The One-month Assumption Test

I heard a quote this morning that I enjoyed. Perhaps you will too. It went something like this:

"Humans often overestimate what they can accomplish in a day, and underestimate what they can accomplish in a year."

I don't know who coined it, or in what context it was delivered, but hearing it inspired a question.

What if the statement concerning a year is also applicable--on a smaller scale--to a month? In other words,  humans underestimate what they can accomplish in the span of a year, might it also prove true for a single  month? I suspect it might be so, and as it's the first day of March, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to try an experiment and find out.

So here's the experiment, and if it appeals to you I encourage you to try it as well: set a project that is just above what you feel you can reasonably accomplish in a month's time. The project should probably interest you, offer a reasonable challenge, and compliment your current life situation. It can be school and/or professionally related, or completely unrelated. The main point is to put yourself in a controlled yet stimulating setting in which an assumption about your ability is tested in light of experience. I've no idea what we might call it, except perhaps the "One-Month Assumption Test," or OMAT.

Anyway, if this appeals to you feel free to share your challenge in the comment section below (though of course, there is no pressure). To help things along, I will here note my challenge.

In the month of March, I will write a complete story of at least 15,000 words.

I arrived at this challenge in two ways. First, I've wanted to write a story for several years, trying a number of times, but never quite finishing. Second, writing a 15,000-word story requires approximately 484 words a day for 31 days. The number is high by my usual productive standards (which aren't great), but seems doable with planning and some effort. Placed within the context of a single month, the project seems challenging but reasonable, and that's the idea really.

Feel free to give it a try if you like. Even if you come by this post after today, it seems reasonable enough just to start the challenge on that date, and continue until the same date the following month. I'll post updates from time to time on my own progress, and at end of the month we'll see where we stand and how the process went. Much luck!

Happy Thursday, friends :)