Be Useful

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.