Before I get into this week’s topic, I would like to let everyone know that I named my Inner Mean Girl Patty. She’s a perfectionist. Nothing I ever do is good enough for her. She tells me I’m a failure. You know what? She’s a liar!

On to this week’s topic: Gossip

I wouldn’t consider myself a big gossip. However, with the focus on refraining from it, I became aware that I am guilty of engaging in this toxic habit. This awareness happened when I was driving down my street the other day. There’s this woman who daily sweeps up the leaves on the sidewalk around her house. Knight and I laugh about it all the time. And when I saw her sweeping even further down the street, I immediately thought to tell Knight. And that’s when I realized. What we are doing is gossip. I would feel bad if that woman knew we were laughing about her sweeping up the leaves. And I decided that was the end of it. No telling Knight. No more making a mental note of when I see her out there. She’s just keeping the area around her house clean. Good for her. What right do I have to judge or make fun? Maybe it’s her way of getting exercise.

I don’t read tabloids and I don’t watch shows like TMZ, but I was following Perez on Twitter. So in an effort to eliminate the negative gossip energy from my life I chose to unfollow Perez Hilton on Twitter. He adds nothing to my twitter stream. He’s the ultimate gossip, and I don’t want to be part of it any longer. And I don’t need to.

I want to have as much positive energy in my life as possible. And to that, I commit to unfollowing celebrity gossipers (although, I think Perez was the only one), including unfollowing celebrities that are just drama, who I generally only follow so I can “dish the dirt” (case in point – Lindsay Lohan, it’s unfortunate, but the girl is pure drama and I only follow her on Twitter to find out what she’s doing so I can dish with my friends).

It’s important to be aware of the different ways you might be letting the negative energy in your life. Tabloids. Tabloid shows on TV. It’s really everywhere. Eliminate it from your life. It’s not adding any value to your life. Surround yourself with as much positive energy as you can.

This week we are replacing gossip with the self-loving habit of good talk.

What is good talk? It is talking with clean intentions or motivations. Speaking about someone like you would want to be spoken about. We are going to lift others up, and not tear them down. If you are in a group that is gossiping, be a leader and change the conversation, change the energy.

For example, with the woman down the street sweeping up the leaves, I flipped the script in my head and now think, “Good for her! She’s outside getting fresh air, moving her body and taking pride in her yard.” Next time I walk by her house and she’s outside, I will say something positive to her!

One of my besties and I got to spend some time together this week, and I was venting about something that was bothering me. It immediately came to my attention, “could this be gossip?” That’s a tough one. Where’s the line between getting something off your chest and gossiping? I did a heart check. I wasn’t really tearing the person down, just venting about a particular thing that happened that set wrong with me. And then we moved on. I didn’t feel bad, what I did feel was an awareness. Awareness that what I was saying could potentially be gossip. Awareness that I needed to go back home and figure out why the thing the person did annoyed me. I do believe this could have turned into a full blown gossip session, but my bestie and my awareness of our words helped to keep it from going that way.

It is important to be aware of what you are saying when you are with a group of friends. You have the power to change the energy if gossip is happening. Come from a place of compassion and love. Lift people up instead of tearing them down. With that negative energy out of your life, you will notice the positive energy flowing more fully to all areas of your life!

Could you benefit from ridding your life of this toxic habit (& 5 others as well)? It’s not too late to join! Click here, it’s free and it will improve your life! If you are on Twitter and you want to see what others are saying about the Inner Mean Girl 40 Day Cleanse, we are using #IMGCleanse (IMG = Inner Mean Girl) If you are on Twitter and you aren’t already following me, you totally should!

So, tell me about how you are going to (or already have) gotten rid of the toxic habit of gossip? Have you practiced changing the energy in a conversation from gossip to compassion? Share with me how you did it!

Have a great, and gossip free week!

I am participating in the Inner Mean Girl 40 Day Cleanse as a Self-Love Ambassador. To thank me for my participation, I will receive a self-love gift from the founders of the Inner Mean Girl Reform School.