Choo-choo train. Img via Flickr

Have you ever been told to pick something and stick to it? A look, a hobby, a career? Pursue it till the end – even if it’s a dead end? Linear mentality is as common as it is stale, and will get you nowhere except the Mundane Lane and the Frustration Station.

We are taught to view life and career as a linear progression: start out at point A, locomote towards point B – like a choo-choo train. The advantage of a choo-choo is that once set on track, it’s virtually unstoppable and will get you to point B eventually, wherever that might be. Its limitation is that it can only go where there’s rail, cannot make any detours or U-turns, and the minute it’s out of steam it stops dead in the tracks and becomes absolutely useless.

How many people do you know who’ve choo-choo’ed their way into a dead-end job? Linear approach is dangerous as it allows for minimal flexibility – unless you consider switching to another ‘track’ a viable travel option. I’m often asked why it is that I have my fingers in many professional pies all at once. Is it out of boredom, for lack of focus or just some form of ADD? If you asked me this a couple years ago, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer. I did things intuitively, knowing that the choices to which I was most drawn would be where I’d succeed most. In reality, I was simply practicing the mosaic approach.


Mosaic by Stephen Poff

What is the mosaic approach?

A facet of Candyfuturism, mosaic approach encourages multidimensional development and acquisition of a diversified set of skills for future benefit. It gets its name from mosaic, an art made of small bits of colored glass arranged to comprise a bigger picture. The more pieces and color variety, the richer the mosaic. Mosaic approach is similar insofar as it’s a collection of feats & experiences that integrate with each other for a very specific purpose, paint a specific image. As I go along exploring fashion, beauty, blogging and many things in between, I seek to create a bulletproof resume of kaleidoscopic intensity. Ultimately, the mosaic method is more fail-proof than linear as it allows more room for error. If a piece didn’t come out the way you wanted, simply move on to the next one – the quality of your final image will not be affected.

Versatility is everything. Versatility mixed with a passion is your ticket to success. Our ability to be passionate about things tends to decrease as we age – so embark on everything you feel a connection with, now. Love & cherish your mosaic, pour your heart and soul into each piece. Don’t worry about spreading yourself too thin – you can handle more than you think. By embarking on several complementary career paths you become more self-sufficient, expand your set of skills and improve your chances of becoming successful. The mosaic approach is very economical; it doesn’t let any of your experience go to waste. Nothing ever gets discounted or lost, only inlayed into the mosaic.

The world changes, and so should we. To achieve the goal of creating our very own Candyfuture, we must stay flexible and be prepared to grasp the opportunities coming our way. Sometimes that involves laying down the tracks, but never should it involved hopping aboard a one-way choo choo.

Deerlings: do you practice a mosaic approach?