How Mookie Betts Turned His Nerves Into Trust

Today’s Theme: Pressure Isn’t the Problem

Sometimes I think we’ve been sold the wrong idea about mental toughness. We’re often led to believe that the best performers are perpetually composed, stoic, unbothered, immune to nerves or doubt. But that’s not a very realistic picture of what high performance actually looks like.

In reality, elite performers are human too. They feel pressure. They get anxious. They have doubts. What separates them isn’t the absence of those feelings, but their ability to work with them.

That’s what Mookie Betts showed on baseball’s biggest stage. He didn’t hide from the pressure. He acknowledged it and then used his words to turn those nerves into trust.

“Be nasty, Mook” — A Masterclass in Self-Talk

After the Dodgers’ World Series win last night, Mookie Betts was asked how he felt before turning the game-ending double play. Here’s how he described his mindset in that moment:

I really appreciated this clip because he didn’t hide or deny his nerves. He admitted what he felt and then redirected that energy toward trusting himself.

In those pressure-packed moments, it’s easy to slip into self-doubt and let your focus get hijacked by fear. When that happens, your attention shifts to what you don’t want to happen, which usually increases the odds that it does.

Instead, Mookie listened to what I call his “Inner coach.” That inner voice didn’t tell him what to avoid, it reminded him of who he is and what he’s capable of. It wasn’t a pre-pitch mechanical cue on how to field the groundball, but rather a cue to trust himself (to trust his preparation, his instincts, and his greatness).

When the pressure peaked, he didn’t need to “find” greatness. He simply reminded himself that he was already capable of it.

Your Body’s Natural Performance Enhancer

What if we stopped treating nerves like a problem to fix and started viewing them as a performance aid to leverage? Let me explain…

Before a game, every athlete warms up. It’s non-negotiable. The body needs it. What most people don’t realize is that the brain does too.

Those feelings of nerves and adrenaline before a big moment are simply the brain’s version of a warm-up. It’s not a sign that something’s wrong. It’s a sign that you’re stepping into something that matters.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s actually happening when pressure hits:

• Mouth goes dry: Your body diverts energy away from saliva production and toward systems that matter more in that moment. You don’t need spit to hit a 3-pointer.

• Butterflies in your stomach: Your digestive system slows down so energy can be redirected to muscles and movement (you don’t need to worry about eating a sandwich in the bottom of the 9th).

• Sweat starts to flow: Your internal cooling system kicks in to prevent overheating.

• Hands, feet, and knees shake: Motor signals are firing faster through your nervous system to prep you for action.

• Heartbeat rises: Blood carries more oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and brain.

• Eyes dilate: Vision sharpens and narrows so you can lock in.

• Mind races: Your brain is processing information faster to help you respond in real time.

If you could bottle up this surge of physiological changes and sell it in pill-form, it’d probably get banned for being a PED! That’s how powerful your natural stress response is. Your body already produces its own version of a performance aid. It now just needs you to interpret it correctly.

Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonigal has done a lot of work showing that how we think about stress changes how our body responds to it. When we see it as dangerous, our body tightens and our confidence drops. But when we see it as helpful, our body stays open and we actually perform better.

And this is where self-talk comes in. What we say to ourselves in these moments is far more important than what anyone else says to us.

Negative (or unhelpful) thoughts are normal. They make you human. The trick is not to let a negative thought turn into a negative conversation. Train your mind to choose words that help your performance and not hinder it.

Channeling Your Inner Coach with ACT

Let me share one more clip of Mookie Betts that came after his Game 6 performance in the World Series.

Here’s one of the best players in the world admitting that he needed a reminder (from his wife!) to stay mentally present, especially amidst a season marred by some disappointment.

Baseball legend Derek Jeter added his own perspective once Betts finished his remark:

“Stop saying you haven’t been great. You’ve been playing great shortstop.”

Moments like that remind us why the voices around us matter. The people closest to you will often see your greatness when you can’t. The next step in growth is learning to echo that same belief for yourself and to develop an inner coach who can speak those truths in real time, especially when no one else is there.

The good news is that you can train that same voice within you. One way to start is by using a simple mental framework I call A.C.T. which can be a helpful way to tap into your inner coach.

• Acknowledge what you feel. — Start by naming what you’re feeling (e.g. “I’m nervous”). Naming an emotion takes the edge off it. It keeps you from being consumed by the feeling and helps you recognize it for what it is, which is energy that can be redirected.

• Choose your framing. — Once you’ve named what you’re feeling, decide how you’ll view it (e.g. “This is exciting.” “This is my body preparing to help me.”). When you reframe stress as readiness, you shift from a threat mindset to a challenge mindset. You remind yourself that these sensations are there to help you, not hurt you.

• Talk yourself through it. — This is where your inner coach steps in. Use short, clear, confident cues that focus your attention on the present (e.g. “Trust your training. Win this moment. Be nasty.”) These are simply examples of how you can anchor your focus and direct your energy toward execution instead of doubt.

The A.C.T. framework doesn’t erase pressure, but it can help you channel it.

Final Thoughts:

Inspiration for This Piece:

• Eliot, J. (2004). Overachievement: The new model of exceptional performance. Portfolio Publishers

• McGonigal, K. (2015). The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It. Penguin Publishing Group.

The Threshold Lab:

Here’s a quick rundown of last week’s episodes on The Threshold Lab Podcast.

• Excuses or Excellence? You Choose. (4 min)

• Thermostat and Thermometer Leadership (7 min)

• Why Strong Systems (and People) Are Built to Fail Safely (7 min)

You can listen to all past episodes here: The Threshold Lab Podcast.

With gratitude,

ZB