on to sunnier topics, like being fulfilled in your career! As I’ve said, fulfillment is only partly up to you– so how are we to wrestle with something that isn’t completely ours to direct? I began by telling you that it is essential to align your actions and values, so one way to start is by consciously interrogating the values you hold– which [**are**]{} up to you– and evaluating decisions based on those values.

As you read the following, keep in mind these two disclaimers: making your decisions in this way may not result in a career in astronomy. Furthermore, aligning your career path with your values may also not be compatible with a career in astronomy, and as a corollary to that: astronomy may ultimately not be the dream of fulfillment you hope for.

However, I think that engaging in this way may be helpful for the following reason: unless you create them for yourself, there are relatively few formal opportunities to think about your decisions in a larger framework. In academic astronomy, the main time we do this kind of exercise is in planning our path to completing grad school: we choose a research topic, look at what 