Have you ever been to an art museum or exhibition?

I'm blessed to live quite close to some of the best museums in the world. At least a couple of times a year, my wife and I will visit our favorite museums to see new exhibits and cherished pieces of art.

There is a certain joy in great art, I've found, and I almost always walk through the museums with a silly grin plastered on my face as I try to take it all in. While I am by no means an art historian, one thing I've come to learn is that artwork demands various levels of inspection. You must look at it from many angles, in various lights, in different frames of mind.

There's something to be gained from examining a noted masterpiece up close, so you can see the brush-strokes or the smooth finger-dimples set in the clay. But you mustn't stand too close for too long or you lose sight of the whole piece, the "big picture."

To prevent this, you must step back and take in the entire thing.

Some times you may need to take a few steps back. And maybe even a few to one side. Or maybe you need to walk around it.

You must experiment. Move. Test your perceptions -- physical and philosophical -- until you come to an understanding of what it is that you are seeing.

Life, like art, is much the same way.

Sometimes what we need is not to examine what we do more carefully, more exactly, but rather the opposite. --Let us step back. See how the pieces fit. How it all mixes together.

We may find that we are much closer to creating our goals than we think.

And we just may learn that a step back is often a step forward.

Jim Allen is a professional life & business coach. For more ideas, subscribe to his free bi-weekly ezine, THE BIG IDEA, by sending a blank email to: SubscribeGA@CoachJim.com