stress Archives - Melanie Pritchard

3 Ways to Sex-Up A Cover Letter!

Posted on 6th September 20238th September 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

“Seduce my mind and you can have my body, find my soul and I’m yours forever” – MD Waters

Can you guess the link between dating and careers?

I see average cover letters again and again. Just like attracting a crème de la crème mate, we need to up our game massively to attract top employers, stand out from the crowd and secure the top jobs.

This means hardcore seduction.

I’m talking KC level, evidence based seduction that wins High Court cases.

There should be nothing average about it.

If it’s not breath-taking, don’t send it.

It you know it’s not a 10 out of 10, keep drafting.

If you don’t know how, drop me a line.

Corporate seduction is my superpower!

Like anything in life, it’s easy when you have the magic formula.

To find out how I can help you uplevel your life or career, book a free discovery call here

Still unsure? Here’s what a recent client, Tina LePomme said: ‘‘I worked with Mel in 2022. She helped me redefine my career, think about my key priorities and supported me throughout the entire process all the way until I found the dream job. She is absolutely amazing, she’s incredibly resourceful, will go above and beyond to support you in any way she can and is very professional. I cannot recommend her enough”

LA Weekly: 10 Career Coaches to Follow in 2023

Posted on 31st August 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

Whether your career is in its infancy or you’re ready to change paths, working with a passionate and expert career coach can make a big difference. Career development can be quite daunting and everyone can benefit from the guidance and support career coaches are meant to provide.

If you need help exploring careers paths, setting and achieving career goals, developing your skills, and finding new and better jobs, among many other things, working with a career coach will make things a lot easier. They have years of experience and a wealth of knowledge under their belt, it’s just a matter of finding the right fit for you.

Browse our list below to find the top 10 career coaches in 2023!

Buddhist Top Tip: How to Deal with Toxic People

Posted on 3rd August 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

A recent life coaching client and I discussed how to deal with toxic people who push boundaries, manipulate, gaslight and try to get a rise out of you.

We deduced that our responses should take a different form with toxic people..

Watch the short video from a heavenly buddhist monk here and see what you think…

Married to Trauma: Loving a Victim of Childhood Trauma

Posted on 3rd August 20233rd August 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

Adult survivors of childhood abandonment and complex trauma abound in our society. Theirs is a sad reality shrouded in the darkness of shame that keeps their experience locked away only to be known by their volcanic overreactions or quiet avoidance that are triggered by present-day cues. They are our sisters, fathers, spouses, etc. They live fenced in by crippling fear and loss of identity stolen at such a young age. They’ve developed and matured as we all do, driven by survival and attachment, the same instincts they came into the world with, the same instincts that gave them a fighting chance at survival. However, the other component necessary for reaching potential, the social environment, was not favorable. It seemed as if this third ingredient almost wanted their destruction from the very beginning as if they were not meant to be alive in the first place. This environment, or soil, if you will, would go on to nurture beliefs deep in the psyche of the individual. These beliefs would become infused with the person’s sense of self, and so they would live out those beliefs as if they had to. They would live out those beliefs in ever reinforcing and destructive consequences. Those consequences reinforce a dark world view and a sense of self-value that is worthless. They live in a reality that holds no possibility for hope. Each day they walk past choice and opportunity only to choose what is familiar.

Read the rest of this superb article here. There’s a surprisingly positive twist!

6 Surprising Signs of a Toxic Relationship

Posted on 3rd August 20233rd August 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

There’s no class in high school on how to not be a shitty boyfriend or girlfriend. Sure, we get taught the biology of sex, the legal ins and outs of marriage, and maybe we read a few obscure love stories from the 19th century on how not to be an ass-face.

Without clear ideas from adults, what we’re left with is basically trial and error, and if you’re like most people, it’s mostly error.

Enter: a string of toxic relationships as we fumble through an already complex dating world.

One of the problems is that a lot of toxic relationship habits are baked into our culture. We worship romantic love—you know, that dizzying and irrational kind that somehow finds breaking china plates on the wall in a fit of tears somewhat endearing. And we scoff at practicality or unconventional sexualities.

Men and women are encouraged to objectify each other and to objectify their romantic relationships. Thus, our partners are often seen as achievements or prizes rather than someone to share mutual emotional support.

A lot of the self-help literature out there isn’t helpful either. And for most of us, mom and dad surely weren’t the best examples.

Read the rest of this excellent article on the 6 signs of a toxic relationship here.

Why Management Consulting Can Feel like a Toxic Relationship

Posted on 3rd August 20233rd August 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

‘Management consulting is like a toxic relationship – you love the salary, status and perks, but you hate the intense workload, demanding clients, lack of work life balance and lack of praise’ – Career Coaching Consulting Client

Are you a management consultant, lawyer or professional who loves the highs of the job – the big pay check, the nice house and the social status but secretly hates the feeling of being stuck in the ‘corporate cage’ where you crave changing out of the ‘always on’ culture but love the big salary and feel trapped by a big mortgage and other liabilities?

