This episode is packed with info about Farmstrong Scotland's 'Foundations of Mental Health' programme - a direct response to findings from our recent surveys.

More than one in three respondents reported low levels of wellbeing - with scores falling below the national average across all age groups.

'Foundations of Mental Strength' - or FoMS - is a series of workshops designed to combat low wellbeing - and can be run by groups and organisations as a special day, or included in a package of other ongoing activities.

Huge thanks to both The Scottish Government Knowledge Transfer & Innovation Fund, and to the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust, for providing funding to support the FoMS programme.

This episode features:

Kirsty Ritchie, mental health consultant and founder of Mind and Mission. Kirsty was involved in devising the Foundations of Mental Health programme for Farmstrong.

Emily Grant, who's worked in Scottish agriculture for over 20 years, and trades as Forrit (Scots word for 'forward'). Emily is part of the team who deliver FOMS to groups and organisations across Scottish agriculture.

Find out more about the Foundations of Mental Strength programme here.

How’s It Going?

Take a moment for yourself: try Farmstrong Scotland’s How’s It Going? tool. Answer eight simple questions and get access to resources tailored to support you.

Farmstrong Scotland helps farmers, crofters and their families cope with the ups and downs of rural life by sharing practical ways to look after themselves and the people around them. It’s a peer-to-peer programme, shaped by scientific insight and real-life stories, so together we can share, learn and support each other’s wellbeing.

Follow Us

Visit the Farmstrong Scotland website to find out more.

Follow Farmstrong Scotland on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook.

You can also subscribe to our Spotify Playlist including hundreds of tunes, recommended by farmers and crofters across Scoland.

If you’re concerned about yourself or someone else, talk to someone.

Contact your doctor, RSABI’s 24-hour helpline: 0808 123 4555, Breathing Space: 0800 838 587, or Samaritans (24-hours): 116 123.

Hello, welcome to Blether Together from Farm Strong Scotland.

I'm Sarah Stephen.

Thanks as always for being with us.

This time we've got an introduction, a bit of a primer to a really brilliant program being offered by Farm Strong called Foundations of Mental Strength, or foms.

FOMS is a series of workshops that explore how personal experience shapes our approach to farming and life.

Areas like self awareness, adapting to challenges and keeping a clear head to manage business decisions.

We're joined for this episode by Kirsty Ritchie from mental health consultancy Mind and Mission.

Kirsty was a big part of developing the forms program bespoke for Farm Strong in response to findings from our recent surveys.

Psychologically, we respond to discomfort, we respond to difficulty in the same way, regardless of the industry we work in.

And we'll have Emily Grant, a former farmer who's recently become a crofter.

As we'll hear, Emily runs a consultancy helping mostly beef and sheep farmers improve their systems, which of course relies on a clear head and good mental health.

Successful businesses are predominantly about people, their thought processes, their drivers, their purpose behind the business.

Emily is also part of the team delivering forms workshops around Scotland.

There's lots of great advice in this chat, as well as background on the FOMS program.

Get onto the farmstrong Scotland website to find out how to sign up and book in sessions, but not before you've had a listen to this fab chat with Emily and Kirsty Christie.

Where are you coming from?

I'm in Edinburgh.

Is that home for you?

It is home for me, yeah.

Originally from the Borders, but I've been in Edinburgh.

I'm a half and halfer.

That's what I call myself now of half my life in.

In Edinburgh.

I won't divulge how many years, but more than two decades.

Yeah, I know.

I'm with you there.

And Emily, what about yourself?

Where are you from?

Today?

I'm today sat just halfway between Aviemore and Nithy Bridge.

So.

So recently moved up here from Perthshire, actually.

Okay, how's the move?

Gone.

Moving farm is challenging but relieved.

And also we're temporarily in a static whilst we do a house build.

So I've suddenly shrunk a large space into a small one, which is, yeah, challenging, but all good.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

So you're living in a static caravan while you build a house.

