Art Inspired Advice for Choosing your Development Plan

Hi! My name is Amber, and I’ve got some art inspired advice about choosing what kind of course or development program to follow.

So if you’re like me, there’s moments in your career and in the year when you look where am I, and where do I want to get to 

I want to claw back time.

I want to free up my evenings and weekends.

I want to do really good work.

I want to have more impact.

I want a promotion.

So what are the skills and areas I need to develop and grow in so that I can achieve those goals?

I recently wrote a blog post about looking out – what are you doing it for is a really key part in choosing a course.

And today’s post is about the inspiration I got from art about how do you choose the right course for you.

I love doing jigsaw puzzles. I find it very therapeutic, it’s a mindful exercise. I just love it. It’s a really nice thing to do. The art inspiration is I’ve recently been doing pieces of artwork like this Kandinsky as a jigsaw puzzle.

What I love about doing this particular jigsaw puzzle, this Kandinsky, is that you have these clear solid, there’s some orange here, there’s yellow there, there’s red, there’s green, there’s clear distinct parts of the puzzle, as well as all of those light blue-grey that you’ve got around there.

So when you’re doing the puzzle, it’s pleasurable, you’re making progress all the time, there’s consistent progress. You can chunk it out.

And that’s what some of our courses that we want to do are like that too.  Simple, straightforward, easy to implement, easy to understand and process. So maybe the kind of course that you’re looking for right now is one that feels good, you can get it through – it’s not going to change the world, but it’s going to give you key, specific benefits.

So the second part that art inspired is Edvard Munch.  I also ordered his “Scream” as a jigsaw puzzle.

As a jigsaw puzzle, separate from the piece of art, this is doing my head in. This is a piece of a jigsaw puzzle where it’s complex to do.  I spent a lot of time in the beginning just looking at the different pieces, trying to sort- ok, there’s some green, but where does it drift into other colours?

Segregating and finding out what are all the different elements of this puzzle?  And then as I’ve gone through it, I’ve now actually done this part, and I’ve done the face.  It’s bending my mind and I’m so excited and I actually want to put down my work and go finish doing the puzzle.

It’s complex, it’s intriguing, I’m having to think in a completely different way when I do this puzzle.  I find its mind-expanding doing this puzzle.

And I think that’s what some programs and courses are like as well. They’re mind-expanding. You spend a lot of time, in the beginning, going “I don’t know what’s going on!”. You’re not quite sure, I know how to process it, and eventually, as you start to get into it, it becomes a little bit addictive and you love it and you want to keep going.

So that’s, I think, there are 2 types of courses you can do. You have your Kandinsky courses – simple, straightforward, feel good about yourself, it’s not very taxing, it’s useful and it can bring you pleasure.

There are also some development things you can do that are going to bend your mind, get you addicted, and enrich your life  in such a big way.  It’s going to be a challenge, but you’re gonna love it.

So that’s my advice. Are you choosing the Kandinsky, or are you choosing the Edvard Munch in your program and your development?  Let me know your thoughts on puzzles, on programs and courses using art to inspire decision making, any thoughts that you have, I’d love to hear from you.