When it comes to mastering your calling, don’t be a jack of all trades. Become a master of some. Your calling is not one thing; it’s a few things.

So how do you do this? You have to embrace what Charles Handy calls “the portfolio life.” Gone are the days of a 40-year career. You must master several skills and combine them in interesting ways if you want to do interesting work the world will notice. Here’s how to do that.

Instead of planning out your ideal week, focus instead on the next year. You have 365 days.

How many do you need to support yourself working? How many days do you now have left to do study work, homework, and gift work?

Go through the calendar and start marking dates that you could spend on those activities. If you have a family or significant other, go through this exercise with them. You don’t have to set anything in stone yet; it’s just a way to get a global view of your year and how you can intentionally move in the direction of your life’s work.

Listen to the audio clip below to learn more about creating a portfolio life:

Resources:

• The Age of Unreason by Charles Handy
• Mastery by Robert Greene
• Jody Maberry’s Park Leaders podcast