How to Succeed at Anything

7 Must Read Life Lessons From Mark Twain

Twain is well-known for his novel, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” which some refer to as the “Great American Novel,” he’s also well-known for his novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” my personal favorite.

Twain was an extremely popular personality during his day; he made friends with presidents and even European royalty. Twain was a very witty fellow, his wit and satire earned him the respect of his friends as well as his enemies.

William Faulkner once called Mark Twain, “the father of American literature.” There are many things that we can learn from Mark Twain.

7 Must-Read Life Lessons From Mark Twain:

1. Ignorance and Confidence – A Winning Combination

“All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.”

You need enough ignorance to believe the impossible is possible, and enough confidence to turn the impossibility into a reality. The Wright Brothers were ignorant enough to think that man could fly, and confident enough to make it happen. Napoleon Hill said, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, you have the ability to achieve.” Ignorance and confidence can truly be a winning combination.

2. Readers are Leaders

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.”

Plato said, “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.” Do you realize that you can read a book and learn in three hours what took someone 20 years to learn. You can literally pick someone’s brain through reading; you can pick knowledge, pick truth. Learn to cultivate the joy of reading.

3. First Things First

“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

The main thing is always to keep the main thing the main thing. Don’t become so consumed with being busy that for forget the main thing. You should always be asking yourself, “does this activity have to be done right now,” “is this the best use of my time,” “is this activity in alignment with my goals.” Learn to differentiate between productivity and progress every single hour of the day.

4. Fight

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

How much “fight” do you have in you? To succeed, to do what’s never been done before requires an enormous amount of fight, grit, and unrelenting tenacity. Do you have enough fight to finish the race? Remember, the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to the one who endures until the end.

5. The Power of Planning

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

That’s what I call planning! Never underestimate the power of a plan. A good plan is half the work. Success and failure is often determined by the possession of an actionable plan (even if that plan is for an impromptu speech).

An Example: If you find someone who keeps their body in peak condition, you’ll discover that they have a plan. They know exactly how many carbohydrates they will eat on Tuesday. They know exactly how many grams of protein they will take in on Friday.

Do you have a plan? You will only be as successful as your plan.

Planned lives are productive lives.

6. Be Courageous

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

I love this quote. Are you mastering your fear? Are you doing what “they” say can’t be done. Are you facing your fears and conquering them. Life is too short to spend it running away from illusions. Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

7. Recognize Your Genius

“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.”

Everyone is born a genius, but only a few ever realize it. Everyone is born a genius, but the process of life deludes that genius.

Learn to tap into your genius, there’s something that you can do better than anyone else, discover it, pursue it, and we will call you a genius too.

Thank you for reading mrselfdevelopment.com where every article expands your mind, increases your faith, and changes your life.

马克·吐温的7堂必上人生课

萨缪尔·兰亨·克莱门是一位伟大的美国作家，他的笔名马克·吐温更为人熟知。

吐温的小说广为人知，他的小说《哈克贝利费恩历险记》被誉为“伟大的美国小说”。他的另一著名小说《汤姆索亚历险记》是我的最爱。

吐温在他的年代是个炙手可热的人物。他和总统交朋友，甚至结交欧洲贵族。吐温是个机智的家伙，他的机智风趣让他无论在朋友圈中还是敌人眼中都赢得了尊重。

威廉·福克纳曾把马克·吐温称为“美国文学之父”。在马克·吐温身上我们能学到许多东西。

马克·吐温的7堂必上人生课

1.无知和自信——一个成功的组合

“想要成功，那么你需要的就是无知和自信。”

你需要足够的无知来相信不可能是可能的，并且对于把不可能转换成现实信心满腹。怀特兄弟无知到认为人可以飞，自信到让这个想法发生。拿破仑·希尔曾说“你能想到什么，就能做到什么”。无知和自信真的可以称为一个成功的组合。

2.读者就是领导者

“不读好书的人比读不了好书的人强不到哪去。”

柏拉图曾说：“花点时间阅读他人的写作以提高自己，这样你就可以轻松的得到他人辛勤耕耘的硕果了。”你认识到你可以通过读一本书然后花三个小时去学习别人用二十年学到的东西吗？通过阅读，你的确可以获得他人的智慧，知识和真理。学着去发掘阅读的快乐。

3.重要的事情先办

“不要把后天要做的事硬推到明天去做。”

重要的事情先办，这一点很关键。不要为奔波而奔波却忘了最重要的事。你要不断的问自己：“这件事非要现在就做吗？”“这样做能最有效的利用时间吗？”“这件事跟我的目标有关联吗？”学会时时刻刻在生产效率和取得进展之间进行鉴别。

4. 战斗

“在战斗中关键的不是两只狗的大小，而是他们打斗的激烈程度。”

在你的内心中又多少“战斗”？做一件从未做过的事需要做大量的心理斗争，无畏的勇气和持续不断的坚韧意志。你为比赛做足心理斗争了吗？切记比赛的赢家不是行动敏捷者，战争的胜者也非体格强壮者，而是坚持到最后的那个人。

5.计划的力量

“我通常要花上三个星期来准备一场即兴演讲。”

那就是我所说的计划！永远都别低估它的力量。良好的计划是成功的一半。成败与否常常取决于是否有一份可行性计划（即使那个计划是为了一次即兴演讲）。

例如，你发现一个人总是精神焕发，你就会发掘他有一份饮食计划。他们知道星期二该摄取碳水化合物的确切数量，他们也知道星期五该吃多少克蛋白质。

你有一份计划吗？你有怎样的计划决定你取得怎样的成就。

有计划的人生是富有成效的人生。

6. 勇者无敌

“勇气是用来抵抗恐惧，掌控恐惧的，而不是叫人无所畏惧。”

我喜爱这则名言。你掌控了你的恐惧了吗？你正做着“他们”说的不可能完成的事吗？你正面对你的恐惧并且正战胜它吗？生命如此短暂，让它白白从幻觉中溜走实在可惜。马克·吐温说，“从现在起今后的二十年，那些你没去做的事远比你付诸行动的事令你失望的多。所以甩开帆脚锁，从安全港启航，抓住你的信风，去探索，去梦想，去发现。”

7.认识到你的天赋

“成千上万的天才来世上走了一遭却被埋没了，有的因为别人，有的是他们自己造成的。”

每个人都生就一种天赋，但仅仅少数人曾发觉这一点。每个人都生就一种天赋，但生命的过程会减损那种天赋。

学着发现你的天赋，有些事你会比别人做的更好，发现它，并且去追求它，我们也会叫你天才。

感谢阅读mrselfdevelopment.com，这里提供的每一篇文章都旨在开拓你的视野，增长你的信心和改变你的生活。