An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth teaches you how to live better by taking lessons from the rigorous requirements of going to outer space and applying them to everyday life.

It’s the motto for the Boy Scouts of America, and something I’ve never forgotten since my time in the organization. While I tend to overprepare sometimes, it always baffles me how people can’t help but make their lives harder by failing to plan.

If you want to become an astronaut, this skill is absolutely vital. It doesn’t matter how much education or experience you have. The training involves rigorous studying and simulations of situations that might never even happen.

People who create training at NASA have to prepare unpredictable scenarios where every possible thing goes wrong. It’s vital to be ready if there’s a fire or a computer doesn’t work right.

But for those going through the training, it gives them new instincts. When something goes wrong, the natural fight-or-flight response is overridden by the calm yet urgent way in which these individuals are trained. This even helps them improvise when things turn into chaos on a mission and they must act fast to save their lives.

This skill isn’t just useful for going to space though. It helps to be ready for any obstacle that suddenly shows up. When I lost my job last year, for example, some of my preparations made that a lot easier.

In Hadfield’s experience, the training gave him a sort of mental discipline in all aspects of life. Even in a packed elevator, he still thinks of what to do in case it gets stuck. This doesn’t mean you should worry always, but it is best to be ready for anything.

When I was younger I had leaders who taught me that successful people not only welcome correction, they seek it. This seems like a difficult thing to do, but it’s got a lot of benefits. If you work for NASA, for example, you’re receiving criticism constantly. You have to if you want to practice various scenarios until you get them perfect. To catch any mistakes, dozens of people observe simulations. Astronauts’ safety depends on how many errors they fix while just practicing. This is similar to striving for excellence In your own life. If you want to become truly exceptional, you’ve got to try so you learn how not to do whatever you’re working toward. That means you have to welcome any feedback, including negative, if you want to improve. Taking correction well is especially vital if you’re on a team like astronauts are. When serious problems arise the group only has each other to rely on. And if you can’t roll…