Successful People Adopt a Sense of Urgency to build Self Confidence, Motivation and Esteem

A sense of urgency is what propels an idea into an achievement. It is what inspires people to be productive and to create. It is what motivates highly successful people who are focused on being their best selves, having the drive needed to believe in themselves and see their goals all the way through. Time is our most valuable commodity. Knowing this, we should do everything in our power to not waste it by adopting a sense of urgency.

I want to share an exercise that real estate maven Kent Clothier presented at The Great American Summit. I had the pleasure of presenting at this incredible event as a speaker and shared the stage with him. He is an amazingly successful entrepreneur and he talked about the freedom that comes from being an entrepreneur who understands the importance of having a sense of urgency. He asked us to consider that the average lifespan in America is 78 years. Take your age and subtract it from 78, and you get the approximate number of years that you have left. Multiply that by 365, and you get the number of days. Multiply that by .67 and you get the number of waking days that you have, because the other time will be spent sleeping. This will give you a close estimate of how many days you have left on this earth. This exercise provides a sobering realization of how much actual time we may have left to accomplish our goals.

Too many people leave this earth wishing they had more time. Don’t be one of them. Use the time you have left to make an impact. Personally, knowing that I have 7,826 waking days left in my life on this planet makes me want to grind. I want to make the most of this gift called life and doing the best I can with the time I have is crucial to me. It motivates me to produce great things. It gives me the confidence needed to protect what’s most precious to me. It drives me to regard myself highly enough to consume positive things that make me feel good about myself.

There are actually three human characteristics that many successful people embody. They are producers, protectors and consumers.

1. Producers are driven. Through productive activities like inventing, entrepreneurship, work, working out, cleaning house or car – whatever it is, they make it happen. They know that when we do or create, we feel good about ourselves. Some people can even become super producers. Elon Musk is a great example.
   
   
2. Protectors always challenge the bully. This includes, but is not limited to law enforcement, firefighters, military, and moms who have a tremendous drive to look after and defend others. Protectors also show up in other ways. In business, and in personal life, they may put systems in place that protect assets. They may also build a solid framework with policies in place that limit potential liability in their business and/or home.
   
   
3. Consumers absorb food, information, energy and time. We are all consumers, but the most confident and successful people make that the smallest percentage of their time and attention. What we put in our minds and our body when we eat, think, and generally care for ourselves plays a major role in determining if or what we produce. If all you do is consume negative energy, food, and information, how can you be comprehensively healthy enough to motivate yourself to move forward. What you input is always going to affect your output. Additionally, it will determine your level of confidence, which will impact your ability to thrive.

Today, take a step back in your life and ask yourself what are you producing, protecting and consuming? Acknowledge the fleeting, but significant time you have left on this earth. Consider producing, protecting and consuming only that which propels you toward success and pursue those things with focus and drive. I want you to flex those self-esteem and confidence muscles, and get motivated by a sense of urgency!