Max Living

“Endurance and to be able to endure is the first lesson a child should learn because it’s the one they will most need to know.”
—Jean Jacques Rousseau

By Mark Brown
Imagine you received a dire diagnosis that you had only a short time to live. How would you feel? What would you do? Would you feel cheated? What would you tell people?
Randy Pausch received such a diagnosis. His story is well known to most people, and this week’s book, The Last Lecture, has [...]

By Mark Brown
This little journey we’re on that we call life takes some interesting turns. Sometimes we reach a new summit and the view is breathtaking, only to later find ourselves in another valley, unsure of where the road is leading.
To end up on peaks of significance, the key is to take time and find [...]

What motivates you? The answer might surprise you.
Research has shown that money motivates well for rudimentary tasks but isn’t that effective for more complex work.
What we really crave is self-direction, mastery and the desire to make a contribution.

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What epitaph would you like on your tombstone?
Think with the end in mind and be proactive, not reactive.
Only then will you change and create using your imagination, conscience and willpower.

*If you’re reading this in an RSS reader or e-mail, you may need to click the title of the post to view the video [...]

By Greg Fullerton
In his classic Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington tells the following story about Frederick Douglass.
Douglass was once traveling and was forced, on account of his skin color, to ride in the baggage car, in spite of the fact that he had paid the same price for his passage that the other passengers [...]

By Greg Fullerton
At the age of 17 Benjamin Franklin felt like a failure. He sat down and asked himself what his highest priorities were and what he valued the most.
He came up with the following 12 “virtues”:

TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid [...]

In contrast to yesterday’s prayer, here’s a Franciscan benediction to ponder:
May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To [...]

“If your life’s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough.”
- Wes Jackson, named by Smithsonian Magazine as one of 35 “Innovators of Our Time.”
What’s your life’s work? Share with the community by commenting below.

George Washington Carver managed to succeed against all odds.
Separated from his parents by slavery, he grew up an orphan. As a child, his health was so poor he was given “women’s work” — washing clothes and cleaning — by the white farmer, Moses Carver, who took him in.
The Carvers couldn’t afford to send George to [...]