Jeremy's Reviews > Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life

I read this ironically, but I have to admit, it was actually a pretty sick audiobook.

At the opening he says he's in his home studio, so you may hear his pig Schnitzel come in the room. His conversational style creates a funny sense of intimacy, as if the Governator himself is sitting at your kitchen table, telling you what he learned about life while he was shooting the Terminator with "Jim".

Content wise there isn't anything revolutionary, but I think that's as it should be. I don't think the basic principles of being a useful, positive, healthy person should be that complicated or novel. I really loved the way he breaks down the process of creating a vision and purpose, and how you can work towards it in small steps and slowly hone in on it.

The way Arnold delivers his message is really what makes this book great. His voice, his humour, drawing from his own extraordinary journey--it worked for me! I found myself feeling more motivated, and I even found that throughout my days while reading this, I would actually put into practice some of the things he was telling me about. I've had my girlfriend occasionally give me similar advice, but she's not nearly as muscular or as German.

I don't especially like his movies, or his politics, or even care about bodybuilding, but somehow I found myself connecting with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I've always been the kind of person who sort of forges his own weird path, and walk this line of people laughing with me/at me, which I am aware of and use to my advantage. If a puny baby man such as myself can learn from Arnold, why not you?