The Four “Ifs” That Make Life Worth Living

Yesterday, I listened to a talk by Jim Rohn about self-reliance. Toward the end, he talked about the four “ifs” that make life worth living.

1. Life is worth living if you learn
2. Life is worth living if you try
3. Life is worth living if you stay
4. Life is worth living if you care

Despite Jim Rohn being very popular, and this concept being very popular, I’d never heard it before. But it struck me as being a very good distillation of what’s required for a meaningful life.

Learn

Jim gets to the point quickly: “There is nothing worse than being stupid”.

Learning is something that is entirely within our control. We can learn, we can think, and as a result, we can take more and more effective action.

As adults many people decide to stop learning unless they have to. When you stop learning you stop growing, and that is the first step towards death.

Making a commitment to always be learning sets you apart from the crowd and keeps you engaged with life.

Try

You must put what you learn into action. If you don’t take risks you’ll never get anywhere.

To live a worthwhile life you have to be prepared to try things. New jobs, new foods, new experiences.

To try is to live with courage.

Don’t put aside your dreams because the are unrealistic, instead try.

Stay

To live a worthwhile life you have to stay long enough to see things through. This is the one I found most impactful and likely the most lacking for people today.

I spend a lot of time working with young people at the start of their careers. For them, 18 months is an extremely long time. But to do anything well. To see a project through is usually year-long.

In the pursuit of keeping options open, you can let all of your options go to waste. So don’t give up on something important to you when it gets hard. Don’t quit your job mid-project because your boss is annoying you. See things through for your own sake.

Care

Care about the work you’re doing. Care about your friends. Care about your hobbies. Care about your home. Care about your family.

Too many people are cynical about their work and the world. It is a protective response against so many things being so far out of our control, but you aren’t living if you don’t put your heart on the line.

So care about your life and care about making it a great life.

The other day I wrote about using balance as a lens to address problems in your life. I think this could be used similarly. If you feel as if you are in a funk, ask yourself what you’re doing in each of these four categories.