Nothing Begins Until You Do

Until one is committed there is hesitancy,
  the chance to draw back,
  always ineffectiveness.
  Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation)
  there is one elementary truth
  the ignorance of which
  kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
  that the moment one definitely commits oneself,
  then Providence moves too.
  All sorts of things occur to help one
  that would never otherwise have occurred.
  A whole stream of events issues from the decision
  raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents
  and meetings and material assistance
  which no man would have dreamed would have come his way.
  Whatever you can do or dream you can do,
  begin it.
  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
  Begin it now."

  -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832
      German poet, dramatist, novelist, and philosopher

I have always liked this quote, which serves as a nudge for me to get things underway. Don't you wonder how many great plans and ideas remain dormant within us just waiting to be acted upon? Most of us would probably settle on just getting the ordinary things of life done.

Handwriting gives many clues about what might hold a writer up from getting started on goals, projects and even small matters of everyday life.

We can find the trait of procrastination in a very obvious formation: the t bar. That is usually what an analyst checks first to see if the trait shows up in a sample. The bar gives the clue because when it fails to connect (coming from the left) with the ascending stem of the letter it means that action has not met aspiration. It is floating in the world of abstract thinking with no grounding to the baseline. Once a t bar goes through the stem it is connected to the a stroke that descends to the line of reality, the baseline. To be useful the bar must connect with the stem and come out on the right side.

Procrastination can be evaluated without the obvious t bar indicator showing at all. Many combinations of different traits appearing together can hint of it. For example, perfectionists (the writing looks perfect) often wait until the right time, or ample time or until all hindrances are cleared away before they get started. They feel like they have to tidy things up before they get to important goals. Otherwise, they feel uneasy. That is not to say that all perfectionists procrastinate. Just not so. But, many do.

It is an interesting question to discuss with clients who have 'perfect' handwriting. I often ask them about it after I do their analysis.

Recently, I asked one woman if she had an all-or-nothing style of neatness. She said it was true for her. When she was neat, everything was in perfect order. When things got out of hand, her environment was in chaos. She continually went through the cycle of extremes. Each time she restored order she felt quite proud of herself. "Maybe I do that to have a reason to pat myself on the back."

Maybe so.