What Will You Paint on Your Canvas?

Inspiration often comes from strange places and at odd times. Does that happen to you, too?

Recently, I was cleaning out some garage cabinets and I came upon the remnants of my old oil painting set that my parents gave me for Christmas during my junior high days. The memories of the paintings I created and the satisfying times spent working on a new piece of art came flooding back to me. Then I thumbed through the yellowed booklet that came with the art set. This little section of the guide (the author is lost to history) hit me right away, because the ideas still apply today: 

"...Everyone has in them the ability to create, to give personal expression in some graphic form. There are many different kinds of art, and different people have different abilities. But everyone has some area in which they possess talent. You owe it to yourself to find your own metier (the type of work that you have a natural ability to do well), that area or method of artistry in which you will be most successful."

How about the excitement of starting with a blank canvas!

Let's use paints and a blank canvas as a metaphor here. Those same ideas from that weathered art guidebook have application in much we do today. In business as in life, we often get the opportunity to "paint on a blank canvas", as the saying goes. How exciting is that? A blank canvas represents a fresh start, a new beginning. It enables us to consider all possibilities, before the second-guessers and naysayers get to it. A blank canvas asks us "why not?", instead of "why?" Our success lies in what we paint and how we paint it, and those factors will determine our success in that particular endeavor. 

Whether we are in sales, service, management, or entrepreneurship - or maybe just finding peace in a hobby or pastime - we should apply our full talent and efforts to making that canvas our own and being successful with the final result, however that success is measured. 

Painting with a plan: creating a masterpiece that brings results

What do we do with our blank canvas opportunities? How do we start? Do we first sketch something out in pencil, using it as a guide to follow during the painting process? Or do we just dive in, splash some paint, and hope for the best? While splotches of paint can look cool and creative, they are usually placed there for a reason, and what you're trying to paint may need some order to it. 

Maybe you'll want to bring in others to help you paint for a sense of team or community involvement. If so, make sure everyone wielding a brush knows what the final work should look like. Paint with a plan. 

For salespeople, a blank canvas is literally each new lead that you get. How will you and your prospect "paint" the ultimate picture together for a successful venture? What will success look like? For leaders and managers, it's very similar; how can you take an idea, a plan, or a goal, and "paint it" with your own brushstrokes, adding the resources of others, so that it results in a masterpiece that inspires and moves everyone to action?

For entrepreneurs, I recommend painting in many different colors and with more unique brush strokes than your competitors. "Twist the Familiar" with your color palette so as to separate your brand and messaging from all the other noise out in the marketplace you're trying to compete in. Your "painting" should be unique, just like what you are offering in terms of products or services. 

What if we "goof up" on our canvas?

Anyone who has ever painted has made an "oops" with their brush. Too much shadow, not enough depth, the line is too blurry, etc. And when we goof up in our plans and make what the late TV icon/painter Bob Ross called "happy little mistakes", we can usually fix them and move forward, trying new colors or changing up the composition on our canvas. Just like life. The good news is that we often get do-overs with a little extra work invested. Adapt. Overcome. Improvise.

And keep this in mind: different strokes for different folks. Different people will look at what you've "painted" on your canvas in different ways, with different perspectives. As with sales or leadership, you may need some explanation of your work to make it clear on what you are trying to communicate and accomplish. 

So, grab your brushes and paints and get started. What will you bring to life on your next blank canvas?