Note:  Published once a month, “A Thought Among Many…” focuses on random thoughts and how they relate to my art, to my art business, and to my growth as an artist and a businesswoman.

My brother revived an old holiday tradition this Christmas. Many moons ago, I bought a 1,000 piece puzzle of Van Goh’s Iris painting. After my decadent Thanksgiving meal, and before the desert and coffee, I brought out the puzzle and let my family at it. The eight of us divided up the task of setting aside borders, grouping pieces by colors, etc.

After the easy border was completed, we were left with only purples, blues, and yellows. It began to get competitive, as one of us looked at these single, small pieces and instantly knew where they belonged. Quickly, big chunks of the puzzle began to take shape. After everyone left, the puzzle was continued in spells and finally completed. For Christmas that year, another family member bought an even more challenging puzzle and brought it out for us to complete.

Puzzles began to appear at different holidays, each time being more complex and challenging. And so I find myself, again, this weekend after Christmas, spending 8 hours on a 3,000 piece puzzle. And yet as I managed to pull myself away, to go out for a cup of coffee and breathe fresh air, I began to see the correlations between this puzzle and the current business planning stage that I’m going through.

As I tackle one area of the puzzle at a time, I can get big chunks of it done. As I tackle one area of my business, give it my full attention for a complete day (or two), I see big improvements and headway. And just as I can get easily burried with just one area of the puzzle, it helps to simply straighten my back, take a look at another area (or another pile) and I can quickly begin to put pieces in place that half an hour before had stumped me completely. It’s the same with planning and business: one problem can stomp me from moving forward, and get if I walk away from it and do something else, I somehow manage to come back with a clear mind and a different persective, and wham, I get an idea and a possible resolution.

Even though I’ve got about ten groups of puzzle pieces going (sky, chapel, ground, lights, columns, obelisk), I can’t make heads or tails of any of it unless I have the complete picture infront of me. Attempting to put the pieces together without looking at the overall map is just a waste of time, and frustrating. As clueless as I was when I first jumped into this art business, I have (stubbornly) realized that having a map, a plan, an idea, a goal (or several) ends up being way more productive. The map may change (there is a plus for being flexible) but having an idea in place, a final destination, allows for better use of time and LESS frustrating moments.

So, I’ve got a bet that I’ll complete this puzzle in 96 hours (to be used up by February). This is a certain motivator to keeping me focused and on task. It is the same with my business plans. Knowing that I have to hit certain targets, certain deadlines, is quickly becoming a determining factor. Having someone to be accountable to for those deadlines (my brother for the puzzle!) is something that I’ve also instilled for my business goals. Monthly calls with a self-employed cohort keeps me on the ball.

A 48×32″ photo of St. Peter’s Cathedral is being created on my kitchen table. I’m focused on keeping the same energy and determination that I have on completing that puzzle as I do on completing my goals for 2010.

Pia