The Importance of What's Important

So...

What's Most Important to You...?

On anybody's list of "Great Questions," that one has to rank way up top. For the moment, let's put it in first place and here's why...

What's really important to you—right now, this very minute...?

The reason that's such a great question is that you always do what's most important to you at any given moment. If it—whatever "it" is—isn't important, you won't and don't do it. And, I did say and do mean always.

What's important to you right now is reading these words. If the phone rings and you stop reading and answer it, you do so because... that's what's most important to you. If you glance at your caller ID and see it's an 800 number you're not familiar with, you don't answer the phone, because... it's not important. (Or it's a number you recognize and you DO NOT want to speak with... then that's what's most important.)

An act or a thing is important to you, because you make it important... Because you say so.

You are in control of what you make important—no one else. And of course, you can be influenced.

As I'm writing this, my wife Katyusha walks in to my office and asks if I can be of help to our daughter Ele.' Writing this is very important to me and I don't want to stop. I make a disgruntled face (which my wife is so very fond of). Katyush' says "Never mind" and walks away (no doubt oh so pleased with me).

I stop writing, get up and follow her out. She's gone upstairs, so I go upstairs, find her, explain that I really wanted to keep writing and ask her to tell me just what "help" Ele' needs: Lost marbles under the refrigerator. So, I go back downstairs and move the frig' and get the marbles and come back and now I'm writing again... Each and every separate act I did was what was important at the moment—not only important, but most important. (If you are not married and a parent, you may not understand this example.)

What's important is a choice you make.

That's what it is and all it is. Like choosing vanilla or chocolate. Do you have a reason for choosing one flavor of ice cream or the other? No, not really, you simply choose. (Oh you can make up a reason, but truth is it's just a choice.)

What you make important is just like that. No reason. Just choice.

A choice is an either/or deal, because choice is always a relative thing: Do you want this or that? Go here or there? Now or later?

Well, can't you choose both?

How very clever. No, you can't. Try going here and going there—say New York and LA—at the same time and let me know how that works for you.

What's important about "What's important?" is that some choices serve and empower you, and some do not.

For example:

Do I make that phone call or check my email? Go to the Thursday meeting or have a girl's night out? Work on my self-development or let it go 'til tomorrow? Play with the kids or...

In each of these examples, you will choose what's most important to you at the time, in the moment. To help you make choices that forward your progress, you can simply ask yourself:

What choice is for the highest good of myself and all concerned right now?

And that's the one you do.

I created BeliefBusters with lots of opportunities throughout our work together to choose with increasing clarity and awareness what's most important to you. Take care not to be distracted and misdirected by reasons from your rational/analytical mind. You'll find that although they seem reasonable, they're simply explanations at best, excuses at worst. That's because that's not the part of the mind that should be making your choices.

Here's a brilliant bit about that from Kurt Right's book, Breaking The Rules: Removing the Obstacles to Effortless High Performance. In this excerpt, Kurt is writing about the difference between the analytical and intuitive, the head and the heart, and referencing the scientific research of 1981 Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry.

____________________________ To gain a full appreciation of our analytical mind, it is useful to see it as functioning much like a computer chip. As such, it consists of a sequence of one/zero, on/off, yes/no switches, called "binary code." This mechanism is perfectly designed to break down or dismantle whole chunks of input into individual bits of data, which are then processed in a strictly sequential order.

When programmed correctly, this binary code arrangement makes our analytical mind perfectly suited to serve as an efficient input/output device on behalf of our intuitive mind. When programmed incorrectly, our analytical mind departs from its pure data transmission role and attempts instead to judge data as good or bad, right or wrong, instead of transmitting it in a strictly neutral form as intended.

This brings to mind another key discovery from Dr. Sperry’s work.

When the analytical mind is surgically separated from the intuition... it is completely incapable of distinguishing truth from fiction.

This finding has profoundly important implications for many aspects of our lives. For starters, we'll take a look at how it relates to effortless high performance. Remember, our analytical mind is programmable—just like a computer chip. The programming of a computer chip can best be described as the external manipulation of its one/zero, on/off binary code. Please note: the instructions must be initiated from outside the chip. The chip has no ability to judge whether the instructions are right or wrong, good or bad. The instructions either work or they don’t, and this occurs quite independently from any right/wrong, good/bad value judging by the chip—which, of course, it cannot do anyway.

