“Should I start boiling the water for the pasta?” I shouted. (I was helping Gail make dinner and I was in the kitchen and she was upstairs).
“Yes”, she said.
I turned the burner on.
But I didn’t check to see if there was any water in the pot. (I caught that a few seconds later before I melted the pot).
I’ve got to be the world leader in cooking our cooking utensils. There was the time I put the electric kettle on the element and…and then did it again with another one.
Sigh. Embarrassing, I know. It’s a good thing I’m an accountant not a sous-chef, right?
So why am I telling you this?
(Other than to prove – as my wife will tell you – that I can be a danger in the kitchen sometimes?)
Because I hear over and over again from coaches, consultants and creatives like you that “I am just so afraid of doing something wrong when I do my books” – and won’t do them at all.
Hey, fear of the unknown (or fear of making a mistake) is normal. (Heck, fear of the KNOWN is pretty normal, too!)
That’s why I work with you to create a system that’s tailored to you. (And why, behind the scenes, I’m really big on creating systems and checklists for me to make sure that I don’t forget anything – like putting water in the pasta pot.)
(Have you ever done anything like trying to boil non-existent water? Hit reply (lfox©accounting-wizard•com) and let’s laugh about it!)
Looking forward to some adventures in accounting!
PS Yes, I now have a mental pasta-making checklist and item #1 is “Is there water in the pot?”
PPS A great book on the power of checklists – I read it a few years ago and it’s terrific – is The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.
