The Value of Lists.

List-making: Friend or Foe?

I make lists. I’ve already talked about the value of goal-setting and of tracking things via lists, so don’t worry. I won’t bore you with more of that. Yesterday, I sat down to make the ultimate type of list: the Pro-Con List. It’s the type of list that you make when you’re feeling unsure.

Some people use it to figure out a job move; a break-up decision; one city versus another. I think that the more I make these lists, the more they confuse me. How are we supposed to even KNOW what a pro or a con is in relation to our lists?

What I found in my experience yesterday was that the Pro-Con list is the MOST subjective way to list things. I was struggling to find objectivity, but it was just out of reach. It was really difficult to even decide whether I was happy with the list when I was finished.

I told a friend that I was making the list, to basically decide what I felt about a potential life-changing decision to go into effect next year. “How did it go?” she wanted to know. I had no idea what to tell her. “It went.” was all I came up with. It didn’t really lead me to a decision, because our human brains can ALWAYS find a way to make the columns even.

I struggle a TON with decision making. Taking risks and grabbing life by the balls has never been my strong suit – only when pushed up against a wall do I tend to recognize that a decision MUST BE MADE NOW. I know. A New Yorker–and I still make decisions like this.

I have read tons and tons of really good blogs lately about picking up things and just DOING. Not making the list, and weighing the pro’s and cons. Who cares about that, right?

Sigh. The list making only gets me so far, I suppose. We are creatures of a lot of thought, and hopefully just as much action. I hope that I can learn to get better at taking leaps. Even without a list first.

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Challenges | Beth Oppenheim March 5, 2010

5 Comments to “The Value of Lists.”

By Grace Boyle, March 5, 2010 @ 6:17 pm

Oh I love making lists! It makes me feel organized and it’s fun, too. Lastly, by making lists is allows me to move forward and take action. I love that.
By Ryan Hanzel, March 6, 2010 @ 2:06 pm

Very nice post, I am going through a turbulent point in my life and I want change. The question is if what I strive to achieve worth the risk in the transition in between here and there.

Having a rough spot in today I went straight to my reader and found your post. I think other than the RT and comment. I will try making my own pro/con list of what I will have if I achieve my goal and what I have now to help better paint the big picture.

Have a great day!
By Martin - TheUniversityBlog, March 8, 2010 @ 4:45 am

Yes, pro-con lists are subjective, but they move you toward personal objectives. At least you’re using lists to work out what you want to ‘just do’.

I recently found the website “Pro Con Lists”, which helps the weighing up process. It’s at http://www.proconlists.com/

One of the positive things about a list is that you’re forced to concentrate on the matter, which should bring you closer to taking action afterwards. It’s confusing because you’re searching for an answer or decision. The list isn’t strictly what’s confusing, it’s the number of possibilities out there. Best to get the confusion out of the way now, rather than face it later on in the process when you’ve already started putting things into place.
By Beth Oppenheim, March 8, 2010 @ 10:33 am

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ryan. I think that you are absolutely right – and that lists can be an important component of getting us through tough times ahead.
By Beth Oppenheim, March 8, 2010 @ 10:35 am

Thanks, Martin – I think that it definitely is the possibilities out there that overwhelm me. It’s true, we need to get the confusion out of the way ahead of time. Thanks for stopping by