#39 What does "important" mean to you?

Last time,
I posed the question that "urgent" and "important" are
not the same thing.

Next,
there is a question we cannot avoid.

In the first place,
what is
"important" to me?

We usually
spend our time on
"things that seem important."

Meeting expectations.
Fulfilling roles.
Things that might lead to recognition.

However,
are those really
important?

As we read through The 7 Habits together,
we are brought back to a certain premise.

What is important
is determined by the "end."

Not what you want to value, but
what kind of end you want to live.

Habit 2
is asking
exactly that.

If you were
standing at the end of your life.

When you look back,
what are the things you would want to feel
"glad you did"?

Conversely,
what are the things you would likely regret
"wishing you hadn't done"?

Through this perspective of the "end,"
"important"
starts to look a little different.

Things that are not prominent now, but
definitely have meaning when viewed from the end.

Things that are not urgent now, but
will determine the quality of your life
after you have accumulated them.

That,
I believe,
is what is "important" to you.

Therefore,
"important"
is not determined by circumstances.

It is not about busyness,
expectations,
or recognition.

It is determined by
what kind of end you desire for yourself.

At this point,
please pause for a moment.

Today,
out of all the time I spent,
how much of it
could I say was
"truly important"
even when looking back from the end?

I don't think
the number needs to be large.

Finally,
let's return to the first question.

To you,
what is "important"?

The answer to that
might not be in your to-do list,
but rather in the "end"
that you envision.