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Develop a Sense of Urgency

Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.”
Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

NAPOLEON HILL

Perhaps the most outwardly identifiable quality of high-performing men and women is action orientation. They are in a hurry to get their key tasks completed.

Highly productive people take the time to think, plan, and set priorities. They then launch quickly and strongly toward their goals and objectives. They work steadily, smoothly, and continuously. When working with the massive pressure to achieve at the highest levels in school, developing this sense of urgency can be a powerful mindset shift that will propel you forward.

Getting into “Flow”

When you work on your most important tasks at a high and continuous level of activity, you can actually enter into an amazing mental state called “flow.” Almost everyone has experienced this at some time. Really successful people are those who get themselves into this state far more often than the average person.

When you’re in the state of flow, which is the highest human state of performance and productivity, something almost miraculous happens to your mind and emotions. You feel elated and clear. Everything you do seems effortless and accurate. You feel happy and energized. You experience a tremendous sense of calm and increased personal effectiveness.

Leveraging this sense of calm will do wonders for combatting your stress. When you achieve a state of flow, you are 100 percent focused on the assignment in front of you, not worried about all the other priorities clamoring for your attention.

In the state of flow, identified and talked about over the centuries, you actually function on a higher plane of clarity, creativity, and competence. You often come up with brilliant ideas and insights that enable you to move ahead even more rapidly.

Trigger High Performance in Yourself

One of the ways you can trigger this state of flow is by developing a sense of urgency. This is an inner drive and desire to get on with your work quickly and get it done fast. It is an impatience that motivates you to get going and to keep going. A sense of urgency feels very much like running a race against yourself.

You have probably already felt this sense of urgency when you were rushing to finish an assignment in time for a deadline. The great news is that you can generate this same sense of urgency on your own and use it to get ahead rather than just keep up.

With this ingrained sense of urgency, you develop a “bias for action.” You take action rather than talking continually about what you are going to do. You focus on specific steps you can take immediately. You concentrate on the things you can do right now to get the results you want and achieve the goals you desire.

A fast tempo seems to go hand in hand with all great success. Developing this tempo requires that you start moving and keep moving at a steady rate. The faster you move, the more impelled you feel to do even more even faster. You enter “the zone.”

Build Up a Sense of Momentum

When you regularly take continuous action toward your most important goals, you activate the Momentum Principle of Success. This principle says that although it may take tremendous amounts of energy to overcome inertia and get started initially, it then takes far less energy to keep going.

The good news is that the faster you move, the more energy you have. The faster you move, the more you get done and the more effective you feel. The faster you move, the more you learn. The faster you move, the more competent and capable you become at anything you try— be it homework, music, sports, or anything else you put your mind to.

The faster you work and the more you get done, the higher will be your levels of self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. You will feel in complete control of your life and your studies.

Do It Now!

One of the simplest and yet most powerful ways to get yourself started is to repeat the words “Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!” over and over to yourself.

If you feel yourself slowing down or becoming distracted by conversations or low-value activities, repeat to yourself the words “Back to work! Back to work! Back to work!” over and over.

Nothing will help you more in your future career than for you to get the reputation for being the kind of person who gets important work done quickly and well. This reputation will make you one of the most valuable and respected people in your future field. Learning how to motivate yourself into action as a student is a skill that will benefit you for the rest of your life. As a student, you have an invaluable opportunity to develop early, and it will catapult you to success over and over in your lifetime.