One of the post-its on my desk says, “I’m the perfect size for success.” It’s there to remind me that I don’t have to fix myself or lose weight before I can be successful.

That post-it has been my salve when the my inner critic arrives. Each time, I look at it so that I can remember my “not good enough” thoughts are false.

You see, like so many women, I bought into the thought that I had to be thin to have a wonderful life. And the thin target was an ever-changing one. Even at my skinniest, I thought I needed to be 10 pounds lighter than I was. Even when I was a personal trainer, the inner critic was winning!

A life where the inner critic is winning is NOT your best life.

And the inner critic kept me from pursuing my calling—sharing the body-positive message—for years!

As I encourage others to release body shame in my coaching work, I am meeting women of all shapes and sizes.
Recently, I was surprised that one woman pointed out that others might think my body was too skinny to be the one leading the conversation about body shame.

And there’s the double bind.

My mind—and unfortunately society, too—says I’m too fat to be successful, and now I’m getting a very well-meaning woman telling me that I’m too thin!

This is the very reason that I want to do this work. To help women see their own beauty, a diverse kind of beauty of all shapes and sizes!

Women can’t win around this body issue unless we take back our sense of pride at what our body looks like in this exact moment.

It doesn’t matter what size I am, or what size you are. We ALL suffer from feeling not good enough, and yet, we are all beautiful.

Can you imagine what amazing things women could accomplish if they stopped binding themselves with “too fat” or “not thin enough” thoughts? If we stopped binding others with our misconceptions about beauty?
Who could we be? What couldn’t we do!

I’ve been reading Furiously Happy, a quirky book about a woman who declares that she will be furiously happy in spite of debilitating depression.

I have decided to declare myself Furiously Boundless and I hope you all join me in casting off those “not good enough” thoughts related to your body’s amazing shape and size.

Please comment on this blog. I’d love to hear what you have to say about this. What thoughts are binding you? What’s keeping you from your calling?
Cathy Dean is a certified Martha Beck coach and endorsed Mind Body coach who helps in-demand, entrepreneurial high-achieving women free themselves from stress and binding body thoughts so they can honor their bodies and reach for more abundance and adventure.
Cathy used to feel trapped by her body shame and size. As she has cast aside her binding body thoughts, she has been able to pursue her calling—to bring the body-positive movement to the forefront—with wild and boundless enthusiasm.

Web site: cathydean.com
email: cathy@cathydean.com