Or maybe you’ve reached the pinnacle of your career, near Partnership, only to realise that all your efforts seem to count for nothing unless you hit whopping billable targets or you’re able to bring in new business.

Or maybe you simply don’t have the time to explore these niggling feelings and doubts – or you don’t know who you could talk to to discover alternatives that meet your wider needs?

Perhaps you’ve normalised feeling flat, frustrated or unfulfilled for so long that you’ve failed to notice the negative ripple effect your work is having on your mental health and your wider quality of life with family and friends?

Can you even imagine what it feels like not to have to be perfect every day at work, like you’re on a never-ending treadmill constantly fending off burn-out?

I get it – as a lawyer turned Career and Life Coach, I help smart, successful professionals working in high stress worlds design careers and lives they love – and much as your monkey mind may tell you this isn’t possible, I’m here to tell you it is!

Whether learning simple mindset mastery tricks to help reduce stress and optimise work life balance, learning how to develop boundaries and people please less, exploring career alternatives that thrive off your superb CV or managing wider life goals like love and relationships, I’m here for you.

It’s easy to boost hope and joy in life when you have the right tools and the space to explore what you really want, what your options are and how to reconnect with your strengths to strategise for change. It doesn’t have to be money or happiness – it can be both.

Check out a powerful example of one of many bright but frustrated career coaching clients I work with in the in the short video here.

What do you relate to?

What are your main pain-points?

And how committed to change are you in 2023?

If you’d like to explore how I can help you master your mind and re-design your career or personal life, drop me a message here for a free discovery call. Helping smart, successful professionals get unstuck fast is my superpower 🙂

Here’s what a recent legal client said:

‘Thank you so much for everything – I feel like you’re the best investment I made in myself in years. I feel much more connected to my true self and have more trust in myself than I have had in a long time. You have a real gift’

The Best Video on Imposter Syndrome You’ll Ever See

Posted on 3rd August 20233rd August 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

“I still have a little impostor syndrome… It doesn’t go away, that feeling that you shouldn’t take me that seriously. What do I know? I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is” – Michelle Obama

Imposter Syndrome is a regular pain-point many of my brilliant life coaching and career coaching clients struggle with.

And by brilliant I’m talking geneticists, lawyers, management consultants, entrepreneurs, CEOs and beyond.

Male or female, undergraduate, trainee, Partner, Founder or Managing Director, it doesn’t discriminate. And it will take you down, if you let it – or at least keep you stuck from fulfilling your true potential and achieving the wild success you’re capable of.

We are all on the spectrum somewhere whether fearing to speak up in a meeting, thinking we’re not good enough at our jobs or waiting to be found out for some corporate crime we never committed ! If it wasn’t so stressful, it would be funny!

Think lack of confidence, waking up sweating in the dead of night, catastrophising you’ll be sacked or fearing you’re not good enough for promotion.

If any of that resonates, click here for an awesome video in Imposter Syndrome from Diary of a CEO founder, Steven Bartlett which reframes imposter syndrome in a way you’ll never expect.

And if you want to learn some simple, transformative life coaching tools to uplevel your confidence and transform your mindset, book a free discovery call in with me here!

The Surprising Similarity between Careers and Dating

Posted on 13th July 202313th July 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” – Confucius

Ever gone on a date you weren’t excited about to discover, well, it was a waste of time?

Ever sent in multiple job applications or done an interview somewhat half-heartedly to discover, shock horror, you weren’t successful?

Or maybe you’re struggling to excel in your current role (or even get through the day..) because your heart’s just not in it?

I always say there are multiple parallels between love and careers. If you’re not excited, it’s not the right one! What happens when we settle on a half-hearted love? Yup, it ends in tears. Careers are no different as I explain in my short video here.

Do not, I repeat, do not, settle with your career.

Feeing disconnected 5 days’ a week is a BIG DEAL and will affect your mental health and wider life whether your love life, relationships with your children, wellbeing or otherwise.

If you think you’re lost, confused, stuck – you’re not nearly as lost as you think, trust me. I see these feelings ALL THE TIME with clients who invariably become unstuck within just 1-3 sessions. Confusion, apathy and frustration may alarm you but they excite me (!) because they are merely signs of unmet needs and when you work out what you need to be happy, the rest is easy.

Don’t believe me?

One creative career coaching client thought she was totally lost job wise and was sliding into depression when we first connected. She was also worried her career joylessness was endangering her relationship. By session 2, she was a different person – with a 360 energy / clarity turnaround once she got clear on her values. She wasn’t remotely crazy or even that lost once she had the space to explore what was really going on – she was just in the wrong role in a misaligned work environment.

She now has her dream job for a leading fashion house in Amsterdam and feels truly seen, heard and fulfilled.

