On October 16, 2018 Arnold Wonderful Speech
I’m here to talk about success right and the wat we have set it up is that I’m going to talk about my first three rules right up here on stage. Then I’m going to sit down with Jen and he’s going to talk to me about next the last three rules basically that always have laid out that are the rule of success. Now let we get right away to the first rule of success. The first rule of success is to have a vision you see if you don’t have a vision of where you go and if you don’t have a goal where you go you drift around and you never end up anywhere. It’s like you can have the best ship in the world. You can have the best airplane in the world.
If the pilot or the captain doesn’t know where to go it would just drift around. He will not end up anywhere or most likely in a wrong place so, I was very fortunate that I stum on my vision I mean as you know I was born in 1947 in Austria after the second world war and I didn’t really like Austria. When I grew up I couldn’t wait to get out of there couldn’t see myself becoming a farmer or a worker in a factory or anything like that even through my parents wanted me to stay there and have a normal life. My father wanted me to become a police officer like he was. My mother wanted me just to stay there and marry a girl with the name of Heidi hopefully and have a bunch of kids and run around like the F trap family in the sound of music.
But that was their vision not mine my vision was totally different. I felt that I was born for something special for something unique for something big so, I was searching then one day I went to school. I remember I was 11 years old and they showed a documentary about America and there they showed in this documentary the huge skyscrapers the high-rises the huge Bridges the six lane freeways the huge cars with the wings sticking out and all of this stuff and and I said myself that’s where I want to be I don’t want to be around here with these little farm houses. And these little buildings and everything is old. I want to be in America but now the question was just how do you get to America in those days that was very expensive trip.
It’s not like today so again very fortunate that one day after school I walked by a store in grad which was called bru and it was the only that really sold kind of American stuff so one day they had jeans there American jeans and then had the bull walker and then had an expander and some bars and some dumbbells and an exercise bench in a window so, I went inside and i looked around and they looked at thus stuff and then I saw a magazine I saw a bodybuilding magazine that had Reg park on the cover reg park was then a three-time Mr. Universe and I saw him on a big screen as Hercules and on the cover it said how reg park Mr. universe became the Hercules star.
That’s what the cover story was all about so looked at the cover and I said myself I got to get this magazine so I bought the magazine I took it home and I read it over and over from the front page to the back he had everything in there how he trained how he was working out in leads England in a factory town. How he worked out every day for three four hours and became the strongest man of Europe? And he won Mr. Europe Mr the great Britain and then eventually Mr Universe and how he won the second Mr universe and the third Mr Universe and how he was discovered to play the starring role in Hercules. I read that and I said to Myself wow! this is the blueprint for my life. This is exactly what I want to do become a bodybuilding Champion just like reg park.
I want to get into movies just like reg park and I want to make millions of dollars and be rich and famous just like reg park. Do you know how great it felt that I knew where I was going imagine the majority of people don’t know where they’re going. I knew where I was going that I’m going to become this bodybuilding champion just like him so it was just a question of how do you do it. I was so relieved because when you have goal when you have a vision everything becomes easy because remember that in America for instance when study you will see the percentage of people that like their jobs 74% hate there jobs in America. Now there is not much different when you come to Europe the Majority of people don’t like what they’re doing because they’re really not doing it because they didn’t have a goal followed this goal they just aimlessly drift around and then all of a sudden.
They there’s job opening so they get that job because you have to work but then when you work it’s a chore it’s work it’s not fun so, if you think about only a quarter of the people really what they’re doing in life that is unbelievable. If you think about it so, I felt so blessed that I knew what I was doing it’s like a medical student. Student that studies and knows he wants to become a doctor you know where to go so, I knew where to go so, people always ask me when they saw me in the gym in the pumping iron days. They say why is that you’re working out so hard 5 hours a day 6 hours a day and you have always a smile on your face the other are working out just as hard as you do and they look sour in the face. why is that and I told people all the time? I said because to me I’m shooting for goal in front of me is the Mr Universe title so, every rep that I do gets me closer to accomplishing that goal to make this go.
This vision turn into reality every single set that I do every repetition every weight that I live will get a step closer to turn this goal into reality so, I couldn’t wait to do another 500b squat I couldn’t wait to do another 500b bench press. I couldn’t wait to do another 2,000 reps of situps. I couldn’t wait for the next exercise for the next half hour of posing and all the kind of things that you have to do to be a champion. I felt so great knowing where I was going and I tell you it worked. I mean think about it and I was just not visualizing just my exercise.
