Interview practice doesn’t work for me

I have no idea why, but I can practice and prep for hours on end, but when it comes to the actual interview, some sort of basic instinct takes over and I go on autopilot. I can rehearse any number of things I should say, but in the moment I mostly just say what comes out naturally. It’s almost like I black out and the real me comes out.

I’m not sure why this happens. I suspect it’s because at this point in my career, having been through many ups and downs, a lot of my most important professional values are set. Not to the point where I can’t change and adapt to good ideas, but for the most part nothing is going to change my core values (eg, the people are what matter most, accountability is critical, autonomy is crucial, context is everything). So when I’m nervous and have to answer a question I didn’t expect, I just basically spew out my most core beliefs and hope for the best.

I honestly can’t tell you if this is good or bad (probably bad?) but it’s apparently just the way I’m built. No amount of practice reps has broken me of this habit for when the game situations come at me. Just me? 😵‍💫