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I often hear from clients that their number-one frustration is that they feel as though they're not making an impact-or at least that impact isn't palpable. They feel as though they're in the soup in their jobs and lives and that there's no distinct footprint they're leaving behind. They are in the Etch A Sketch place of making daily transitory impressions, but nothing long lasting-there's no momentum of purpose.

And they're hungry for it.

Next comes the oil painting stage. What's scarier (and more exciting) than standing in front of a big white canvas with a tube of oil paint and a brush? You can't shake a canvas and make the picture disappear. It's there in three-dimensional color-beauty, imperfection, ugliness, permanence. There's boldness in putting oil on canvas. There is a place of taking a stand.

It's visible. It claims space. No matter what is depicted on the canvas, painting is bold.

What's the place in your life that has been Etch A Sketch too long? Where are you ready to switch to oils?

Here are some examples I've seen:

A bright, energetic, hard-working IT middle manager feeling as though there were no options for her at her large company after eight years of slow progress. Frustrated and ready to quit.

A successful, highly compensated coder in the financial world who couldn't care less about the field after six years. Bored and ready to quit.

Both had carefully preserved the land of maybe. They were not committed to their current jobs, although they continued to do good work. But they were not committed to finding the better path, either. They were going to work every morning and writing in the Etch A Sketch of life. Shaking it blank and leaving to go home every night.

What does oil painting look like to them?

The bright, energetic IT middle manager decided to quit dabbling in leadership and really claim it. She started carrying herself differently in meetings-speaking up more and taking risks about what she said. She became aware of her body language-she took up space instead of being invisible in the hallways and in groups. She started treating the people at the level above her as peers, rather than being deferential and quiet. She set up ongoing dialogues with the CIO and developed a relationship with him. She voiced a vision about where the IT department could go and was clear about how she wanted to play a leadership role in that vision.

She took a stand. She voiced what she wanted and stood ready to step into it. She was courageous. The result: She became seen and heard by her company and they created a new position for her. She got more money, more prestige, more opportunities. She was even asked to sit on the board of directors of a company.

Going green

There's nothing better than a walk or cycle along an idyllic lake. A large Lingnan-style garden expo is being held during Spring Festival around Gualu Lake in Zengcheng, a city about an hour's drive from downtown Guangzhou. The expo features flowers and lanterns, as well as traditional landscaping.

Getting there: Take the Guangzhou-Zengcheng shuttle bus at Tianhe Coach Station (every 20 minutes) to Zengcheng. After the one-hour bus trip, take a taxi to the lake, which is close to the Zengcheng government's office building.

Flower power

Visiting flower fairs has a time-honored place in Cantonese-speaking areas during Spring Festival. This year, Liwan district has moved its regular street fair next to its lakes and canals. From Feb 7 to March 13, visitors can walk along the banks to see and buy flowers and other gifts. There will also be a parade by a flotilla of flower boats three times a day，Guangdong Hotel is situated in Tsim Sha Tsui Central Business District of hotels in kowloon Peninsula and major urban area of Hong Kong. We have detailed transportation information free for guests to download.

Where: Lychee Bay and Liwan Lake Park.

Drinking it in

On the southern bank of the Pearl River, opposite Zhujiang New Town, is the Zhujiang InBev International Beer Museum. Its glitzy appearance makes it look like a beer barrel guarded by two colorful glass buildings. There is a European-style pub that provides free beer down the stairs on the first floor. Grab yourself a bottle.

Where: 118 Modiesha, Xingang Road East, Haizhu district.

Art and fashion

Guangzhou Opera House is hosting an exhibition on the long-standing links between art and fashion brand Chanel. The event is based around five themes: Breathe, Move, Love, Dream and Invent. Among the pieces on display are about 30 previously unseen drawings by Pablo Picasso, from a private collection.

Where: Guangzhou Opera House, Zhujiang New Town, Tianhe district.

Village people

Xiaozhou Village was built at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and stands on the city's southern outskirts. It is a place characterized by classic Cantonese community landscapes and modern art, and has borne witness to all the city has been through. Landscapes include canals, well-kept buildings, bridges and country roads. Cafes and shops provide a respite the lancet.

End of cool autumn night, the same drunk the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, solitary month whitened melancholy geometry? Month on the willow, dripping story several times, the solitude of the night, the fall in the dream of the deep sea, flying in the sky the Acacia Lei Yu, and infect the initial vision, a gone a miss, the red color lopsided become years prints, unfathomable, wind drift, also dying months, a fine carved gorgeous masks Elegy Red, stranded in reincarnation autumn, drunk with the withered breakdown slightly cold breeze renewed, along autumn footsteps back once the convention.

The Yunyan vast, touched the edge of the fingertip, autumn so Qiaoranerzhi, look back on yesterday, the wind and rain bumpy how many realize the years of quiet beauty in the mist, blue sea and sky, the sky in the south, the air seemed to have solidified, years missing the aesthetic finish, and wandering around in a world of love, write down the aesthetic text moved poly life everything is scattered, years like an eternal flow ceaselessly washed away a lot of sadness flooded how much traces, and so only the fragrance coming year portrayed removed between the quicksand died palm empty drop the helpless, thousands of deciduous spread swaying in the wind, autumn, windy and skinny.

The the years railing sitting in plain day, equanimity, thousands of tempting unable to retain faded color, pure white Love memorable moments of beauty, horse just moments, fleeting ups and downs, but also look at the month at the terraced rice paddies into round years covering the essence