Mark Twain’s Top 9 Tips for Living a Kick-Ass Life
May 27, 2023
“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”
“Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
“When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old.”
You may know Mark Twain for some of his very popular books like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He was a writer and also a humorist, satirist and lecturer.
Twain is known for his many – and often funny – quotes. Here are a few of my favourite tips from him.
1. Approve of yourself.
“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”
If you don’t approve of yourself, of your behaviour and actions then you’ll probably walk around most of the day with a sort of uncomfortable feeling. If you, on the other hand, approve of yourself then you tend to become relaxed and gain inner freedom to do more of what you really want.
This can, in a related way, be a big obstacle in personal growth. You may have all the right tools to grow in some way but you feel an inner resistance. You can’t get there.
What you may be bumping into there are success barriers. You are putting up barriers in your own mind of what you may or may not deserve. Or barriers that tell you what you are capable of. They might tell you that you aren’t really that kind of person that could this thing that you’re attempting.
Or if you make some headway in the direction you want to go you may start to sabotage for yourself. To keep yourself in a place that is familiar for you.
So you need give yourself approval and allow yourself to be who you want to be. Not look for the approval from others. But from yourself. To dissolve that inner barrier or let go of that self-sabotaging tendency. This is no easy task and it can take time.
Read the other 8 tips at the Positivity Blog!
Hi Travis,
I got to know about your blog from Peter of thechangeblog.
I listened to your podcasts,very inspirational.(your voice got lot of maturity).
This Tip of Mark Twain is a great one.Unless you approve and comfortable with yourself,who else will?
You should be first fan of yourself.
Great tip,thanks for sharing.
Best Wishes,
Kannan Viswagandhi
kannan viswagandhi’s last blog post..Persuasive Public Speaking - How to Persuade Your Audience Through Public Speaking
I don’t always approve of myself. And it is in those moments when I strive to better myself. If I’m not in the place I want to be, and then approve of myself anyways, this is not life enhancing. At least not for me.
Instead, I find it a lot more valuable for one to believe in oneself. This way, even if I don’t approve of myself at the given time — I *do* believe that I’m capable of getting to where I want to be. And this belief catapults me into action. The very action that will be the vehicle for true and authentic approval.
Thanks for the post and I think your absolutely right. Also, when you approve of yourself then your more willing to forgive yourself when you make mistakes. Since you referenced to Twain here is an interesting article from Whakate.com
“Twain’s Take on “Poor Richard” and “The Secret” (Opinion)”
http://www.whakate.com/lead-articles/twain-take-on-poor-richard-and-the-secret-opinion/
shari’s last blog post..Upcoming: What´s Wrong with GTD?
Thanks for the killer Tips! I’m sure I can learn a thing or two from this. It is amazing how easily we can overlook simple things until someone points ‘em out… Cheers! Nadeesha.
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