If someone would have told me five years ago, that today, I would be living in San Francisco, working for a major consulting firm, and staffed on a project for one of the top consumer electronics companies, I probably would have laughed.

As a senior in high school, fiver years ago, I never would have pictured myself where I am today. I think I had decided at that point that I was going to be a nurse in a local hospital, married with kids. I was still very caught up in the small town mentality, and not quite sure of all the options that were actually available to me.

On that note, I just completed my mid-year review with my career counselor this week. I have set my career objectives for the year, as well as discussed points of improvement I would like to make before I finish up this project. That being said, my next task, will be to complete a personal assessment, and determine opportunities for advancement in my personal life.

I truly think that it’s hard to understand the possibilities the future holds, if we don’t evaluate where we have come from and our progress thus far. I know that personally, every year around my birthday (April) I try to revisit my 6 month, 1 year, and 5 year plan, and set new and more challenging goals for myself. Check out this site for tips on writing comprehensive and achievable goals.