Astronaut Chris Hadfield says confidence on the ISS didn't come from optimism — it came from what he calls the power of negative thinking, the practice of working out your most likely failure points before you start

Astronaut Chris Hadfield says confidence on the ISS didn't come from optimism — it came from what he calls the power of negative thinking, the practice of working out your most likely failure points before you start

A navigator plotting a course does not spend the whole voyage imagining the smooth water ahead. Before setting out, they chart the rocks. Not because they expect to hit every one of them — but because knowing where they are is what allows confident sailing. The chart is not pessimism. It is preparation organized as information, and the result of doing it is that you can move freely within the space the rocks define. Chris Hadfield, the Canadian …