A related idea that I got when doing a time-management course (was offered by CFA, accidentally to vols when it was supposed to be for admin staff, he he!) and it's this:
Is what I'm doing right now moving me towards my goal?
I guess that's a simpler way of putting that article, in some senses.
I did another course through the CFA a while ago that also helped mobilise me to do more things that were 'true to myself', though the mere fact that I'd applied for the opportunity after getting my arse joined up to the fire brigade already was a manifestation of my 'I happen to life' attitude that I adopted in my mid-20's!
There's always something that comes up that sheds light on something else that I had accepted without question before or that I hadn't realised was a comfort zone. I have so few comfort zones left that the ones I know about act as my refuge when things get a bit too much. I've been so busy this pregnancy, for various reasons, that on Mon and Tue this week I consciously slept in and told myself to do nothing. I've got 3 weeks to go, give or take...by Wed I had itchy feet again, so my challenge is to accept quietness and let it wash over me!
So, yeah, I wouldn't ever hold myself up as any kind of epitome of success for anyone else (been studying for umpteen years and not a single useful qualification out of it!), and I CAN say that I have lived the last 10 years according to what I value and I don't feel like I've failed myself, or been cheated out of anything. Even my mistakes are my own and no-one's getting credit for those, cos it would mean where I am now is someone else's fault. And I know it's not.
Not sure what kind of tangent I went on there - stream of consciousness that the OP triggered!

ETA: Toomany - I guess the way I've learned and been taught to counter the 's..t happens' part of life is to realise what things are in your control and what isn't in your control. No point getting worked up (to either polarity) about things that you cannot control. There is so much that you CAN control though, even your reactions to the things you can't