If you live your life with a sense of urgency, you will face some frustration as you deal with the world at large. Urgency is not important to most people you will come in contact with. It's not a topic taught in schools, and you will rarely hear your friends discuss the need for urgency with the exception of things they seem highly motivated to do - like buying the latest fad or concert tickets for their favorite band. People tend to feel that tomorrow is a better day to do what they MUST do, especially if they don't particularly WANT to do it.
Statistics tell us that most people wait until the last day or two before the deadline to mail in their income tax returns; renew their driver's license; or pay a fine for a traffic violation. Individuals both young and old would rather study for a test or complete an important project the night before a deadline, rather than invest the proper time and energy necessary to achieve a higher degree of success. Granted these are activities that few of us enjoy doing. However the habit of procrastination subtlety creeps into one's personality without noticing it and steers the results on important matters toward mediocrity or missed opportunities.
I believe that constantly putting necessary activities off until tomorrow benefits no one. Tomorrow always comes too quickly and adds lots of unnecessary stress to the procrastinator and all who must deal with one. The reason that too few people develop a sense of urgency is the world is full of procrastinators and it seems OK to do what the masses are doing. In the process of practicing procrastination, many things that should be done, never get done. Then the consequences begin to add up and cause unnecessary pain that could have been avoided. Along with pain and often punishment, lots of missed opportunities add up to take its toll on one's long-term lifestyle, well being and satisfaction in life.
For instance if you practiced a sense of urgency, perhaps you would have attracted a sharper mate to live your life with? Or perhaps landed a better job and enjoyed a more lucrative career? I believe individuals with a sense of urgency make the best employees; entrepreneurs; employers and leaders in general. After all someone must drive the multitude of procrastinators into action or very little progress would be accomplished in our world.
From my own experiences, I tend to believe that urgency is a sense that individuals acquire on their own with a different set of reasons or circumstances occurring to develop or drive that sense. For instance if your car somehow ended up in the middle of a lake, you would have an immediate sense of urgency to escape and save your life, even if you were a card carrying member of the procrastination camp. Or perhaps you were diagnosed with a terminal illness and told you had a limited number of months to live. A sense of urgency would be an immediate knee-jerk reaction from this news. The question is - do we need a bomb to drop on us like these two examples to develop a sense of urgency? I hope not!
I believe the best way to develop a sense of urgency is to find someone you admire who possesses this quality and learn from them. Talk to them. Ask questions and learn to appreciate the benefits you can enjoy if you could develop this sense. Life at the top of the food chain is much different than at the bottom for all species that roam our planet. And a sense of urgency is one of the many reasons why humans can climb the ladder from the bottom to the top of any group they engage in. Time acts as the great equalizer of all mankind. Time offers opportunities to all but it distinctly demands a sense of urgency for methodical accomplishments.
Each day our time clocks are ticking away. Each day opportunities come and go. At the end of our visit to Planet Earth, few people will really care if you won or lost during your game of life. Few people will care if you made excuses all your life and missed lots of opportunities; or you lived your life with a sense of urgency and pride and enjoyed life to the fullest. Few people will care if you had a high or low self esteem. Most people WILL agree that there really is no fairness or equality as you go through life every day. However I believe that if you play the game of life with a sense of urgency, you will capitalize on more opportunities that pass your way and as your game comes to an end you will leave the game with a sense that you played your best and feel fulfilled. You won't feel cheated and leave making excuses about why your life could have or should have been better.
Regardless of your age, if you are a professed procrastinator, leave that camp today! Find someone you respect with a sense of urgency that you can emulate. Learn from them. Don't wait another day. Don't wait until it's too late to change your ways. There are lots of opportunities to grasp. Become known for your sense of urgency!