3 Victory Lessons from Pluto and The New Horizons Mission

News Horizons Mission: Pluto - check.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, yet this past week the 'planet' has come to life before our eyes.  The latest feature spotted on Pluto is a new mountain range in Pluto's 'heart.'  The mountain range has peaks that are as tall as the Appalachian Mountains and is located near the planet's "Tombaugh Regio."

Over 85 years have years have passed and the following questions still remain:

• Is Pluto a planet?
• In 2006 Pluto was demoted from "planet" to dwarf planet
• Over 4,000 people signed a petition to bring Pluto back to full planet status
• They argue that "By declaring Pluto was no longer a planet, the IAU put into place a planetary definition that would have even declassified Earth as a planet if it existed as far from the Sun as Pluto does."
• Why is Pluto not a planet?
• The group of astronomers responsible for naming objects in space decided Pluto was not a planet because of its size and location in space
• In 2003 a new object, Eris, was discovered beyond Pluto
• A dwarf planet orbits the sun like other planets yet it is smaller and unable to clear other objects out of its path.
• Therefore Pluto and objects like it are called dwarf planets
• How far is Pluto from Earth?
• At the moment, Pluto is nearly 3 billion miles (4.8 billion km) from Earth
• How big is Pluto?
• Mission scientists have found Pluto to be 1,473 miles (2,370 kilometers) in diameter, which is larger than many prior estimates
• What is Pluto?
• Exactly.

ONE
Keep Them Guessing
Although there are many people that do not agree with Pluto's reclassification, the dwarf planet's popularity soared once it was 'demoted.'

Reinvent yourself.  Reclassification does not have to be considered a demotion instead it is an opportunity with a poor name tag.

It is vital to keep people guessing: You have to keep changing in order to show people your range.  This is especially true in business yet it can be applied to numerous aspects of life.  You have to be able to change your strategy to succeed in life.

Can you define some of the most successful companies in the world? What is Apple?

Apple is more than a tech company that releases a new iPhone every once in a while, it's a cultural phenomenon and an inspiration to engineers, designers and innovative minds in other industries.

What makes you or your product unique? People are drawn to specific celebrities who love to surprise their fans by changing their appearance keeping them guessing what's next.

For Apple, it was iPhone x 6, MacBooks in between and then all of a sudden...Watch!?

Pluto continues to amaze the world as it only reveals a limited amount of information about itself.  As a result, the world cannot get enough of the dwarf planet.  How will you keep them guessing?

"Never be afraid to fall apart because it is an opportunity to rebuild yourself the way you wish you had been all along." -Rae Smith



TWO
Enjoy the Journey
New Horizons' photos of Pluto took nine-years and a three-billion mile journey.

When we are young we set incredible goals and strict deadlines.  As we age, many of us lose our enthusiasm and set more easily attainable goals or we lose our high hope altogether.

'The Alchemist,' by Paulo Coelho teaches us that life is a journey of exploration and self-discovery.  Many people consider life a destination yet it is a journey.

Initially, you will experience beginner's luck, for New Horizons that was Jupiter.  Thirteen months after New Horizons launched it was at Jupiter and the New Horizons team was able to capture time lapse images of a volcanic eruption on Io, one of Jupiter's four big moons.

Shortly after the Jupiter flyby New Horizons faced its first computer glitch on its journey of the Kuiper Belt: Calculations indicated that the computer memory would crash on the journey yet eight years later the spacecraft was successfully able to capture images of Pluto.  

The Alchemist tells us that fear is our only obstacle to happiness.  For New Horizons fear came in the form of numerous computer glitches that caused the spacecraft to briefly lose touch with our planet.  The New Horizons team did not allow this obstacle to stop them from working towards their goal.  The team's hard work and diligence paid off and the glitch only lasted for 90 minutes.

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." -Jimmy Dean

Be a Big Deal
"When your scope is epic, you can yield groundbreaking results by skimming the surface."  New Horizons never quite 'made it' to Pluto.  The spacecraft was actually 7,800 miles away from Pluto's surface when it captured the historic images.

Despite the distance, the images remain a 'big deal' considering the fact that cameras had never come so close to the dwarf planet before.

Set an unreasonable goal to test its resonance in your soul and lead yourself into action.  This can lead you to discover additional details and abilities about yourself.

NASA was so uncertain as to whether they would be able to generate high-resolution images that they hired magician David Blaine to provide entertainment to the crowd at mission control.

Do you remember when it was OK to be average? These days you have to be innovative in order to compete.  Drive and creativity are required to achieve success.  "Passion fuels the rocket, but vision, a big dream, points the rocket to its ultimate destination."

Eleanor Roosevelt advised, "Do one thing every day that scares you." NASA could have remained in its comfort zone and only pursued Jupiter.  This would have been considered a great accomplishment yet NASA sought New Horizons and the results have been out of this planet!

"Shoot for the moon. If you miss it, you will still land among the stars." -Norman Vincent Peale