I am excited about my guest today, Melody Wilding. I have gotten to know her a little through her writing and other offerings. I think she is an amazing woman who is not only an introvert and is ambitious. Melody Wilding is a coach and licensed social worker who helps ambitious high-achievers manage the emotional aspects of having a successful career. Her clients include CEOs and executives at top Fortune 500 companies such as Google and Hewlett Packard, as well as media personalities, startup founders, and entrepreneurs. She also teaches Human Behavior at Hunter College in New York City. A contributor to Forbes, Inc., Quartz, and PsychCentral, Melody has become a go-to expert in the areas of career, workplace psychology, women’s leadership, mental health, and more. Her advice has been featured in dozens of media outlets including New York Magazine, Fast Company, Entrepreneur Magazine, ELLE, and Glamour, among others. A popular speaker, Melody was recently chosen by TEDx to give a talk on how self-doubt can be a secret weapon for success at work. For show notes: www.nicoleburgesscoaching.com/ep7 In this episode: Melody shares her personal story of being an introvert and highly ambitious Melody shares commonalities in women who are in midlife or in their career and feelings of burn out and dissatisfaction She began to write on how to manage perfectionism, receiving negative feedback, people pleasing behaviors, dealing with a difficult colleague or toxic work environment for the highly sensitive person How Melody regained listening to her own intuition after many “your too sensitive” or “too (fill in the blank)” messages Why it is important to acknowledge our emotions vs push them down or ignore them Sensitivity is a strength-thoughtfulness, caring, empathic, feel more deeply and sense things around you more deeply Steps Melody took to end her people-pleasing behaviors which increased her confidence in herself and face challenges differently Her “3 Emotions Test”-anger, guilt and resentment-how it can help with boundaries, listening to your body, and improve communication skills Examples of how reconnecting with yourself and working with a coach can up-level your life Self-care is an investment back to yourself Mindfulness and self-reflection (link to ep 1) Challenging your mindset vs ruminating, worrying, and inner critic Celebrating your successes and achievements Melody shares a childhood story and the importance of role modeling to our next generation of girls in embracing their sensitivity as a strength vs weakness How parents and mentors of young girls can support the next generation in their introversion and sensitivity