Be Useful
Seven Tools for Life
About the book
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by Arnold Schwarzenegger | Penguin Press ©2023 |
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288Â pages |
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7 hours saved on average by reading this note |
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brian’s take
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a FASCINATING human being and this is a fantastic book. I basically read it in one sitting one fine Sunday in between supporting Emerson during one of his recent chess tournaments. I watched Arnold’s inspiring documentary on Netflix so when I saw he released this book, I immediately got it, read it, and here we are. I highly recommend the book. Unless you’ve been in seclusion in the Himalayas for the last fifty years, you know who Arnold Schwarzenegger is. The young Arnold dominated the bodybuilding world then he became a leading man in Hollywood before serving for eight years as California’s 38th governor. In this book, he tells us about the seven tools he encourages us to use to create a life of deep meaning and purpose and to, in short... BE USEFUL. The book is packed with Big Ideas. I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s get to work.
"Granted, I am a lunatic. I don’t do anything like a normal person. I don’t have normal dreams. My risk tolerance for big goals and new challenges is sky high. Everything I do, I do big.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
big ideas
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Have a Clear Vision—Skip the Secret |
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Think Big. Succeed. Repeat. |
03 |
Work Your Butt Off |
04 |
Don’t Complain about It. Do Something about It. |
05 |
Break Your Mirrors |
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Be Useful
introduction
from the book
“This book is called Be Useful because that is the best piece of advice my father ever gave me. It has stuck in my brain and never left, and my hope is that the advice I am offering you in the pages that follow will do the same thing.Â
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Being useful was also the motivating force behind all my decisions, and the organizing force around the tools I used to make them. Being a bodybuilding champion, being a millionaire leading man, being a public servant—those were my goals, but they were not what motivated me. …
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I wrote this book to honor those words and pay forward his advice. I wrote it in appreciation for the years I’ve had that he didn’t, which I’ve used to make amends, to climb back from the bottom, and to build the fourth act of my life. I wrote this book because I believe that anyone can benefit from the tools I’ve used through every phase of my life, and that all of us need a reliable road map for the kind of life we’ve always wanted to live.
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But most of all, I wrote it because everybody needs to be useful.”
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Arnold Schwarzenegger is a FASCINATING human being and this is a fantastic book.
I basically read it in one sitting one fine Sunday in between supporting Emerson during one of his recent chess tournaments. I watched Arnold’s inspiring documentary on Netflix so when I saw he released this book, I immediately got it, read it, and here we are.
I highly recommend the book. Get a copy here.
Unless you’ve been in seclusion in the Himalayas for the last fifty years, you know who Arnold Schwarzenegger is. The young Arnold dominated the bodybuilding world then he became a leading man in Hollywood before serving for eight years as California’s 38th governor.
In this book, he tells us about the seven tools he encourages us to use to create a life of deep meaning and purpose and to, in short... BE USEFUL.
The book is packed with Big Ideas. I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s get to work.
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