Do Not Plan Your Career

From The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning: career planning = career limiting.

You can't plan your career because you have no idea what's going to happen in the future. And if you think you have an idea of what's going to happen, then watch "Next" with Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, and Jessica Biel.

Instead of trying to plan your career, focus on developing skills and pursuing opportunities--opportunities are key.

Pmarca's quote from Nassim Nicholas Taleb in The Black Swan sums it up pretty well:

"Seize any opportunity or anything that looks like opportunity.  They are rare, much rarer than you think..."

"Many people do not realize they are getting a lucky break in life when they get it.  If a big publisher (or a big art dealer or a movie executive or a hotshot banker or a big thinker) suggests an appointment, cancel anything you have planned: you may not see such a window open up again."

So if you're pressed for a career "plan" make it this: "[be] continuously alert to opportunities that present themselves to you spontaneiously, when you happen to be in the right place at the right time."

References: The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning