11.4 Mookie Betts: Control What You Control

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“I can’t control what happens around me. I can only control how hard I work.” - Mookie Betts

Mookie Betts is an all-star baseball player known for his elite hitting, speed, defense, and baseball IQ. 

Up 5-4 with 1 out, Betts led a double play in the 11th ending that sealed the World Series win for the Dodgers, his 4th championship. But despite confidently stepping up and making the play, Betts admitted he was “nervous” the last few innings, especially knowing how much weight he had on his shoulders to produce a major play.

“That ninth inning, that was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been on a baseball field. Man, I’ve never done it. I never did it in Game 7 of the World Series,” Betts told the MLB Network crew after the game. “I mean, literally, I was talking to myself that whole—as Yoshi [Yoshinobu Yamamoto] was throwing the ball, I was literally talking to myself like ‘Be nasty, Mook. Be nasty right now.’”

Betts once said, “I can’t control what happens around me. I can only control how hard I work.” His hard work and positive self-talk has definitely paid off for him.

Question of the Day: When you feel pressure, what positive self-talk or routine helps keep you composed?

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