What Four Astronauts Can Teach Us About Career Journeys

Picture of Earth from Nasa Commander Reid, part of the Artemis II mission around the moon

On 1st April 2026, four Astronauts strapped themselves into a rocket on a mission to fly around the Moon. The first humans to do this since 1972.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about them.

Not just because of the science, but because of their stories.

Commander Reid Wiseman, 50. A single dad and naval aviator. Victor Glover, 49, the first person of colour ever to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Christina Koch, 47, an electrical engineer who spent 328 days alone in space. Jeremy Hansen, 50, a farm boy from Ontario who joined the Air Cadets at 12 and never looked back.

Four entirely different journeys, four different starting points and one collective destination.

Something that struck me, was their stories leading up to this mission.

This is what Career Construction Theory teaches us.

Savickas (2005) argues that we don't just find a career. We build one, through the recurring themes in our lives, the experiences that shaped us, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. Your career isn't just a ladder, it’s a narrative you are actively and constantly rewriting. Consciously, or not.

And here's what the Artemis II mission crew understood. Every chapter of their lives, the inspiration, the detours, the disciplines, the decades of showing up, was preparing them for a mission they dreamed of at 25.

But they didn't get there alone.

Behind the launch of their rocket was a mammoth of a global team. Engineers, scientists, families, mentors, mission controllers, and thousands of people who believed in something bigger than themselves.

Careers don't happen in isolation. They are shaped by the people closest to us, the colleagues working alongside us, and those who have invested in our success.

So as you think about rewriting your own career narrative and possibly changing your destination, who are you bringing along with you? Who are you sharing this with?

Sometimes the story starts at 5. Sometimes it starts at 50. Both are just as valid.

That's true for you too.

So sit with these questions this week:

1. What life themes keep showing up in the work that has felt most meaningful to you?

2. Whose permission are you waiting for to take the next step?

3. Who is in your team, and have you told them they are?

4. When the risks you are taking finally pay off, what do you want your career legacy to say?

You are not too old or too late.

You are, most likely, right on time.

Yinka

References

Savickas, M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (pp. 42–70). John Wiley & Sons.