I first learned of this concept in Jeff Goins' book The Art of Work.
In a nutshell, a portfolio defines us. It reveals how we define ourselves by our actions. Essentially, a way to articulate our being. Your portfolio is not our roles we play, but the outcome of the roles we play.
Who we are is what we do. It's who we're being, not who we've been or who we'll be. Designing a portfolio however is a way to articulate who you've been (your strengths, talents, passions, and interests) to gain greatly clarity in who you will become.
Gions was inspired by Charles Handy who originally shared the idea in his book The Age of Unreason.
This reminds me of Tim Ferriss' 4-hour workweek where he talks about the idea of a lifestyle entrepreneur. If you need to earn $50k/year to live the lifestyle you want, and you can figure out how to earn $250/day, then you only need to work 200 days/year. Then 165 days remain to work on the other facets of your portfolio. That's almost 6 months! Imagine that... only working 6 months/year! What a concept!? What would you do with the rest of the time?
A way to bring this idea into reality is by implementing 10 day sprints. Sprints allow us to rise to the challenge because we are working under a deadline. I've discovered 10k ten day sprints are a key motivator for me because it provides me with a quantifiable goal. An ideal run rate for my business is $120k/year (gross, not net). If in 10 days I can generate 10k of business, then I would only have to work 120 days/year!
Internet marketers who show up every 6 months may in fact be on this plan. Is it feasible to run an event that earns you $50k or more that only takes you 6 months to plan and execute on? Is there a major product launch that you can generate a $50k/profit from?
While this seems unconventional from the perspective of someone who works for a salary and only gets 2 weeks off a year, it's more common for freelancers and solopreneurs.
I'm impacted by my mother-in-law who worked until she couldn't - up until the point she went to the ER to discover she had cancer. Isn't there more to life than your 9-5? For her, friends would say it's what she loved to do. From my perspective, it's because she didn't know what else to do. However, she did to an extent, have a portfolio life - she recognized the birthday of everyone she knew by sending cards. She put a great deal of time into volunteering for her sorority, managing their books. She went where she was needed and she did whatever you asked. Did she self-sacrifice her own happiness to appease others, or was serving others what brought her happiness? I believe it was the later.
Where this strategy starts to break down is when the things you do are no longer needed. I see this to an extent with my parents. They spent their entire lives making sure their four boys were prepared or the world. Given the results, I'd say they succeeded. But once the mission is accomplished, what's next? When there aren't problems to solve, what do you do?