Forget school-work-marry-children-retire-die. When life expectancy was 60 years it was much easier to commit to one partner, two weeks of holidays a year and a single-tracked career.

When my father was 15, they taught chemistry in Grade 10 science and he wanted to be a chemist. When he was 16 they taught physics in Grade 11 science and he wanted to be a physicist. Done and done. He went to university and got a physics degree. Then to avoid being drafted, he got a job as an engineer. He got married, had three kids. He worked as an engineer until he retired, and is still married to my mother.

By the time I retire, the retirement age will be at least 70 if not much later. Life is getting longer, but youth is not. I may not be able to enjoy many of the things I can enjoy now when I am 70.

When I was 19 and entering my third year of university, my father could not empathize with my struggle to finally choose a major. This was my first definitive step down a career path, and I was rather lost about where to begin making such a commitment.

When I graduated, it was even worse. I thought the whole world was available to me and I was paralysed from making a decision about where to start. My mother gave me the best advice: ‘Just pick anything and start down that path. See what you like and dislike about it and then make a change. Most people change career paths several times during their working lives these days.’

Nowadays you don’t even have to wait a few years to change directions. The ‘portfolio career’ — where you work part time at several different things, collectively adding up to one full time job — is becoming more and more popular. I’ve had 2-3 jobs at any given moment since 2010, making it difficult to answer the question ‘What do you do?’ at dinner parties.

It may not be for everyone — more choice means more decisions and more doubt — but recent research shows that it’s worth the investment: people who spend money on experiences rather than material possessions are happier and feel the money was better spent.

Then there’s serial monogamy — where a person has a series of monogamous relationships rather than committing for life. As life expectancy rises, so do divorce rates, and many people seem to be involuntarily becoming serial monogamists whether they know it or not.

Retirement is also changing. By the time I retire, the retirement age will be at least 70 if not much later. Life is getting longer, but youth is not. I may not be able to enjoy many of the things I can enjoy now when I am 70. As our lives are increasingly being broken up into successive chapters, it makes more and more sense to take breaks / sabbaticals / mini-retirements between phases.

Welcome to the portfolio lifestyle. It’s a life you design for yourself, and define for yourself. It’s about choosing to invest in experiences rather than material possessions. It may not be for everyone — more choice means more decisions and more doubt — but recent research shows that it’s worth the investment: people who spend money on experiences rather than material possessions are happier and feel the money was better spent.

A great way to start is to interrupt your current trajectory and take your first sabbatical.