One of my goals is to read a new book each week. For this weeks book, I chose Chris Hadfield’s An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.
Book review: Chris Hadfield
For anyone who hasn’t heard of Commander Chris Hadfield, he is the Canadian Astronaut who famously commanded the International Space Station, sending many tweets and images back to earth. He also did a version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity (with Bowies permission) that you can view on YouTube. One of my goals is to see him talk in Dublin, next weekend.
In terms of the book, it describes Commander Hadfield’s journey to becoming an astronaut. Along the way, you also find out about:
- why you should really sweat the small stuff
- why you should aim to be a zero (knowledgeable and respected, but humble and not arrogant)
- how his attitude, values and definitions of success enabled him to get to the pinnacle of his career
I have to say I loved this book. I was a fan, but had not gotten round to reading this book. It is divided into three sections:
- Pre-launch
- Liftoff
- Coming down to earth.
Each section therefore covering a different part of his journey to commanding the ISS, and what he considers were important contributions to his success.
It has some great quotes. For example:
You can choose to focus on the surprises and pleasures, or the frustrations. And you can choose to appreciate the smallest scraps of experience, the everyday moments, or value only the grandest most stirring ones. Ultimately, the real question is whether or not you want to be happy.
The whole process of becoming an astronaut helped me understand that what really matters is not the value someone else assigns to a task but how I personally feel while performing it.
If you’re looking for a great read, and some insight into success, then this will be a book I would recommend reading. It ticks all the boxes for me:
- readable
- fascinating
- inspiring
- authentic
I hope you enjoy it, as much as I have.
Take care for now
Karen x