But I was really lighting the trophy over my head that’s what I was thinking about and with the age of 20. I went to London and I won the Mr Universe content as the youngest Mr universe ever and it was because I had a goal and this is no different than everything else what I’m talking about this is not just about bodybuilding. It was the same in acting. I remember when I was doing Conan the Barbarian. I was crawling on a rocks with a sword in my arm crawling all four and of course being that it’s Conan. I didn’t have clothes on or anything like that right so, I was kind of my knees were here my elbows were everything sing. I’m crawling on the rocks so after 10 takes my elbows were bleeding and my knees were bleeding and the director came to me and he said AR(Arnold). I’m so sorry that you have to go through this but we need one more take a closeup of you crawling with the sword towards the camera can you handle one more take and I said him I don’t know what you’re talking about it. I’m totally fine he says but you’re bleeding I said because I don’t feel it because I can visualize what the scene will look like in film and I’m so excited about this scene.
I was visualizing crawling up behind falser doom which was played by James R Jones crawling up behind falser doom with the sword slowly and then rising up behind him and whack cutting his head off and the head spins in the air slowly with blood all over the place and slowly falls down the steps and rolls down the steps and his body slowly falls sideways that was what. I was visualizing and that was very important because he in the movie killed my parents killed Conan’s parents and there was revenge and he always said that flesh is strongest than steel and wanted to prove to him that no steel is stronger than flesh and so I had this in my mind and so this is why it didn’t matter. If I had to do another 50 takes or 100 takes no matter how much I bleed on my elbows on my knees. I saw that vision of the perfect scene and it was an important scene and I would do it over and over again until we got it. And the same thing is also in politics. I remember that in politics. I had a very clear vision that I will be the leader of California.
This as far as I could go because I was not born in America so, could not run for president so being governor of the fifth largest state world of I should say the largest state the fifth largest economy in the world, World was for me really the ultimate title. The ultimate accomplishment in politics so even through people came to me and says why don’t you go and run for something smaller you’re never going to make it. I ran for governor and then two months later I become governor of the state of California again because I had a very clear vision what I’m going to do with California so let me tell you something visualizing your goal and going after it makes it fun you get to have a purpose no matter what you do in life you got to have a purpose so that’s rule number one have a vision rule number two is don’t listen to the naysayers. Don’t listen to the naysayers everything I ever did the thing that they heard out of people’s mouth was that’s impossible that can’t be done or no I remember when I want to be a bodybuilding champion including my parents and everyone else around me said this is impossible why don’t you become a ski champion that’s what they do in Austria or bicycle champion to do some track and field you can’t be a bodybuilding champion that is exactly what I heard.
And of course I prove to the people that it can’t be done so whenever someone said to me it can’t be done. I heard it can be done when they said no I heard yes and they said it’s impossible. I heard it is possible because I am a strong believer. I’m a strong believer what Nelson Mandela said that everything it always impossible until someone does it. I’m going to be the one I said to myself I’m going to do it and I’m going to show it to them maybe. It has never been done before that’s perfectly fine with me but I’m going to do it and I did not listen to the naysayers. The same was also when I went into not just in body building. They said no when I wanted to come to America. When I wanted to do America there’s no money that you have to fly even over there you have no money when you go over there to live with and what do you think they’re going to wait for you they have plenty of big bodybuilding over there it was all no no and it can’t be done it’s impossible and I remember then the same thing happened also when into the show business can you imagine. I was now bodybuilding I weighed 250b. I was Mr. Olympia six times. I was Mr. the universe five times and Mr. the world I Mr. International I want 13 world bodybuilding championships.
All together and now I said to the agent the Hollywood agent. I want to get into movies he said that’s funny Arnold. I ask a studio executive I say I want to get into movies. I want to be a leading man. He started laughing so they all said it’s impossible. I said why is it impossible he says because look at how big you are your weight 250lb Hercules bodies and muscular bodies weight 20 years ago 20 years ago. They did maista and they did all this uh uh Samson movies and Hercules movies and stuff like that but not anymore. I know this is the 70s do you know the sex symbols today it’s alucino.
He weight weights 150lb it’s Dustin half man. He weight 146lb and guess who else is a sex symbols woody Alien so imagine they’re telling me now that those are the new sex symbols so therefore forget about it and then they told me this and your accent even if you reduce all your body weight and everything and have a normal body your accent. I said your accent I mean it will go give people a Goosebumps with the German accent it will get people to creeps. They will get scared this says no one in Hollywood ever has become a leading man that had an accent doesn’t happen. People in America want us hear their actors talk like John Wayne or like Bert Reynolds or like Clint Eastwood not like someone on Hogan’s Heroes or something like that some Nazi movie this the kind of stuff that they heard.
