People use checklists for a lot of things because checklists can do a lot of things.
They can remind us and organize us. They can motivate us and energize us. Negatively, they can scold us and mock us. Since I’ve never been the most organized person, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with checklists throughout my life, but I’ve become more find of them over the last few years. I’ve also become aware of where they fall short.
Checklists tell us what we’re doing.
Checkpoints tell us where we’re going.
Checkups tell us how we’re doing.
All three are important, but in a culture that seems obsessed with production and accomplishment, we run the risk of highlighting the first two because they feed what culture celebrates.
[Tweet “How we’re doing is more important than what we’re doing.”]But neither a checklist nor a checkpoint can do the work of a checkup. Today, pause long enough to examine yourself and see how you’re doing.
How we’re doing is more important than what we’re doing.
