On “Flashback Friday” I found this “important” concept from The Grasshopper: “Importance Only Exists In Our Mind.”

How many things are important? I’m sure you have a list. But did you ever stop to consider that importance doesn’t exist. It’s something we made up.

Just sample the assertions below and start to get a feel for the nonexistence of importance.

“It’s important that we go to work on this.”
“We are doing important work.”
“This is the most important issue of our time.”

Says who?

And how many debates have you been in about the importance of something? You were debating something that doesn’t exist: Importance. It’s just a concept in our mind.

How many other concepts are we in endless debate about? “Essential?” “Imperative?” “Fair?” “Right?” The list goes on forever.

Concepts mean different things to different people but we treat them as though they are solid things set in concrete.

I’m not lobbying for the eradication of concepts, just for the noticing of them. Notice that they aren’t real things.

I also have a suggestion about a phrase to use when discussing concepts. This phrase will end the debate about the universal concreteness of the concept and shine a light on what you are truly attempting to communicate.

The phrase is: “To me.”

“It’s important to me that we have this done by Friday.” “It only seems fair to me that we pay them the full amount.” “That feels right to me.”

By adding “to me” to the concept, you have taken the debate away from an illusionary concept and shifted the focus to your desires. It takes the conversation to a more personal level. You are no longer debating about something “out there” but rather something “in here.”

It takes some noticing and some practice to make concepts less concrete and more personal, and the effort is “worth it” to me.

All the best,

John