For a long time, a successful career was signified by receiving a shiny gold watch to commemorate your 30 or 40 years of loyal service to a single company. Getting ahead meant dedication, dependability, loyalty, putting your head down, getting your work done and following the rules.

For Baby Boomers, getting ahead took on a much different look. Think about the movies Wall Street or Baby Boom: power suit, power tie, power briefcase… huge shoulder pads. How very 1980s! It was all about influence, wealth and leverage. Everyone was eager to get ahead and more than a few people sacrificed their personal relationships.

Those who came of age in the 1990s embraced the idea of getting ahead by being their own boss. In fact, 87 percent of Gen X said they wanted their own business. This wave of entrepreneurs coupled with this “thing” called the Internet paved the way for Yahoo, Google and AOL. All of a sudden, people were clamoring for office space, patents, domain addresses and IPOs. Young people everywhere wanted to retire as millionaires before turning 40, 30…even 20-years-old!

That brings us to today where the rules are being rewritten yet again, and people are making more career changes in their 20’s than other generations experienced in a lifetime. I actually met someone last week whose son had 20 different jobs before he turned 30! These days, getting ahead involves much more than just slowly creeping up the corporate ladder or clawing your way to the top at any expense. In the age of instant makeovers, YouTube and reality shows, anyone can have a voice, be discovered, land a television show or get paid for doing just about anything people want to see. Success isn’t one-size-fits-all – it’s totally customizable.

I read a blog by Ryan Healy of Employee Evolution, which focuses on Millennials at work, and he said, “I don’t know anyone who will walk in the door of GE on their first day and think, ‘I’m going to do anything and everything I can for this company because they really care about me!’ This is because loyalty is a two-way street. The company must earn your loyalty and you must earn theirs.” He couldn’t be more accurate.

The notion of “getting ahead” will undoubtedly continue to morph but as generations and paradigms collide in the workplace, it’s important to know a little history. Even if you are determined to change all the rules and do things your way, your path will be more smooth and successful if you remember to show respect to the people who have been there and done that for a lot longer. Have your big ideas, shake things up, and place yourself in environments that embrace your ideas and strengths, but also make sure those opportunities and people can mentor you and help you see the world in a way that only experience can teach you. All the while, keep in mind that hard work, loyalty, integrity and passion will never get old.

Dealing with those less-than-supportive friends is an issue that few people talk about when it comes to dedicating your life to a startup. Having great friends around you for support is a must, but unfortunately, sometimes the people we love and expect to support us most can surprise us in adverse ways. Has this ever happened to you?

Look at the people you surround yourself with. Are they people who you respect? Do they motivate, stimulate or teach you? Do they discourage you, slow you down or get jealous about your successes? If they are uncomfortable with your lifestyle, fight you on your choices and influence you to make decisions that you later regret, you need to take a serious step back.

The wrong influences for an entrepreneur don’t necessarily have to be overtly “negative” to be counterproductive. Maybe you have friends who just don’t support what you do by not realizing how important your business is to you. Of course, the first thing you should do is to help them understand. But if that fails, there are a few things you can do to keep yourself on track:

• Remove, avoid or limit negative or counter-productive influences from your life.
• Don’t discuss business with people who don’t care or don’t want to understand.
• Surround yourself with people you admire and who motivate you.
• Read about other entrepreneurs who excite you.
• Accept the fact that you’re different. And be proud of that. You’ve worked very hard to get where you are. Don’t let anything or anyone chip away at your success or pride in it.

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This past year, YSN decided to get a closer look at college students around the globe to better understand the next generation workforce young people launching their careers. In case you haven’t heard, over the next 10 years more than one billion young people will enter the workforce. They may be your kids, your staff, your partners, your peers or even your competition, but however pervasive they may be in your world today, it’s time to ask yourself if you’re ready for these sweeping market and demographic changes. Are you globally savvy or internationally challenged? Are you ready to join the new world order?

