The Mindset Shift That Helps My Clients Nail Their Job Interviews (And Comedy Shows)
Competing with other people is one of the most exhausting, distracting, and least productive uses of your energy.
The Sydney Stand-Up Comedy Grad Show on Sunday 16 November
Every week, I work with clients preparing for job interviews, promotions, presentations, and high-stakes opportunities.
One theme appears again and again:
“Dave, I’m scared the others have done more prep than me.”
Or:
“What if they’re more knowledgeable, more confident, or just… better?”
It’s a natural fear - but it’s also a trap.
And sometimes, we use this trap to avoid applying ourselves.
Why compete with someone we can’t beat right?!
And that makes sense because in interviews, presentations, and public speaking, the moment you start measuring yourself against others, you lose control of the one thing that truly matters: your own performance.
The Two-Yous Exercise
I often walk clients through this:
“Picture the version of you who skips the prep, who wings it, who hopes for the best.
Now picture the version of you who did the work.
Which would you choose if you were on the hiring panel?”
It always leads to them nodding.
They get what I’m saying.
The only person who you should compete with is the you from last week, last month, last interview.
If you get 1% better each time, by making the smallest changes, eventually it will lead to much clearer answers, stronger presence, tighter examples, calmer delivery.
That’s exponential growth over time.
Procrastination x Imposter Syndrome = Unfairly Comparing Yourself to others
A common mistake people make is assuming the interview is like a race where you must outrun the others.
It’s not.
What matters is whether you show the panel the best, clearest version of your story.
When your mind is consumed with what others are doing, you rob yourself of the focus required to express what you bring.
Trying to outshine somebody else is a fast track to anxiety.
And people often use this as an excuse to not prepare.
I’ve done this many, many times. And denied myself fantastic opportunities.
Instead, try to outshine your previous self, as this is a fast track to mastery.
A Lesson From This Week’s Stand-Up Comedy Grad Show
On Sunday, we ran our stand-up comedy grad show with twelve people who stepped on stage for the very first time.
If there’s ever a situation where people are tempted to compare themselves to others, it’s comedy.
Who’s the funniest? Who got the biggest laugh? Who “won” the crowd?
But this group did something awesome (and yes, maybe I assisted in guiding their mindsets to ensure success).
Rather than competing with each other, they competed with themselves.
For four weeks, we got together and they self-managed their nerves, revised their own drafts, and got through their rehearsals.
They backed themselves supported each other.
This meant they grew, and they gained a tonne from the experience of preparing and then delivering some of the best grad show sets I’ve ever seen.
Trying to “be the funniest” or “be the best” is a losing game. It’s impossible to control.
What I can control how much I prepare, refine, rehearse, and show up as the best version of myself on that day.
You can do this to.
Whether it’s a job interview, a presentation, or cracking jokes about forgetting your own child’s name when doing your first-ever stand-up comedy set.