Subtitled: Seven Tools For Life
Yep, this is written by the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger – world-class bodybuilder, movie star, governor of California, philanthropist and so much more.
I’m usually not a big fan of personal development books written by celebrities but something about this one grabbed my attention. I’m glad I listened to that intuition as this was definitely an interesting read. I’d also imagine it’s fun as an audiobook as well – hearing Arnold himself as he shares stories and advice.
And to that point, it’s part memoir, part personal development book. To illustrate each of the seven tools, he uses very specific stories from his life, mainly from the work side of his life. So we do get a behind-the-scenes look at his time in each of the big chapters of his career – bodybuilder, movie star, governor.
The tools themselves are pretty standard, but it’s helpful to hear how someone who’s so famous has used these in his own life.
Those tools?
- Have a clear vision
- Never think small
- Work your ass off (In my head I hear that Arnold’s voice – not mine)
- Sell, sell, sell
- Shift gears
- Shut your mouth, open your mind
- Break your mirrors
Just the title is enough to get the gist of most of the tools, but let’s get a little deeper into one that has a vague title: break your mirrors.
That phrase was one Arnold picked up from his former father-in-law Sargent Shriver – who was very service oriented, founding many charitable organizations such as Peace Corps and Head Start, and chairing many others including Special Olympics. Break your mirrors is a call to go from being self-centered to other-centered – to stop looking at ourselves – to break our mirrors – and instead look to help others.
Arnold describes how he loves helping other people, telling us several special stories about how and what he feels when doing so, even in the entertainment and political arenas, which aren’t especially known for putting others first.
He references academic studies which provide ‘proof’ of how beneficial it is to help others. And then he introduced me to the term “helper’s high” – a phenomenon researchers found in those who do serve. It’s that state of euphoria we often get when we serve others. Those heartwarming, uplifting feeling can be so powerful they even have a name for it. That’s definitely one of the tidbits I’ll be taking away from this book – how beneficial it is to me and to others when I feel the ‘high’ that comes from serving!
Some other takeaways for me are really reinforcements – this book reinforced my positive view of Arnold as well as reinforced how important it is to feel and be useful to those around us.
Have you read or will you read this book? If so, let me know what your top takeaways are!
