We won't continue. It's too self-defeating. No doubt you can recognize one or two of the symptoms. Maybe they have a special significance for you.

You may think that having a low self-image is a self-deprecating but rather harmless personality problem. In actual fact, it is not as innocuous as it would seem. Under-estimating yourself is one of the worst punishments that you can inflict upon yourself.

Low self-esteem is the mother of many personality-based problems - with a nasty brood of unpleasant offspring - and some of them are downright mean! The following are just a few of the personality problems that can be traced right back to the root cause of low-self-esteem. They are:-

Self-consciousness
Timidity
Over-sensitivity
Feelings of rejection
Inability to make decisions
Perfectionism - the self-defeating drive to be perfect
Attention seeking
Withdrawal into yourself
Stinginess
Aggression

The bottom line is that low self-esteem dramatically reduces your chances of success. With a low self-image you are afraid to extend yourself. And as a result, no matter how badly you may want something, your lack of self-esteem will work against you to undermine all your efforts.

By placing a low value on yourself you are always shooting yourself in the foot. Lack of confidence means that you do not believe in yourself or trust your abilities. And if you do not believe in yourself, who will?

It's all very well, you may feel, but this is my character. It's a part of my belief system. If I suffer from a lack of self-confidence what can I possibly do about it? Let me put another question to you.

If you had evidence - written evidence to prove that you were better than you ever imagined - and I mean real proof in writing - would it convince you? Wouldn't it change the way you thought about yourself?

How would you feel if you found new and actual hard evidence to prove that you possessed properties that you could be proud of? Would this change your self-perception, your opinion of yourself?

Of course it would! And this is exactly where handwriting analysis can help. In fact, this is one of the most important benefits of handwriting analysis. It is not an ordinary personality test!

There are indications in your handwriting that can provide you with the written proof of hidden strengths that exist in your personality - strengths that until now have probably just been lying there dormant and unnoticed.

Yes! Real and concrete evidence that will boost your self-image to greater heights is hidden in your very own handwriting! This information is built into the various structures of your handwriting. In fact, hiding within these structures are strengths that you may not even be aware of.

Identify these personality strengths and it will lead to greater confidence! Discover your strengths and you will have opened the door to a whole new world of achievement.

It's easy to see why it is so important to have a healthy self-image. Because confidence goes hand in hand with achievement. A healthy self-image is vital for success in any field. If you have a healthy self-image it means that you believe in yourself; and this is essential if you want to achieve your goals.

Good self-esteem allows you to access the source of your personal power - and the ability to use that personal power is the magic key to success. In any profession or occupation, confidence has direct bearing on achievement. Motivational books and tapes flood the market - all with the same message; feel confident and you will succeed. Believe in yourself and you will find the road to money and success.

It's important in sport too. To be successful, an athlete has to believe that he can go out there and excel on the track. Many great sport stars like tennis players or boxers constantly psyche themselves up and even engage professional gurus to motivate them. "You can do it!" has become a powerful, almost magical mantra.

Our self-perception plays an important role in our relationships too - because each and every relationship is profoundly concerned with how we value ourselves. To be loved we have to feel worthy of love. But behave like a reject and rejection will surely follow.

Unfortunately there is also another side to the coin, where too much self-esteem manifests itself as over-confidence. In fact, over-confidence has a nasty way of spoiling your aim so that you tend to overshoot your target. Over confidence has a negative effect in that it can produce the opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

Sometimes, when self-esteem is very low we start to play an elaborate little game known as over-compensation. Our minds begin to play tricks on us simply to protect our egos. And so, even though we may be suffering from a low self-image, we pretend to be supremely confident. It hides the dreadful insecurity that we feel inside with a type of charade or act of bravado. There are some who even become arrogant and hostile simply to disguise that empty feeling of insufficiency.

Small wonder, then, that we find it so difficult to understand ourselves and others! Fortunately, handwriting analysis provides us with a quick and reliable way to evaluate many of these confusing areas of personality.

An analysis of handwriting can give you an unbiased assessment of your abilities and shortcomings. It can give you an assessment of your feeling of self-worth and the degree to which you believe in yourself.

With almost no effort on your part you can arrive at an amazingly accurate estimate of your feeling of self-worth. And of course there are no invasive tests or lengthy questionnaires. A single page of handwriting will do the trick - and you will learn about many aspects of your personality with amazing detail.

Handwriting analysis is a valuable tool. It is over and above a simple personality test. Not only can it help you to pin-point certain personality-based problems, but it can also assist you to identify positive personality traits that need to be more fully utilised. It will give you access to your strengths.

With this sound basis of self-knowledge you will develop a new self-confidence. You will acquire a new feeling of self-worth. This is the most valuable gift that you can give yourself. It is the doorway to a successful future. Open it!

Sandra Fisher is a handwriting analyst with an award winning website called Graphic Insight. She publishes a regular newsletter and has written many articles about handwriting and what it reveals about personality. You will find a wealth of fascinating information at her website. http://compusysnt.compusys.iafrica.com/sandline/
For a free newsletter about handwriting analysis, The Graphology Review, mailto:sandline@iafrica.com