Yeah.

Well, I take my hat off to you.

That is a gutsy move.

Thank you.

Well done for just making it today.

I know.

Yes.

And here, here.

Were we complaining about your wi fi, Emily?

I'm just really interested to know why.

Why the move?

My other half is originally from this knack of the woods.

He's from Strathspey, so he'd always been keen to come back north and he worked full time off the farm before, so he'd, luckily for him, managed to take early retirement.

So, yeah, so a move.

And also the farm we were on wasn't a family farm, so we don't have that bind probably that a lot of people have on, on the farms we're on.

So we've bought an amazing craft.

So I've become a crofter and it literally is stunning.

So, yeah, really looking forward to the project.

It'll be worth it in the end.

Ask me in the middle of winter if I'm happy and ecstatic.

I was going to say that we got a good wood burner somewhere in there as well.

That might happen yet.

That's a really brave and bold move.

So well done.

That sounds an exciting project.

I wish you all the best with it.

So, ladies, it's lovely to have you on the program.

It's a double header.

It's a female double header today, which is a first, I think, on the podcast.

I tend to start these chats with a rapid fire question round.

I've just got a whole list of questions in front of me and I randomly pick them, so let's see where it goes.

Right, we'll just do it alternatively.

Kirsty, I'll start with you since you're at the top of my screen.

What's the first thing you did this morning?

Oh, terrible, terrible.

I checked my phone and it's the one thing I teach everyone else not to do.

Emily, are you in a profession you dreamed of when you were a child?

No, I dreamed of being a vet.

I'm not far, but I. Yeah, I wanted to be a vet.

Christy, what is your favourite way to waste time?

I've just got a bit of a thing for creative, so I do paint by numbers.

Crochet knitting.

Yeah.

Wow.

Emily, if you could go back to any age, what age would that be?

Loved?

Late 20s.

Kirsty, what is one thing you would like to do in the next year?

See this program evolve.

Emily, is your bed made right now?

Actually, it is in the caravan.

I know.

I'm surprised at myself.

Sarah, you're still House Pride.

No, it's.

It's more.

It's visible.

There's a back window.

Yeah.

So it's what the neighbors think.

That's what you're telling me.

Well, ladies, thank you very much.

It's just a bit of a rapid fire question round, but do you think as women, as females, we sometimes overthink things?

I was just about to say, let me think about that.

Do we overthink?

I believe women prepare a lot, we anticipate a lot.

So if I was to maybe reframe overthinking, I would say we, we tend to anticipate more as women.

Yes.

I suppose what you're saying is that as a term it's, it's developed a negative connotation, overthinking.

Yeah, potentially.

Potentially.

Certainly in my work.

Certainly that term suggests too much thinking about the wrong things.

Potentially, rather than thinking about the right things.

Yeah.

And I suppose as, as women I, you know, everybody's different.

I appreciate that.

But when we say overthinking, it's probably because we're trying to excuse ourselves, aren't we?

Or, or say we're, we're self deprecating.

Oh, sorry, I think too much about it or.

So we're always trying to, you know, excuse sometimes how we think and how we approach things.

Emily, I don't know if you, what your mindset is on that.

I think I would just 100% agree with Kirsty.

I think there needs to be that clarity between overthinking and being prepared.

And I'm a big one for that.

Need to have that preparation to be thinking ahead.

So.

Yeah.

Is it always overthinking?

I don't know.

I suppose it's in a way and for me it's just that trying to have that clarity.

And maybe it also comes from a slight people pleasing thing that even with this I want to be prepared in what I want to say so that ideally I have some clarity around it.

And whether or not, I mean, is that unique to women, I don't know, Kirsty, or no better.

But I strong suspicion that it does.

That's my gut feeling and my gut feeling about myself as well.

And I know other women too who are very similar.

Yeah, I see it varies.

And to be fair, a lot more men are coming for therapy.

The percentage is climbing higher.

Interesting that you see there.

We're actually psychologically and maybe even biologically pre programmed to try to control our lives.

So anticipating, preparing it is about control.

And I don't mean that in a negative way at all because control means comfort and we crave comfort.

We try to avoid discomfort at all costs.

So the need for control, the need for anticipating this overthinking comes from the need to avoid difficulty.

Yeah.

So a very simple term like overthinking and you've expanded it there again.

There's always a negative connotation, isn't it, to be to being told or you're trying to control things too much or people often say you're a control freak.

Doesn't ever come across as a compliment, does it?

But I think, you know, that's great that that could be a superpower as well.

The fact that you, you know, that there's reliability there.

I think sometimes, you know, I suppose you're flipping it, aren't you, for a more positive.

It's a good question to ask yourself, to what extent am I trying to control everything and to what extent am I.

Am I able to tolerate discomfort?

Because that's what we have to do in life, is know that not everything is comfortable and we can't control everything.

So to what extent am I able to tolerate it, the discomfort and to what extent am I able to control outcomes?

And that.

That's a rest of your life, 247 process.

That's not.

I wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden I know how to manage and control my life.

That's a lot of what I work with, with individuals is, is understanding that as a.

As a concept that we're not, we're not here to be fixed.

We're here to understand and to.

To live and, you know, I guess from a Farmstrong perspective, live well, as well as we can.

Well, Kirsty, a bit of, I suppose a bit of context for the listeners is that you're the founder of Mind and Mission, a mental health consultancy set up to improve mental fitness at workplaces through counseling and professional coaching.

And obviously you've alluded to it there.

So you were part of the team that devised foms, the foundations of Mental health programme for Farm Strong.

Tell me a bit about how you got involved and why you got involved.

I first heard about Farmstrong Scotland almost three years ago now.

I had to look back because it doesn't seem that long ago at all.

One of the participants got in touch and I think she had been involved in the initial launch and because she'd been a participant in the Be a Best Self program and really, really got something out of that, she thought we would be ideal to start to have a conversation with Farmstrong.

And at that point it was really, I think Alex had just come on board.

It was exploratory.

You know, it was a conversation to see if our minds were in the same place.

It turns out they were very much in the same place and it evolved from there.

You know, Alex and I have caught up regularly since then and then it was.

It was last year where, I mean, clearly Armstrong Scotland relies on funding and funding is a key part and it was only really when the funding was there where we able to put solid plans in place and really start to refine and understand what it was we wanted to build.

And Emily, I know you're one of the people who's sort of helping to deliver the forms program.

Just tell me a little bit about how the actuality of that, how you became involved as well and what you're doing sort of on that basis.

Yeah, it's because Alex had asked if I would be interested in helping and I suppose because it's actually quite a nice fit with.

I do quite a bit of consultancy work, but also facilitation work, so working with groups of farmers who are looking to make change in their business or to have more sustainable businesses.

So it's one thing that we don't do probably well enough in farming and in what we would term as our knowledge exchange programs and things, is that we'll often talk about improving efficiency or improving production and the need to become more profitable by those things.

But actually, I think the key part we've been missing is actually, you know, our farms and our cross businesses are really.

They're a collection of assets, a collection of resources, and within that are the people who run the business.

So successful businesses are predominantly about people, really, and how people run their businesses and their thought processes, their drivers, their purpose behind the business, all fundamentally comes from them.

So it's really important and valuable to have a program like this that really helps people to start to think about themselves a bit and what they offer and how they cope with challenging times, because there's always challenging times in any business.

But yeah, it's just really valuable to slot it into where we need Scottish Ag to be heading because it's pretty challenging out there and those challenges aren't immediately going to go away and just tying that back into the wellbeing.

If you're in a positive place, you're more likely to make good decisions on the farm, in the business.

Listeners will be very familiar with us talking about surveys and engaging with Farm Strong Scotland and help us by filling in a survey.

And there's always a survey that we can fill in.

