“On its way to landing astronauts safely on the surface of the moon, the miracle of modern engineering that was an Apollo rocket was actually on course only 2 to 3 percent of the time. Which means that for at least 97 percent of the time it took to get from the Earth to the moon it was off course. In a journey of nearly a quarter of a million miles, the vehicle was actually on track for only 7,500 miles. Or to put it another way, for every half-hour the ship was in flight, it was on course for less than one minute. And it reached the moon—safely—and returned to tell the tale.
How was such a thing possible? Because modern space travel is a masterful example of slight edge course-correction in action.
If this machine, at the time one of the most sophisticated, expensive, and finely calibrated pieces of technology ever devised, was correcting its own off-course errors twenty-nine minutes out of every thirty, is it reasonable to expect that you could do better than that? Let’s say you were able to match an Apollo rocket’s degree of accuracy in the pursuit of your own goals: that would mean that you’d be perfectly on target and on course no more than ten days in any given year. The next time you’re giving yourself a hard time because you feel like you’ve gotten off track, think about the Apollo program, and give yourself a break.”
—Jeff Olson from The Slight Edge
Most high achieving people often go through phases when they beat themselves up for little mistakes or the smallest of setbacks. When I read these lines, I had to stop and smile to myself. Even, if for all the effort you put in, you succeeded even once every 30 times, you did fine. Life is a series ups and downs. So when the downs hit, it is important that we don't beat ourselves but just keep going forward on our planned course. Eventually, we will find our destination.
The world saw a live example of this today with William Trubridge setting his world record. I clearly remember when he tried the last time and did not succeed. It would have been easy for him to give up, but he chose to keep going and came out on top.
We have recently had an important advisory by the High Commission of India, and I would like to urge all international students to register on the Indian Government’s website. This way the Government of India can help and support the students at their most vulnerable moments. This will also be great in taking up and addressing various issues that overseas students face. We carry more details on this initiative in our issue.
Have you been bitten by the Pokémon bug yet? It is important that while playing the game, people remain aware of their personal safety at all times. Techmate brings you up to date with this new phenomenon and also its apparent health benefits in the health section. We hope you enjoy reading our new edition. Until next time.
Giri Gupta
Leave a Comment