Cadet programs teach you to check your partner’s gear and let them check yours. Brave people still double-check.

Checking is not an accusation. It is a procedure built on the assumption that competent people make mistakes when they are tired, rushed or distracted, which is all people some of the time. Confidence that refuses to be checked is not confidence, it is vanity with somebody else’s safety attached. The system is designed to catch errors rather than to rank the people in it.

Build one real check into something you do alone. Have a friend read the essay before you submit it, have somebody count the cash with you, read the list back out loud rather than from memory.