Imagine becoming the greatest athlete in your field, moving to another country, learning its language, becoming a world champion, a successful real estate investor, movie star, marrying into one of the country’s most famous families, and eventually holding the highest public office in your state.
Pretty remarkable, right?
Today we’re talking about a man that needs no introduction: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I recently listened to Arnold’s 2012 autobiography “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story”.
The title delivered what it promised; a truly unbelievable road to success. While I encourage you check out the book in its entirety, particularly by listening on Audible.com, I would like to share some lessons learned about Schwarzenegger’s road to success.
Where you start is not where you have to end up
Few people realize that Arnold started life as a poor Austrian farm boy. He came from a rural area, born into a modest family that didn’t have modern plumbing. His father was a troubled World War II vet and local police officer. He could never be accused as having been born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth.
There is a lot of talk these days about wealth inequality and the disparity between the “haves and have-nots”. While it’s very true that there is imbalance in the world, stories like this one demonstrate that the human spirit is capable of accomplishing amazing feats against all odds.
In Arnold’s case, he took matters into his own hands. When he realized that his village in Austria didn’t offer the opportunity he was looking for, he moved to Germany. When he reached Germany, he realized that he ultimately needed to move to the United States to achieve his dream.
He was prudent with the little money he had and was a spend thrift even as he began to achieve success. When he did have money to spend, he oriented it at buying his first real asset: an apartment building.
Focus is the most important aspect of success
Arnold was introduced to weight lifting during his adolescence and it became his primary focus.
There is a funny anecdote in the book where Arnold’s mother begins to worry about him after seeing his wall adorned with pictures of half-naked male bodybuilders from magazines. She questioned his sexuality and actually asked a doctor about it who assured her that Arnold was simply idolizing these athletic figures.
What Arnold was doing was focusing his attention on his goals and aspirations. That singularity of focus is what drove him to “do the reps” as he often says throughout his book.
Arnold employed a tool commonly known as “visualization” to mentally drive himself towards his goals.
He often hung pictures around his living space to help his focus and he would mentally rehearse the success he EXPECTED to have. He constantly employed these techniques to drive uncertainty out of his mind and to build his confidence.
Ask yourself this: When faced with challenges to your goals and aspirations, do you expect success or failure? Your answer to this question can tell you a lot about yourself.
There is no pinnacle
Given that Arnold’s ultimate long-term goal was to become Mr. Olympia, you would think this title would be enough success.
It wasn’t.
He is a 7-time Mr. Olympia and 5-time Mr. Universe.
Few know that during his bodybuilding days he also began to invest in real estate.
As Arnold tells the story, while others were buying homes, he bought an apartment building.
Arnold’s other major goal was to pivot his bodybuilding success into a film career.
He achieved this goal by becoming one of the biggest action movie stars of the 1980s. The interesting thing about his film career is that he realized that he would be pigeon holed as simply an action character unless he changed course.
To expand his horizons, he took the plunge into comedy.
Perhaps one of his most famous and successful comedy endeavors was the movie “Twins” where he starred with Danny DeVito as long lost, non-identical twins.
The terms of this deal were negotiated in a way that gave him a piece of all revenue from the film instead of a salary.
The movie was wildly successful and he still collects royalties on that film to this day.
Arnold’s success didn’t stop with just bodybuilding and films.
He found himself drawn to politics and was eventually appointed to the President’s Council for Physical Fitness. Later, he would go on to run and win the gubernatorial special election that recalled Gov. Gray Davis in California during 2003.
The road to success is not a straight one
Perhaps the best lesson we can all learn from the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger is that the road to success is not a straight one; it winds, rolls through valleys, and has the occasional roadblock.
Arnold came from humble roots and was drawn to a world of bodybuilding that was not particularly popular. His success was a major driver in that sport being what it is today.
Arnold’s film career success was an unlikely one.
Producers told him that his lack of English, his accent, and his name would all make it impossible to be successful.
Arnold took classes on English, as well as acting, to help overcome this. He was persistent in pursuing movie parts and he never compromised on the types of roles that he wanted.
Maybe the most inspiring pearl of wisdom Schwarzenegger shares in his book is that he believes in turning “liabilities into assets”.
He took the negative things people said about him and used them to his advantage.
His un-American sounding name and accent became a brand that gave him Hollywood success.
His lack of political experience made him an exciting candidate for Governor in California.
Schwarzenegger lost bodybuilding competitions, didn’t get picked for roles he wanted, got bad scripts, had investment deals that didn’t work out, had open heart surgery that almost ended his movie career, and political missteps that made his approval rating plummet while Governor of California.
None of these things stopped him from driving forward.
Success is impressive, but considering the obstacles that were overcome in order to achieve that success is far more interesting and useful to learn from.
Get your copy of “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story” on Amazon or via Audible.com with a 30-day trial.
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