A sustainable way to see work
What is the role of work in our lives?
That’s a question I’ve long been exploring as part of my work on Sustainable Ambition, because how we answer it shapes our relationship with work—and too often breeds anxiety and angst.
And to me, the traditional frameworks we use to help us answer this question are limiting and feed those emotions:
They feel rigid, as if we’re meant to pick one path and stick with it: “Welcome! What would you like for this life—a job, career, or calling?”
They set impossibly high expectations: “Find your passion! Find your purpose! Build a legacy! Find your ikigai! Eternal work bliss guaranteed!”
These models carry value judgments, too. A job is “less than” having a career, which is “less than” having a calling. If you haven’t found your ikigai or what you absolutely love to do, as Steve Jobs espoused, you’ve failed. Keep searching!
Whoa. That sounds stressful! So, is it any wonder that so many of us continue to struggle with how we feel about our work?
I think a central problem with these constructs is that they present as a sole option and fixed, rather than allowing us to redefine what our work is at any given time in our lives. They also take a narrow view of our work, rather than see activities in our lives as fluid, multifaceted, and interconnected.
This is especially true for those of us who are multipotentialites and have never fit into one box.
So, what if we stopped trying to find THE answer?
In my latest podcast conversation with Dana Miranda— creator of the Healthy Rich newsletter and author of You Don’t Need a Budget—she shared this view:
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is impermanence. You’re not just going to figure out the right thing once and stick with it forever.”
This may sound stressful, yet this mindset shift can create freedom and actually a sense of peace, as Dana and I discussed.
Dana also reminded us that it’s okay that our work (perhaps a job) provides the financial support to allow us to focus on other ambitions, as she is experiencing now:
“Financial oxygen is the work that helps me breathe so I can do the things that really feel like my purpose.”
Dana went on to share:
“For the first time, I’m not making my full-time job my top priority or my identity.”
Yes, her job may still be meaningful to her, but she also has other activities outside her full-time job that provide deeper meaning. Having a job for financial oxygen allows her to redirect where she prioritizes her ambitious energy.
Taking this approach isn’t settling. It’s strategic.
When we stop forcing ourselves to choose between a job, career, or calling, we can actually hold all three—simultaneously, perhaps just from different sources.
Dana isn’t the first to figure this out. Artists have navigated this reality out of necessity for centuries, and there’s wisdom in that.
Artists have long balanced “day jobs” (financial, paid, economic work) with their creative work. Philip Glass, the celebrated composer, drove a taxi. ****Toni Morrison was a book editor. ****The sculptor ****Ruth Asawa was a homemaker and raised six children.
Society views the need for a day job as a bug in the artist’s life—a struggle to accept and endure. But what if it’s actually a realistic feature?
In Art Thinking, Amy Whitaker writes about how taking such a portfolio approach—where different types of work serve different purposes—can be an intentional strategy rather than a reluctant compromise. In doing so, we can proactively and intelligently manage risk across our activities and honor the realistic journey of ambitions.
Whitaker notes how artists, as well as multi-hyphenates, create financial ecosystems where one “project” funds another (referencing the BCG Growth Share Matrix as one lens). She gives the example of an artist and gallery owner who also does consulting work and is gradually shifting the balance toward becoming a full-time artist. Another example is that of Roger Bannister who practiced medicine while training to break the four-minute mile.
What artists demonstrate—whether by choice or necessity—is that meaningful work and “financial work” can coexist in a portfolio, with paid work providing the oxygen for creative pursuits.
This type of thinking is increasingly necessary in today’s fractured employment landscape—but it’s also incredibly freeing. As Christina Wallace argues in The Portfolio Life, this portfolio approach is beneficial, empowering, and more resilient than traditional career management approaches. (Listen to our conversation here.)
The difference between us and previous generations? We have the option to choose this approach consciously, rather than falling into it reluctantly. We can view the role of work in our lives as fluid and portfolio-based, not fixed and singular.
This perspective can be liberating.
When we embrace that work’s role in our life can evolve, we stop judging ourselves for:
Taking a stable job because we need financial breathing room
Having multiple interests that call for our attention and energy
Redirecting our ambitious energy away from career and toward family, health, or creative pursuits
Treating our paid work as one part of a portfolio rather than the definition of our identity
Letting go of the impossible expectation that one job should fulfill all our needs—for income, identity, meaning, and purpose
When we make such choices, we’re not losing our ambition. We’re directing our ambitious energy more consciously and wisely to allow it to expand and be more holistic.
To be sure, not everyone has the financial stability or circumstances to consciously design a portfolio approach—many people work multiple jobs out of necessity, not choice. And some people do find deep fulfillment in a singular career path. But for those of us who feel constrained by traditional frameworks—especially multipotentialites**—**or who are juggling multiple roles already, recognizing that we can continually reframe our relationship with work—that it doesn’t have to be fixed or singular—can be empowering.
So, here’s my question for you:
What if you stopped asking “What should my work be?” and started asking “What role does work need to play in my life right now?”
What’s all the work in your life—not just your paid job, but everything—that’s worthy of your effort: paid, creative, domestic, relational? How might thinking like an artist help you craft a more sustainable life with work?
Because the role of work in your life doesn’t have to be fixed and singular. And recognizing that isn’t failure—it’s freedom.
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Sustainable Ambition offers a strategic approach for pursuing our professional and personal goals in a way that is motivating, meaningful, and manageable from stage to stage, rather than be all consuming in a way that compromises other important aspects of our lives or sacrifices our well-being.