Philosophy Friday: If You Only Had 10 Years Left To Live

“If you had only 10 years left to live, what would you stop doing?”
– Jim Collins, Author of ‘Good to Great’

The question was provocatively posed by Jim Collins, one of the most successful business thinkers and authors of our age, on the Tim Ferriss podcast—Episode #483.

I found the question profound and worth reflecting on.

Ten years is sufficient for a couple of decent-sized life projects but not long enough to do much more than that. People have written a book or five, travelled the world, or turned a hobby into a business in a shorter time. It’s that perfect combination of scarcity and abundance. Here we have a different proposition to the standard ‘live every day as if it was your last‘. What could you do in a single day anyway?—Don’t go to work and kiss your loved ones goodbye. That is unlikely to be a successful long term strategy while you’re still young and healthy.

And let’s face it, none of us knows how much time we have left. Across my vast readership, myself included, there may be some for whom ten years would, in the end as it were, have been generous. And this is not just a concern for the older among us – death stalks all of us and can strike anyone down with a fatal accident or a terminal disease. So there is no time to be complacent. Time and tide wait for no man.

“Whatever can happen at any time can happen today.”
― Seneca, “On the Shortness of Life”

After reflection, I drew three conclusions:

Killing Time

It’s so easy to give into wasting time—Being bored and cruising Netflix or the web. Realising that realistically I may only have 10 years left crystalised in my mind that time is precious, and I shouldn’t waste any of it. Sure, we all know this already. However, it often feels like we want to suppress the thought that time runs out for everyone. As if not acknowledging this fact somehow changed the reality. No more.

A couple of years ago, I worked out that at the rate that I was reading books, about a handful a year, I would get to read fewer than 200 in my remaining life! At this rate, in ten years, I would read about 50 books, give or take. That’s a shockingly low figure! I want to read more than that. Consequently, I am replacing time-wasters with reading time. I feel better already.

Project work

Ten years is not much. But used well, it can be plenty. I have an important project that I would like to complete within five years. I make the time to work on it consistently. Make a little progress each day rather than much all at once. Consistency beats effort.

People

Humans are social creatures, and we live for each other. We might as well use the time with the people we love. Sooner or later, one of you will no longer be here. Money, success, meetings and working long hours—these will be of little comfort when a loved one is gone.

To wrap up, I found Jim’s question a wake-up call. I am in the process of changing my behaviour. I am not perfect, and that’s fine—it’s about getting better.

If you only had 10 years left, what would you stop doing? And what would you start doing?