Adam's Open Road

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Adam Steltzner Highlight (0:53)
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Interview (8:16)
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Worried About Trying (2:26)
Interview Excerpt -
Put Value In Your Effort (1:25)
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Surrender to the Process (1:18)
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The Great Highs and Great Lows (0:49)
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Definition Of Success (0:39)
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A Terrible Job Interview (1:19)
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Recklessness (0:42)
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The Process is the Work (0:27)
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Do The Job You Want To Have (0:51)
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The Downside is Pretty Safe (0:20)
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Luckier, not Better (0:30)
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Giving Yourself Up (0:24)
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Give it Your All (0:45)
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Truth In The Universe (0:21)
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Refusing To Inherit Wealth (0:52)
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ADAM STELTZNER
Engineer
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
When you look back at your life, you remember the great highs and the great lows. The middle sort of doesn't stand out that much, so never fear risking the great lows in pursuit of the great highs.
INTERESTS:
THEMES DISCUSSED:
Chance Choices Failure Fear Exploration Perseverance Self-Reflection Success Courage Determination Education Goals Hard Work Struggle Values Risk Regrets Societal Pressures Dedication Family Simplicity Conflict Instincts Confidence Fulfillment Focus Individualism Money & Financial Security Planning
FOUNDATION:
BIOGRAPHY:
- Isn't sure if he ever graduated high school, dropped out of the Berklee College of Music.
- Found himself continually pulling out of things just as they got serious.
- Realized he was becoming his father, who'd never really had a passion.
- Wanted to find something he loved and commit to it, so he took an astronomy course at a community college.
- Says the equation "f=ma" changed his life; he realized that physics used a beautiful language that he wanted to learn.
- "Surrendered to the learning process," worked really hard at his education and earned a Ph.D. in engineering physics.
- Led the mechanical engineering of the Curiosity Mars rover landing.
- Says his job has definite "failures," but thinks that attempting and failing is always better than not trying.