Here you see a photo of me at an acting/dance studio in the Murray Hill neighborhood in Manhattan this week. I have been the house manager there for more than five years.

What? I thought you were a writer or a life coach or something.

I am all of the above. Also, an editor.

As an independent contractor since 2002, and with the implosion of journalism options the last two decades, I learned that if I wanted to keep writing – my reason for being, frankly – I’d have to work hard and be creative. That’s when I learned about the beauty of income streams.

So I trained to be a professional coach, networked, really learned the craft, and launched a practice. I found out pretty quickly I love coaching, but don’t want to do it fulltime. I like a good chunk of my work time to be my clients, but not 40 hours worth.

Over the years that meant opening my mind to other things and it’s been illuminating. When I took on this house manager job, I knew I’d be good at it, but didn’t expect to like so much about it. The reason is, it’s administrative and therefore taps into a skill set that was dormant in my work life. I keep the place organized, interact with renters, show them the space, find creative solutions to problems.

Have I wanted to tear my hair out a few times? Sure. It was especially challenging to run the place while shut down during COVID and out with knee surgery recovery this last year, but even that has been satisfying because I got help where needed.

It turn, it gives me a good feeling to share with coaching clients that I have done this for my own growth and freedom. When I say we need to figure out for ourselves what works, this is my way of walking my talk.

Ask yourself, what do I want to do more than anything else? My answer is write.

What are you willing to do to be able to keep writing regularly? Explore other income streams and work hard at them.

Pretty simple, really.

Oh, and the other photo you see is a quick shot (33rd and Madison) from my walk from Murray Hill to the PATH to head back to Hoboken. Exhilarating.

[Editorial Note: This is my sixth installment in a series I began in order to give my writing some flow after being in a healing phase from knee surgeries for a year (2023-24).]

[This post was originally published on Facebook on May 29, 2024.]