Mookie Betts posted a video on Instagram where he’s mic’d up during a round of batting practice. There are a few things that happen during the round. One is, he announces to himself his intention for the swing before he takes the swing. That allows you to paint a visual picture and it’s way easier to paint within the lines and follow that template of the visual picture you’ve given yourself; “If it’s a fastball away, I’m going to go with it.” It’s easier to do that than guessing where the pitch is. Even that split-second where the ball is coming out, you’re able to paint that picture in your head, or utter something under your breath, or have a cue go through your brain. You’ll be in a much better spot than if you’re just guessing.

That verbal cue or that mental cue of what you’re going to do with the pitch can really make a big difference. Something like that requires a lot of practice. In tee work, when you’re working on hitting a ball that’s not moving and located in a certain part of the strike zone and doing a certain thing with it, if you are able to do that over and over again, and honestly appraise yourself, that will make you a better hitter.

Self-appraisal comes in with how we can be difficult with ourselves. We tend to talk to ourselves as if we’re talking to an enemy. We’re not generally kind to ourselves. We generally will talk to ourselves while we’re hitting as if we’re talking to someone we don’t particularly like: “That sucked. What am I doing? Why am I even playing this game?” Mookie Betts says, “That wasn’t so good.” He doesn’t say, “That sucked.” It’s about positive reinforcement or non-negative reinforcement. He says, “Attaboy” to himself as another way to be kind to himself.

He hit .346 one year, and is one of the best hitters in the Major Leagues. You look at how he speaks to himself, it’s different than how the rest of us speak to ourselves. Today, whether you’re making a sales call at work, practicing free throws, hitting off a tee, or throwing a bullpen, be gentle on yourself. Talk to yourself like you would talk to a close friend. Be encouraging, be positive, because it can be really difficult to perform when the voice in your head is saying, “That was awful” and on the next one, “That was awful too.” You’re not going to want to go back and keep practicing. But if you can give yourself those little positive bits of reinforcement, you are going to turn into a much better hitter or better at whatever it is, because you’re going to want to keep coming back. And you can change that yourself.

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The Competitor’s Brain, a podcast hosted by Loren Foxx, takes years of experience in sports psychology, including working with greats in the business like Ken Ravizza, Brian Cain, and Dr. Rob Gilbert, and assembles the highlights into an easy-to-digest three minute daily podcast.