⚾ BOOST MODE | Coach AB’s Weekly Notes - Sunday, November 2, 2025

📖 What I’m Reading - The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What People Think of You by Dr. Michael Gervais

Chapter 10 — “Social Beings Masquerading as Separate Selves” — hit me hard this week.

As my family and I pack up to leave Hard, Austria — our home for the last four years — I’ve been thinking a lot about what connection really means. When I first walked into that clubhouse, the team was 6–22. The lineup hit .188. Team ERA over nine. We were separated — by performance, by frustration, by self.

Over time we stopped being a collection of “me’s” and started acting like a “we.” That shift — from separate selves to one heartbeat — changed everything.

Gervais nailed it: technology and culture have turned us into islands. We scroll instead of see. We text instead of talk. We “like” instead of listen. But the truth is nobody wins anything that matters alone.

That lesson showed up every season here in Hard. We stopped chasing personal stats and started building a shared standard. We trusted, fought, and stayed connected — even when the scoreboard didn’t agree.

Four years later we leave 53 wins stronger and bound by something bigger than baseball.

That’s not luck. That’s connection. 💫

🎥 What I’m Watching

The World Series — Dodgers vs. Blue Jays 🔥

Game 7 in Toronto had everything — tension, fatigue, heartbreak, and that silence after Will Smith’s 11th-inning bomb. You could hear the ball thunk off the bullpen grass. Dodgers win. Back-to-back champs.

But what stuck with me wasn’t Smith or Yamamoto — it was Miguel Rojas. The last guy you’d expect to hit a nuke in the ninth. Then he turns around and makes a game-saving play at home plate to keep the Dodgers alive. That’s baseball — the game always finds you.

From Mookie’s double play to Yamamoto running on fumes, this series was a masterclass in composure. But what I loved most was the unity of Canada. A whole country riding with the Jays. Coast to coast. One heartbeat. ❤️🤍

It ties right back to Gervais’ message — mastery isn’t about me, it’s about we. Nobody hoists a trophy alone.

It’s the small, unseen things that separate world-class from average:
👉 The nine-hole guy going deep when no one expects it.
👉 The shortstop sacrificing his body to protect his pitcher.
👉 The belief that we win because we belong — to something bigger.

That’s mastery. That’s team. 💪

💭 What I’m Learning

After this many years in the game, I’ve learned my body and brain run on baseball time, not the calendar.

When that final out drops in the World Series, most people see an off-season. I see New Year’s Day. 🕛

The moment Mookie squeezed that ball, my system flipped. I laced up for a run, hit the ice bath, and started mapping the next moves. Ideas became action.

That rhythm — Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer — is not just weather; it’s wiring. The game teaches flow. One season ends, another begins.

Now, as we pack up in Hard and head east toward Vienna, it’s the same cycle: reflect, reset, reload. Convention presentation. Japan Winter League. Then back to Austria to ignite the next campaign.

The path’s been there all along — but now it’s time to walk it with purpose.

✍️ What I’m WritingI

I’ve been chipping away at something that’s been living in my head and heart for a long time — my book.

It’s a labor of love — born from two decades of dirt, dugouts, and data — and I’m pushing to finish it around the New Year. This isn’t a hype book or “manifest your dreams” piece. It’s a field manual for competitors who train their mind like they train their swing — through honest reps under pressure.

Here’s a glimpse 👇

📖 INTRO — HEAD FIRST

This isn’t a hype book.
This isn’t “think positive.”

This is a mental operating system for competitors who want to thrive where others tighten up.

I don’t coach wish-thinking.
I coach response-choosing.

I don’t build highlight-reel confidence.
I build nervous-system confidence — the kind that holds when the count runs full, the gym goes quiet, and everything’s on the line.

Prepare so deeply that pressure feels familiar.
Practice so consistently that chaos feels normal.
Train so intentionally that fear has no leverage.

Not fearless — fear-capable.
Not relaxed — composed.
Not loud — dangerously ready.

That’s what head-first competitors are:
Prepared. Present. Spook-proof

💡 Flushing It Out | Coach AB’s Takeaway

Every edition of BOOST MODE ends right here — this is where we flush it out and make it real. 💭💪

This week’s theme — Connection Over Self — isn’t a concept, it’s a practice. The teams that win in October and the people who grow in life both have one thing in common: they choose to belong before they perform.

So here’s your 3-step flush for the week 👇

1️⃣ Lock Arms. Identify who’s in your circle and how you can serve them better this week. Real connection is a verb.

2️⃣ Build Nervous-System Confidence. Pick one situation that normally rattles you — and walk straight into it with presence. Train the response, not the reaction.

3️⃣ Flip Your Calendar. Don’t wait for January. Your new year starts now. New goals. New energy. New edge.