You’ve no doubt heard the phrase, a muscle never stretched never grows. The big challenge we all face is how to become all that we can be. That’s why the late Jim Rohn often said, “You can have more because you can become more—and unless you change how you are, you will always have what you’ve got.”

And he’s right. You know how good it feels to maximize your own potential and stretch yourself to the limit. In this excerpt from a 2001 presentation by Jim Rohn to thousands, the motivational thought leader shares four powerful words that can make living worthwhile:

1. Life is worthwhile if you LEARN.

You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. What you don’t know will hurt you. So you have to learn from your own experiences—negative or positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong—we call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people’s experiences, both positive and negative, too. I’ve always said that it is too bad failures don’t give seminars. Obviously, we don’t want to pay them so they aren’t usually touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable—we would learn how someone who had it all messed it up. Learning from other people’s adventures and mistakes is valuable information because we can learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.

We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by what we hear, so be a good listener. (Now, I do suggest that you should be a selective listener; don’t just let anybody dump into your mental factory.) We learn from what we read, so open a book (or two or three). Learn from lectures. Learn from songs. Learn from sermons. Learn from conversations with people who care. Always keep learning.

Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.

2. Life is worthwhile if you TRY.

You can’t just learn. Now you have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference. Try to make some progress. Try to learn a new skill, or a new sport. It doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Why not go all out? Try your best. Give it every effort.

How long should you try? Until.

3. Life is worthwhile if you STAY.

You have to stay from spring until harvest. What does that mean? If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project, see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up—and that’s the end. But just don’t end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, stay until it’s finished—and always leave it better than you found it.

Some people plant in the spring and leave in the summer. If you’ve signed up for a season, see it through. You don’t have to stay forever, but at least stay until you see it through.

4. Life is worthwhile if you CARE.

If you care at all, you will get some results. If you care enough, you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.

The more you care, the stronger you can be.

Photo by Stephan Seeber / Unsplash