Order my USA TODAY Bestselling book: toxicgrit.com TOXIC GRIT: How to have it all and (actually) love what you have. It will help you create a new approach to ambition and find space for all the diverse parts of yourself. Join 75K+ others who read my newsletter 🧩 Life's a Game at amandagoetz.com. It’s full of free tips to play the game of life at a whole new level. In 2018 I found myself at the height of my marketing career with 3 kids under the age of 4 and filing for divorce. In a world telling me to find alignment......I realized that was impossible. The work version of me didn't want to leave early to go be with the kiddos. The mom version of me didn't want to miss a moment with them. I wanted to be fiercely independent and yet also wanted to find love again. Other versions of me didn't want to feel responsible for anything or anyone. This diversity within me led to the creation of my Character Theory Framework. This framework helped me to create space for the 10 characters that make up the movie of your life:  The CEO → wants to pursue big goalsThe Partner → desires companionship  The Soloist → cares about personal growth and development The Caregiver → deep desire to take care of others and show up for themThe Goddess → wants to be desired and pursue pleasure  The Lazy One → loves to couch rot, no goals whatsoever The Socialite → values connection The Creative → desires creation and creativity The Doctor → your inner health &amp; wellness character The Explorer → craves novelty And it helped me. I was able to let go of the idea of balance and give permission for hierarchy, boundaries and the transition sequences necessary to embody these diverse characters. So I put it all in a book and it was an instant best seller!! I'm so excited for you to create space for all parts of you and to see ambition as multi-dimensional. Follow me here for advice as I build a multi-hyphenate life as a CMO, Author, Mom of 3 and getting married again. 

Amanda Goetz

I coach high achievers on how to create more freedom in life and go from good to great—faster| From A-player to E-thinker™| Founder, Elite Mind Studio | Certified Brain Coach | GTM @ Tractable

I'm Dorota Kosiorek — Certified Brain-Based Coach, ex-BCG strategist, and founder of Elite Mind Studio.

I help high achievers improve the quality of their thinking so they can go from good to great — faster, with intention, and without burnout.
My clients are top performers: founders, CEOs, and ambitious leaders ready to operate at the next level. They don’t need more hustle — they need elite thinking, calm power, and clarity of mind.

After nearly a decade in top-tier consulting (BCG, PwC) and leading go-to-market at a fast-scaling AI startup, I saw a pattern:
Smart, capable people stuck in reactive cycles — exhausted, distracted, and disconnected from what truly matters.

So I built a new path.

Through my neuroscience-based Elite Mind Framework (⟶ Explore → Embody), I guide high achievers through deep identity transformation:
➤ Rewiring limiting patterns
➤ Reclaiming their energy
➤ Redefining success on their terms
➤ Leading like the top 0.1% — with presence, not pressure

I work privately with top-level clients, run group coaching programs, and deliver corporate workshops for leadership teams who want to elevate how they think, decide, and lead.

📨 If you’re a founder, people leader, or exec looking to bring this work into your organization, let’s talk about a custom session or high-performance offsite.

This isn’t traditional mindset coaching.
This is mental refinement for those who want to operate on a whole new level — without compromise.

I also collaborate with Atomli, combining neuropsychology and behavioral science to elevate leadership and cognitive performance.

Ways to work with me:
➤ 1:1 Elite Coaching
➤ Elite Mind Accelerator (group program)
➤ Leadership workshops, offsites & strategic advisory

📨 Ready to go from A-player to E-thinker?
Let’s connect — or explore more at www.dorotakosiorek.com

Dorota Kosiorek, ICF ACC

The most dangerous thing about success isn’t failure.
It’s normalization.

We humans have a glitch. We chase a dream, we catch it, and then... we get used to it.
The magic fades into a routine.
Psychologists call it "Hedonic Adaptation."

I’m planning my next trips to Barcelona this spring to watch FC Barcelona play. Again.

I’ve done this trip many times. People ask me: "Why go again? You’ve seen the games. You know the city."

Here is the data:
To 8-year-old Dorota, sitting in Poland watching the Dutch national team on a fuzzy TV... Being a Socia at FC Barcelona was an illusion.
It was a "one day" dream.

Now, at 38, it’s my reality.
But I have to be careful.

If I treat this trip as "just another weekend," I disrespect the dream that Little Me had.

The Protocol for High Achievers?
When your "miracles" become your "Mondays," you lose your edge.
You stop appreciating the position you fought to get.

So I am intentionally curating this trip to feel like the first time.
New hotels. New routes. Fresh eyes.

The Career Check:
Look at your current job title.
Look at your salary.
Look at the team you lead.
Five years ago, was this your dream?

If it feels boring now, that’s not a signal to quit. It’s a signal to wake up and realize you are living in your own answered prayer.

What is the "normal" thing in your life today that was once a massive dream?


ps. tomorrow morning I'm sharing newsletter: Don’t Push, Place: How Environment Design Fuels My Energy (And My Future Inn). On football, hotel scouting, and the brain science of finding your "Happy Place. Link to my Substack in the comments.

____________________
♻️ Repost to help your network upgrade their thinking.
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Dorota Kosiorek

AI Startup Leader & Mental Coach | Curating high-performance lifestyles for leaders who want to win the long game | Bringing The Strategic Off-Season to Business | Neuroscience • Sport Psychology • Environment Design

The hardest part of the job isn't the execution. It’s the preparation. 🧠

I’m currently deep in my "Tennis Lab" phase: planning a tennis camp, trip(s) to watch some games and analyzing top players' training routines.

