The Case for the Blended Career

For many years my massage business was my primary source of income.  Although I re-created and expanded it several times and managed to build in multiple streams of income from different sources within the business (a topic I'll explore int he future), it was still just one business, one career and one identity.  That got old after 15 or 16 years...probably sooner than that.  I got bored and tired of pushing my own cart uphill.  Perhaps it was the economic downturn which also encouraged me to take on another perspective.  Today I happily do several things which provide me income.  Currently my primary source of income is from massage, but instead of working for myself I've found a spa which supports my needs quite nicely.  I work much saner hours than I used to work on my own, and the clientele and services are varied enough to keep me from getting bored.  I also do distant healing which I love immensely, but can't imagine doing 8 hours a day.  And I am also beginning to do life coaching again.  I was doing life coaching when I once abandoned my massage career (sold my massage practice and walked away thinking I would never return to the profession).   Little did I realize at the time that doing massage for steady income was the anchor I needed to get my coaching practice off the ground.  Eventually, at least one of those things will bring multiple streams of income, but the most important thing is that I'm growing in many different directions.

Some people need to immerse themselves in just one thing.  In my previous life with just one source of income, I was learning how to go deep into my work...sometimes compulsively so.  Perhaps as time goes on I will find the need to go back to that method (sans the compulsion).  But we live in the 21st century where multiple things are going on all at once and life is whizzing by at record speed.  I happen to be one of those people who wants to experience more than just one thing.  I thrive on variety.  I thrive on possibility.  And perhaps the next thing I need to master is how to balance it all.