Recommended Reading: “Live Like You Mean It” by T.J. Addington

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers of our time, once remarked, “It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” Einstein understood the value of intentional and prolonged scientific inquiry. And he credits his professional success to his inquisitive drive. When it comes to questions of life purpose, those can be the most profound—and often the most neglected.

Recently, my friend, T.J. Addington, has written a helpful book to stir your inquisitive spirit. Live Like You Mean It (NavPress, 2010) offers, as the subtitle suggests, the “ten crucial questions that will help you clarify your purpose, live intentionally and make the most of the rest of your life.” As a personal development resource, it is concise and easy to read; absent of the literary dross that’s often found in other similar works. Live Like You Mean It offers just enough context to zero your focus on the critical questions, then gets out of the way so you can do your thinking. As the book suggests, questions of purpose and gifting are often best explored in community, and each chapter concludes with helpful questions that are well suited for group discussion.

T.J. Addington is the executive leader of international missions for the Evangelical Free Church of America. He is one of the most personally inspiring and intentional men that I know. In fact, I interviewed him about intentional living for a BoldMan Chronicles article nearly six years ago (read that interview). His inspiration to write Live Like You Mean It followed a traumatic 42-day hospital stay where 32 of them were in the intensive care unit in a coma and on a ventilator from complications related to a highly resistant strain of pneumonia. In the wake of that crisis, his passion for making the most of every opportunity intensified, girded by the renewed truth that every day is a gift of grace from God. Live Like You Mean It is the byproduct of a lifetime of “staying with the questions” which will help you do the same and make every day count.