Chris Hadfield spent decades training as an astronaut and has clocked up nearly 4,000 hours in space. During this time, he has broken into a space station with a Swiss Army knife, disposed of a live snake while flying a plane, and been temporarily blinded while hanging on to the outside of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to his success and survival is an unconventional lesson he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst and enjoy every moment of it. This brings us to the first lesson: the power of negative thinking. Chris finds it puzzling that self-help gurus urge people to visualize victory and stop there. Some even insist that if you focus on the negative, you invite bad things to happen. Seems to make sense, though, right? Why waste time getting ready for disasters that will probably never happen? Well, Chris argues that anticipating problems and figuring out how to solve them is actually the opposite of worrying; it's productive. Coming up with the plan for the worst gives peace of mind. When Chris gets in a crowded elevator, he automatically thinks what he could do if the elevator somehow

failed. Same thing happens when he hops into a plane. Chris is always asking himself, What's the next thing that can kill me? But he assures us he's not a pessimistic person. He says, My optimism is a result of a lifetime spent visualizing defeat and figuring out how to prevent it. Like most astronauts, I'm pretty sure that I can deal with what life throws at me because I've thought about what to do if things go wrong as well as right. That's the power of negative thinking. Lesson two: aim to be a zero in life. You'll be viewed by other people in one of three ways: as a - one actively harmful, someone who causes problems; zero, your impact is neutral; or as a plus-one, someone who constantly adds value. Everyone wants to be a plus-one. You can't be a plus-one if you're actively trying to prove it by bragging about your plus-one status out loud, yet so many people do it. Anyone who views themselves as more important than the little people is not cut out to be

an astronaut and will never come close to working at NASA. NASA can't afford to hire jerks. People's lives are on the line, as well as having to meet the expectations of millions of people who have had to fund Space Exploration with their tax dollars. So how do you become a plus one? Chris wasn't sure either, so he observed Jerry Ross, the most experienced member in the crew, to see how he did things. After a while, Chris noticed that he would come into the office an hour early to take care of administration tasks for the commander so the commander could focus on more important things. Jerry was never asked to do this and didn't expect gratitude for he put others' needs first. Not only did he bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, but he acted as if he considered himself a zero, competent but no better than anybody else. Here in Australia, he is basically what we call a top bloke. If you're truly observing and attempting to learn rather than seeking to impress others, you may actually get the chance to do something helpful.

Chris was a student before he had flown in space. He was in a shuttle simulator and noticed the commander reaching to press the wrong button. Because Chris was watching closely, he said, Wait, that's not the right button. Months later, the commander praised Chris's efforts at the Johnson Space Center in front of others. Shortly after that, Chris got assigned his first mission. Although Chris admits there may not be a connection between these two events, they sure didn't hurt his chances. So, to become a plus one in two words, be humble. Lesson three: have an attitude. In astronaut terms, attitude means orientation - which way your vehicle is pointing in relation to the Sun, Earth, and other space vehicles. Losing control of attitude could make the vehicle spin out of control and also make it stray from its course, creating a life-or-death situation. If you're low on fuel, maintaining altitude in space is vital for success. Chris believes something similar is true here on Earth. So many things are out of our control. You can't make everyone fall in love with you. You can't control the economy, and you

can't win every game you play, but there is one thing you can control: your attitude. Chris consciously controls his attitude because to him, a poor attitude is far worse than failing to achieve his goals. The chances of becoming an astronaut are extremely slim; getting to space depends on variables and circumstances that are outside of people's control. Just two Canadians were chosen to be astronauts out of 5351 applicants. If you have a personality type that NASA doesn't like, bad luck. If you have a minor health defect, bad luck. If the only reason you wanted to be an astronaut was to fly around in space, you'd hate being an astronaut. As a general rule of thumb, for every few months you train on earth, you spend just one day in space. This is why Chris never expected to get to space, and he never attached his self-worth and happiness to spaceflight. He adjusted his attitude to enjoy every day, whether he was on earth or in space. Lesson four: sweat the small stuff. An astronaut who doesn't sweat the

small stuff is a dead astronaut. NASA's strict attitude towards details and rules may seem ridiculous to outsiders, but when astronauts are being killed on their job, the reason is almost always an overlooked detail that seemed unimportant at the time. For example, there was a time when astronauts never wore spacesuits. I mean, why bother? The suits take up room and weight to the rocket, and the was already designed to protect them. But Russians began wearing spacesuits after a valve came loose and a ship depressurized during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere in 1971, killing all three cosmonauts onboard. Shuttle astronauts began wearing them after a shuttle called Challenger exploded during launch in 1986. A cracked o-ring or a dislodged piece of foam is enough to cause terrible disasters. This is why Chris sweats the small stuff, even on planet Earth, especially when pursuing major goals. And that's it for this video. Feel free to drop a comment below about what you thought of the video or what else you

want to see on the channel have a great day and enjoy the slideshow you

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield ► 4 Life Lessons ► Animated Book Summary

Scripts