When you're on the path towards a successful outcome, in whatever endeavor you're attempting, it's easiest to follow a roadmap, isn't it?

In some cases, there are tried-and-true methods to assist you in achieving your goals. In other cases, everything is new and you, by your own actions, are paving the way for the people who will follow you.

Regardless of your situation is, by developing your own personal roadmap to keep you on your desired path, you help yourself stay on track even in the face of challenges, obstacles, and roadblocks.

Here are five steps to take as you plan your journey towards success:

1) Identify what you want.

If you're at mid-life and starting to ask deep, existential-level type questions about your job, occupation, and current employment outlook, I invite you to consider the fact that the average lifespan for a healthy adult will allow most of us to have something like 3 or 4 full careers over the course of a lifetime. So a mid-life career assessment is a natural and totally normal process. It's always a good time to inventory your current situation and figure out your overall life plan for the next decade or so.

I'm re-reading some of my favorite books from Paulo Coehlo: this time it's his first novel, "The Pilgrim", which is about his road through the pilgrimage route of Santiago de Compostela.

There is an interesting section when his guide gives him a talking-to, and he realizes that he has been wandering the same section of the path for seven days because he has been so focused on his end result (the destination), rather than noticing what is happening around him, including the road, the scenery, the mountain, and the details on the path.