Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has nearly four thousand hours of flight in space. Throughout all these years, he has breached a space station with a Swiss Army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting an aircraft, and temporarily lost his sight while hanging outside a modular spacecraft.

The secret to Hadfield's success – and survival – lies in the unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: Prepare for the worst – while enjoying every moment you live. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how the impossible can become possible.

He shares with us stories and experiences that convey the adrenaline of launch, the magic of space flights, and the calm, rational management that crises require. From his own remarkable training in space, he has gleaned some unexpected lessons: Don’t envision success, care about what others think, and never underestimate the details.

You may never succeed in building a robot, piloting a spacecraft, or performing surgery in zero gravity like Colonel Hadfield. But you will learn how to think like an astronaut, which will completely and beneficially change the way you see life on Earth.

Hadfield's book goes against the grain of most success stories. This is already evident from the chapter titles, such as "The Power of Negative Thinking" and "Focus on the Details."

Wall Street Journal "Hadfield has perhaps done more than any other astronaut since the Apollo missions to change the image of space exploration... Rarely has space seemed so familiar and the world so astonishing."

The Telegraph "Hadfield’s contribution to the space program was not limited to overseeing a few experiments and maintaining a vehicle the size of a football field orbiting the Earth... Congratulations to Hadfield for his intelligence and brilliance."

Time