Terry concedes it is "unthinkable" his career will come to a close without tasting real success in either the Champions League with Chelsea or at international level.
The defender is preparing to lead the national team in their penultimate World Cup qualifier in Ukraine at the weekend secure in the knowledge that Fabio Capello's side are already assured of a place in South Africa next summer.
Seven wins out of eight at the start of the season have taken Chelsea to the summit of the Barclays Premier League, while two wins out of two in the group stage has given the Blues a perfect start to their Champions League campaign.
It has been a strong start to what could be a career-defining season for the 28-year-old Terry, who is determined to banish the memory of England's failure to reach Euro 2008 by achieving success on all fronts in the coming months.
"This is my biggest season ahead of me and it's important to stay fit and keep playing well for Chelsea," Terry said.
"And when the England games come up, I need to show how important I am to the team and to the manager, and keep the lads moving in the right direction.
"Everybody knows the determination within myself to go on and win the Champions League with Chelsea, there is no bigger challenge than that.
"And with the England situation, I was captain of that side that didn't qualify and I took that very personally, and took a lot on my shoulders.
"I want to make sure that in my career I win the Champions League and go to the World Cup confident we can do well.
"It would 100 per cent always annoy me if I retired without a Champions League winners' medal with Chelsea or some real success with England.
"To end my career without either of those things is unthinkable."
The Chelsea captain admits his motivation levels are fuelled by past agonies, chief among which are his penalty miss against Manchester United in the 2008 Champions League final and the pain of England's quarter-final exit against Portugal - also on penalties - at the 2006 World Cup.
"What happened in the Champions League final I have to deal with every day," Terry revealed.
"Whether it be five, 10, 15 or 20 times a day, I deal with it in my way and try to use it as a positive.
"With England it's the same. We went to 2006 as potential winners and not reaching that level or beating a side we dominated, and going out on penalties, is hard to get your head around for weeks, months, years and even now.
"I still remember (Cristiano) Ronaldo winking at the bench. Things like that live with you forever."
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