First, what is a checklist? These examples shared are from John J. Murphy's book, "Stepping Up". That book gives insights on enabling success in your career. Do you have a checklist for your job (or a plan), for the career you want to have?
The checklist(s) you create and leverage all depends on the focus you want to pursue and the success you wish to achieve. Whether it be on your career, your house projects, your faith pursuits, or on your efforts for raising our kids, or whatever, is up to you (the example to the left shows you how specific you can be). It all boils down to asking these types of questions:
- What am I not sure of - that I want to succeed at?
- How will I know what steps (actions) I want to do or what questions will I need to answer to ensure my progress?
- Do I need to make a checklist or set plans to help ensure my success on the things I care about?
Yes, some efforts, projects, goals can be pursued without a checklist. Others though, may benefit greatly because we took the time to create and to leverage a checklist. We all get to decide and my hope with the above was to provide a 'reminder'. . . that checklists can be very beneficial. Don't overlook these tools. We all can have great intentions but the difficulties around our endeavors can derail even the best of intentions.
Don't forget our OH2C tab for some additional ideas and examples.
In closing, remember first that using the right tools for the needs at hand is always a smart approach. For the simpler actions - take those on as you deem best. For the more complex projects - reflect upon the possible use of plans, checklists, milestones, or metrics. Those all have their place for things to be pursued and the outcomes desired on those large or significant endeavors that we pursue. Start with making the decisions that need to be made and then do what you need to in order to achieve the success you desire. |