There are four basic career patterns:

1. Linear careers, which climb steadily upward, such as the "corporate ladder" or the billionaire entrepreneur.
2. Steady-state careers involve staying at one job and growing in expertise.
3. Transitory careers are ones in which people jump from job to job or field to field, looking for new challenges.
4. Spiral careers are like a series of mini careers. People spend many years developing in a profession, then shift fields seeking work that builds on the skills of their previous mini careers.

A big mistake many people make in their careers is to treat work as a means to an end, be it money, power, or prestige.

When a career is just a means to an end, the payoff will be unsatisfying. With the right goals - earning your success and serving others - you can make the work i...