Staying Farmstrong when life gets hectic

Module Overview

Waikato dairy farmer Hayes Garland uses a simple but effective technique to help himself mentally when things aren’t going to plan.

Hayes, who recently moved from Taranaki to the Hauraki Plains where he contract milks 330 cows on 145ha, says he used to be a chronic overthinker and suffer from anxiety, but now has the tools to help him stay Farmstrong.

“I use a technique called ‘Catch it, check it, change it’. If my head is flooding with negative thoughts such as, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ or ‘Jeez, I’m useless at this’, I’ll stop, pause the negative thinking and replace it with something more positive,” Hayes says.

“I’ll reflect on the good things I’ve achieved and accomplished so far. I’ll tell myself, ‘I am good at this, I do this job well and I love what I do.’  When you’re working on a farm, you’ve got to motivate yourself like that so you can soldier on.”

Be prepared, accept and move on

Hayes says he manages pressure and setbacks by being prepared.

“It’s all about preparation for me. Preparing yourself mentally to deal with setbacks. That way if the worst does happen, it doesn’t feel out of your control because you’re prepared for it,” he says.

“I’ll have a bit of a whinge and whine to myself, then I’ll go, ‘Right I accept that’. I’ve learnt the faster I accept setbacks, the better the outcome will be. When you endlessly ponder things that have already happened, you’re just prolonging the misery. As soon as you accept it, you can move on.

“I used to be a chronic overthinker and suffered from anxiety, so I’ve learnt to kill those negative thoughts as fast as I can, so they don’t bring me down like a ton of bricks.”

Deep breathing a key tool

If Hayes feels a bit overwhelmed when milking, he has another technique he uses – deep breathing.

“If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed when you’re milking, it’s usually not the cows at all, it’s what’s going on in your head. If I can’t shut off the worries in my head, I just go out on the platform for a minute or so and take some big breaths. That deep breathing really works. You can just feel the bad juju leaving your body.

“Admiring your surroundings and doing some deep breathing is definitely right up there for me in terms of relaxing the mind. It snaps you out of your shit so you can move on.”

Hayes, who is a keen fisherman, says having a good work-life balance is also important.

“One of the reasons I moved to Hauraki was to tick the last box in my dairy career and enjoy a better work-life balance. I’ve done the hard grind, now it’s time to invest some time in myself,” he says.

“One of the other reasons why I’m farming near the Coromandel is that I love fishing and I haven’t been able to go fishing in a long, long time. Once I get the line in there, I just relax and don’t have a worry in the world. That’s my ‘cool, calm and collected’ place. Somewhere I can just chill. You need that time in farming.”

Celebrate the little wins

Hayes says he loves Farmstrong because the advice is coming straight from the horse’s mouth.

“When you hear other farmers who are actually involved in the business that really lands with me.  That’s what I love about it. You see all these people who are going through the same thing as you, knee deep in challenges and they’re still finding a way through. That’s inspiring. It gives you light at the end of the tunnel.”

He also stays Farmstrong by celebrating the little wins.

“I remember reading that Farmstrong tip about celebrating the little wins. That’s so bloody true. If you’re always waiting for the big win in farming, it’s a long time for your body and mind to go through the gauntlet. If you can focus on the little wins that keep you happy each day, that’s when you’re really winning.”