Mental Performance Blog

When you're under pressure but still have to show up.

Handle interviews, bosses, and clients without crumbling.

How to Sound Confident in an Interview When ChatGPT Polished Your Answers

How to Sound Confident in an Interview When ChatGPT Polished Your Answersby: Dave WolovskyPublished on: 12/11/2026

How to sound confident in an interview when ChatGPT polished your answers: own your stories, believe them, and practice out loud until you enjoy telling them.

how to sound confident in an interviewchatgpt interview prepinterview storiesSTAR methoddirector interview
How to Sound Confident in an Interview When ChatGPT Polished Your Answers

How to Follow Up After a Final Interview When the CEO Did the Talking

How to Follow Up After a Final Interview When the CEO Did the Talkingby: Dave WolovskyPublished on: 10/11/2026

The CEO did most of the talking in your final interview? It went better than it felt. How to follow up after a final interview: one thing they said, kept short.

follow up after final interviewinterview with ceofinal round interviewthank you email after interviewexecutive interview
How to Follow Up After a Final Interview When the CEO Did the Talking

How to Deal With Defensive Employees: Go First

How to Deal With Defensive Employees: Go Firstby: Dave WolovskyPublished on: 09/11/2026

How to deal with defensive employees: go first. Own your share of the miss in one sentence, then ask a question and stop talking. Then give your feedback.

defensive employeesgiving feedbackfeedback 1:1managing people
How to Deal With Defensive Employees: Go First

Interview Presentation Tips: The Deck Is an Excuse

Interview Presentation Tips: The Deck Is an Excuseby: Dave WolovskyPublished on: 08/11/2026

Interview presentation tips for leaders: cut your 30-60-90 deck to 3 points, leave half the time for pushback, and tell them to interrupt you. Here's how.

interview presentation30-60-90 planpresentation roundVP interview
Interview Presentation Tips: The Deck Is an Excuse

Meet Your Cognitive Performance Coach

Dave Wolovsky

I was home schooled until 13 years old.

Always a quiet introvert.

Overly sensitive to others' discomfort.

I was scared to ask for things.

Waited for others to offer.

Waited and waited.

After a horrible job experience...

⚠️ Strangled by my own anxiety.

⚠️ Desperate to impress my bosses.

⚠️ "Stuck it out" until I got physically ill.

I realized I needed to grow as a person.

To ask for what I needed.

To persuade with empathy.

To negotiate without conflict.

I dove deep into understanding people:

▪︎ Neuroscience (got a masters in it)

▪︎ Positive psychology (a certification)

▪︎ Negotiation (books, courses, teaching).

Then I realized lots of people had difficulties like me.

And I became committed to helping people get paid what they're worth.

An early client got a $35k raise, while cutting back to a 4-day workweek.

I wrote down everything we did.

Conversations along the way.

The mistakes along the way.

I created a set of principles.

Called it "Empathic Influence & Negotiation."

Applied it to salary negotiations.

Applied it to job interviews.

Applied it to networking.

And then I found Mindfulness.

That added some next level juice.

I created the "Mindful Sprint" process.

And now I help talented introverts become Mindful Sprinters.

This kind of personal growth creates:

✓ Better job opportunities.

✓ Higher compensations.

✓ Stronger boundaries.

Without creating:

🚫 Confrontational situations.

🚫 Resentful relationships.

🚫 Suffocating stress.

We navigate social complexities:

▪︎ Being a team player, not a pushover.

▪︎ Asking for a raise collaboratively.

▪︎ Making your value fully visible.

With me, you're not getting an extroverted former CEO.

I won't insist that you have to "command the room."

You ARE getting a partner to help you:

▪︎ Shine a floodlight on your value.

▪︎ Stay authentically introverted.

▪︎ Meet you where you're at.

Expect to be empowered:

▪︎ Do things you've never done before.

▪︎ Learn the science of negotiation.

▪︎ Experience true mindfulness.

I was home schooled until 13 years old.

Always a quiet introvert.

Overly sensitive to others' discomfort.

I was scared to ask for things.

Waited for others to offer.

Waited and waited.

After a horrible job experience...

⚠️ Strangled by my own anxiety.

⚠️ Desperate to impress my bosses.

⚠️ "Stuck it out" until I got physically ill.

I realized I needed to grow as a person.

To ask for what I needed.

To persuade with empathy.

To negotiate without conflict.

I dove deep into understanding people:

▪︎ Neuroscience (got a masters in it)

▪︎ Positive psychology (a certification)

▪︎ Negotiation (books, courses, teaching).

Then I realized lots of people had difficulties like me.

And I became committed to helping people get paid what they're worth.

An early client got a $35k raise, while cutting back to a 4-day workweek.

I thought, "this is interesting."

I wrote down everything we did.

Conversations along the way.

The mistakes along the way.

I created a set of principles.

Called it "Empathic Influence & Negotiation."

Applied it to salary negotiations.

Applied it to job interviews.

Applied it to networking.

And then I found Mindfulness.

That added some next level juice.

I created the "Mindful Sprint" process.

And now I help talented introverts become Mindful Sprinters.

This kind of personal growth creates:

✓ Better job opportunities.

✓ Higher compensations.

✓ Stronger boundaries.

Without creating:

🚫 Confrontational situations.

🚫 Resentful relationships.

🚫 Suffocating stress.

We navigate social complexities:

▪︎ Being a team player, not a pushover.

▪︎ Asking for a raise collaboratively.

▪︎ Making your value fully visible.

With me, you're not getting an extroverted former CEO.

I won't insist that you have to "command the room."

You ARE getting a partner to help you:

▪︎ Shine a floodlight on your value.

▪︎ Stay authentically introverted.

▪︎ Meet you where you're at.

Expect to be empowered:

▪︎ Do things you've never done before.

▪︎ Learn the science of negotiation.

▪︎ Experience true mindfulness.

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