How This Astronaut Survived Going Blind In Space & Tools for Crushing Fear with Chris Hadfield
In this episode we discuss what happened when our guest astronaut Chris Hadfield went blind during a space walk - and how he made it out alive. We talk about the mental toughness necessary to survive extremely dangerous situations like that, discuss in depth how astronauts deal with fear, look at the vital importance of powerful training to deal with huge risks, and much more with Chris Hadfield.
Chris Hadfield, who the BBC called “the most famous astronaut since Neil Armstrong" has been a part of several space missions with the Canadian Space Agency and NASA. He served as Chief of Robotics and Chief of International Space Station Operations. Chris was the first Canadian to command the International Space Station and was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and inducted to the Canadian Aviation Hall Of Fame. In addition to his work as an engineer and astronaut Chris is an author, musician, and speaker.
We discuss:
The 3 key things that enabled chris to make it all the way through the astronaut selection process
How Chris survived going BLIND during a space walk in outer space!!
How astronauts rescue incapacitated crew in outer space
How to cultivate the mental toughness to survive the most dangerous situations imaginable
The learned and trained ability to deal with extremely complex circumstances
Why Chris was an astronaut for 21 years and only spent 6 months in space, thats how important training is
In outer space, you can’t count on luck, you count on your own learned ability to deal with the probable things that could go wrong
How NASA develops training programs to do everything possible to be successful
The vital importance of visualizing failure and understanding what could go wrong
The importance of practicing the 10,000 things that could go wrong
Astronauts don’t visualize success, they practice for failure, all the time
Visualize failure, incrementally improve, don't count on luck
NASA’s Recipe for Success
The relationship between DANGER and FEAR
Things aren't’ scary, but people get scared
Things don’t change whether or not you are afraid of them - the ONLY question is whether or not you are prepared
Preparation is the antidote to fear, if you’re ready, you won’t be afraid
Your body’s physiology reacts to being unprepared to a dangers situation with a reaction we simply call “fear”
FEAR = LACK OF PREPARATION
Perpetual fear = STRESS (and overwhelm)
Ask yourself “what thing am I not prepared for that is causing me stress?"
Listen to fear, but don’t keep fear from allowing you to dictate your life
How do you change your own threshold of fear?
How to overcome your fear of spiders!
Recognize real threats through the noise of the non threats
if you dont know what to be afraid fo, then your afraid of everything
the difference between belief and knowledge
If you're afraid of a jaguar, should you be afraid of a kitten?
One of the ways to increase your own significance is to exaggerate your problems
Why the perception that the world is more dangerous now than ever is fundamentally flawed
"The Sky is Not The Limit"
Life is TOUGH and the earth is TOUGH - it’s been here for 4.5 billion years
The perspective of an astronaut viewing the entire world from above
The shared nature of human existence
Why Chris recommends that you should “aim to be a zero”
Take the time to get informed, understand what is happening, and then take action
The building is very seldom on fire, yet we always treat it like it is
In space, ”there is no problem so bad, that you can’t make it worse”
Don’t just accept your fear, understand WHY, dig in, and treat it clinically - whats the REAL danger, whats the REAL problem I’m trying to solve, how can I change who I am to solve that problem / challenge better, what skill am I lacking? Why am I allowing myself to be terrified?
How can I change myself to move beyond fear
Fear is a destructive long term solution to anything
Thank you so much for listening!
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SHOW NOTES, LINKS, & RESEARCH
[Personal Site] Chris Hadfield
[Twitter] @Cmdr_Hadfield