How a single book changed @NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's life forever

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[Source: @tferriss podcast with @StationCDRKelly]
Scott Kelly is known for spending an entire year in space, but he's actually logged a mind-blowing 520 days in space.

You would think someone like that would have always dreamed of being an astronaut and been super-smart as a kid.

But, Scott's story took a different path:
For starters, Scott wasn't very school smart & he spent more time looking out the window than at his books.

He couldn't pay attention in class and believes he had ADD or ADHD.

He ended up graduating in the bottom half of his high school class.
Things didn't get better in college:

"I was still struggling, didn’t know how to study, really didn’t do well."

Eventually, he stopped going to most of his classes.

Scott's life was heading downhill.

Then one day, he walked into a bookstore...
He didn't walk into the bookstore to buy a book, he actually went inside to buy some gum.

But then something caught his attention:

"There was this book that had this very patriotic, red, white, and blue cover, a cool title. Caught my eye, made me pick it up."
What was that book?

It was The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.
Scott wasn't a big reader at the time so it was unusual for a book to grab his interest.

But after reading the first three pages, he bought the book along with his pack of gum.

He then walked back to his dorm room & opened it up.

He didn't leave his bed for the next 3 days.
"Basically didn’t get out of my bed for the next few days, just reading the stories of the fighter pilots, military fighter pilots, and test pilots."

Not only was the book fascinating, it was also inspiring:

"Something in that book just really sparked my imagination."
Scott started to relate to the characters.

The idea of taking big risks, being in challenging situations, and going on an adventure, spoke to him.

But then...

He realized he wasn't a good student and the chances of him being a pilot were near zero.
He broke down his path into small steps:

• First he would learn how to do better in school.

• Then he would change his major to engineering.

• After school he could join the Navy & hopefully become a pilot.

• And finally perhaps one day, he could become an astronaut.
Scott ended up accomplishing all of those goals & more.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

"There has to be that thing...that spark, that just provides inspiration to get people moving in the right direction. And that’s what Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff was for me." –Scott K
This isn't the first time a single book has changed a person's life.

A similar situation happened to @McConaughey: https://twitter.com/AlexAndBooks_/status/1318350301951348737
You can follow @AlexAndBooks_.
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