In 2004, a NASA pilot named David Oberhettinger was flying himself and two passengers toward Palm Springs in California. Just as he was about to radio the nearest airport for permission to land, a “dense black smoke” began to fill his cockpit.1 It was immediately clear what was wrong: An electrical fire had broken out in his plane.
Nobody wants to panic at 8,000 feet above the ground.
Luckily, Oberhettinger kept his head and immediately swapped his Descent for Landing checklist for the In-Flight Electrical Fire checklist. It listed five specific steps for averting disaster:
(1) Master Switch to Off
(2) Other Switches (Except Ignition) to Off
(3) Close Vents/Cabin Air
(4) Extinguish Fire
(5) Ventilate Cabin.
As Oberhettinger later described it, completing the checklist “took maybe 90 seconds.” 1 The rest of the flight was a smooth, uneventful landing. For Oberhettinger, the crisis “hardly caused a significant increase in heart rate, because I just followed the checklist.” 1
There is a real power in checklists. They can prevent us from panicking, or from having to rely on our memory more than we have to. They prevent us from making the wrong decision at the worst time. And while the checklists we create as financial advisors don’t usually involve the life-or-death drama of a pilot checklist, they are vital all the same.
With that in mind, we’ve created a new checklist specifically for the third quarter of the year. This checklist has six steps. Don’t worry, they’re not difficult! You may have handled some already. Others may not even apply to you. But each task is important in its own way. Put them all together and you will be more likely to enjoy a smooth and uneventful flight towards your financial goals. And while you won’t be able to complete the checklist in 90 seconds, 90 days should be more than ample.
As always, if you need help or have questions about any of these, please let us know. In the meantime, we hope you have a great third quarter…and a wonderful summer!
1 David Oberhettinger, “Why I Love Checklists,” NASA, appel.nasa.gov/2015/08/26/my-best-mistake-david-oberhettingers-why-i-love-checklists/
Tip: Print this out and stick it on the fridge or somewhere else it will be seen. That way, you can check off the items one by one as you complete them!
