Work is a huge part of our lives. It shapes our routines, our wellbeing and the time we have for the people who matter most. Many of us will spend forty or fifty years working, so it seems only fair to ask whether the work we're doing still fits the life we're living.

The reality is that many of us will be working well into our sixties and, for some, even beyond.

The world of work has changed dramatically over the last twenty years, yet much of the advice we're given still belongs to a different era. Many of us started our careers believing there was one route to success: find a good job, work hard, climb the ladder and keep going. Today we have more choice than ever before. Freelancing, consultancy, flexible working, portfolio careers and running a business have opened up possibilities that barely existed when many of us first entered the workplace.

Our lives have changed too.

We're no longer the people we were in our twenties. Families grow, children leave home, relationships change, parents need our support and our priorities shift. As life evolves, it's only natural that what we want from work evolves too.

So why do we expect the same career to fit us for forty years?

I've come to believe we're asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking, "What's my next job?", perhaps we should be asking:

"What kind of working life do I want now?"

That's the conversation I want to have.

Not because I think everyone should leave employment or become self-employed. Quite the opposite. I believe that before making any big career decision, it's worth understanding the different ways you could work and deciding which one best fits the life you want to live today.