How Visual Artist Sieglinde Van Damme Helps Women Reinvent Themselves

“Just as established products and brands need updating to stay alive and vibrant, you periodically need to refresh or reinvent yourself,” says French author Mireille Guiliano. So, from time to time, we need a change in our lives to shake things up and give our work or career a boost.

Award-winning visual artist Sieglinde Van Damme reinvented herself by abandoning her economic background to become one of the finest visual artists in the world. She believes that clarity is key in reinventing yourself.

1. Who’s Sieglinde Van Damme?

Sieglinde Van Damme holds a Master’s degree in economics and fine arts. She loves visual arts and has won many awards in individual and group exhibitions across the U.S., Europe, Russia, and Japan. Her art has been featured in private and corporate collections, including Sotheby’s International Realty in Monaco, France.

She is currently focused on large-scale abstract photography and mixed media painting, and has worked with media companies to create new realities based on the premise to “re-imagine what else is possible.” She has written the bestseller “Jumpstart Your New Reality” where she describes her signature seven-step roadmap to thinking outside the box, so anyone can turn around from their stagnation. Her creative work has been published in catalogs and media publications both in the U.S. and in Europe.

She has taught at the San Jose State University and advises startups and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

2. How to reinvent yourself

If you want to transform yourself, you must be open to change. Find the habit associated with what you want to change and replace it with a better one. Set realistic goals, be ready to take risks, and surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth.

Sieglinde didn’t know she was a good visual artist until a client praised her ingenuity for always thinking outside the box while “keeping one foot in reality” which made it simple for her to execute whatever grand idea she came up with.

3. How to use the left and right sides of your brain to gain clarity

 If you favor one side of the brain, as society often wants us to do, then it can create a limitation and mental imbalance, usually characterized by stress, migraines, brain fogginess, memory lapse, anxiety, and low capacity for thinking and functioning.

Therefore, you need brain synchronization to gain better clarity. To do this, you should always meditate, exercise, and switch up your routine.

4. How to follow your passion

Do you find yourself constantly lacking motivation? Do you dread going to your job, feeling like what you are doing is dull and repetitive? Then you need to start something new to live a more fulfilling life. Find something you already love doing or do something you spend time reading about. Brainstorm, research, or ask around for possibilities. Make sure to give it a try before you quit your job.

5. How to think outside the box

Thinking outside the box means thinking in an innovative or unconventional manner, with a fresh perspective. It entails moving away from the status quo and doing something in a different way, finding a lasting solution to your problem, or a way to improve your life. If you do not, you will keep doing things the same way, achieving the same results over and over again. Is that what you want?

Sieglinde has made thinking outside the box a routine. “That is how I live my life. That is how I create my art,” she admits. When she learns a new technique, she learns its boundaries and gets to know all the details, reaching a point where she can execute it perfectly. When she knows it is okay, she thinks about what else can she do with it or how she can “push the box a little bit.”

So, to think outside the box and get things done differently with better results, Sieglinde recommends these five steps:

1. Ask yourself what you would’ve done differently: You need to ask yourself, “what would I have done differently if I were to start all over again?” Imagining a clean slate will help you change the way you look at things and think outside the box.

2. Ask why: Ask why you have always done to resist change, especially when we are okay with how things are going, so this can reveal flaws and help you think creatively.

3. Take a class: Learning a new skill expands your skill set, but also teaches you how to look at things in a new way and make better sense of your life and the world. This will allow you to look at problems and discover new approaches to solving them.

4. Use a mind map: A mind map is a diagram that represents words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central item. This unlocks your creative thinking.

5. Draw a picture: If you do not know how to draw, do not worry. Just take the tools you have available, even crayons, and sketch something, even random stuff. Drawing is
more of a right-brain thing and breaks your left brain’s hold on your reasoning, helping you find a solution.

6. How can Sieglinde Van Damme help?

Sieglinde has developed what she calls a “breakthrough-to-clarity” exercise that contains seven steps. The exercise helps you design a mission statement for your life, or for an objective such as finding a new job, switching careers, starting or growing a new business, choosing a life partner, or moving to a different city or country. She describes the exercise as a warm-up for her signature seven-step strategy which takes all of this to the next level and brings them into reality.

If you are stuck looking for more clarity, Sieglinde can give it to you as she can bring life, the arts, and her energy to your own house, so you don’t have to go any further. She can also use left brain/right brain brainstorming techniques to help you get clarity and support you in your reinvention, so you can both be “daredevils together.” This reinvention can open up endless opportunities for you, allowing you to continue exploring new parts of yourself.

If staying in your current job makes you unhappy and stops you from realizing your full potential in life, there are things that she can help you with. With her help, you can reinvent yourself, and there is no better time to change than now.