Pilots use checklists before every flight. Surgeons use them before every operation. Traders should use them before every trade. A checklist forces you to slow down and evaluate objectively instead of trading on emotion. Without one, your brain rationalizes bad entries: 'close enough to the OB,' 'volume looks okay,' 'I feel good about this.' A checklist kills rationalization — either the criteria are met or they aren't. Binary. No room for 'maybe.'