Put the Dot on the Paper
Aug 25, 2026
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We’ve talked about Inner Excellence (affiliate link) and Jim Murphy’s idea of heart first, performance second. We met Vashti in The Dot (affiliate link) by Peter H. Reynolds as she went from “I can’t draw” to filling a wall with art. We’ve talked about the story being the problem, not the blank page.
It was the thought, “I can’t draw” that kept Vashti stuck. Noticing the thought and naming the story are important. Understanding the Clarity Loop and sprinkling in some compassion helps us do that.
Eventually, we have to take different action if we want different results. We have to put the dot on the paper. This is where congruence helps build the life and the identity we want. “Heart first, performance second” doesn’t mean we stay in our heads. Eventually, congruence means taking action. It releases us from the constraints of action somehow defining our worth. Still, it’s our job to start. To begin. Talent, discipline, and attitude can help the action be bigger, but action is the fuel.
As you start, action will teach you. Vashti makes a dot. That gave her something to look at, something to respond to, something she could improve. Before the dot, she had a blank page and a painful story. After the dot, she has something to work with.
Action creates…clarity. (Hello Clarity Loop…which, when you use it, is an action) We need to try on the shoes to figure out if they are comfortable. We need to write the first paragraph to figure out what we are trying to say. We need the first step of our morning routine to figure out the other ones. We need the first honest conversation to begin to heal.
Until we take action, all we have is the story in our head.
In We All Have a Thing, I write about the ordinary tasks, projects, and changes that get hard when we think about them too long. Something simple turns into a monster in our mind. We wait for the perfect plan. Taking action, even imperfectly, will send different information to our nervous system and before long, we did the thing.
It may have been uncomfortable, but we survived.
One action, even a small one, gives us data. Maybe the thought is, “I can’t write this.” Put one sentence on the page and let it teach you. Maybe the thought is, “I’ll never get healthy.” Drink the water and take the walk and let them teach you. Maybe the thought is, “So much clutter, I’ll never get through all this.” Clear one surface and let it teach you. Maybe the thought is, “I don’t know how to start.” Open the document, make the call, ask the question, find the phone number, set the timer and let the action teach you.
You are leading yourself towards a life where your inner life and your outer life tell the same story. If you say you want to become a woman who writes, one sentence is writing. If you say you want to become a woman who takes care of her body, drinking water and walking does that. If you want to become a woman who tells herself the truth, then writing a truthful thought in your journal does that.
This is congruence; it’s how you move towards inner excellence and your True Self.
So…let’s practice.
Choose one place where you might be stuck in your head. Ask yourself, what the dot could be. Maybe there will be more than one. Do one. Start. Give yourself something to work with.
Let’s give it a try. And while we’re trying, bring along a helpful thought…
Heart first, performance second.
Put the dot on the paper, then let it teach you.
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