One of the worst traps that many of us fall into is not planning for the future. If you went out and polled people today you would be surprised at the responses you would get. You would find that many people do not have renters insurance, life insurance or plans for retirement.

All in all, this is scarier than your car fishtailing on a slick road. If you fall into this category then you need to start planning. What would your family do it you were killed in a car accident? Could they support themselves? What if all of your possessions were destroyed in a fire? Could you replace everything?

Hopefully the first two paragraphs have made some of you open your eyes and start to think about planning for your future. You can not go blithely through life without planning. Instead, you need to make arrangements for yourself to ensure that you and your family are well taken care of.

Planning your career also involves more than just accepting the next position that comes along. It’s always great to get a job making more money but you need to start looking at what our job is going to do for you in 5, 10 and even 15 years or more.

So, when you start thinking about changing jobs, first decide what it is you want to do. Do you want to pursue an executive level management position or are you happy with being a mid-level employee as long as the salary is enough? How much salary do you want to make in 10 or even 20 years? Finally, where do you want to be located in 10 or 20 years?

Once you have decided these things, list out your goals with approximate time frames and decide what you are going to have to do to achieve those goals. Your outline should look something like this:

Current – Supervisor or Manager – salary = $60,000 – Location: East Coast
10 years – Upper Management or Director – salary $75,000 – Location: East Coast
20 years – Director or Vice President – salary $120,000+ – Location: East Coast

Now that you have created your long range plan, decide what steps you need to take to reach your goals.
1. Location – does your current employer meet the location requirements? If not, you need to start looking to change.
2. Salary – does your current employer pay salaries in the ranges you are looking for at the appropriate level? If not, you need to start looking to change or decide how long to stay before changing jobs.
3. Position – what resources can you tap to prepare yourself for the next level in your long range plan?
o Mentor - we suggest finding a friend or acquaintance in the position you aspire to and ask them to mentor you along the way. Or, you can work with and discuss your plans with a person currently in that position.
o Skills - determine if you have enough to qualify for the next level. If not, you need to get more training, complete more schooling or take appropriate action to qualify for the next level.

Finally, once you have put your plan into action and are making decisions about location, salary, a mentor or advisor and your skills, make sure you do not close your eyes to opportunities that might come along. While you have created a long range plan, you should always be flexible enough to change if an unbelievable opportunity comes your way.

Scott Brown is the author of the Job Search Handbook (http://www.JobSearchHandbook.com). As editor of the HireSites.com weekly newsletter on job searching, Scott has written many articles on the subject. He wrote the Job Search Handbook to provide job seekers with a complete yet easy to use guide to finding a job effectively.