Lessons from Outer Space and a Near-Death Experience | Astronaut, Steve Smith

Steve Smith (0:00)

One of the things I did before my flights is, I wrote every member of my family a handwritten letter.

And some of them were 10, 12 pages long. I was crying while I was writing, and my voice cracked even while I mentioned it now. But it's pretty hard to write a two-year-old son how you feel. They would get these letters, of course, if I didn't come back. I'm sorry that things didn't work out. I'm sorry you're having to read this, but this is why I did it.

This is how I feel about you and what I wish for you for the future. So they've never seen those letters. Those are all thankfully still tucked away. Thank you.

Michael Gervais (0:38)

All right, konnichiwa.

I am currently in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games, and I cannot wait to share the insights and the lessons and the very applied practices that are unfolding around me every day from the world's best. And so I just want to say welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. This is a special episode, and we're gonna talk with one of the great minds, Steve Smith, who's an astronaut.

And if you're new to this podcast, we take a deep dive into how people understand mastery of craft. And really what that means is we want to understand how they work from the inside out, mastery of self first and then mastery of craft. And by trade in training, I'm a sport and performance psychologist. That's what I'm doing out in the Olympic games, supporting one of the United States of America teams. And we want to be able to dig, to understand how the extraordinary work. And that's what this podcast is about.

And our minds are our greatest asset. And if you want to learn more about how you can train and condition your mind, just like the extraordinary athletes that I'm with now, and all of the professional athletes I've worked in the past, if you want to invest in the same way that they do, this is a quick hit here and a reminder for some of you that we built an online training course with the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll, and you can find all of that training. And I think it's a serious investment in the future of your life. And that is at foundatfindingmastery.net forward slash course.

I want to take a minute here to announce a really exciting event that we have coming up. As you continue to navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2024, I want to pose a question. What are you doing right now to be great with stress? How are you working with stress on your pursuit towards your most important ambitions and goals? And I just want to get right to the heart of the key elements, one in particular, for what it takes to excel in today's high heat, high stakes world. Because stress is not the problem that we think it is. Stress is a synonym for change. And our ability to be agile with change, that is the real opportunity at hand. So if you're wanting to unlock extraordinary results and sustainable performance in your life, it's not about avoiding or reducing stress. And as simple as that sounds, it's very tricky to do, but it is about fundamentally changing your relationship with it. And that's why I'm so thrilled to invite you to a special event, it's a free virtual event that we're offering and it's called The Power of Embracing Stress. It's on Wednesday, March 6th at 2 p.m. Pacific. So to sign up, just head over to findingmastery.com/training, whether it's advancing in your career or improving your health or cultivating stronger relationships, I think a new approach to stress can be one of the most powerful unlocks for you in your life. So join us for this free virtual training, The Power of Embracing Stress, on Wednesday, March 6th at 2 p.m. Pacific. Go to findingmastery.com/training to sign up once again. That's findingmastery.com/training. And I'm really excited to see you there. Finding Mastery is brought to you by HIMS.

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