Training for the SpaceKind

“Operate like this planet is your spaceship and it’s up to you to keep it working smoothly.”

-Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides (The New Right Stuff)

Some great memories from my childhood are from when I was watching Star Wars and playing with LEGOs and imagining myself inside of a science fantasy universe of that making.

It was fun to envisioning myself on the hero’s journey to becoming a wizened Jedi Knight, having faced the Dark Side of the Force and learned control of self. Maybe part of the fascination in seeing myself that way was the call to action for greatness within all of us and maybe part of it came from an abundance of watching martial arts movies and finding a fondness for the trope of the old wise master, but either way I spent many moments in my young life imagining being in control of myself and of the Force.

I recall daydreams seeing myself like the matured version of Luke Skywalker presented at the beginning of Return of the Jedi (this might also be something that early on drove me so toward the philosophy and practices of stoicism).

Perhaps part of my childhood love for Star Wars and for the concept of going on a hero’s journey to achieving a greater version of myself than I had known previously is also part of what enthralled me while reading Loretta Hidalgo Whiteside’s book The New Right Stuff: Using Space to Bring Out the Best in You, and even more so in taking part in the SpaceKind training that she offers. Loretta is a connector and someone who is using her place in the space exploration community to help others find their calling, on Earth and beyond.

As Loretta has shared of her own aspirations, “My big dream is to use the power of space to help humanity mature into the people we have always wanted to be. I want us to be a species any of us would be proud to send to the nearest star system. I'm happy to dedicate my life to that mission.”

To this end, Loretta has developed SpaceKind training as something of a group coaching workshop that takes place over 8 weeks, where participants read and review The New Right Stuff, work together in paired sharing on topics about their own ambitions and how they can achieve their goals, and also learn a level of vulnerability and openness that Loretta and many of us will argue is needed from our citizens, explorers, astronauts, politicians, leaders, and more in order for us to build a better future for everyone!

What might the future have to hold for us here on Earth and beyond? Where do you see yourself in that future?

Many of us who have a fondness for space exploration and a dream of going to space have likely read and/or watched The Right Stuff.

Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book followed the experiences of the test pilots involved in the aeronautical research that led to the first astronauts from the U.S., including those who went on to be known as the Mercury Seven. These early astronauts were deemed as having “the right stuff” to be part of Project Mercury; they were physically fit and capable of maintaining their calm under great stress. They were also college educated and their military and flight backgrounds made them well-fit for taking part in the early space program in the U.S.

But there is certainly a little something lacking in that vision of “the right stuff”. Being physically capable and calm under pressure are certainly admirable traits, but building the future that many of us want to see for humans here on Earth as well as in space will take something more. It will require people who can be strong and confident for themselves but who also speak to the needs and welfare of others. We need people who can think beyond their immediate circumstances to bring long term views to the world and to the longevity of our civilization (such as those who act to be good ancestors to future generations). We need the people leading endeavors on Earth and in space to have the foresight and care to envision the ways their actions impact the lives of others, as well as the rest of our biosphere (and maybe even other biospheres!). In essence, we need those who have control of themselves and a sense of the world around them much like the Jedi of the Star Wars universe.

As Loretta states in her book, “Now we need people willing to put themselves at risk, not just physically, but emotionally. We need people who are smart and able to connect with others. We need people who can stay calm under pressure and also be honorable, vulnerable and inspiring.”

Being vulnerable isn’t just about being open with other people, it’s about being open with ourselves. Many of us are carrying some hefty baggage along with us on our travels in this life, built up by negative interactions, our self-judgement, and societal barriers to being open and vulnerable. One of the things I enjoyed the most about doing SpaceKind Training with Loretta was being vulnerable with my fellow SpaceKind cohort. I realized during the training that some of the darker and more negative things I’d been carrying for some time were also part of what was holding me back from catching up on obligations, from being more thoughtful in my interactions with others, and from finding focus in the things I know that I want to do for my own future (but totally had been putting off due to the mental space taken up by some of the baggage).