The “Global Career Mindset Study” we conducted was the first of its kind, surveying students from 50 countries. The most compelling finding: 55% of students are looking abroad to launch their careers, and only 20% plan to look for work locally. What’s more, they’re skilled, they’re ambitious, they’re hungry for new opportunities to show the world what they can do, and they’re savvy — about politics, geography, world affairs and culture. Plus, they have the business skills the top employers and entrepreneurs are looking for in young talent.

Between the current economic turmoil and the workforce crisis, building a solid business or finding and keeping a great job is going to require a lot more effort. If you want to give yourself every possible advantage, it’s time to expect more from yourself. I firmly believe the smartest thing you can do to be competitive in the global workforce is to become more globally savvy, aware, skilled, refined, and cultured. Stop thinking of your own city or country as your community and start thinking of yourself as a citizen of the world. A few tips:

• Keep up on international news. Read it online or watch international news broadcasts.
• Build and nurture relationships with people from other countries, on and offline.
• Join international membership organizations.
• Attend and participate actively in global conferences and events.
• Travel as much as you can to experience different cultures first hand. In your own country, spend time with immigrant families with a strong sense of their native culture. (Visit with them in their homes if you can)
• Learn different languages. At the very least, learn hoe to exchange pleasantries (hello, how are you, nice to meet you, thank you, goodbye) in a few different languages. Practice and learn more every chance you get.

Lastly, open yourself up to new and different experiences. Embrace the idea of things and people who are unfamiliar and look at your exploration of the world as an adventure that will not only open up your opportunities, but change the quality of your life.

My best advice: Think like an economist, act like an entrepreneur and set your sights globally.

Early in my career, after I’d helped my first few hundred people discover new career paths, businesses and organizations to launch into, I found myself wondering why different industries fascinated me so much. It didn’t matter whether the topic was entertainment, finance, apparel, aerospace, publishing, technology, food service, fitness or stranger stuff like neutraceuticals, biofuels or nanotechnology! Every industry was a totally different world that had different experts, jobs, media, events, publications, education centers, trends, definitions of success, terminology and even dress codes! And every single one was packed with opportunities as limitless as your imagination.

As if all that wasn’t intriguing enough, there were endless ways you could find or invent opportunities in any combination of industries. For example, take animals. With a traditional eye, you’d probably think your career options might include pet stores, veterinary medicine, breading and boarding. But cross a love of animals with all the other ways you could serve them and their owners and you get clothing for pets (apparel), gourmet pet bakeries (food service), organic health supplements (neutraceuticals), magazines and books (publishing), animal tracking devices (technology), and so on. With a little creativity you could have a field day coming up with ways to play in this world.

Then one day, my good friend Bob Cohen from the Harvard Office of Career Services explained to me the difference between “function” and “industry.” Simply put, function is what you do, industry is where you do it. Your industry, he explained, is your playground. It’s the world where you can have the most fun doing what you do best.

I realized right then that one of the biggest things holding people back from loving what they do is not knowing what industries they should (or should I say want to) be in. And the simplest way to figure this out, if it isn’t already obvious, is to get someone to think about what they love doing. If you love playing video games, consider working in the video game industry. If you love music, there’s a whole other industry to play in. What you do in that industry is a question of function. You can be a writer in any industry, right? You can be doctor in any industry. An accountant. A teacher. A marketer. A salesman. The world really is like one big candy store of options and opportunities! You just need to find your industryxthen dive in.

Once you’ve identified your playground, it’s just a matter of getting yourself into the middle of all the action. Join the trade associations, subscribe to the blogs and newsletters, buy the top magazines, attend the conferences and events, follow the hottest experts and stay on top of the trends. For more information on how to Master Your Universe, check out the 10-minute podcast from our NY Times Bestseller, Secrets of the Young & Successful.

Think of your industry as your playground and this powerful secret of the young & successful will cause a paradigm shift that can instantly turn your career exploration into an adventure.