit of a tidy up each day for the same reasons:

If you leave it more than a few days it’s just so much harder to sort out, mess seems to breed mess!

I can’t RELAX in a messy space, I don’t work well, but I also don’t relax well either

  I just feel better if I keep on top if things

Same, yes?

So, that’s what we all do to keep on top of our living space, to ensure it’s a clean and tidy place to live, rest and work. Somewhere we enjoy spending time. Enjoy connecting. Enjoy hanging out. 

Now then {first_name}, what if I asked you the same about your INTERNAL SPACE? Your brain and mind .

How do you tidy THAT each day? 

How do you ensure that you do a little and often to keep your internal space (your mental health) clean and ordered so it’s a space where you are happy hanging out and spending time? How do you clear up so small issues don’t become big ones because they have been left ignored in a pile or swept under the carpet? Do you feel relaxed and connected in your own mind?

Much tricker question, yes? 

We are so much better at prioritising our EXTERNAL living space, to our INTERNAL living space, and yes…and yet…the one that has the biggest impact on our mental health? INSIDE OUR OWN HEADS! Remember, we take that space everywhere with us! It’s at home, at work, in the car, at the airport, at the dentist’s office, at the concert, in the supermarket…we are IN that space every waking moment of every single day. It’s actually our MOST IMPORTANT SPACE. 

Given that’s the space we actually spend the most time in – how do we make sure we keep that clean and clear and that it’s a nice place to be?

___________________________________________________________

While you’re here I have a question for you.

Does overthinking keep you awake at night?

Does this lady provide an accurate representation of how you often feel?!

If so, I would love to help you.

Join me in July 2024 for

The 30-Day Shrinking Overthinking Bootcamp

Stop negative spirals and make your mind a nicer place to live in 30 days.

Join me in July 2024 to learn 6 powerful techniques to manage your mind and reduce anxiety.

As someone who overcame extreme burnout, I’ve helped thousands of women stop overthinking.

Now, I am looking for 50 women who want to learn how to reduce stressful loops of overthinking, stop negative spirals, declutter their mind and feel more in control, to join me for this 30-day challenge inside my Coaching Academy, from 1st July 2024.

It’s £39 | Risk free | 30-Day Guarantee | Cancel any time!

Click here to learn more.

The post How often do you tidy the house? 🏡 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

When a whole new decade is bearing down on us we seem far more likely to ask ourselves if our life is all that it “should be” by this stage. Are we hitting the milestones we had always privately set for ourselves at this marker? Life can be thrown into sharp relief by contemporaries around us ticking past the same clock and the same milestones.

A change of decade can be the most incredible kick up the pahootie to refocus and get serious about what we want to achieve in the next decade, harnessing that natural motivation can be all powerful. But I also see it as a time where more regret will also surface as a result of the reflection. 

Of milestones not met or exceeded, statuses not reached. 

The trick here is not to get sucked into a whirlpool of regret, but to take any relevant lessons and use them to push forwards once again. 

To not look sorrowfully at the time that has been “lost” but focus all that is to come. To take it as a clean fresh page and begin again. Start anew. Double down. Make it happen. 

The quote attributed to C. S. Lewis says it best “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending”. 

We have the power to write ourselves a new ending any time we choose. We can do it whenever we take the time to reflect and refocus: not just when the year reads “9”, or a day of the week starts with an M. That no matter what is past, we get to say how our story will end. Starting now.  You can write yourself a new ending, starting today. 

The post Write yourself a new ending 💞 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

It’s this one:

It’s a Chinese proverb which says “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” 

So good, yes? 

When was the best time to take up yoga, and keep up your practice every day? Well, twenty tears go, but the second best time is NOW. 

When was the best time for you to have started that amazing skin care routine? Well, twenty tears go, but the second-best time is NOW. 

When was the best time for you to have started saving extra for retirement? Well, twenty tears go, but the second-best time is NOW. 

When was the best time for you to stop eating sugar/start doing 10000 steps a day? Well, twenty tears go, but the second-best time is NOW. 

You get it. 

Anything seriously life-enhancing benefits from longevity and the benefit of compounding returns. From it becoming so routine and such a habit it just becomes our natural baseline of how we take care of ourselves. 

The same goes for taking care of our mental and emotional health. 

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”

The post The quote on my wall… 🌳🌳 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

As humans, we habitually

a) OVERestimate what we can do in a DAY

and

b) UNDERestimate what we can accomplish in a YEAR

For a QUICK SNAPSHOT of where you will be a YEAR from now, look at your habits TODAY:

Do you have a habit of being busy all the time just racing from one thing to the next?

Do you have a habit of people pleasing and putting your own needs to the back of the queue?

Do you have a habit of starting a healthy habit but very quickly falling off the wagon?

Do you think you’ll sort these things “when there is time”?

That time pretty much never comes

Genuine change is building tiny habits IN THE NOW:

A daily mental health practice that keeps you up and moving forwards.

Purposefully your body daily in some way daily, no matter what.

Being aware of your true priorities for the YEAR and allocation your time, energy and attention in line with that in the moment.

These are all things that are built into my Coaching Academy Wellbeing Warriors* – all you need to do is show up and be amazed at what you can accomplish in a year.  

