I can't do as much as I thought I could.

• There is often a phenomenon where the amount actually done is less than the amount you thought you could do.
• There are several causes.
  • Inaccuracy of estimate of actual quantities due to inexperience
    • Frequent in young people, but often occurs even if they are not young
  • Unexpected events take up time
    • This is similar to the former in that it doesn’t include the possibility of irregular events in the estimate.
  • You don’t realize that your abilities are declining due to aging, physical condition, etc.
    • Often occurs, especially with respect to the physical capabilities of middle-aged people.
      • Participating in a parent’s footrace at their child’s elementary school athletic meet and injuring themselves by trying to run faster than they can.
    • Cognitive ability also declines with age, although not as much as physical ability.

At this point, there are two interpretations as to which is correct

• A: “The amount I thought I could do” is correct and what I could not do is incorrect.
  • Thinking that you should be able to do it or should be able to do it
  • We think the current situation is wrong for failing to follow that path.
  • Attribution of Mistakes
    • Self-blame: I am to blame, I should work harder, I made a mistake, I should be more successful but I am not.
    • Other blame: environment was bad, got in the way, dragged down when I could have done better if the environment was better
• B: “I thought I could do it” is an estimation error, but the amount actually done is a fact

This A and B have different sense of accomplishment that can be achieved by subsequent progress.

• With A, it will be “I knew it wasn’t done” next time.
  • Motivation to continue is undermined.
• In B, “progress was made this time” compared to the previous time
• B is better for your mental health.

concrete example

• I was looking at a tweet about competitive programming, and Mr. A mentioned “how can you be happy with achieving such a low standard” in response to “Mr. B being happy with achieving a certain rank” (I lost the URL of the original tweet, so I recreated it from memory).
  • It is progress because what could not be done before can now be accomplished, and there is nothing wrong for Mr. B to be happy, but why can’t Mr. A be happy about this situation… he wondered.
  • Mr. A is in pattern A in the above figure and would not be able to achieve
  • This undermines motivation to learn in the long run.
  • You should always enjoy being able to do new things.

relevance - Gap between ideal and reality - Excessive self-esteem - Principle of generation of old people - mid-crisis

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