Check Your Resistance

“Good checklists are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything–a checklist cannot fly a plane. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps–the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss. Good checklists are, above all, practical…

We don’t like checklists. They can be painstaking. They’re not much fun. But I don’t think the issue here is mere laziness. There’s something deeper, more visceral going on when people walk away not only from saving lives but from making money. It somehow feels beneath us to use a checklist, an embarrassment. It runs counter to deeply held beliefs about how the truly great among us—those we aspire to be—handle situations of high stakes and complexity. The truly great are daring. They improvise. They do not have protocols and checklists. Maybe our idea of heroism needs updating.” -Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto

So come on and chickity-check yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self
Chickity-check yo’ self before you wreck yo’ self
-Ice Cube, “Check Yo Self”

One of the many useful things about checklists is they take emotion out of decision-making. They’re straightforward. All you have to do is follow the list. (Or don’t, at your own risk.)

Seth Godin’s recent post about “project resistance” is magnificent. You can read it Here. If you’re wondering if your work isn’t good enough or you’re just facing “the resistance”, as Steven Pressfield brilliantly termed it in The War Of Art, consider all the possible symptoms Seth lists. Maybe print out and keep close at hand. It can serve as a checklist every time the resistance rears its ugly head. And rest assured, if you’re trying for something great, it will.