"Discipline is hard - harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even selflessness. We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can't even keep from snacking in between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at."
-Atul Gawande
Flawed and inconstant creatures. Doesn't that get you fired up to be successful! Maybe not, but he makes some excellent points about human nature.
This quote is from surgeon and writer Atul Gawande's book The Checklist Manifesto. The book talks about how crucial checklists are for saving lives and money in medicine, aviation, finance, and construction.
It got me thinking about how fitness and nutrition need checklists as well. If you are like me, you picture checklists as boring, mundane, and not very helpful. Maybe because I am thinking of checklists from washing dishes and mopping floors at pizza buffets. Shout out to Mr. Gatti's, no one died on my watch!
He offers some great suggestions on building checklists. Here are his tips:
Make them precise.
They should be efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations.
Do not try to spell out everything.
Provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps - the ones that even highly skilled professionals using them could miss.
Above all, make sure they are practical.
With this information, could you come up with a checklist that could help you eat better? Exercise more effectively? Train a little smarter?
I bet you could if you took a little time to think about it. Think about the pitfalls and sticking points that have held you back in the past and develop a checklist to stay on track. Use those guidelines from above as your framework.
The 6 Week Transformation Challenge has the nutrition checklist already done for you. If you need guidance, but honestly don't feel like developing your own come join the challenge! You have today and tomorrow to sign up because the challenge starts on Wednesday January 10th.
Sign up today! It is only $39 and your results are guaranteed.
