I read this first thing today and it make me think this:

If you can think of a situation where you’ve been told there is a “maximum” on what you can do, get out. Immediately.

Now, there is a difference between just following the rules – “this is your max number of vacation days”; “this is the max amount of time for this phone call”; “this is the maximum withdrawal of funds in one day” – and knowing when you’re just being held down. Unfortunately, I’ve never been very good at following [stupid, senseless, obscure] rules, so I don’t know what that difference is. But, as I approach 30 in less than a month, I can tell you that there aren’t many “maximums” created to help elevate you – your career, your ideas, your relationships (hello, religion?) or your self-esteem. But that’s just been my experience and I want to pass on this bit of information, with no maximum on honesty.

Some of you will disagree with me – totally fair, of course – and say that rules are put in place for a reason, there must be maximums! or how will we know when we’ve gone too far?

Well, wouldn’t it be nice – just think of it for a moment – to set your own maximums based on your own trial and error? If every person in history obeyed the “maximums” put in place by people before them (dripping with past agendas) well, we might not know what the surface of the moon looks like; we might never know what it really means to “drag and drop” on our computers; we might never know what happens when you move to the front of the bus anyway or stalk the front steps of government buildings to earn the right to vote.

If you pay attention to ‘their’ max, you’ll surely never discover your own.