Benjamin Smith was a high school quarterback who could hit every throw in practice and none of them under pressure. That gap between what he could do alone and what he could do with everyone watching became the question that's driven his entire career: where does steady confidence actually come from, and why does it disappear the moment it matters most?

Benjamin is a performance and wellness coach with experience at Yale University, Fairfield University, and Canyon Ranch. He works with athletes, executives, and high performing leaders, but his path there wasn't a straight line. He started in sports psychology, found the standard toolkit (breathing, visualization, imagery) useful but incomplete, and ended up at Yale Divinity School chasing the deeper question underneath it: who am I when the performance doesn't go well? Now he runs his own practice and a weekly newsletter, A Life Well Lived, where he blends performance science with contemplative practice for people trying to do both at once: perform and stay whole. I suggest you subscribe.

In this episode, Foster and Benjamin talk about:

• Why "what's wrong and how do we fix it" is the wrong starting question for coaching, and what to ask instead
• The high school football moment that sent Benjamin from sports psychology into divinity school
• His four core values (courage, connection, compassion, joy) and how he actually uses them
• Why elite performance spaces (sports, the military, the boardroom) tend to surface the same deep fears
• What it means to perform as "an artistic expression of your deepest sense of self" instead of a defense of your self-worth
• A favorite definition of contemplation from theologian Walter Burghardt: "a long, loving look at the real"
• Three practical starting points for anyone considering a similar career pivot

Find Benjamin's weekly newsletter, A Life Well Lived, at innerlifeofsport.com.

To find out more, visit our website: Mountain-mule.com

Go to ourwholenessatwork.com to learn more.

Hosted by Foster Mobley
Learn more about Foster at fostermobleymt.com or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn at Foster Mobley.
www.instagram.com/fostermobley
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fostermobley/

Produced, Edited, and Promoted by Zettist

Additional support from Amber Jillard Consulting

Music for Season 3 composed and performed by Philip Aaberg. Courtesy of Sweetgrass Music.