I knew some one once whose life was on kind of a negative trajectory. Somehow though, she thought she was doing everything just fine. I think mainly she had a skewed sense of reality, some mis-ordered priorities, and a lot of growing up to do. All that aside, her mother gave her some good advice:

"Think about the person you're becoming."

I find that useful regardless of where one's life is heading, primarily because, like this girl, we don't always realize where we're going. I try to assess the person I'm becoming rather frequently. Sometimes I'm happy with what I see and other times I'm not, but it's usually a helpful exercise regardless. Have you thought about it lately?