Jonny Kim
The explorer within
Recently I came across this really interesting person by the name of Jonny Kim. I had first heard about him when NASA announced their next class of Astronauts but it was thorough a podcast with Jocko Willink that Jonny appeared where I started to fathom the kind of person he is.
He is an ex US Navy SEAL, a medical doctor and now trained astronaut.
On a general scale, assumptions would be that it takes a lifetime for people to do any one of these professions but how did this person at an age of roughly 36 achieve this. I had pre-assumptions about him to be honest when I started hearing the story, I got a deeper understanding of who this person is and why I have come to appreciate a lot.
Without going into details of his history that made him choose this path, I will try to highlight what I learned from him. For detailed history, do have a listen to Jocko podcast because I think it was very well done :
Humility – Irony of the fact that Jonny is an astronaut, is the fact how down to earth this person is. I was amazed by his humility and it was clear from the get go that this is not someone who is faking it but rather that he genuinely is a humble person. This also enables Jonny to remain curious about a wide range of topics and learn quickly.
“You should never think you are too good to do a job. Be a forever new guy. Never think that you are above taking out the trash.”
2. Focus – One of the first excuses that my mind has found in explaining why Jonny is really the way he is lay in fact that probably he is super smart and physically gifted. Reading though some of the notes online and through interview Jonny made it clear that he was not extraordinarily smart or physically gifted. The skill that he developed over time was to set a goal, craft a plan and then follow the plan without missing out on it.
“I’m not gifted. I’m not smarter than everybody else. I’m not stronger. I just have the ability to stick to a plan and not quit.”
3. Immersion – Jonny is curious and willing to learn. The way I interpreted how he works was to throw himself into challenges at hand. He takes time to fix on his goals, comes up with a plan and then executes it. This is a tendency which I have happened to observe in a lot of top of the tier leaders. This is something we can learn from people like Jonny is to take time in defining our goals and once goal has been set, give everything required to achieve the goals. This does not mean that you should have small goals all the time. Idea is to set high goals and then put in the work required to reach those goals.
4. Family – When asked about ‘What was the best that happened to you?’ Answer was ‘Meeting my wife’ . Not only because of this, on many occasions, it was clear that Jonny valued his family and repeatedly made sacrifices to ensure the best for his family. Even though there were challenging circumstances during combat and later at medical school; I was impressed by how gently he dealt with his family and made time for them. Not only for modern men but anyone in today’s day and age, it is crucial to note that before you plan on changing the world, it is necessary to have you home in order.
Like everyone else, Jonny had his share of challenges and he overcame these by dealing with challenges head on. Bravery mixed with caution, sanity mixed with craziness : that’s what it is all about.
Funnily I would close this quoting EMINEM:
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime