The Profile Dossier: Chris Hadfield, the Astronaut Who Conquered Fear

Author: Polina Marinova URL: https://www.readtheprofile.com/p/the-profile-dossier-chris-hadfield One-line: The Profile’s deep-dive dossier on astronaut Chris Hadfield and how he conquered fear.

Key claims

No highlights captured in the source note — logged as read in on 10 June 2020. (source_published is approximate; The Profile later re-ran the dossier.)

How it connects

• Polina Marinova — author of The Profile.
• The Profile — the newsletter this dossier ran in.

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• Source: https://theprofile.substack.com/p/the-profile-dossier-chris-hadfield
• Tags: astronaut Chris Hadfield #fear Faith
• Astronaut Chris Hadfield went temporarily blind during a spacewalk while only holding on to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) with one arm.
• **Rather than panic, Hadfield’s rational mind took over and gave him options **—  he could call Houston, he could get his fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski to do an incapacitated crew rescue, or he could cry for a while to let the tears dilute out the gunk in his eye.
• This was only possible because of one lesson he learned in astronaut training: Prepare for the worst. “While play-acting grim scenarios day in and day out may sound like a good recipe for clinical depression, it’s actually weirdly uplifting,” Hadfield says.
  • “Prepare for the worst, and expect the best to come from it.” - Lori Harrison
  • “Anticipating problems and figuring out how to solve them is actually the opposite of worrying: it’s productive.” Chris Hadfield
• “It takes a boldness of execution and an ability to overcome fear,” Hadfield says. “Fear is just a symptom of lack of preparation. The best antidote for fear is competence.”
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• The expansiveness and depth of the universe “takes up your whole mind.” He describes it as “a huge, yawning endlessness.” While on board the ISS, the astronauts often talk about religion. Faith is what gives you a purpose in life, and that faith is only deepened by going to space.
  • “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed.” - How Great Thou Art (hymn)
• Understanding the difference between perceived danger and actual danger can help you avoid your instinct to panic. He once went temporarily blind while out on a spacewalk, but he managed to keep his cool. Remember, he says, “the danger is entirely different than the fear.”
• **Understand before you believe: **Most fear originates from a lack of knowledge. “It’s always easier to believe something than it is to understand it,” Hadfield says. Most of us think of astronauts as having the courage of a superhero because they remain cool in times when the average person would typically freak out. “In order to stay calm in a high-stress, high-stakes situation, all you really need is knowledge,” Hadfield says.
• “Things aren’t scary,” Hadfield says. “People get scared.” Hadfield says the ultimate antidote to fear of anything is changing your level of competence. “Competence means keeping your head in a crisis, sticking with a task even when it seems hopeless, and improvising good solutions to tough problems when every second counts,” he says.
• “Rehearsing for catastrophe has made me positive that I have the problem-solving skills to deal with tough situations and come out the other side smiling,” Hadfield says. “For me, this has greatly reduced the mental and emotional clutter that unchecked worrying produces.”
• **Aim to be a zero: **In any situation, Hadfield believes you will be seen in one of three ways. 1) As ‘a minus one,” which means you’re actively harmful and someone who creates problems; 2) As ‘a zero,’ meaning your impact is neutral and doesn’t tip the balance; or 3) As a ‘plus one,’ which refers to someone who actively adds value. Of course, everyone wants to be a ‘plus one,’ but when you are in a new situation, sometimes it’s best to start neutral and actively listen before imposing your opinions on the people around you. Hadfield suggests putting the needs of the group first, staying humble, and understanding the nuance, before starting to contribute in a positive way. Spirit of Humility
• “Early success is a terrible teacher. You’re essentially being rewarded for a lack of preparation, so when you find yourself in a situation where you must prepare, you can’t do it. You don’t know how.”
• “If you start thinking that only your biggest and shiniest moments count, you’re setting yourself up to feel like a failure most of the time.”
  • “Here’s something that I’ve learned that I hope I can help with. It’ll put everything in perspective. There are gonna be bad times in life, like what’s happening right now. In my life, I’ve been through some incredible highs and some tremendous lows, and the one thing that’s true about both of them is that they pass. So cherish the good times, and in the bad times, remember that it won’t last forever. It does get better.” Ellen DeGeneres
• “In any field, it’s a plus if you view criticism as potentially helpful advice rather than as a personal attack.” Spirit of Humility
• “It’s not enough to shelve your own competitive streak. You have to try, consciously, to help others succeed.”
  • “A friend is someone who adopts your ends as their own.” Sarah Tavel
  • [Sarah Tavel – Consumer & Marketplace Investing – Invest Like the Best, EP.168
• “No one ever accomplished anything great sitting down.”
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