What you call satisfaction others may consider complacence. What you consider 'happily settled' may strike some people as stagnation.

Obviously, people have their own reasons for switching from one job to another. If you are in a career transition, you need to make sure that you're the switch goes smoothly, without upsetting your plan.

Self-Inquiry

Investigate the context of your career transition thoroughly. Inquire deeply into the motives behind your career change. Are you habitually hopping from job to job just for the heck of it? Or is your career transition part of a carefully thought-out plan?

If your career move is part of a premeditated strategy, then you are likely to be well- equipped to handle the challenges of transition. And you can look forward to having yet another rewarding stint in a new place. However, if your career transition is the consequence of an unfortunate incident like being laid off, or a serious illness, then you need to learn how to deal with your thought processes.

Remember, a frustrated and depressed person may manage to land a new job sooner or later, but they are not going to be successful in any of their pursuits. The secret of success lies in accepting, not resisting, adverse developments in your life.

Learn to befriend it, come to terms with it - and then you can overcome any adversity in your life. Of course, there some among us who possess an inborn quality of being able to take any negative life situations in stride.

Take Stock of Your Talents, Skills and Interests

Your talents are your natural abilities that you bring with you whenever you take a new job. Your skills are abilities that you have acquired during your formal education and professional training.

Your previous job, no matter how positive or negative your experience was, has helped you add to your existing skills. You will bring all that to your new job. Process them and find out how you can put them all to the best possible use.

Set Your Goals

The three assets mentioned above won't take you very far if you do not know the direction you want to move in. Obviously, your direction will be determined by your career goals. It's no good saying 'I want to make a lot of money'. Everybody wants to do that, but they don't know what they are going to do with that 'lots of money'.

On the contrary, someone who has thoughtfully determined their goals may want to be an entrepreneur at some point in their life. If this is you, then you will have to set both short-term and long-term goals.

Your short-term goals may have mostly to do with your acquiring greater expertise and more competencies in your professional field. Your long-term goals may be guided by your innermost urges and the quest for a profound sense of fulfillment inherent in every human being on this planet. Most importantly, remain clear and confident about your motives without deceiving yourself.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.