Whatever we do in life, you know, there's always feedback, surveys and things, and we're always encouraged to do it, whatever experience we have along the way.

And I mean, this has been very much designed sort of in response to survey findings.

I mean, how did that come about and what was the impact of them?

Farmstrong Scotland.

And I'll say that I was previously a board member for Farmstrong, so a key part of that program is that what's delivered is evidence based and also what people feel that they need.

So every year Farmstrong will undertake a survey.

So, please, if you get asked to do a survey, you see it on socials, please do it.

Because it's so valuable that the programme itself can be evidence informed and that Farmstrong are delivering really what people feel that they need in order to make a difference to themselves and to their lives.

So this is where really this program came out from, was on the back of that research and what people felt that they thought that they needed and looking for new tools to help have better wellbeing outcomes, but also just to help business.

And I think that's this real positive of Armstrong and where it sits quite uniquely, is that it does tie itself quite closely to the business and the positive impacts that good wellbeing can have.

It backs up what we also know generally across and actually across various parts of the country and even across the world, is that wellbeing levels are lower generally in farming.

It is stressful, there are challenges, so it's about helping to adopt that.

But also, the latest research from Farm Strong also showed that 80% of those people who had actually engaged with Farmstrong felt a real benefit from being whatever that engagement was.

So it's just starting to build on what Farmstrong can deliver to really, really help people.

I mean, Kirsty, how do you even go about building a program like that?

What's the first step in that process?

So I guess the original conversation that Alex and I had was very general.

We had a walk around the Royal Highlands Centre and, you know, that gets your juices flowing.

Anyway, we went round and round and round for about an hour and a half.

It's great.

Was that during the Highland show, by any chance, or just on a random.

It wasn't.

It wasn't.

It was actually when there was nothing else there, which was incredible because I'd never been before and it was completely empty.

I guess the conversation that Alex and I had, from our perspective at mind and mission, understanding and protecting our mental health, isn't meant to be scary.

It's not meant to be scary.

It's not meant to be confusing.

It's not meant to be difficult.

And that is our philosophy.

And it turned out Alex thought similarly as well, in terms of how do we deliver something that is easy to understand and most important, relatable and relevant to everyday life.

That really was the core of where we started talking about it, and also to build something that every participant could use in some way.

I guess the key for me was, and this might sound controversial, it didn't start with a focus on farming.

So although Alex and I had a very long conversation around farming, around, you know, everything that Emily has described there that comes out of the survey, it always starts with people.

It starts with individuals.

Psychologically, we respond to discomfort.

We respond to difficulty.

In the same way, regardless of the industry we work in, regardless of the external or internal pressures that we have, what we demonstrate as an organization is that the core learning starts with the individual, is about the individual and the evolution that comes afterwards.

I mean, we had three, three iterations of the program.

So the first core part was around what is the core learning that everyone needs to be able to relate to?

So that was the core part.

We then.

We had the base program.

We then had a practice session with a couple of the board and Alex and other people, and we started tailoring from there so we have our core program.

How do we then start to infuse all of our understanding around farming, crafting, the industry, the struggles, what people are going through, and start to factor that in?

We then had a pilot, which Emily was as well, and that was then we further refined.

We sort of sliced and diced it, added some parts together and changed it up again.

So we were sort of three iterations in.

And that's when the tailoring then and the layering of all of the examples and everything that we understand is difficult or challenging about farming and crofting that was layered into the program.

So it doesn't start with the industry and farming and crafting per se, but the result is the layering and the sort of dovetailing.

All of that in happens through the final iterations.

And I think what we came up with was something really highly relatable to everyone.

And Emily, tell me about your involvement in the pilot.

That was more.

It was having a day with the Farmstrong team and with Kirsty and just really going through.

Through about how to deliver these things and as Kirsty says as well, just making it relevant.

It's really important.

If we were to advertise this as A specific meeting without it being really well tailored.

