The road to success is paved with detours, roadblocks, speed bumps and potholes. The average American will work for 10 employers, keeping each job 3.6 years, and change careers 3 times before retiring. Sometimes the change will be voluntary; sometimes the change will be instigated by outside forces. Either way, change is inevitable. Therefore, if you want to get the most out of your career and maximize your chances for professional development, you have to expect and prepare for multiple transitions as you travel along the road to success.

     Most people experience transitions as something that happens TO them rather than as something they can plan for and control. They arrive at career/life decisions not on the basis of any meaningful thought process, but rather on familial obligations or societal expectations. And then they wonder why they are unhappy and unfulfilled.

     If you are like most people, you spend more time planning your vacations than you do planning your career or your life. Consider the vacation planning process. Most of us choose a destination based on specific criteria about how we enjoy spending our time. Why not use the same mindset as a first step towards mapping out a career/life strategy? Think about what you like to do and where the best place to do it might be. Invest time and effort to assess your skills and knowledges as well as your wants and needs and you can fully integrate your professional and personal selves to achieve success.

You have the power to create the career—and the life—you want as long as you are willing to accept that transitions are inevitable and to develop a strategy to deal them. Learn to control the things you can and develop strategies to cope with those you cannot.

     Think about success for a minute. What does it look like? Odds are, every person reading this has a different answer. However, there are four common elements in every vision of success. They are:

1) being content about your life;

2) achieving measurable accomplishments that compare favorably to others with similar goals;

3) believing that you have a positive impact on people you care about most;

4) leaving a legacy in order to help others experience future success.

     Each element contributes to the way you experience success right now. Success is NOT a future event or something to aspire towards. Think of it as a current state of being: the ability to pay full and undivided attention to what matters most in your life at any given moment.

     Of course, the difficult part is figuring out what matters most.

     That’s where self-assessment comes in. Most people fail to engage in the self-assessment process. At best, they can assess their lifestyles—where and how they want to live, what their immediate needs are, and what their needs are likely to be tomorrow. These are certainly important considerations, but evaluating lifestyles is no substitution for self-assessment. You must also decide how you want to use your skills and talents. How do you want to invest your “human capital” to achieve the desired return on your investment? To answer that question, you MUST be able to articulate your Abilities (skills, accomplishments and special knowledges), Beliefs (motivations, passions, values, goals and ideals) and Conduct (action plan, work style and temperament). These are the ABCs of career management, and while they are influenced by environment, heredity and even spirituality, they are ultimately controlled by you. Once you learn how to identify your Abilities, harness your Beliefs and Conduct yourself in a positive, can-do manner, you will be able to create an internal definition of success and enjoy the career—and life—you have designed.

      The five-step career planning process outline described below provides a frame for designing an individualized career path that will enable you to design a professional life that enhances your personal life.

AbilitiesThe best strategy to direct the course of your career is to identify your skills and talents. You must be able to articulate what you can do and what you know. While you want to be aware of any shortcomings you may possess, you do not want them to dictate your path and prevent you from following your dreams.

Step 1 Focus on your skills, strengths, assets and talents, not your shortcomings.

BeliefsTake some time to think about what you really want to do. Do not underestimate the power of passion. The world is filled with examples of people who achieved their goals—against all odds—because of their passion. Consider Neil Perry, the San Jose football player whose right leg was amputated below the knee after a horrific injury in a game during the 2000 season. Hours after his leg was removed, Parry vowed he’d play football again, an unlikely proposition under the circumstances. Yet, in September 2003, Parry was back on the field and fans were hard pressed to notice a difference between his abilities and those of his two-legged teammates. He had the drive and passion to withstand 25 operations and countless hours of rehabilitation and physical therapy to achieve his goal. If you allow yourself to be fueled by your internal drive instead of any external pressures, your shortcomings will have little or no impact on your ability to succeed. They may present hurdles, but your passion will galvanize your skills, strengths and talents so you can easily clear the bar.

Step 2 Know what you TRULY want.

Neil Perry is but one example: With passion, that combination of forces of mind, will, resources and heart, we can move mountains.

Step 3 Do not accept conventional wisdom unconditionally.There will always be some perfectly logical reason why your qualifications are insufficient for a specific position. Anticipate what those reasons might be and decide for yourself if they are, indeed, insurmountable, or merely a hurdle to clear. Remember, conventional wisdom would suggest that amputees can not play football. Passion is stronger than conventional wisdom. Excellence always trumps stereotypes and perceptions. Always strive to be the exception to the rule. Do your homework so that you know what the conventional wisdom is and then plan a strategy to deal with it. That will enable you to communicate your best professional self.

Conduct Think about the direction you’d like your life to take. What do you want to accomplish during your lifetime? During the next five years? The next year? Think about what you need to do to make it happen. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish when you are clear about what you want and have an action plan in place to guide you.

Step 4 Develop an action plan (SET GOALS).

Step 5 Make course corrections.Keep in mind that goals and motives may shift as you mature and grow. What moves you to action today may bore you and disillusion you tomorrow. Change should not be seen as a sign of weakness or as a lack of commitment. Change is a strength that allows people to adapt to ever changing circumstances. Stay in touch with your mentors and contacts as you revise your plans along the way.

     Managing your career development is an on-going process that includes planning and strategizing based on information about yourself and the world of work, the match between them and the actions you take. You must make a lifelong commitment to actively manage your career/life and learn to adapt to the inevitable transitions you are destined to encounter.

     Finding the courage to forge your own path and construct a personal definition of success in the face of external obligations and pressures isn’t easy. In fact, it is downright scary. Do it anyway. I promise, once you get started you will find the process is more affirming than it is scary. Take a deep breath and take the first step. The rewards will be monumental.