This piece is from my upcoming book, now in it’s 3rd draft. It’s part 5 of 5 in the new undefinable life design model (more on this soon) which follows #1 Many Interests, #2 Semi-Professional, #3 Golden Thread & #4 Signature Expression.
This is the stage where you stop relying on a single source of stability and start building a system that keeps you creating from your internal compass year after year, no matter what changes or challenges come your way.
What a Value Stream Is
A Value Stream is a sustaining flow in your life — financial, emotional, physical, social or intellectual — that supports you to live in alignment with your Golden Thread while showing up as your best self.
Some streams feed your purpose directly:
Paid offerings.
Learning that sharpens your craft.
Platforms that share your work.
While others sustain it indirectly:
Health practices
Relationships
Belonging and creative energy
Together, they form the pillars of your undefinable life design by building up your personal Acropolis into a resilient, balanced structure that protects, elevates, and fuels the contribution only you can make.
Why They Matter
If you rely on just one stream like a single client, job, role or identity to hold up your acropolis you become fragile. When it falters, your whole structure shakes.
But, with multiple streams, you have balance. If one stream weakens, the others hold you steady. So, no matter the transitions you’re going through or the life events that are being thrown your way, you stay resilient by design.
Value Streams aren’t just about making money. They’re about designing a system of support that sustains you and your work.
The Five Pillars of Value Streams
Every undefinable’s Acropolis will look different. But most will fall into one or more of these five pillars:
Income Streams - ways you’re financially compensated for your contribution (consulting, courses, books, speaking, products etc.).
Learning Streams - deliberate growth in your skills, craft and perspective (courses, research projects, apprenticeships, experimentation).
Relational Streams - the people who keep you grounded, supported and inspired (friends, partners, family, collaborators, mentors).
Impact Streams - ways you contribute beyond yourself (mentorship, activism, volunteering, philanthropy).
Health Streams - practices that keep you physically, mentally and emotionally fit for the long game (movement, rest, recovery, play).
Some will be monetised. Others never will be. All of them matter.
Designing Your Acropolis
Like the earlier stages of this model, Value Streams has a process. Think of it as four steps to building your resilient undefinable life design.
Step 1: Choose a Focus
Decide what you’re optimising for in the next chapter of life.
Which pillar most needs attention? Which one, if strengthened, would ripple out to the others?
Income - secure stability, expand revenue or fund a vision.
Learning – deepen your craft, develop new skills or broaden perspective.
Relational – invest in friendships, family, collaborators or mentors.
Impact – contribute, serve or leave the world better.
Health – protect or reclaim your fitness, rest and resilience.
Step 2: Identify Constraints
Your canvas isn’t blank. Every pillar is shaped by responsibilities and realities.
Ask:
Which commitments are non-negotiable (mortgage, parenting, health)?
Which are flexible and could be reshaped through conversation?
Who else needs to be part of designing this with me (partner, family, colleagues)?
Constraints aren’t always barriers. They can also be anchors that keep you grounded or creative prompts that lead you to better solutions.
Step 3: Map Your Streams
List every stream that sustains you financially, emotionally, physically, socially and intellectually. Include both paid and unpaid.
Which are directly linked to your Golden Thread?
Which sustain you indirectly so you can keep creating?
Which pillars are strong? Which are neglected? Where are you over-reliant?
This mapping gives you a real-time picture of your acropolis and helps you identify the pillars holding you up and the cracks that might need repairing.
Step 4: Plan Your Season
Design your next 3-6 months with your chosen pillar as the focus, while maintaining the others at a sustainable level.
Use the seasons as your guide:
Spring - embrace its new beginnings to make change or take bold action.
Summer - welcome its warmer days to grow relationships, momentum and visibility.
Autumn - harvest its crops to reap results and consolidate the gains you’ve made.
Winter - use its long nights for alone time to rest, reflect and reimagine.
Each season offers a rhythm. Align your actions with the one you’re in.
Final Thought
Your Value Streams are the foundation of your undefinable life design.
They’re what keep you upright when everything else is shifting. They’re what make it possible to keep creating from your Golden Thread long after the excitement of new ideas fades.
Because when you multiply your streams, you don’t just protect your contribution, you give it the best chance to last.
What Comes Next?
This concludes the five stages of the undefinable life design model. See this as the strategy of finding your direction complete.
Over the coming weeks we’ll move into sustaining your acropolis through both Energy and Income. These fuels will enable you to keep showing up week after week even when times get hard.
If you need a hand bringing your life design to reality, explore how my workshops or 1:1 coaching can help you get there.