It's the kind of thing that might need a little bit of a push to get farmers to attend as a standalone unit.

Although I would say that obviously since Farmstrong's been around and I think it's much easier and people are more open, are talking about themselves and their wellbeing, but it's so important.

And that's what even early research in Farmstrong showed that, you know, people have to see that it's relevant to their day to day.

Because I'm sure that some of Kirsty's work will be covering other kinds of businesses and it might be, you know, if you're feeling a bit under stress, take a walk at lunchtime, switch off the emails and they're just not the kind of little bits of advice or pointers that are really relevant to farming.

And I think because farming is so unique and also I suppose we often work with, with families rather than colleague and to tailor it just gives it the relevance, which means that people will take so much more away from it.

So that was really the purpose of that pilot, as Kirsty suggests, is just really finessing it so that can get it as good as possible.

And given your business, your line of work, Emily, what changes have you noticed in people's farmers, crofters, people that work in that sector, openness to engaging in this subject?

Yeah, I think there's a real change now.

I think, I suppose there's this recognition that we need to acknowledge it, that you know, we need to look after our well being and you know, to be applauded industry wide, that it is good to talk about it, it's okay to talk about it, it's okay to be in challenging times, it's okay to go and log on to Farmstrung website and just have a look at tips.

And you know, I was just speaking to somebody the other day who said, yeah, just end of lambing was just really struggling but she loved.

It was actually Jock Gibson's blog about it and she said it just hit a chord because she felt exactly the same way.

So it's just really good to have the industry recognizing that, you know, if we talk about it, we're more aware of it, we can lose the stigma basically about talking about wellbeing and you.

Know, what do organisations and groups need to do if they want to register their interest, if they want to take part in the program, there's a place.

On the website to go and register interest.

And I think the Farmstrong team are active trying to get this out.

And as I said it actually fits quite nicely into whether there's existing meetings or discussion groups or even things like monitor farms where there's already groupings of farmers coming together, all crofters coming together because you can take pieces of the program out, you know.

So if there is only a short period of time to be allocated within other meetings then can just focus on one or two things or make it wider as, as and when people require.

So I think if anybody out there is keen and even just to find out more but just to see if or if they are part of a group that maybe would.

Would love to.

To have a go is just get in touch with.

With the farmstrong team and go onto the website.

Website first will be best way to find out more.

Thanks Emily.

It's maybe the wrong time to ask but given the fact that you've moved, you're living in a static caravan, you're building a house, how happy are you at the moment?

I mean have you had the barometer?

Where are you in this sort of well being barometer?

Yeah, well, being barometer is pretty good.

I think 7, 8 out of 10 making this change and I think making any change is.

Is challenging whatever that change looks like.

And, and in a way this is kind of as a business but it's also a personal change and I've spoken to groups about change management.

So I've been on the other side of saying like look, if you're making change you need to have clarity about what that change is.

You need to plan it a bit, you need to be prepared for.

You know, we've got a chart of.

It's like the roller coaster of where you think you're making.

Yeah, we're doing really, really well.

Then boom, something happens and you kind of go, yeah, not going to plan.

We need to regroup.

Where are we?

And to be fair that probably sums up the last.

I mean when we actually bought this place late summer.

But there are so many plates spinning so it feels like a very different part of the business.

Whereas previously it was livestock, sheep and dealing that on a day to day.

So yeah, there are lots of plates spinning but eyes on the prize.

The goal is what keeps you going because it's like I said, honestly I pinch myself every day.

Where we are is stunningly beautiful and the opportunity that we have to build a house is huge.

It's amazing.

So eyes on the prize.

It's definitely what keeps you going.

But I'm just wondering if you how much thought Consideration.

Do you give daily to your mental, emotional and physical well being?

Is there something, do you have habits?

Is there something you do every day?

Just to know I've done that, that I know that when I do that I feel so much better.

You know, it's funny because one of the big things for me is just, just walking the dogs.

