Assorted Thoughts on Urgency

Various concepts related to urgency have been popping up in my media diet. Most revolve around the idea that the timeline we give ourselves can impact how we think about and frame our goals. I want to explore three concepts that stood out to me and see if they can help reframe my approach to learning new skills and building habits.

Periodizing life

I came across periodization in a Captain Sinbad video. Periodization is conventionally used as a method for athletic training. In sports, athletes systematically cycle through different programs that target different areas of performance. It allows athletes to alter different variables of their training to peak at certain times.

However, the more relevant aspect of periodization to building habits and skills is the intensity and focus it allows for. Nikhil's 12-Week Rule is to live life in a series of 12-week experiments instead of setting New Year's resolutions or yearly goals.

When setting yearly goals, there is a sense that we have lots of time—a whole year—to complete the goal. Of course, what ends up happening is that by the time summer or fall rolls around, we haven't made significant progress. A goal with a deadline of 12 weeks is, ideally, long enough for substantial progress to be made but short enough for a sense of urgency to drive action.

An overlooked aspect of living in 12-week experiments is the sense of novelty. I've struggled with consistency when learning new skills due to losing the initial excitement. The first week or two of developing a habit or skill is usually the easiest because progress is fast, and we still feel the buzz of starting something new.

An additional benefit of the 12-Week Rule is that it's easier to execute plans for a shorter time period. Similar to how we can persuade ourselves to stick with boring classes because "it's only for a semester/quarter," shortening the time also shortens the opportunity cost of sticking to the program. A 12-week time period allows for 4 experiments in a year. It's easier to rationalize sticking with a 12-week program than a year-long one. This can be especially useful for situations where progress seems slow initially but would benefit from additional time and consistency.

A problem that I've experienced is that my values at the beginning of the year don't always align with my values halfway or at the end of the year. The ideas and plans that I make in January might not make sense for the position I am in later in the year. For instance, I might feel like I should be prioritizing academics at the beginning of the year, but later in the year I might be in a position where prioritizing my health or personal pursuits is important. Periodizing goals gives more flexibility, so each experiment is more relevant to the current situation.

7 years left

The second concept is from Sah Kilic, writer of The Professional Generalist newsletter. To begin, Sah takes issue with the cliche piece of advice "live every day like it's your last." Obviously, this is not advice we should follow literally. Living every day like your last would not be conducive to progressing towards life goals and probably result in you dying very quickly.

However, it's not a useless piece of advice. The sentiment of the saying is to not be afraid to go after your goals and to live with urgency. A more realistic and practical piece of advice would be to "live every day like you've got 7 years left."

7 years is short enough to instill a sense of urgency but long enough to force you to consider your actions and long enough to allow for meaningful progress. Maybe it's because I'm still relatively young, but when I think about it, 7 years is incredibly short. If I knew I had only 7 years to live, it would definitely light a fire under my ass.

The key insight from this piece of advice is that the actions needed to maximize happiness/contribution/enjoyment/etc over the next 7 years are similar to those required to maximize those metrics over a lifetime. Sah continues with the question, "if I had 7 years left, what would I change?"

I think very few people are in a position where they wouldn't make major changes to their life. Asking this question and brainstorming answers is a valuable exercise because some of the changes you would make are also changes that would be beneficial if you weren't going to die in 7 years.

World-class in 5 years

While not strictly related to urgency, this last concept is still an interesting take on skill development. This concept comes from the book The Motivation Myth by Jeff Haden. I haven't read this book, but I came across the concepts from Ali Abdaal's video. The part that stood out to me was the advice to become a "jack of all trades."

Success is conventionally defined as having immense skill and deep accomplishments in a specialized area. However, The Motivation Myth argues that we should strive to become generalists. More specifically, Jeff says that we can become world-class, or at least pretty good, at most things in just 5 to 7 years.

This sentiment is echoed by other thought leaders such as Malcolm Gladwell, who famously coined the 10,000-hour rule. Regardless of the time frame, the core concept is that, given consistent effort, most people can become really good at most things, and it doesn't take a lifetime.

The generalist approach to life encourages the development of a wide range of knowledge. When we combine knowledge from multiple fields, it produces more unique and leverageable abilities. An interesting anecdote for this is that many top professional athletes grew up playing a sport different from the one they play for a living. A possible explanation for this is that the experience gained in one sport has unique and rare benefits in others.

Similarly, for skills, being a 6 or 7 out of 10 at a bunch of things can make you a 9 or a 10 overall at something else. The best part about this is that reaching a 6 or 7 out of 10 is within reach for most people.

Closing thoughts

Everyone has experienced how urgency can help accomplish one's goals. As the deadline for an assignment approaches, our focus sharpens, and we are able to work more intensely and for longer than usual. Of course, waiting until right before the deadline to work is not a healthy approach to life. It may not even be applicable as many personal projects don't have deadlines. Leveraging and using urgency in sustainable ways can be an incredibly powerful tool for skill development and habit change. Hopefully, the three concepts I discussed sparked some thought into how to better apply urgency in everyday life.