Could a blended life or portfolio career be right for you?

I meet a lot of people who don't know what they want to do or where to start. I also meet plenty of people with lots of ideas but no clear direction about which one to pursue.

Perhaps that's because many of us are rethinking what we want from our working lives.

For years, work-life balance has been the goal. But if your life is represented by a see-saw, with work on one side and everything else on the other, that suggests half of your life is made up of work. Increasingly, people are questioning whether that's really the best way to think about it.

The good news is that blended lives and portfolio careers are becoming increasingly common. By this, I mean that life doesn't have to be a game of two halves, and you don't have to rely on just one source of income throughout your career.

What is a blended life?

In a blended life, work and personal life don't always fit neatly into separate boxes.

If you're delivering the results expected of you, does it really matter which hours you work and which hours you spend on other aspects of your life? Perhaps you've put a wash on while waiting for a video call to begin, taken a lunchtime walk or adjusted your hours to fit around family commitments.

For many people, flexibility makes work feel less like something that has to be endured and more like something that fits naturally into everyday life.

And if you're doing something you genuinely enjoy, work can start to feel less like work altogether. Would you choose to spend time doing it even outside traditional working hours? How different would your career feel if it became something you looked forward to rather than something you simply had to do?

Reinventing your career

It's often said that young people today are studying for careers that haven't even been invented yet.

But reinvention isn't just for the young.

I know plenty of people in their 30s, 40s and beyond who have completely reinvented their careers. Some have carved out a niche from part of a previous role and built a successful business around it. Others have taken the skills and experience they've already developed and applied them in a completely different industry, finding a renewed sense of purpose without having to start from scratch.

Sometimes changing careers isn't about learning an entirely new set of skills. It's simply about finding a place where your existing strengths are valued in a different way.

Could a portfolio career work for you?

Alongside the idea of a blended life is the growing popularity of portfolio careers.

A portfolio career means having more than one source of income. That might involve combining freelance work with part-time employment, running a small business alongside consultancy, teaching while building another venture, or balancing several complementary roles.

Of course, portfolio careers aren't for everyone. Some people prefer the security and focus of a single role, while others enjoy the variety and flexibility that multiple income streams can provide.

Alongside creating and marketing an app, could you also offer consultancy in your area of expertise? Could a hobby become a small business? Is there a skill you could use to generate an additional income while still pursuing the work you're most passionate about?

For some people, multiple roles are a financial necessity. For others, they're a conscious choice that allows them to combine stability with work they genuinely enjoy.

An exercise to get you thinking

Take a piece of paper and write down every element of your ideal job, assuming there are no obstacles and anything is possible.

Don't just think about the role itself. Consider the hours you work, where you work, the people you work with, the type of projects you enjoy, the flexibility you would like, your income, your values and the lifestyle you want your career to support.

Once you've finished, look through your list and ask yourself which elements are essential and which would simply be nice to have.

Now consider these three questions:

1. You don't know unless you ask.
2. If your ideal role isn't worth pursuing unless it meets your key requirements, what have you got to lose by asking for exactly what you want?
3. Perhaps your ideal career isn't one job at all. Could it actually be two or three complementary roles that, together, create the working life you're looking for?