I’m on the road to reinventing myself through the Inner Mean Girl Cleanse. My Inner Mean Girl (IMG) has been around way too long and has prevented me from being as happy as I want to be. Behind the smiles and laughs, there’s a lot of sadness because I judge myself all the time. My Inner Mean Girl speaks up even at the best times in my life, the times when I feel powerful, joyful, nurturing, connected to others, etc.

I’ve made the decision to cleanse myself of my Inner Mean Girl with the 40 Day Cleanse. My first week’s assignment was to give up gossip. When I thought about this, I figured it would be so easy. I don’t gossip! I like people. But, was I wrong.

My Gossip Habit:

• I start out saying, “I don’t mean this as gossip, but…”
• I talk about people under the guise of being concerned about them
• I watch and read about celebrity gossip a lot
• I stand by while others gossip and listen and then chime in

What I’ve Done About My Gossip Habit:

• I’ve said this affirmation at the beginning of each day, “Today I speak only from my heart. I leave gossip and toxic words behind. I speak only from my heart.”
• I’ve been thinking about my words before I speak them or write them
• I’m finding something positive to say to others and say it or write it
• I’m not expecting perfection because this is a habit that has been with me for a long time

How I Feel Now:

• I haven’t completely given up gossip completely. This is a learning process. I accept that and embrace that I am not perfect. I am proud of myself for what I have accomplished.
• The less gossiping I’ve done, the more love I feel.
• The less gossiping I’ve done, the less toxic I feel.
• The less gossiping I’ve done, the better I feel about myself.
• When I gossip it feels like fun, but later my IMG speaks up louder and with more strength.

Want to join me on the journey of releasing your IMG and take the Inner Mean Girl Cleanse? It is a journey. You’ll learn and be supported by amazing women and open your mind to love talk.

I have a confession to make – I have an Inner Mean Girl and I hate her! She tells me that what I do isn’t good enough, that I’m ugly and fat especially when I look at photos and videos of myself. She yells at me too so I can’t hear the compliments that people give me, or that quiet voice that’s telling me to slow down because I need to rest. She makes me compare myself to other women about how great they look, how organized they are and what great mothers they are.

That Inner Mean Girl has been with me for a long time and she needs to be stopped. She’s sabotaging my life. I want to be happier, listen to self love talk and grow personally and professionally. I’ve tried to do this alone, but haven’t succeeded.

With The 40 Day Inner Mean Girl Cleanse, I’ll be embarking on a new way of life. I’ll get rid of 6 habits from my Inner Mean Girl, one every week for 6 weeks and replace each bad habit with a positive one.  Here’s how the Cleanse works:

• Two amazing women, Christine Arylo and Amy Ahlers – master coaches & co-founders of Inner Mean Girl Reform School will run the group.
• Women from around the world are joining in with me to inspire each other.
• Every day I’ll do a short practice to keep me going for the week.
• Every Wednesday I’ll get an email and a video about the destructive habit we’re working on with a self loving habit to replace it with.
• Every Friday I’ll attend a conversation with people who will inspire me to shut up my mean girl. These conversations will be taped in case I miss one or want to go back and listen again.

I’m ready to lose my Mean Girl.  The more women involved, the better. We can support, inspire and hold each other accountable. The 40 Day Inner Mean Girl Cleanse is FREE, so sign up today! The Cleanse starts Friday, September 25th at 10am PST  / 1pm EST / 5pm GMT with SARK, best selling author of Succulent, Wild Woman.

What does your Inner Mean Girl say to you?

At BlogHer10 I was interviewed at the Yahoo Shine booth about how I reinvented myself. Thanks to Yahoo Shine for my video!

How have you reinvented yourself? Are you a work in progress? I am!

Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-it Note at a Time is a book written by Caitlin Boyle to empower women to love themselves for who they are. Ms. Boyle began a campaign where she posted a note in a public bathroom mirror with the words, “You are beautiful!”.  She took a photo, sent out an email to friends asking them to do the same and was amazed at what happened next.

The Operation Beautiful campaign grew, became a blog and now a book. The people who read the notes as well as wrote the notes both felt better about themselves. The book explains how this is sweeping the world, includes stories from women who have written or continue to write notes and allows Ms. Boyle to dig deeper into her past and why Operation Beautiful came about.

Whether you have a healthy self-esteem or a poor one, this book is a must read. Learn to feel better about yourself by taking control of your thoughts and your actions. Learn to help others not only with notes, but by listening and inspiring other women.

This book came at a perfect time for me. After attending a blog conference and seeing photos of myself, my inner negative voice began to work in overload. I am re-reading this book to continue on my journey of loving myself unconditionally.

You can purchase Operation Beautiful: Transforming the Way You See Yourself One Post-it Note at a Time on Amazon.com for $11.56. I recommend this as a gift for yourself, for a loved one or for a support group.

Thanks to Twittermoms and Gotham Books for furnishing the book, Operation Beautiful for my review. All opinions are 100% my own. (affiliate link is included above)