Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Oct 2023 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Arnold Schwarzenegger

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

I really enjoyed the book. There were definitely a few parts that made me laugh out loud! There were also some very useful nuggets to take away. As accomplished as I may be, there's always room to do more and other ways to continue to be useful. I like the way Arnold transitions from being useful to yourself, to being useful for others. The beautiful part about this whole concept is it's still ultimately benefits the self. A win-win. This is one of my first audio books and I really enjoyed listening to Arnold's voice Read this to me. I felt like I was at a lecture watching and listening to him. I have a really busy schedule so the audiobook was perfect. I was able to consume it in small bites. As Arnold points out in his book, everybody has at least an hour a day to work out or work towards your vision. Even if I only found 25 minutes in the car on the way to work, I was able to listen to this book and think about other ways to be useful and achieve my next goal. Thank you Arnold!

this is the first audiobook I've ever purchased and listened to. It has been VERY inspirational and has already started to help me in life. The best part is Arnold reads the whole thing! I have been listening while at work, and it is almost like he is here hanging out with me since the whole book is him reading. I read review on other books, and they don't have the author reading, which is less genuine. I have already recommended this book to others even before I got halfway through listening to it. it would be nice if I could sit with him in person someday, share my goals and achieve goals, and then include how his book will help me achieve my next goals.

Arnold has such an encouraging and compassionate voice. As he mentions in the audio book, listening to the author read aloud to the listener, it creates a relationship between the two. This isn't a lecture to a grand audience from a professor. This is a heart to heart conversation between you and a simple man who simply wants you to be better.

About the author

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-born bodybuilder, actor, businessman, philanthropist, bestselling author, and politician. He served as the thirty-eighth governor of California.