Urgency Is Currency!

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “slow and steady wins the race.” While those exact words aren’t used in the story, it’s one of the moral lessons from the ancient fable, “The Hare and the Tortoise.” I don’t know about you, but it’s clear to me that our friend Aesop lived in a different world and in a much different time.

In fact, Aesop was a slave who was the most famous fabulist of all time. While much of his life is shrouded in mystery, he is believed to have lived in the sixth century, B.C. It was certainly a much simpler time – no cell phones, PDAs, and laptops. No global economy. And no ‘Deal or No Deal.’

Now, I don’t mean to disparage Aesop, I certainly enjoyed his fables as a child. But as an adult balancing all the demands of life in the 21st century, I’ve got to work faster and smarter. Slow and steady just won’t cut it.

In fact, my new mantra is “Urgency is currency.” In other words, time is money so don’t waste it! With some recent introspection, I realized that if I was going to hit my goals this year (a 34% increase from last year), I have to change some habits. I have to pump up the volume and pick up the pace or I’ll be sucking wind before the first quarter passes. And between you and me, that’s not an option.

So I decided that I need to act with a greater sense of urgency. But what does that really mean? I’m still figuring it out, and I welcome your feedback if you have some ideas, because I’m really serious about this. So far, I’ve identified three things that can create a sense of urgency:

Create a true bias for action – That means no over-analyzing, no over-thinking and no stalling. About 20 years ago, I learned that my tendency for perfection was not going to advance my career. I had a boss that demanded action and would practically go into a rage if someone was “fixing to get ready.” She was definitely from the “aim, fire” school of thought, not the “ready, aim, fire” one.

With my new focus on action, the Nike tag line really resonates - “Just do it.” Learning the lesson and applying it all the time, of course, is not the same. My current work colleagues would point out that I struggle with perfectionistic tendencies. Sometimes I create workflow bottlenecks because I’ll want to do one last edit or add one more component. As my business partner eagerly admonishes, “Done is better than perfect!”

Use visual or audio triggers – I’ve put the words “Do It Now!” and “Urgency Is Currency!” on the white board in my office. The words are right beside a list of my most important projects for the week. I’m confronted with those words every time I glance at my project list, which is about a dozen times a day.

I first heard of using the trigger words “Do it now!” attributed to the number one insurance salesman of the first half of the 20th century, W. Clement Stone. To create a bias for action, this highly successful agent repeated “Do it now!” dozens of times throughout the day, particularly when his enthusiasm or motivation was waning. It was a way to remind himself that he needed to keep moving.

Pick up the pace – Something occurred to me earlier this week as I was getting ready for work. I was standing in my underwear (I know, too much information) in my bedroom staring into my closet to pick out my wardrobe for the day. And it hit me. I don’t have time to waste. I need to pick out an outfit faster. I need to get dressed faster. I need to walk faster. I need to make decisions faster. I need to do everything faster (ok, there are some exceptions that I won’t go into now). The point is that if I just did everything 10% faster than my normal pace, I would get 10% more done.

I don’t know about you, but I can use that extra 10%. And in some cases, I may be able to pick up the pace even more. But I think 10% is a great goal to set for now. It will push me but it’s still very doable.

Since it’s true that time stops for no man, we have to figure out a way to keep up the pace unless we want to eat someone else’s dust. So is your pace fast enough? Do you need to get more done and wonder how it’s going to happen? Have you created a sense of urgency or do you need to? I’d throw some more questions at you, but you get the point and I have to keep cruising. Urgency is currency!



Urgency Is Currency! - To learn more about this author, visit Will Turner's Website.

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