Law of Importance

The Law of Importance is a set of concepts originated by Woody Woodward, regarding the influence exerted on the human behavior by the personal perceptions of importance.
Overview
Woodward discovered and expressed systematically the Law of Importance while researching for his series of books Millionaire Dropouts. Noticing the high level of dropouts among self-made successful people, he studied and read over one thousand biographies trying to find out what was their motivation to succeed. His company conducted twenty-five hundred interviews and concluded what made someone feel important and how they validated this feeling determined whether they failed or succeeded in life. This field of the importance factor has been already tackled by some philosophers and psychologists. Woodward mentions the writings of Dr. John Dewey ("The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important."), also those of Dr. David Schwartz ("Man’s strongest, most compelling non-biological hunger is the desire to be important."). He also draws attention to the opinions of some keen people, like the businesswoman Mary Kay Ash ("Every person you meet has a sign around their head that says, 'Make me feel important.'").
The concepts structured by Woody Woodward as the "Law of Importance" consist in a series of seven questions which help someone understand what makes him/her feel important. This feeling of importance identifies "your emotional fingerprint". The concrete features of the individual feeling of importance are described by Woodward under the notion of "I" (short for "importance"). The functioning of these "I`s" is governed by five principles, clarifying "why people do what they do" and increasing the awareness about the personal development and life choices. The emotional fingerprint consist in seven "I`s" that make one feel important.
The initial interest of Woody Woodward in millionaire dropouts mirrored his personal life, since he dropped out of high-school at 16, he was a millionaire at 26, broke at 27, within being nearly bankrupt he managed to build from scratch a $30 million mortgage and real-estate firm.
The Law of Importance has been described as influential by various personalities (see below) and it has been chosen as one of the leading techniques filmed and shown to the United Nations on October 20, 2007 on how to meet their millennium goals. The series Millionaire Driopouts was referred to by the Forbes Book Club, as a "Book Club Recommendation".
=="I's"==
Giving examples of personal evolutions of various successful people, Woodward remarks that the desire to feel important is the factor motivating the individuals to strive for achieving success. What makes someone feel important is different for each person, depending on their life experiences. This is not the same as the notions of pride, ego or being self-centered, it only identifies who is a certain person. Also what makes one feel important is different than what is important to that person (for example, work may be important to someone, but work may not make that person feel important). In Woodward's terminology, the things that make an individual feel important are named "I's" ("I" standing for "importance").
Emotional fingerprint
Woodward focuses on the first seven "I's" of a person (identified by completing the sentence "I feel important when..."), naming them the emotional fingerprint. These primary feelings of importance of a person are clarified by remembering the moments when the person felt great, then finding out what triggered those experiences. The specific triggering facts are abbreviated to basic notions (like, for example, "creativity", "winning", "love", "having control", "giving service" etc.), giving a clearer idea about what makes someone feel important.
Five principles
The mechanisms governing the functioning of the "I's" can be summarized by the five principles of the Law of Importance:
*Principle 1 - If two or more "I’s" are being met simultaneously, a person will have a positive peak in attitude, more so than just a normal day (experiencing what is named "a great day").
*Principle 2 - If two or more "I’s" are being offended simultaneously, a person will have a negative drop in attitude, more so than just a normal day ("a bad day").
*Principle 3 - Subconsciously or consciously, people will do anything within their belief system to defend or support their "I’s".
:This principle is identified by Woodward as the most important of them, explaining "why you do what you do". Noticing how many successful people were school dropouts with complicated lives, many times encountering overwhelming odds, he points out how their motivation to succeed remained valid in any circumstances because their goals intersected with the things that made them feel important. This principle can be observed when someone has nothing to think about: most certainly, subconsciously or consciously he/she is thinking about how to meet their "I’s".
*Principle 4 - "I’s" are created by mind-shifts. Mind-shifts are created by drama (positive) or trauma (negative).
:For example, having a child is dramatic and may lead to developing an "I" for the new baby (positive mind-shift, drama). Or, having a childhood friend moving to another school may develop an "I" of needing friends (negative mind-shift, trauma). Over time, the "I’s" change because people end up having new dramas and traumas. For most people the five "I’s" they would list fluctuate between 1 and 10 as the dominant "I’s".
*Principle 5 - A person cannot take away an "I" without replacing it with another "I".
:People need "I’s" permanently, hence a certain "I" disappears only if somebody's attention turns to another "I". The changes happen also consciously if a person identifies the personal "I’s", reviews the way they appeared during lifetime and evaluates the manner they affect the personal life.
Internal Validation vs. External Validation
Regarding the direction where it is sought its validation, every "I" developed from mind-shifts can be met in one of two ways, either internally or externally. When an "I" is met internally, it is because of something that person controls. If it is met externally, it is by people or situations outside his/her control.
Meeting the "I’s" internally is the desirable way in Woodward's opinion, since this permits controlling how someone gets the feelings of importance. For example, an "I" of family can be met internally if people know they are providing emotional, spiritual and physical love, thus not being disappointed when the kids or the spouse don’t praise for all the hard work. This becomes necessary especially in an appreciation deficient society, where people need to create their own feeling of importance.
I-ology
The 2008 documentary I-ology, written and directed by Woodward, features the notions of the Law of Importance in a series of interviews with various authors, communication specialists, personal development experts and counselors. The theme of the documentary is the understanding of what dictates the emotional highs and lows, what causes people to feel they way they feel, why do some find strength, faith and confidence, while others encounter frustration, fear, disappointment. The documentary includes conversations with people that went beyond their apparent possibilities (like Dick Hoyt, from Team Hoyt, or Tony Magee, the first person from his family to graduate from high school and college and the first African American to work with NASA in methology), reminding specific turning points in their life and the way these events changed their personal feelings of importance.
Influence
The Law of Importance has been influential for various personalities from media (like the film producer Gary W. Goldstein), authors (like Joel Comm), sportspeople (Mary Louise Zeller), artists (Thomas Bähler). The main topics about its significance are the understanding of the personal and professional relationship issues, also that of the uniqueness of each individual's emotional fingerprint.

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