Here is where this gets tricky. Notice the extremely subtle distinction between the one/zero, on/off, yes/no binary code mechanism of the computer chip and the right/wrong, good/bad value judging that we attempt to do with our analytical minds. It is the built-in one/zero, on/off, yes/no capability, which makes our analytical mind so perfectly suited for its deductive reasoning task. Unfortunately, this exact same capability makes our analytical mind completely vulnerable to being deceived into thinking it can judge right or wrong, good or bad. In truth, however, it simply cannot execute the judging function....

____________________________ The rational/analytical "conscious" mind, the head, is not what makes choices... not what can be the judge of what's important to you. That's the heart, the intuitive/imaginative part of your mind.

Allow your heart to choose what's important and you'll always make the right choice.

Your intuition is hard-wired to Spirit. That's why choosing to make important what serves "for the highest good of yourself and all concerned" in the moment, makes certain you will achieve all the success you're after.

____________________________ One final bit—either disturbing or liberating, as you'll learn.

I said you always have a choice and... well... that's NOT really true. (Sorry.) You could and you should always have a choice, but... remember this:

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe it ALWAYS achieves.

And you recall I also wrote, "Like it or not, that's what's so. In any and every situation there are only two ways to go: Believe you can or believe you can't. Either way, you're right… and both ways, you will achieve what you believe.

Well, if you believe you DO NOT have a choice... guess what? NO amount of persuasion from me or anyone else will convince you that you do.

If one of your core beliefs is "No matter what I do it's never enough," or "No matter what I do it's never good enough," you'll have a tough time making choices that go against the "knowing" flow of that belief.

Enough of the "disturbing" bits. What is a truly liberating promise is that with BeliefBusters you CAN learn to shift unwanted self–sabotaging beliefs to empowering beliefs that assure your success… fast, in a proven way that lasts.

Again, more to come... _____________________________ Questions

• What makes "What's important to you?" such a great question?
• Is what's important to you a decision, or a choice?
• What can you ask yourself that will make your choices ones that forward your progress?
• Which part of the mind is the one that makes the choice of what's really important?
• Why is it that there are some times you really don't have a choice?

_____________________________ Answers What makes "What's important to you?" such a great question?

The reason that's such a great question is that you always do what's most important to you at any given moment. If it—whatever "it" is—isn't important, you won't and don't do it. And, I did say and do mean always.

Is what's important to you a decision, or a choice?

What's important is a choice you make.

That's what it is and all it is. Like choosing vanilla or chocolate. Do you have a reason for choosing one flavor of ice cream or the other? No, not really, you simply choose. You can make up a reason, but truth is it's just a choice.

What can you ask yourself that will make your choices ones that forward your progress?

To help you make choices that forward your progress, simply ask yourself:

What choice is for the highest good of myself and all concerned right now?

And that's the one you do.

Which part of the mind is the one that makes the choice of what's really important?

The rational/analytical "conscious" mind, the head, is not what makes choices... not what can be the judge of what's important to you. That's the heart, the intuitive/imaginative/creative part of your mind.

Allow your heart to choose what's important and you'll always make the right choice.

Remember, your intuition is hard-wired to Spirit. Choosing to make important what serves "for the highest good of yourself and all concerned" makes certain you will achieve all the success you're after.

Why is it that there are some times you really don't have a choice?

If you believe you DO NOT have a choice... guess what? NO amount of persuasion from anyone will convince you that you do.

If one of your core beliefs is "No matter what I do it's never enough," or "No matter what I do it's never good enough," you'll have a tough time making choices that go against the flow of that.

Remember...

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe it ALWAYS achieves.

_____________________________ Now… please answer the following questions:

What have you confirmed from reading this report that you already know… and what makes that important?

What did you discover that was new for you… and what makes that valuable for you?

Based upon your discovery, what can you do differently from now on…?

And one final (and important) question:

What's one thing you appreciate most about what you've learned from this report, and what makes that valuable and/or useful for you...?

John Milton Fogg is an internationally recognized writer, editor, speaker and coach. He authored the million-selling classic, The Greatest Networker in the World. His most recent project is BeliefBusters and his vision is to have over 1-million

people change their lives for the better forever by shifting their unwanted, self-sabotaging beliefs to empowering beliefs that assure their success fast, in a proven way that lasts. To learn more about John personally and professionally, visit his website (and "get on his list"):

http://JohnMiltonFogg.com. You can learn more about his life-changing self-esteem, personal development iCourse of 13 weekly lessons at: BeliefBusters.com.