“Sometimes you’ve got to have some conflict and you’ve got to push the envelope to do great things.”
In short: Terry Virts is a retired US Air Force fighter pilot and NASA astronaut who has lived and worked in space. In this London Real Success Secrets clip, recorded in 2016, he shares how he sets and debriefs goals, why he refuses to tell himself no, and who his hero is.
Virts explains the yearly habit he built as a pilot: write specific goals on 1 January, then look back the following January to see what he did and did not do. He links it to the fighter pilot debrief, which can take longer than the mission itself.
He also talks about the balance between following rules and pushing the envelope, why Jackie Robinson is his hero, how he works best at night, and the cause he is considering now that he has retired.
Key takeaways
- Write specific goals every 1 January. Virts looks back each year at what he achieved and what he did not.
- Debrief your life like a mission. In the air force a debrief means honestly writing down everything that happened, and he applies the same idea to personal goals.
- Do not tell yourself no. He says he was always willing to “just go for it”, which helped him get picked to be an astronaut.
- Know when to push back. Some conflict is needed for great things, he says, pointing to Apollo and Steve Jobs, but in the Air Force or NASA you cannot be a maverick all the time.
- Pick heroes who handle pressure. Virts admires baseball player Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 took abuse without lashing out and helped change society.
- Everyone works on their own clock. Virts is a night owl who does his emails at midnight, and says early and late people do the same amount of work at different times.
Goals and the honest debrief
Asked for his own secrets of success, Virts describes a simple annual ritual. Each 1 January he writes out his goals for the year and makes them specific, then reviews the previous year’s list to see what he did and did not do.
The method comes from flying. As a fighter pilot, he says, the debrief is everything and can last longer than the sortie, because you write out and review what you did honestly. If you missed a goal, the question is what you could do differently.
Just go for it, within limits
Virts says he has never been the smartest person in the room, but he has always been willing to try. That attitude has caused trouble since fifth grade, because he tends to do what he thinks is right even if the boss disagrees. It also helped him get selected as an astronaut.
He argues that being a yes man works for climbing a bureaucracy but is not how Steve Jobs made iPhones or how the Apollo programme reached the moon. At the same time, in organisations like the Air Force or NASA you need a balance: follow the rules, and if a rule needs to change, change it, but do not be a maverick.
Heroes, sleep and what comes next
His hero is Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball in 1947. Virts says Robinson endured a great deal and chose not to lash out, which allowed society to change. Virts flew a Brooklyn Dodgers number 42 jersey of his in space and has a photograph of himself wearing it in the cupola.
Asked what keeps him awake, he jokes that it is staying up too late. He is a night owl who works through emails after midnight, as did his crewmate Samantha, while another crewmate was in bed by nine and up exercising at four.
Now retired, he is promoting his book, speaking and deciding which cause to back. He mentions wealth inequality and would like to see Africa’s economy improve so that a billion people could live better.
Who is Terry Virts?
Terry Virts is a retired US Air Force fighter pilot and NASA astronaut. He flew T-38 jets in pilot training, flew a Jackie Robinson jersey in space, and now writes and speaks about his career. He appeared on London Real in 2016.
Frequently asked questions
He sets specific goals every 1 January, debriefs them the following year as a fighter pilot would a mission, and refuses to tell himself no.
Terry Virts describes it as writing out and honestly reviewing everything that happened on a mission, which can take longer than the mission itself.
He is working on his book and speaking, and was deciding which cause or organisation to support, with Africa's economic development on his mind.
