How to Build an Investment Checklist You Will Actually Follow

Most checklists fail because they are too long, vague, or disconnected from real mistakes. Build yours from post-mortems of your own bad decisions.

Keep each item binary and observable. Replace “good management” with specific evidence, such as capital allocation history, dilution behavior, and disclosure quality.

Separate pre-trade checklist from post-trade review. The pre-trade list guards entry quality. The review loop improves future judgment and updates your checklist.

A checklist is only useful when it can veto action. If every item becomes optional in fast markets, the checklist is decoration, not risk control.