The Signature

​A new professional knew that writing their signature will be an important part of their business life.

Contracts, plans, invoices, they would all need their special stamp of approval designated by their name written in the special penmanship that only they could authorize.

So they got to work.

An early evening started with a fresh stack of paper and a pot of coffee; interestingly enough at their first go, they wrote out the most gorgeous signature they had ever done, but assuring it was just a fluke, they continued with the repetitions.

It certainly seemed like a fluke, as every signature from the second onwards got worse and worse, until it devolved into illegible chicken scratch.

They were trying to chase that amazing first one done in one fell swoop, and to do that, they wound up tracing the outline, taking as much time as possible to ingrain the motion.

At their first contract signing it was their big moment to shine, but the result was only a slow scraggle of a name barely legible.

A business partner asked about it.

“Is everything alright?”

“I got to be honest with you, I thought you were going to practice your signature, but it seems like you didn’t spend any time on it at all.”

“Well, you should know that I spent the better part of the night practicing something I though would only take me a half hour to get.”

“Why are you going so slow?”

“The first one I did was the best one, but I’ve been trying to replicate it by going line for line.”

“Don’t do that, a signature should be done in one go; one fell swoop.”

“Have the courage to do it right from the beginning.”