Be Urgent

There is a finite amount of time in your life. There is time for planning and there is time for doing. There is time for relaxing and there is time for doing nothing. There is time to do what you want and time to do what you have to do. With every choice of how you use your time, there is always a trade-off. If you do this, you can’t do that. If you do that, you can’t do this. The excuse that you lack the time to do something is flawed. You don’t lack the time. You lack the discipline, priority, or intention to allocate your time effectively in order to accomplish what you say you “can’t.” With a finite amount of time, you need to be urgent.

"You are your worst enemy. You waste precious time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. Since nothing seems urgent to you, you're only half involved in what you do." — Robert Greene.

Lack of urgency leads to you being half in and half out. You want to do something but never get started. You have an idea but it is nothing more than an idea. You dream about possibilities but they are nothing more than dreams. You think you have all of the time to eventually get started. They are dreams until you act. They are dreams until you gain a sense of urgency and commit to starting. They are dreams until they are no longer dreams. Without urgency, you are a dreamer.

Having a lack of urgency cuts your tie to the present world. You drift aimlessly thinking about what could be in the future, what could have been in the past, and what is in the present. You get lost thinking about “what ifs.” You get lost without a sense of urgency.
Being deliberate and being urgent is what promotes action. Without urgency, there is no action. If you want to lose weight but are not urgent, you will remain on the couch. Gain urgency and you suddenly find yourself on the way to the gym. If you want to start a business so you can leave your corporate job but are not urgent, your business plan will never move out of your mind. Urgency causes you to work overtime and obsess about creating the world you want to build for yourself.

Dreams without a sense of urgency are just dreams. Without urgency, you are your own worst enemy. You are passive and let the time of life control your life’s time. By committing to a life of urgency, you become active again. You drive the life you want to live.