What Can Be Done in 1000 Days?

Some of you have asked me why I started this project at 1000 days. First of all, there were a few recent events in the lives of close friends and extended family that got me thinking more seriously about the power of human potential. Secondly, and perhaps on the lighter side, there are some inherently significant things that run their course over the course of 1000 days. Here's a somewhat random selection:

• It takes 40 days to create or break a habit. If you do something for 90 days you are confirming a habit. 120 days marks the time where your new habit becomes you. And it takes 1000 days to master something. More info
• It takes 1000 days to learn the techniques of sword fighting, and 10000 days to master them. Source: The Book of Five Rings
• It takes 1000 days to establish a brand. Source: Andrew Patricio of BizLaunch
• It takes about 1000 days to breed and raise cattle to the butchering weight of 400-500 kilograms. Source: Food & Nutrition Library
• On average, it takes about 1,000 days for an NCI-supported clinical trial to move from inception within a cooperative group to activation in an NCI-designated cancer center. Source: DCTD National Cancer Institute

Back on topic, consider for yourself what you could accomplish in 1000 days. And do you think a goal is more manageable when you think in terms of days instead of months or years? You might record a before/after snapshot of specific goals to create a bit of a "time capsule wow factor." Or simply consider day-to-day attitudes and behaviors. Live in the moment, begin anew, take one day at a time.


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What Would You Do with 1000 Days?

Perhaps you've noted with some passing interest the imminent end of the Mayan calendar. I've recently found myself casually listening in on the doom and gloom around the apocalyptic date, December 21, 2012, said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar. But then that got me thinking, 'What would I do differently in my life if I subscribed to a final day?'

Nonsensical mythology and astrology aside, I resolved that this concept could be a catalyst for making more of each day, and perhaps mustering the courage to try new and courageous things. Perhaps I would find cause for more introspection, or resist procrastination. I imagine there's a great deal of good that could be done in 1000 days.

The flip side of this experiment says I would have cause to be hasty, to become reckless in my thoughts and actions, or to give in to notions of futility. By nature, however, I'm grounded in lifelong religion, and for that I feel drawn more toward an accountability to a higher power.

So then, what would you do if you had a thousand days to live? Post your thoughts to inspire yourself and others to action.


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