Astronaut, aquanaut, jet pilot, ER doctor, scientist, CEO and father - Dr. Dave Williams has two sayings that keep him rolling "It is what it is" and "We're all on a Journey" and those two ideas orbit around our interview with him as he explains how he got through university and med school on his own terms. Dr. Williams became an astronaut and remained resilient during setbacks and challenges along the way, including the loss of friends in the Columbia disaster and a cancer diagnosis that almost prevented him from returning to space.

The interview is peppered with anecdotes and lessons learned on the importance of living life to the fullest, leadership, astronaut training, living a lifetime in a moment dangling off the Canadarm, and learning how to persevere by demonstrating self-compassion.

One key piece of advice from this episode is that whether you are in surgery or on a spacewalk, when in the face of death, you have to offer solutions, not offer blame. Leading through accountability is key. There's a cliché in management about referring to mistakes as "opportunities for growth and development" and it is true; failure is always a chance to learn and assigning fault is never particularly productive.

While he's accomplished so much already, Dave is also the author of a series of children's books on being an astronaut as well as a memoir entitled Defying Limits: Lessons from the Edge of the Universe that expands on many of the ideas presented here. To win a copy listen to the end of Part 2 with our interview with Dave for details on our giveaway.

Our conversation will continue in the next episode so be sure to follow this feed and not miss inspirational and uplifting lessons about life and leadership.

To learn more about Dr. Dave Williams visit his website www.astrodavemd.ca and follow him on Twitter @AstroDaveMD

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