A word for how much a thought or feeling compels a response

I don't want to highlight how soon it needs to be done, rather, how much something needs to be done.

In many companies, I've seen a chart that plots urgency against importance:

1 a : the quality or state of being important : CONSEQUENCE
1 b : an important aspect or bearing : SIGNFICANCE

In other words:

The thought of one's own death has great importance, even though there is nothing to be done about it.

Note that a synonym of urgent is pressing, so neither it nor the suggested pressingness can really be what's sought here. If the question seeks an answer that avoids urgent, it also needs to avoid that synonym. (And saying that it's actually close to what's sought is an odd statement.)