So they're slightly redundant at the moment because we've no stalk at the moment, but two lovely sheepdogs.

And just even doing that, just taking that time, time and again in the.

Podcast, when I ask that question, it is often the simple acts that people get the most pleasure from.

So a walk on the beach, a walk with the dog, and it's, it's, it's invariably not the big things that you might think people need to do every day to make a difference.

Yeah.

And I guess, you know, I love listening to Emily.

She's just so positive and it's amazing to listen and I just love when you just eyes on the prize, thinking about the goal.

And I'm thinking it's almost like you've done the program, Emily.

Yeah, for me, I was thinking about what Emily was describing there and I was thinking, oh, what do I do?

And I think about what I give myself permission for.

So I give myself permission to stop.

I give myself permission.

If I have a high client load, I know that evening it's going to be tough because I've got a lot on my shoulders and I've got a lot to process and I probably need a little bit of supervision to be able to work it through.

So it's just, it's about giving myself permission to not have to be 110% on it every single minute of every single day.

And I find that really helps is just going, it's okay.

You're not feeling it right now.

That's all right.

You can sit down and you can not do something and you don't have to feel any guilt or shame about that.

So I find that really works.

And I like when you said there about it feels clear.

It's simple things.

And that is the point about the program as well.

This is not about making it complicated and making it difficult to understand or making it inaccessible.

It is about being able to show people who they are at their core and help them go.

That's why I've done that all my life.

That's why I respond in that way that makes so much sense now.

I can think slightly differently.

I don't feel that there's this weight on my shoulders I don't feel as heavy or that decision wasn't as difficult because I just.

I know something different now.

And that's the point.

It's simplicity at its best.

It's helping people know that.

I'm sure it doesn't matter at what stage in life that you do know that, Kirsty, But I suppose a lot of the contributors that I speak to tend to be of an age where they're reflecting.

And I think.

I often think it's a shame that it didn't happen, you know, 10 or 20 years before that, because it takes a long time to sort of feel comfortable in your own skin and know what you're doing.

And often it's later in life, isn't it, that people then take the time.

And even thinking of the younger generation of farmers, male and female, coming through, who are perhaps more on it in.

That respect, I think life's full of chapters.

You know, when you're growing up and everyone's saying midlife crisis, and you're kind.

Of like, what is that?

And things.

But when you're in your 20s, 30s, you have the energy.

And I'm going to talk about this from a business point of view as well.

You have the energy to really drive a business and really make change to a business.

Things then change in life as you move through your 30s into 40s.

And I think it's once.

Once you hit 50s, yeah, you are a bit uncomfortable in your skin.

You do reflect more.

And I mean, a little bit of background is we started the farm that we were in before and kind of repeating because actually we bought bare land and also built a house.

Yeah, well, we bought the farm over 25 years ago and built a house in that property and built that business up.

And our attitude to this now is very different because we're in that reflective stage of life.

And also the realization, particularly in farming and livestock farming is.

It's very physical.

And you get to an age where physically, you know that you need to adapt within the farm because you're just getting knackered and you have old injuries and things.

So.

So what would I have told myself when I was in my 20s, late 20s, and we were setting up that part of the farm?

It's just, yeah, take that time and opportunity, have a breath factor in that time away from the farm and all those other things.

I know it's really, really hard to do, but take that advice.

And this is where FarmSpring's really good, because I think people are a lot more aware of that now.

Is like, don't suck yourself into the ground because of it.

Because you want to look back on life and think, yeah, do you know what?

We had a really good balance between business and life.

Kirsty, do you think there's that generational point of difference?

Absolutely.

As a woman in our 50s as well, I completely changed my career in my 40s.

I was an accountant for 25 years.

So I really want to reframe the term midlife crisis, because I don't see it as a crisis.

I see it as a maybe a reframe or I don't know, maybe I'll try and come up with some different word and make it go viral, I don't know.

But it just feels like it's not a crisis anymore.

It is a reflection point.

