Reaching Escape Velocity: Pro Snowboarder to Rocket Scientist | Andrew Crawford | TEDxBigSky
The speaker proposes that achieving an "escape velocity"—a goal pushing one to physical, mental, and spiritual breaking points—is necessary to unlock maximum human potential, using personal anecdotes spanning snowboarding, engineering, and tech roles to illustrate the process of iterative, focused effort. The strongest evidence is the repeated emphasis on setting incremental goals and identifying "go no-go points" to avoid being overwhelmed by a massive objective.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker; has personal experience in professional snowboarding, engineering, and working at X (Google's moonshot factory).
- The talk's purpose is to encourage the audience to set personal "escape velocity" goals.
## Theses & Positions
- Achieving "escape velocity" is fundamental to understanding human potential, as it requires defying perceived limits and barriers.
- The modern pressure to define goals early (degree, job, money) often dismisses bold, grandiose dreams as mere fantasies.
- The true reward of pursuing high-stakes goals is the strengthening of character and exposing inner "fire."
- Overcoming large goals requires breaking them down into manageable components: setting small victories and tackling one requirement or problem at a time.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Escape Velocity:** The minimum velocity required for a spacecraft to break free from the powerful gravitational force of Earth.
- **Escape Velocity (Metaphorical):** The process of setting a goal that pushes one to the breaking point physically, mentally, and spiritually to reveal maximum potential.
- **Impostor Syndrome:** A feeling experienced by newly hired employees that the organization has made a mistake in hiring them and that they will soon be exposed as frauds.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Process of achievement:**
1. Identify a bold, seemingly impossible goal (e.g., going pro at snowboarding, becoming an engineer).
2. Face setbacks and failure (e.g., crashes, struggling with calculus).
3. Develop a focused tool: create a requirements list or conceptualize "go no-go points."
4. Work on the goal iteratively: focus on one requirement/trick, or one subject, at a time.
5. Recognize successful milestones ("go no-go points") to guide the trajectory.
- **Mentoring/Advising:** Senior Googlers advised the speaker on Impostor Syndrome, describing it as a U-shaped curve representing the emotional journey from high excitement ("Woohoo! I did it.") to feeling inadequate, and back up through hard work.
## Timeline & Sequence
- Childhood: Building first snowboard at age **10** from garage wood and a father's garden hose.
- High School: Got photos published in magazines due to snowboarding hobby.
- Early Adulthood: Devoted to becoming a professional snowboarder.
- Period of intensity: Rode bike from school dormatory to mountain bus stop daily; snowboarded ferociously; biked home for night classes and symphony practice.
- Engineering Re-start: Enrolled at **Flathead Valley Community College** at age **31**.
- Discovery of new path: Inspired by a flyer for a **NASA** competition for students to design future **Mars rovers**.
- Success checkpoint: Winning the **Mars rover** competition and attending **NASA's mission control** at **Johnson Space Center** in Houston.
- Post-NASA: Transferred to **Montana State University (MSU)** to complete the engineering degree.
- Zenith achievement: Working on **NASA's deep space network** at **NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)**, followed by watching the **Curiosity** rover land on **Mars**.
- Current phase: Invited to work at **X** (Google's moonshot factory) three years ago.
## Named Entities
- **Enceladus** — mysterious frozen moon of Saturn that shoots water geysers from an ocean beneath its ice.
- **Saturn** — planet system containing Enceladus.
- **X** — Google's moonshot factory.
- **Flathead Valley Community College** — local college where the speaker enrolled for pre-engineering classes.
- **Montana State University (MSU)** — university attended by speaker for degree completion.
- **NASA** — space agency involved in multiple projects.
- **JPL** — NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- **Google** — company associated with the speaker's current role.
## Numbers & Data
- Year Cassini spacecraft achieved escape velocity from Earth: **20 years ago**.
- Time Cassini traveled to Enceladus: **7 years**.
- Age building first snowboard: **10** years old.
- Age re-enrolling in college: **31** years old.
