The book is all about life lessons (for people on earth) with examples from his space missions as well as time spent training at NASA, helping other astronauts and assisting in other launches in the US as well as his life in Russia where he was also posted to assist combined space programs plus most of the launches happened from Kazakhstan. If you're striving for excellence whether playing guitar or flying a jet - there is no such thing as over-preparation., It's your best chance of improving your odds. But if you’re striving for excellence—whether it’s in playing the guitar or flying a jet—there’s no such thing as over-preparation. It’s your best chance of improving your odds”. Trainers in the space program specialize in devising bad-news scenarios for astronauts to act out, over and over again, in increasingly elaborate simulations.

Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst-and enjoy every moment of it. A very human glance into a rarified world.... The vacuum of space is unforgiving and brutal. Life on earth isn't easy, either. Mr. Hadfield has genuinely and refreshingly increased our understanding of how to thrive in both places."— The Wall Street Journal An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth was definitely one of the more interesting and compelling memoir of sorts that I've read which proffered valuable life lessons. Lessons which in fact seemed to go against conventional thinking and life coaching such as visualising success, not sweating the small stuff and not caring about what others think. Chris Hadfield's experience as an astronaut - or more importantly, on becoming an astronaut - proved otherwise.

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P/S: I'm looking forward to read Hadfield's debut mystery thriller, The Apollo Murders. Watch this space. This is a completely fascinating life story told in such an engaging way that it becomes a gift for one’s own life! In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement— and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. Ocr tesseract 4.1.1 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_module_version 0.0.5 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA18238 Openlibrary_edition It sounds strange, probably, but having a pessimistic view of my own prospects helped me love my job”.

With all the problems in the world today, spending money on space exploration is a complete waste. The money could be better spent on other causes. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement — and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. Now a huge, humming, functioning laboratory, the ISS is anything but open-concept; it’s not possible to take in the whole interior at a glance. The main structure is a long series of connected cylinders and spheres, only they’re square inside, not circular. At certain angles, it’s possible to see clear from one end to the other, but poking out along the length of it, like branches on a massive tree, are three Russian modules and three American ones, along with a European and a Japanese module.No one was moving in a leisurely fashion, but the response was one of focused curiosity, as though we were dealing with an abstract puzzle rather than an imminent threat to our survival”. Whining is the antithesis of expeditionary behavior, which is all about rallying the troops around a common goal”. Hadfield is a good writer with an engaging style.... From his photos of Earth from space to his videos showing the daily grind of life on a 100-meter wide orbiting tin can, he is all about real life."— Slate I wasn't lonely. Loneliness, I think, has very little to do with location. It's a state of mind. In the centre of every city are some of the loneliest people in the world. If anything, because our whole planet was just outside the window, I felt even more aware of and connected to the seven billion other people who call it home. This book perfectly fits together the world of space and self-development. The lessons and advice he shares is practical, applicable and relevant and most of the stories and narratives are gripping, interesting and entertaining. However, the book feels too long, with over-detailed passages around very specific space-related themes. Nonetheless, the story and journey is overall inspiring and remarkable and there are lots of actionable thinking points and takeaways. How I Discovered It

Since the space shuttle got retired the only way to the ISS is via the Soyuz spacecraft. These are extremely small so that all the really big astronauts immediately had their chances of getting into space dropped to nil. But it also begs the question, why aren't there more, many more, female astronauts? Women are smaller and lighter and consume less resources, whether air, water or food. No physical strength is required in space and the training on Earth is obviously quite achievable for women as there are female astronauts. Why aren't there more? Misogyny? This is a man's job but hey this is the modern world so we'll let 'em up every now and again? I don't know. Each time you manage to do that your comfort zone expands a little, so if you ever face that particular problem in real life, you’re able to think clearly”. In my experience, fear comes from not knowing what to expect and not feeling you have any control over what’s about to happen. When you feel helpless, you’re far more afraid than you would be if you knew the facts. If you’re not sure what to be alarmed about, everything is alarming”.

The Five Big Ideas

The ideal is not to sail in and make your presence known immediately. It is to ingress without causing a ripple. The best way to contribute to a brand new environment is not by trying to prove what a wonderful addition you are - but by having a neutral impact and then observing and learning from those who are already there and pitch in with the grunt work wherever possible. This is an attainable goal.