Arnold Schwarzenegger Says a Happy Life Boils Down to These 4 Words and Psychology Agrees With Him

“It’s wild if you think about it, how many people are unhappy. How many people are angry,” Arnold Schwarzenegger remarked on a recent podcast.

Look around at social media, politics, or the news and you’re likely to agree with the bodybuilding champ-turned-movie star-turned-governor of California.

But not Arnie. ”I was always happy,” he continued.

Whether he was lifting weights for five hours a day or trying to hack a path through the thicket of California politics, Schwarzenegger claims he was consistently happy. What allowed him to maintain a positive outlook despite personal setbacks and tough jobs? In his book Be Useful, Schwarzenegger boils down his philosophy to just four words.

You might think a simple mantra is too flimsy a thing to be actually meaningful in the face of real-life struggle. But according to top psychologists, the Governator actually manages to capture profound truths about human flourishing in one quick motto.

Visiting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s birthplace

Several years ago I had a friend who was temporarily living in Graz, Austria, for work. Graz is, famously, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hometown, so when I…