- Age intended graduation in engineering (initial estimate): **36**.
- Snowboarding record: **10** years of pushing body limits; **35** broken bones.
## Examples & Cases
- **Snowboarding:** Initial passion led to delusions of grandeur; realizing brute force was necessary to keep up with peers.
- **Engineering Re-entry:** Encountering difficulty in mathematics by comparing oneself to **18-year-old** students using scientific calculators.
- **NASA Rover Project:** Learning a computer drawing program solely to design a **Mars rover** for a competition.
- **At JPL:** Working on **NASA's deep space network** antennas, which guide spacecraft communication.
- **At X:** Using the whiteboard metaphor to draw out a path from the feeling of being an impostor to a defined future goal.
- **Google Self-Driving Car:** The project that evolved into a company called **Waymo** alongside **Google**.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Snowboard** — first built by the speaker at age **10**.
- **Bike** — used daily to travel between dormatory and mountain bus stop.
- **Requirements Document:** A written list used to structure the path to becoming a professional snowboarder.
- **Pocket Casio calculator** — brought to the college to avoid difficult math coursework.
- **Mars rover** — project designed and used to secure initial motivation for engineering study.
- **Whiteboard:** Used to map out the journey from Impostor Syndrome fear to achievable goals.
- **Waymo:** Company resulting from the self-driving car project at X.
## References Cited
- **Cassini spacecraft** — spacecraft credited with photographing Enceladus.
- **Jean CR** — legendary flight director of the Apollo program.
- **Neil Armstrong** — first person to set foot on the moon.
- **Apollo 13 crew** — subject of the communication listened to at NASA's mission control.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Focusing on immediate success:** The initial allure of professional snowboarding vs. the necessary long-term strategy of mastering fundamentals.
- **Academic vs. Practical:** The potential of an advanced degree vs. the immediate, tangible pull of a revolutionary field (like space tech).
- **Small wins vs. Big Picture:** Choosing to tackle one small, defined problem at a time rather than getting paralyzed by the entire scope of the goal.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker acknowledges that the process of achieving escape velocity "may not work for everyone," and "there will undoubtedly be failed attempts along the way."
- The initial goal of snowboarding stardom seemed "daunting" after realizing the limits of personal strength.
- The engineering goal felt "ludicrous" due to the multi-year commitment and unknown outcome.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Every person should attempt to achieve their own "escape velocity" goal.
- The resulting experience, regardless of failure, reveals hidden talents and strengthens character.
- The most powerful tool is setting small, defined goals to build confidence and momentum.
## Implications & Consequences
- The initial perception of personal "limits" (physical strength, academic ability) are revealed to be mere challenges that require structured work to overcome.
- Finding one's true potential requires deliberately pushing against perceived boundaries until a breakthrough (escape velocity) occurs.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"This is Enceladus, a mysterious frozen moon of Saturn that shoots geysers of water into space from a hidden ocean beneath its icy surface."*
- *"Escape velocity is the minimum velocity required for a spacecraft to break free from the powerful gravitational force of Earth."*
- *"Can each of you attempt to achieve your own escape velocity?"*
- *"The true reward will be in discovering your hidden talents that will inherently strengthen your character and expose your fire within."*
- *"I developed a routine, a pure singular focus of the goal and I simply worked one requirement and trick at a time and it pushed me to my breaking point."*
- *"I had actually achieved escape velocity."*
- *"I quickly put my pocket Casio calculator back in my backpack."*
- *"I decided right then that I was going to dedicate all of my focus and energy into getting through the next 5 years somehow someway."*
- *"I realized that outcomes such as failure did not equal death or broken bones."*
- *"I saw a flyer for a NASA competition for students to design future Mars rovers."*
- *"I learned the syndrome could be described as a a U-shaped curve with the top of the curve that high feeling of getting hired..."*
- *"For each of you, to set your own goal of escape velocity, whatever that may be, that will push you to the breaking point physically, mentally, and spiritually in order to reveal your maximum potential."*