If that resonates, hit me up for a free discovery call and feel the anxiety reduce and hope spike!

As an ex-lawyer turned career and life coach who works with smart, successful people in high-stress jobs, my superpower is helping ‘confused’ clients get unstuck fast and reconnect with careers that make them truly happy, fulfilled and excited to get up in the morning.

Remember: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs

#career #careers #job #interview #mentalhealth #wellbeing #work #finance #managementconsulting #consulting #lifecoaching #careercoaching #coaching #success #happiness #leaders #leadership #wellbeing #insurance #redundancy #HR #law #property #CEO #manager #lawyer #jobs #people

Relationship Anxiety: What Causes it and When You Really Need to Worry!

Posted on 12th July 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

‘Discomfort is the price of admission to a meaningful life’ – Susan David PhD

Hands up if you’ve ever felt doubt, insecurity or the need for reassurance in a relationship? Cue all of us.

What causes relationship anxiety and when do you *really* need to worry?

What’s the difference between helpful and unhelpful anxiety in relationships?

How does relationship worry show up?

And how can we handle it?

I coach many life coaching clients on relationship pain-points whether work-related or romantic – in fact, it’s a favourite topic of mine, dealing with themes that go to the heart of what it is to be human – confidence, self-esteem, identity, values, communication, happiness, success and beyond.

The cost of poor quality or broken relationships is high, which is why it’s so rewarding teaching clients simple tools to overcome relationship challenges to minimise breakdown and optimise happiness.

A recent client mentioned the varied (mainly negative) advice she’d received from friends around her potentially impending divorce and one thing struck me – a real lack of balance, objectivity and hopeful guidance.

I saw something different to ‘let’s expedite the divorce’ / ‘what a d*ck’ / ‘things have ruptured so it’s game over after nearly 20 years’.

Underneath the anger and acting out was simply a breakdown in communication, a lack of tools around HOW to communicate effectively and a disconnect from their own selves since becoming busy working parents. Yes, that’s a few blockers but pretty resolvable blockers if there are enough shared values and vision for the future.

This is where coaching can be pretty game-changing, bringing awareness and balance to complex situations untrained listeners may be naturally more inclined to judge from their own frame of reference. This is what we call projection (!) which isn’t always helpful when we need to be heard and we want to connect to the truth in a balanced, non-polarised way.

If you’ve ever felt anxious in romantic relationships, wondered whether this is normal and what the difference even is between good and ‘bad’ anxiety, read my article below in Women’s Health. There’s a game-changing magic trick for dealing with anxiety in there which is as miraculous as it is simple. To read about this and the full article in Women’s Health, click here.

And if you’re looking to uplevel your relationships, whether in work or love, drop me a message to book a free discovery call here – I regularly help clients like these with tips to gain the clarity and tools to optimise dating, their relationships and love lives!

What’s stopping you from creating a life you love?

#love #relationships #success #happiness #lifecoaching #career #communication #stress #mentalhealth #cbt

How to Unearth the Hidden Job Market and Find Work you Love!

Posted on 12th July 2023 by Melanie Pritchard

‘My best interactions to secure this new career were through speculative approaches’ – Buzzing Client!

I just came off a call with an overjoyed management consulting career coaching client who came to coaching feeling overwhelmed, confused and unsure about how she could find a new career she loved. She lacked confidence and worried it wasn’t possible to maintain her pay and find happiness through career change. She has since secured her dream career in a new industry and new role she’d previously doubted was possible, combining her interests in law and tech to great effect (throw in Mondays off to work from home with her children and a higher salary, too!)

She did this through an unusual route, which, done well, can secure you the job of your dreams in ways your inner saboteur may try to quash!

It’s one of the most high-results producing methods I share with disillusioned career coaching clients who want to find work they love in cultures that truly align.

Watch my short video here for the insider scoop and reach out if you’d like the secret formula!

Disclaimer: don’t do this if you’re not prepared for massive career fulfilment!

If you’d like to learn more about how to get career clarity fast to find work you love, contact me for a free discovery call here!

#coaching #career #job #work #love #video #management #managementconsulting #law #lawyers #stress #happiness #change #transformation

Tag: stress

3 Ways to Sex-Up A Cover Letter!

LA Weekly: 10 Career Coaches to Follow in 2023

Buddhist Top Tip: How to Deal with Toxic People

Married to Trauma: Loving a Victim of Childhood Trauma

6 Surprising Signs of a Toxic Relationship

Why Management Consulting Can Feel like a Toxic Relationship

The Best Video on Imposter Syndrome You’ll Ever See

The Surprising Similarity between Careers and Dating

Relationship Anxiety: What Causes it and When You Really Need to Worry!

How to Unearth the Hidden Job Market and Find Work you Love!

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Keep In Touch

COACHING

WORKSHOPS

OTHER

KEEP IN TOUCH

hi there.i'm delighted tohave you here!

hi there.
i'm delighted to
have you here!