Over my career I’ve read a few hundred business, coaching, productivity, self-help, and leadership-oriented books. There’s a common pattern. A hero’s voyage, if you will.

The promise is “do the thing I did, and if you’ve got enough grit and just don’t give up, you’ll be successful like me.” Which is utter nonsense. Circumstances change, markets consolidate, technology advances, time moves on.

Predicting the future, timing a market, or creating value is and always has been hard. As Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Yes, putting in the work will beat talent every day of the week. Yes, persistence has a way of making luck. Yes, showing up, on time, and ready to work day after day can make you very lucky.

Which makes me wonder why all the talented and hard-working people I know are not among the pantheon of business gods. Perhaps most of us didn’t have parents that were connected to the CEO of IBM (Bill Gates), or had a family emerald mine in South Africa (Elon Musk). Yet the self-made, lone genius narrative persists.

Sometimes we just need to acknowledge the role that luck, timing, relationships, or being born to the right parents plays in the success (or not) of most peoples lives. Otherwise we risk falling prey to the “just world fallacy“. 

On the other hand, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Be Useful – Seven Tools for Life” shows a modicum of self-awareness and gratitude. Which means that his book is actually, well, somewhat useful, and not entirely full of B.S.

Yes, Arnie has a big ego, and given where he came from and all that he’s accomplished, he spends remarkably little time blowing sunshine up his own skirt. He wasn’t born to the right parents, at the right time, or in the right place. But he made his place in the world, and now he wants to share what he learned.

Is there anything new, exciting, or mind-blowing in his advice? Not that I can tell. But it is a nice consolidated package, easily read, understood, and applicable. Stripped down to the essentials. The 20% of leadership advice that gives you 80% of the benefit. It’s not hard to find the take-away in his stories that are applicable in your own life.  

I especially appreciated the reminder to take out my earphones at some point every day, and be quiet and thoughtful. Be comfortable in my own skin. Give myself the space and time to reflect on my own past, present, and future. Turns out I’m not bad company, and the time spent reflecting helps me create clarity, vision, and momentum.

My favourite chapter was the last chapter: “Break Your Mirrors“. He acknowledges everyone who helped him in his body-building, acting, political, and philanthropic careers. He is very clear that he doesn’t consider himself a self-made man, and that the concept of “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps” is absurd to him. 

More successful people would do well to do the same before they inflict another  book on the world.

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