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Be Useful

Seven Tools for Life

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The seven rules to follow to realize your true purpose in life—distilled by Arnold Schwarzenegger from his own journey of ceaseless reinvention and extraordinary achievement, and available for absolutely anyone.

The world’s greatest bodybuilder. The world’s highest-paid movie star. The leader of the world’s sixth-largest economy. That these are the same person sounds like the setup to a joke, but this is no joke. This is Arnold Schwarzenegger. And this did not happen by accident.
 
Arnold’s stratospheric success happened as part of a process. As the result of clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back. All of it guided by the one lesson Arnold’s father hammered into him above all: be useful. As Arnold conquered every realm he entered, he kept his father’s adage close to his heart.
 
Written with his uniquely earnest, blunt, powerful voice, Be Useful takes readers on an inspirational tour through Arnold’s tool kit for a meaningful life. He shows us how to put those tools to work, in service of whatever fulfilling future we can dream up for ourselves. He brings his insights to vivid life with compelling personal stories, life-changing successes and life-threatening failures alike—some of them famous; some told here for the first time ever.
 
Too many of us struggle to disconnect from our self-pity and connect to our purpose. At an early age, Arnold forged the mental tools to build the ladder out of the poverty and narrow-mindedness of his rural Austrian hometown, tools he used to add rung after rung from there. Now he shares that wisdom with all of us. As he puts it, no one is going to come rescue you—you only have yourself. The good news, it turns out, is that you are all you need.
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    • Kirkus

      August 1, 2023
      The famous actor and former governor argues that vision, hard work, and resilience are the answers to social decay. Schwarzenegger, now 75, is a difficult figure to categorize. Many observers see him as a hypermasculine clich�. Others, after his period as governor of California, see him as a chameleon who spouted conservative rhetoric while implementing liberal policies. All these people will be surprised by this book, in which he distills his journey to success into a self-help manual. The book is not an autobiography; he has already written the story of his life in his 2012 book, Total Recall--although he often draws on personal experiences. The author is worried about the growing number of lost, lonely, and depressed people. He emphasizes that success is whatever each person wants it to be, but the common requirements are a clear vision, work ethic, resilience, a capacity for continual learning, and, ultimately, a willingness to use success as a way to help others. As governor, he increased funding for vocational training, and he believes that many people find their life purpose in making and building things. As for goals, he advises against having a Plan B because it often leads to the failure of Plan A. His references to his achievements can seem boastful (a problem that plagued his memoir), although he makes a point of thanking his mentors, Hollywood colleagues, friends, and even his ex-wife, and his accomplishments are hard to deny. Some readers, however, might argue with his view that success is a matter of positive thinking while ignoring structural impediments. In any case, the text is a solid read, and Schwarzenegger does not shy away from using colorful language to get his point across. It might not have all the answers for social recovery, but it is not a bad place to start. Schwarzenegger unpacks the tools for success with a wry sense of humor and broad view of the world.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 21, 2023
      Schwarzenegger (Total Recall) shares in this pragmatic and plainspoken guide the life lessons that fueled his success as a bodybuilder, actor, and governor of California from 2003 to 2011. Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in a remote Austrian village in a house without running water, Schwarzenegger was driven by crystal-clear visions of success (“I could see myself on the top step of the podium holding the winner’s trophy.... I could see the crowd going wild”) to train harder than his peers at the gym, and advises readers that they too must “have a clear picture of what you want your life to look like and a plan for how” to achieve it (“the people who feel most lost have neither.... They look in the mirror and they wonder, ‘How the hell did I get here?’ ”). Elsewhere, he emphasizes that nothing worthwhile is gained without effort, noting that he dutifully stuck to a regimen of dedicated “reps” in his bodybuilding training, as well as his gubernatorial speech prep. To that end, pain is useful because it “tells you whether you’ve begun to give enough of yourself in pursuit of your dreams.” While Schwarzenegger’s principles (and boundless enthusiasm for old-fashioned grit and hard work) aren’t revolutionary, readers will welcome his can-do approach and easily understood (if harder to implement) guidance. This gets the job done.

    • Library Journal

      September 22, 2023

      Schwarzenegger (Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story), a champion bodybuilder, movie star, philanthropist, and former governor of California (2003-11), gives his motivational recipe for a fulfilling life. Using his varied and multiple careers as examples, he first stresses the importance of taking the time to develop a clear, strategic, and expansive but focused vision. Once a goal has been established, the book emphasizes the importance of hard work, efficiency, self-promotion, and a reassessment of outdated thinking. This title shows the benefit of honestly accepting failures and using them as incentives to move forward. It also highlights the value of listening, learning, and incorporating the experiences of others and the advantage of action-oriented positive thinking. But some readers may find it surprising and unnecessary when Schwarzenegger dismisses the worth of a college education. There's also no mention of his affair with his housekeeper, his divorce, or his admission of decades of sexual misconduct. The book concludes with his emphasis on the critical significance of working with peers and giving back to the community. VERDICT Schwarzenegger provides a useful, logical, and sometimes humorous blueprint for general readers to achieve a successful and satisfying life, although he chooses to avoid talking about his own misconduct.--Dr. Dave Szatmary

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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