It's a chance to look back, a chance to know ourselves better, and a chance to move forward in a way that helps us to live well.

What I tend to find people coming to the therapy space, they first come around 30.

So after their prefrontal cortex is completely developed, they have their first crisis around 30, start questioning life and future and everything else.

And then in another 10 years, when the next question or moment in life hits, there's another space there for reflection.

But I genuinely, genuinely believe, and this is not about me sitting here going, you must do the Foundations of Mental Strength program.

But I fundamentally believe and get so excited about anyone who is interested in self awareness and knowing themselves.

And the program actually starts with a quote.

And I think it was Aristotle who said, knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

And I look back and think, if I had started with that Wisdom in my 20s or my 30s, I don't know where my life would be now.

Maybe I'd be doing exactly the same thing.

I have no idea.

But I get excited about the possibility of others knowing themselves at a younger age.

It doesn't really matter what age you realize the things you realize.

There's something about our age and experience.

And maybe we're only supposed to be who we are when we get the experience to be who we are and who we're going to be.

So celebrate the age and stage we're at then.

That's ultimately what you're saying.

We can't go back, Emily, can we?

There is a bit of that.

And, you know, again, we could get really deep talking about regrets and all of that.

But there is an element of when you understand who you are now, there is a freedom and a power in being able to then make decisions that really, you see the fruits of your labor, you know, you really start to see how you can live better when you know yourself.

Well, that's a, it's a lovely message to end on, Kirsty.

And in a sentence, Emily, just for you to finish off, you know, one sentence, two sentence, just tell, you know, why people should, if they can and they're open to get involved in this program.

I just think, I suppose Kirsty alluded to it and I've not been involved in a full program like this, but certainly even in facilitation when we are working with pharma groups about their business and really, absolutely try and get them to pin down and understand, as Kirsty says, it's that self awareness thing and about how people, if you understand yourself and how you operate, you can avoid your blind spots, you can overcome some of your biases.

And I think people genuinely may find that it does change their lives a little bit or hopefully a lot and that it maybe gives some clarity, it maybe gives them a bit more direction.

And I just think, you know, just give it a go because you've got absolutely nothing to lose, probably a lot to gain.

And I said, I think genuinely this has been one of the missing parts and this is why I'm excited about it.

You know, we get a lot of funding comes in, particularly government funding and things coming in for knowledge exchange and as I said, improving production or efficiency and things.

But actually sometimes if we just stop and like hold a mirror a little bit.

And so because people are businesses, businesses are driven by people and if we have that little mirror to ourselves, okay, so this is how I work within the business or even just, yeah, this is what I want out of life.

I think there's a little bit for everyone in this program that Kirsty's helped develop.

Thank you, Emily.

And so to all our listeners, there's more information on the FOMS program, the Foundations of Mental Health programme on the Farmstrong website.

Well, ladies, I think my takeaways from today are that I'm not an overthinker, I'm not a control freak and you know, midlife crisis, what's that?

No such thing.

Bring it on, bring it on.

That's it, isn't it?

Being a grown up is really hard.

And I think this program, it sets you up to make better decisions about your farm, your croft, about your health, your well being, about your relationships, about the future, about life.

It's protecting your energy, protecting your happiness.

You know, less hassle, less stress, more balance.

And I think that's what came out of the survey, doesn't it, that people want more balance?

I think this can give them it.

Well, Christy, thank you very much.

Well said.

The final word to you, Kirsty and Emily, thank you very much for joining me today.

It's a beautiful day outside, so I think we should all go out there and enjoy it if we can.

Thank you very much.

And have that dog walk.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you very much.

Huge thanks to Kirsty Ritchie and Emily Grant.

Find FarmStrong Scotland Online, FarmStrongScotland.org you'll find info there about the foundations of mental strength program, how to book and what it involves.

You'll also see that at a glance.

How's it going?

Tool?

A brilliant, easy way to check in on your wellbeing.

See you next time.