In my own hero’s journey to become something greater, not just the stoic master of the Jedi or in the martial arts that I had envisioned as a child, but someone who is more in touch with myself and my place in my communities (from my family to my neighborhood to my nation to our planet), SpaceKind training and Loretta’s book were wonderful stepping stones along my way. I even came away from the training with some incredible new friendships and with improved intentions to take my experiences in the martial arts and in meditation practices to share those experiences with far more people!

If you’re looking to join the SpaceKind, I definitely recommend checking out the next upcoming session offered by Loretta (find our more about SpaceKind and how to sign up to develop the New Right Stuff here). I also hope you’ll join me in whatever form my shared meditation practices will be taking in the near future. I’m also posting a bunch of my favorite quotes from The New Right Stuff below, so any of my bibliophile friends who also love to store quotes know what to expect when they read the book!

My favorite quotes from The New Right Stuff

We have to hold ourselves to a much higher standard if we want to survive in the harshness of space.
We must also work on who we are being as we improve our world.
As Jim Rohn says: “There are two types of pain you will go through in life, the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” This book is about getting you to do the hard work of discipline so you can avoid the pain of regret.
True leadership means doing what it takes to make things work no matter what your job title is.
If we lock people into a box like that, we make it all the harder for them to appear any differently to us than the way we expect.
Leave the future unwritten. Leave room for them to show up differently.
In my experience, the flashy things have never been as fulfilling as I think they will be. Afterward you still feel like the same person. I think that is what drives so many rich/successful/famous people crazy. There is no there, there. There really is nothing at the top. You go to a movie premier or a fancy dinner with A-listers and you still go home to your same life.
If you get on a horse facing backwards, you will have a heck of a time getting where you want to go. You may feel powerless, along for the ride, at the mercy of wherever the horse takes you. If instead you get on the horse facing forwards, and ride it in the direction it is going, then you will have a better chance of steering it and shaping where it goes. You become the driver in your life.
I am committed that our industry be the vanguard of a new future for humanity, not just through our high-tech gizmos, but in who we are being, how we are treating each other, how we speak. Just as importantly, I want us to do this because it will make us more effective, more likely to get to Mars in our lifetimes, more likely to lower the cost of access to space. We need to be operating at an extraordinary level to achieve extraordinary results.
Remember too, in the end you will regret more things you haven’t done than things that you have done.
USC Business School Professor Dave Logan told a story at NASA JPL about the only time he ever saw his father get angry. They were out at a restaurant and the manager was very rude to Dave’s mother. His father spoke angrily to the restaurant owner and let him know that his behavior was not acceptable. As they walked out Dave asked him about the unusual outburst. His father was back to his normal, calm demeanor. He said simply, “Sometimes you need to use anger, but never let anger use you.”
Sometimes failure is the best thing that can ever happen to us.
If you can own it, it won’t own you.
Our society is made stronger by sharing ourselves.
I can imagine a Pan-Industry Jedi Council convening regularly to make sure our companies are on track: finding the best synergies between our efforts, working through differences that arise, and training new Jedi in the ways of the Force. We will train them to speak powerfully and to honor what they say. We will train them to be able to see the best part of everyone and to speak to that part of each person. We will learn from them, too, because everyone has a lesson for us.
You can honor someone’s position without agreeing with it.
I have heard it said that praying is talking to God and meditation is listening.
My goal is to get you thinking beyond yourself, beyond achievement, recognition, winning, accomplishment, and wealth. I have never seen any of those lead to true happiness on their own. Only when they are accompanied by a commitment to contribution and self-improvement will you really experience joy.
That is why vulnerability is the new Right Stuff. It is what it is going to take for the next generation of space explorers to get us not just to the stars, but also to an inspiring future for humanity.
Consider that the Universe gifted you with this longing, this drive, in order to fuel your bigger contribution to humanity.