The (Hannah Stickney) Art of decision making.

Well done me, second blog.

I mentioned in my first post that I had great difficulty in making decisions, especially important ones like what profession to do and which fancy dress outfit to choose. First blog in and a realised this may present a slight problem for me in terms of what to actually blog about. I have so many ideas my head is exploding, but settling on one and deciding where to go next has been very tricky. So here we are. In this blog I shall discuss the art of decision making and how I am going to help myself by learning a few techniques.

– Take your time  –

An old friend of mine, when I briefly discussed the quandary of having too many ideas, told me to take my time and not to rush. My mind keeps wondering back to this. I look at others who have settled on a path, a style, a brand. I am inspired by them but a part of me wishes I was there now. I also am aware of the different situations we are all in and different times in our lives. I am 34 years old. I have more or less decided to take a break from a job that I have been doing a reasonably long time and that I am comfortable and, in many ways, confident doing. I have a VERY young family, we are relaxing into life as a foursome (the golden 6 month settle-down and in) but things are still new and changeable. So as I begin something new, with major changes at home as well,  taking time is what I shall do. I will take my time and deal with one idea at a time. My ideas will only fade if I want them to. More likely they will develop, adapt and expand. I am sure I will know when and if I should move to my next venture.

– Lists-

Next step, for me, to ensure said ideas will not fade before I want them to: Make a list; Make it pretty (I said this was for me, it’s not for everyone); Hang it on the wall; refer to it, add to it, amend it; this list is a slow burner, T A K E   M Y   T I M E.

– The infamous end goal –

This just ain’t happening for me. I don’t know where I’m heading, obviously I have a vague idea: painting, drawing, illustration, making, becoming rich beyond my wildest dreams- that sort of thing but short of that I want to keep my options open. I guess my end goal is to be able to live comfortably and maximise the amount of time I can spend with friends and family.

– Make life easy for myself: remove obstacles –

For me, there is one thing holding me back (aside from time and lack of it) and that is registering as self-employed. To me, this is a massive unknown thing. It seems a lot of work, a lot of insecurity, no pension, no holiday pay, having to be organised (yikes) and also I don’t know whether I could still dabble in some supply and mix and match. The thought of researching this juuuust does not interest me at all, or it does but I would rather just be told ‘this is what you should do and this is how to do it.’  I believe there are some professionals whose job it maaay be to do this. The thought of paying for this sucks too, although it is currently my preferred option. Finally, while I’m on the subject, who knows when I might possibly get round to finding out about it, let alone actually doing it, when there are SO many other things I would rather be doing! So yes. This is my big barrier and if I just get on with it I think I will be in a position to move forward.

–  Just do it  –

I toyed with the idea of calling this blog The (Hannah Stickney) Art of wasting time. Writing the blog in itself has meant putting off actually doing the thing I need to do. Doing the artwork, I loved…but I did it THREE times!!! Sometimes I think I just need to DO IT. In many cases it really doesn’t matter if it’s perfect. Easier said than done, but it’s something I am going to try and DO more.

–  To post or not to post  –

As I consider whether to post this or not, (having shown it to the ol’ husband and him comment, ‘it’s very personal, if that’s what you want to go for, it’s great’) I think to myself IS this what I want to go for? Damn, another bloody decision! It seems to be where it’s naturally going. So, let’s role with it, Decision made.