Over the weekend I was learning all about adding The Culture of It All! to Substack, these things definitely humble my 37 yo ass and remind me that whilst I did grow up with computers, I’m of the age where a new website or backend system can make me feel completely lost.

 

And as I dug deeper, and started to make edits to the ‘publication’ page – that’s what they call it on Substack – I started to get excited about the prospect of using this as a place to record, write and exist away from social media.

 

I’ve noticed many writers, podcasters and creators who I follow on Instagram are writing on Substack. Sharing their thoughts, writing in depth articles, even reposting podcasts they’ve been featured on – this idea is really smart!

 

We’ve explored the love-hate relationship we have with social media many times, and even though I’m having a fairly pleasant experience creating content at the moment, being a fat person in this era of GLP-1’s* is emotionally and mentally exhausting.

 

Great for content, and not so great for my mental health.

Back in my early business days, my business coach was adamant about answering EVERY SINGLE comment, even the mean ones. She would tell us that this is all part of being online, and you’ve got to just get over it, grow a thick skin and move on. She would remind us that it’s ALL about the mindset, running a business is about faking it and believing it’s yours, fuck imposter syndrome, be polarizing, and act like you’re already selling out every launch.

 

With online business coaching, comes mindset and personal development work. We all want to support our clients, and peers, reminding them how badass they are and to raise their middle fingers to the voices telling us ‘we’re not enough’.

 

We all experience imposter syndrome and have one or more inner critics speaking up at the most unfortunate times. They are unique to us, formed by our own insecurities and beliefs about who we are and the world around us.

 

I’ve listened as online biz peers would share their own experience of imposter syndrome, and how they quietened their inner critic and proceeded to market, launch and sell their work.

 

It always left me with this question; if we all experience imposter syndrome and have inner critics, why are my peers able to move through this? And, why does this always lead me to burnout?

Whilst research in more recent years has shown that imposter syndrome affects genders equally, in reality, similar to diet culture, it disproportionately affects marginalised voices.

 

For example, diet culture and imposter syndrome both affect women's beliefs about themselves and their bodies. The difference for folks in larger bodies is weight stigma, and the anti-fat narratives that exist within society.

 

My insecurities about existing in the online space, having a voice and asking people to pay me for a service, product or program are influenced by actual experiences of weight stigma and reinforced by how other people actually treat me in the world.

 

For years I’ve wondered why this all seemed so hard, why I would hit burn out regularly. My coaches would tell me it’s my limiting beliefs, and my peers had expressions that left me feeling like I was being dramatic. 

 

It would seem that with body acceptance, comes a deeper understanding of the impact weight stigma has on personal development work, and why many of the popularised coaching ideas seem unrealistic for folks in larger bodies.

 

Now that I’m cognizant of this, I’ve started thinking about the half finished self-development business books that I just couldn’t conceptualise, and my cynicism towards coaching techniques.

 

 

 

*If you'd like to know what GLP-1s are, or understand the impact these drugs are having within the fat community right now, here are some resources:

 

The Satisfaction Factor Podcast - #68 - We Need to Talk About Ozempic & Wegovy

 

Maintenance Phase - Ozempic

 

Ragen Chastain - Quick Guide: Wegovy/Ozempic for Weight Loss