The Personal Urgency to Achieve

Sonia Sotomayor made history in August 2009 when she was appointed as the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. Doing so while overcoming a lifelong battle with diabetes made her ascension to the nation’s highest court all the more impressive.

Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes at the tender age of seven years old, at a time when most diabetics had a life expectancy of less than 50 years. Because she believed her illness would shorten her lifespan, it drove her to condense her view of making personal progress. She organized her efforts to accomplish as much as she could as early as possible. The urgency to achieve more in less time allowed Sotomayor to push herself to excel in an accelerated timeframe.

When given less time to achieve a desired outcome, talented people find a way. The role of urgency to achieve is often underappreciated and neglected by those wishing to understand success. Given an accelerated timeframe, people buckle down and get resourceful. Urgency silences conflicting priorities, bringing everything critically important into sharp focus.

The goal is to create a sense of personal urgency without producing undue stress and worry. The idea that we all have less time than we think to achieve what we want serves to light a fire and get us moving. Without a sense of urgency, the fire of self-motivation lacks fuel.