If you don’t have a structure and a system for making good choices easier and supported for yourself then either join one or create one for yourself. If you want to know how your life will look a year from now…you can find the answer in your tiny choices today

The post Stop waiting to change 💗 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

How about we stop waiting for summer? For the kids to be older. Until we drop the last 5kg. For Friday. For the weekend. Until the exams are over. The reno is done. The mortgage is paid off. The house is bought. The deposit is saved. Until she behaves herself. Until the flights are booked. The work is done. The boss says yes. The campaign is over. The treatment is complete. The project starts. The term finishes. Until we have some space. Until we have some time. Until they sleep through the night. Until he/she says yes. Until we can afford it.

How about we stop with the waiting? If we are not mindful, happiness can be deferred for so many good, and not so good, reasons. Daily life can become a mental ticker tape of things to get done, and days to be got through, before the big ticket milestones fall into place. We can become so focused on the future that we forget to connect to the tiny moments of joy that are inherent in the now.

It is a great truth that, as much as there is always something to appreciate in the worst of times (if we dig really deep, it will be there), conversely, there is always something to complain about in the best of times, if that is where our focus goes.

It’s up to each of us to figure out which way we want to habitually look at the world.

Choosing to stop waiting to be happy can be one of the most powerful choices we can ever make. We can miss so many everyday moments of happiness accessible right now, this minute, when we are in wait mode for the significant jigsaw pieces of life to fall into place.

We can choose to be happy now when we breathe in the aroma of our fresh cuppa. When a small hand slips into ours at pick-up. That we have people to share a meal with at the end of the day. For the nourishing food on our plate. That we have incredible gadgets to clean our home that prior generations spent their whole day doing manually (my granny had a mangle in the outhouse for goodness’ sake!). That we just messaged a friend 12,000 miles away on the other side of the world in three seconds on our phone. That our sheets smell clean and fresh. That we breathe such clean green air and don’t even think about it. That our body is walking, talking and seeing effortlessly. The sunshine on our skin. The breeze in our hair. The smile of a stranger. The unbridled glee of a child at something so small. The dog was so happy to see us home.

When we are waiting for the big jigsaw pieces to fall into place and rushing to the next thing, we can chronically overlook the tiny moments of joy that are only accessible now, now, now. It’s the little moments that light life up.

Look up people, look up. Happiness is right now.

The post Are you missing these tiny moments of joy? 😍 appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

I am talking about Paying it Forwards today.

I am sure you are paying it forwards in all sorts of ways each week {first_name}, in a way that is just an integral part of your values and your week. I know this as only GOOD HEARTED PEOPLE read Wellbeing Wednesday!

I have a question, though, about Paying It Forwards…

I’d like to ask you {first_name},

What are you paying forward to yourself?

Huh, yes?!

Think about it:

Your life right now is (largely*) a result of what you chose a year ago.

Your life a year from now will be (largely*) a result of your choices now.

*excepting huge unforeseen tragedies/windfalls that you cannot anticipate

Basically…your choices TODAY are PAYING FORWARDS TO THE FUTURE YOU

What will the YOU a year from now be enjoying about their body? Their bank account? Their balance of life?

All those things are determined by what YOU pay forwards TO YOU, NOW.

Something to think about huh?

Choose accordingly.

The post Do you “Pay It Forwards”? Don’t forget this person… appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.

Now, a very interesting thing happened. She was drawing away an absolute hodgepodge of scribbles randomly everywhere. Having a lovely time. I was also having a lovely time drawing flowers, and cats and teacups and so on. I drew some helpful outlines of cupcakes and kittens and encouraged her to come join me so she could colour them in rather than just randomly scribbling.

“Ooo Chloe do you want to come and colour in this Mickey Mouse?” I said a few times, feeling really helpful and pleased with myself…

“No thank you. You colour what you want to colour. I’ll colour what I want to colour.”

HUH! GOOD ONE, CHLOE, no?

Who am I to say that my colouring-in is better than her free expression?!

There is no “right way” to do a lot of life, actually. Despite what we like to tell ourselves – and others.

We can get really righteous in our conviction that ours is the “right way” to load the dishwasher or deal with the accounts department.

Actually, our “best way” isn’t always the best way for everyone.

And sometimes…whisper it…we might even learn a few things if we drop our “right way” and observe.

3 + 3 = 6

but also

2 + 4 = 6

Learning to observe and respect others’ ”best way” is a huge learning curve.

SO many arguments and niggles and nagging are when we are trying to make OUR way THE way.

It isn’t always so. Life is not always so black and white.

In the Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy, one of our overarching teaching principles and community boundaries is “You Do You”. All tools are taught in a way that you can make them your own, make them fit your life and life circumstances. One size will never fit all! Of COURSE it won’t! That’s fine: apply it in a way that works best FOR YOU.

All communication is based on the principle of compassion: we NEVER tell another member what to do or judge their situation (how could we? we will never know how it truly is in her shoes at that time) but offer insightful suggestions of what we tried in similar situations so they can be inspired to their own solutions. It’s a VERY different approach. The world (and internet) is FULL of people telling others to be like them, think like them, do like them. It’s unhealthy this attachment to pushing our own rightness: they need to listen to Chloe:

“No thank you. You colour what you want to colour. I’ll colour what I want to colour.”

Such wisdom. And she was FOUR!

Our best way isn’t everyone’s.

You do you darling. Let them do them.

The post What I learned from a 4 year old called Chloe… appeared first on Louise Thompson, Life Coach, Wellbeing Writer and Speaker.