I'm also about to finish reading 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 by 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗼𝘂.

The first quote I highlighted while reading the book says: 
"...𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."

𝗠𝘆 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
In the corporate world, we are obsessed with "Prep," but we define it wrong.
→ We prep the slide deck.
→ We prep the meeting agenda.
→ We prep the budget.

But we walk into the room with a mind that is scattered, reactive, and defensive. In elite tennis, that’s a guaranteed loss. If you step onto Centre Court with a cluttered mind, the match is over before the warmup ends.

𝗠𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹:
I’m using this season to strengthen my tennis experience, not just physically, but mentally. I’m engaging in "The Pre-Game"—treating my mindset as a variable I can control, not just a mood I wake up with.
Because if you can’t control your nervous system, you can’t control the outcome.

𝗕𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁: 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳?


_______________________________
♻️ Repost to help your network upgrade their thinking.
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In tennis, you lose ~48% of the points and still win the Grand Slam.

I’ve been obsessed with this statistic lately. As someone fascinated by the mind behind the athlete, I see the tennis court as the ultimate laboratory for leadership.

Think about Novak Djokovic or Rafa Nadal.
They don't win because they are perfect.
They win because they have mastered the art of the Mental Reset.

In business, we tend to do the opposite. We miss a "point": a lost deal, a bad hire, a missed quarterly target; and we carry that error into the next 'three games'.
We let the shadow of a mistake dictate our future strategy.

Here is my "Court Protocol" for the Corporate Athlete:

1️⃣ The 15-Second Reset
In tennis, you have 25 seconds between points. The elite use 15 of those to breathe and "wipe the tape." In the boardroom, don't rush from a stressful meeting straight into a strategic decision. Take 60 seconds of silence to reset your nervous system. 

2️⃣ Play the Percentages
You don't need to win every "point" (email, task, meeting) to win the "match" (your annual goal). Focus your elite energy on the 20% of points that actually shift the momentum.

3️⃣ Manage the Unforced Errors
Most matches aren't won by winners; they are lost by unforced errors. These usually happen when you're tired or distracted. If your "mental vision" is blurring, it’s time for an Off-Season, not more hustle.

Talent gets you on the court. But mental fitness, the ability to think under pressure, is what wins the trophy.

If you want to play at a high level, you simply have to train your brain.

_____________________
♻️ Repost to help your network win the mental game.
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I don’t think people understand the cost of trying to be everyone’s favorite.

Would you rather be liked and NOT get results, or get results but not be everyone’s favorite?

In my community, someone shared this recently—that they are afraid to be seen as too harsh or too direct. So many people resonated with this.

Then my coach mentioned that she had been thinking about this in the past, and she realized that her core job is to help her clients get results, not to be their best friend.

And that resonated with me.

The Leadership Protocol:
If you are a founder, a leader, or someone’s boss → your role is to make sure your team gets results, not to be their best friend.

Yes, there is a lot of talk about empathy right now, and about work-life balance. But this has nothing in common with what I am writing about.

You can have empathy and promote a quality life, but still be the person who helps get results rather than trying to be best friends with everyone.

Because what if someone isn’t performing?
Will you help them by saying, "Good job, don’t worry"?
Or will you help them with constructive feedback and tracked goals?

In elite sport, a coach doesn't protect an athlete by ignoring a bad swing. They review the game tape and give direct feedback so the athlete can win. In business, we need to do the same. Tracked goals and honest feedback lead to better results.

______________
♻️ Repost to bring more humanity—and accountability—into the boardroom.
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Stop pushing. Start placing.

You might ask: 'whaaaaaat'????
Let me explain....

We often think high performance comes from pushing ourselves harder. But my research suggests it actually comes from placing ourselves better.

I’m currently planning some short trips to Barcelona.
I’ve been there dozens of times. But I don’t just come here for the tapas or the football.

I also come here to hack my hippocampus.

Here is the neuroscience of the "Happy Place"...
Our brains are prediction machines. When we visit an environment where we’ve felt peak joy before (for me, it’s Spain, Barcelona is off the best and with Camp Nou being the heart of it), our hippocampus (memory) and amygdala (emotion) light up in anticipation.

My brain physically associates these streets with freedom, passion, and energy. So when I land, my biology shifts before I even check into the hotel. 

I’m not just visiting a city.
I’m stepping into a pre-anchored state of power.

The Leadership Protocol?
In business, we do the opposite.
We expect to generate elite ideas in sterile, stressful conference rooms associated with bad news and boredom.

If you want to change your output, you have to change your input. You need a "Third Place"—a physical location that your brain automatically associates with clarity.

It doesn’t have to be Barcelona. It could be:
→ A specific chair in your home.
→ A coffee shop where you never bring your phone. Julie probably can say a lot about that idea :) 
→ A park bench you only visit when you need to think strategically.

Don’t force the state. Design the environment that triggers it.

I’m sharing more about this in my substack post, check comments for link!

_____________________
♻️ Repost to help your network upgrade their thinking.
📌 Follow me (Dorota Kosiorek) for neuroscience, resilience drills, and mental performance protocols.

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