By: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Context: 7 tools for living a great life with purpose and joy, which Arnold has discovered.

Highlights

Arnold envisions this current stage of his life as the 4th act: bodybuilder, actor, governor, and now motivational / self-help guy

Arnold’s most core principle that he learned from his father was to “Be Useful”, which I interpret as keep moving & keep creating value

• other’s (including his father) won’t agree with your version of “being useful”
• good advice doesn’t tell you what to build, it shows you how to build and why it matters

How he synthesizes the lessons of this toolkit:

• knowing where you want to go & how you will get there
• having the willingness to do the hard work to get there
• communicating to your family & friends that this long journey will be worth the effort
• shift gears when you hit a roadblock
• keeping an open mind and learning from your surroundings & failures to find a new way thru
• once you get to your goal, acknowledging all the people who helped you and giving back

I find an interesting connection here to Dr. Paul Conti’s 2 pillars of mental health: