Fuel an Extraordinary Life!

The Attribute of Urgency

”What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

-Johann von Goethe

Definition

Urgency, n. 1. The quality or condition of being urgent; pressing importance.

2. A pressing necessity.

Synonyms

Importance, Necessity, Need, Exigency, Pressure, Stress, Hurry, Rush

Related Words/Phrases

Crisis Management, Critical Priority, Stat, ASAP, I needed it Yesterday.

There is a real difference between developing the attribute of urgency in your life, and living in the world of the urgent. Unfortunately, many of us spend most of our busy lives living in the world ruled by the urgent. The advancement of technology, which allows for instantaneous and always connected communication, combined with  busy family schedules and pressure to perform in all aspects of life, has thrust many into living a culture of “need it yesterday”.

Shannon’s World Of The Urgent

Shannon knows all about living in a life ruled by the urgent. As an assistant for the sales division of a major company, she coordinates presentation materials and phones for seven account executives, handles administrative assistant duties for two managers, and responds to customer emails on a daily basis. Two years ago, Shannon worked with five other assistants to handle the administration duties of the department. Over the past two years, the number of assistants has dropped from six to two. The workload, however, has not decreased.

By 10:15am one morning, Shannon had eleven internal emails from account executives and managers asking for help on projects that needed to be completed that day. All of the emails were sent with urgent notification, with apologies for short notice, and stressed the importance of the project. Also in her email inbox sat twenty emails from clients with questions.

No one would have been surprised if Shannon had taken her PDA, cell phone and laptop and thrown them in the dumpster on the way to lunch. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time. She was to busy answering email to take lunch that day. The world of the urgent was running Shannon’s life.

“We are always getting ready to live, but never living.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shannon’s story is shared by many in all walks of life. Many of us get so caught up living in the world of the urgent that we confuse this with developing the attribute of urgency. Interestingly enough, developing the attribute of urgency in combination with focus can keep us from getting bogged down in someone else’s urgent world.

For years a major shoe company has encouraged action through their simple brand slogan. Their slogan is good advice, and it certainly has helped build one of the worlds most powerful brands. We would propose taking their statement a step further, creating a powerful brand slogan for the attribute of Urgency.

Our statement for urgency is: Just do it, now.  It is a clear message. Do you have something that you need or want to do? Start it. Do you have a dream you would like to pursue? Do it. You should approach each day with passion for getting things done. Do not procrastinate. Do not waste time. By developing the attribute of urgency, you can avoid the trap of living in others urgent world.

Begin doing what you want to do now.

-Marie Beynon Ray

Shannon was unhappy living in her urgent world.  She went to work unhappy, she left work unhappy, and she shared her unhappiness with her family at home. As you might imagine, she wasn’t a real joy to be around. Her friends, co-workers and family started to cut a wide berth around Shannon. That is, of course, unless they needed something from her urgently. Then, they would just bear her unhappiness to get what they needed. The only person Shannon wasn’t helping was herself.