Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger is a quick and fascinating read. From his life’s experiences, Schwarzenegger lays out how he was able to achieve so much while coming from humble beginnings.
Schwarzenegger begins with having a clear vision. If you don’t have it, then start with creating little goals and keep completing them; day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. The process never ends as life is a continuous journey of growth.
In Austria, Schwarzenegger got inspired by then famous bodybuilder and made it his goal to become the best in the field. So he went from vision to action. He felt passionate about bodybuilding. Thus, he felt like it wasn’t a matter of discipline for him to go to the gym as he loved doing it.
Dream big. Ignore naysayers. He used any kind of negativity into motivation. No plan Bs as that would be already setting plan A for failure.
“Fulfilling a dream gives you the power to see further and deeper – further out into the world toward what is possible, and deeper into yourself to what you are capable of.”
“I learned that the only limits that truly exist are in our minds.”
The will to work is important part. You have to be diligent and consistent in your work.
After retiring from bodybuilding, he went into acting, then politics, and now philanthropy as you need to continue setting new goals.
His harsh childhood didn’t break his spirit, it rather helped him to find his passion and purpose. He chose the higher road and became his own creator, rather than taking a negative approach and blaming the system. I find his story and his ethics to make something of himself very inspiring.
My favorite chapter-title is “Shut Your Mouth, Open Your Mind.” In this chapter, he talks about the lesson he received from his first mentor who supported him in his dream of bodybuilding, who told him that he “can’t just be hungry for success and money and fame and muscles. We have to be hungry for knowledge as well… the world was the ultimate classroom, and that we need to be like a sponge, soaking up as much of it as we could…always be curious…it was better to ask good questions than to make smart statements.” Listen, learn, and grow.
I set to write a short review, but Schwarzenegger’s life’s journey is truly fascinating, how he propelled himself up, his high ethics, and the phenomenal drive to achieve unimaginable. This non-fiction is filled with his life’s stories which support what he aspired to do and continues to do.
Published in October 2023 by Penguin Press
TRENDING INSPIRATION:
Be Useful
Traits:
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Have a clear vision of your goal
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You need to go from vision to action
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Be passionate about your goal
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Be disciplined
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Be diligent
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Be useful
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Life is a continuous journey of experiences
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Dream big
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Ignore naysayers
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Only plan A. No plan B
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The limits are in your mind
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Be hungry for knowledge
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Listen, learn, and grow
"I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become." Carl Jung
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