The world of work is experiencing changes of tsunamic proportions. Career paths are being impacted on a scale not seen since the Big Depression of the 1920s-30s. New opportunities are opening; old ones are going up in smoke.

If you are truly ambitious careerists you will pay heed to the advice of Charles Darwin who said, "Survival goes not necessarily to the most intelligent or the strongest of the species, but to the one that is the most adaptable to change."

Then, you'll conduct a reality check to determine if you are prepared to survive and achieve career success in this changing, volatile environment.
You'll run this test on a regular basis.

Follow the advice of Brian Tracy, personal and professional development guru, declares in his book, Reinvention, How To Make The Rest Of Your Life The Best Of your Life:

"Practice zero-based thinking in every area of your life. Ask, Is there anything that I am doing today that, knowing what I now know, I would not start up again today if I had to do it over?"

Are you fully investing your time and energy toward surviving the worldwide tsunamic and winning the career rewards you desire?

Rank your activities in three categories: (1) advance your career, (2) derail your progress, and (3) spin in neutral.

Apply this thinking to reviewing your personal relationships as well on and off the job. Are you spending your time with winners and ignoring the losers? Are you feeding the gossip mill or helping to shut it down?

Take a close look at your time at work. Are you doing things that you could hand off to an associate, freeing yourself to take on assignments of greater responsibility and greater potential for career rewards?

Are you adding value to your employer's benefit from his investment in you?
Are you accomplishing more than your boss expects or are you cruising along at your comfort level?

How do you spend your time away from your job? Are you learning new skills and making contacts with mentors and associates who can help you advance on your career path?

Are you following good health practices? Are you rounding out your life by pursuing interests outside your immediate career? Are you helping others to earn career success?

Do you know the state of health of your employer's business, as well aqs that of the industry category it's in?

Do you have in place and follow a career plan? Do you have an up-to-date resume just in case things turn sour on your present job?

Reflect on Brian Tracy's advice which he calls KWINK (Knowing What I Now Know). The ultimate question is: Are you spending your working life in a career that fulfills your ambitions and needs?