They said no you see it’s impossible plus your name. Your name who can pronounce Schwarzenegger or something like that no one can pronounce that so forget about it Arnold this is the kind of thing that I heard imagine you go from studio executive to Studio executive from agent to agent from manager to manager. They all said exactly the same thing now that’s very encouraging isn’t it but you know something I didn’t give up I didn’t because I believed that I can be a leading man. I believe that there could be another green Eastwood or another Bert Reynolds or another Warren batty or whatever those characters with Charles Bronson and and so on I believe that there could be those people I said there’s enough room on that ladder that I can fit up there and I look back again and learn from what I learned in sports in my case in bodybuilding. It’s all about the hard work that you put in I said to myself in bodybuilding. I worked out five six hours a day. I’m going to do the same thing now for acting and of course. I went to college to study English.
I studied the studded voice accent removal acting classes and all of this stuff all day long. I worked and I worked and I worked and within a short period of time I made one movie called Hercules in New York which of course went right into the toilet but it didn’t discourage me I still had the same vision and then all of a sudden. I did streets of San Francisco. I did stay hungry and pumping iron and the villain and then all of a sudden. I was asked by Dino Delores and the Universal Studio biggest Studio to star in Conan the Barbarian and after I did Conan the Barbarian the director at the press conference said to the press the director was John Milus.
He said to the press if we wouldn’t have had honored we would have had to build one so think about that the very body that they said can never be sold because the time is wrong a few years later. I’m doing Con on the Barbarian and it was the number one hit at the be office. When he came out in the summer of 82 think about that and the director says if we wouldn’t have had his body would have had to build one so all of a sudden my body became an asset not a liability and the same thing was with terminator after we were finished filming Terminator Jim Cameron said to the press. If Arnold wouldn’t have had that accent and talk like a machine. I think the movie wouldn’t have worked so think about that the body the accent that they attacked was an asset but I didn’t listen about those losers.
I didn’t listen to them at all because that’s exactly. The way it was in politics again when everyone said no no no and it can’t be done and then became governor of California and this is with everything like that this just the reality of it that you cannot listen to the naysayers so this a very important lesson for all of you so when someone says no this is a stupid you in your mind. You don’t have to stay it but in your mind just say yourself you you’re an what do you know if I would have listened to the naysayers from bodybuilding to show business to the uh to politics. I would not be standing here today talking to you I would be in Austria in the Alps yodling that’s right. I will Austria still left yodling that’s what I will be doing exactly so this is why I say don’t listen to the naysayers in the next thing the third Point that I’m going to make to you is before we sit down with Jan and talk about the rest of the three is work your ass off there is no magic bill there is no magic out there you cannot get around you have to work and work.
I can tell you I’ve watched the day for half an hour yugen and his wife that put on this great. Great event here they work their ass off to put this together all year long they work and they work and they work this does not come together by itself for half an hour they were running around and making phone calls and doing this that and talking to their AIDS and make sure there’s the water out there talking about water love water make sure of that and all that stuff so it’s work and its drives me crazy when people say that they don’t have enough time to go to the gym for 45 minutes a day and workout or to do something for 45 minutes to an hour a day to improve.
If it is physically improved or it is mentally to improve imagine you read one hour a day about history how much you will learn after 365 hours in one year think about if you study about his history of musicians of composers how much you would know imagine if you work on a business on some business that you want to develop every day for an hour imagine how further along you will go and get so it drives me nuts because we have when people say we don’t have the time we have 24 hours a day. we sleep 6 hours a day so it you still 18 hours and there’s someone shaking their head out here in front to say probably don’t sleep six hours I sleep eight hours right we just sleep faster so we have 18 hours a day the average person works around 8 to 10 hours so let’s assume it’s 10 hours so have eight hours left then you travel around an hour a day maybe two hours a day so now you have still six hours left so what do you do with six hours what you do with six hours. we eat a little bit then we Smo a little bit talk a little bit to people and all that stuff but you can see how much time is available if you organize your day so you got yo work hard.
I mean let me tell you something when I went in America. I went to college I went and worked out 5 hours a day and I was working on construction because in those days in bodybuilding there was no money. we didn’t have the money for food supplements or anything so I had to go to work so I worked on construction. I went to college I worked out in the gym and at night from 8:00 at night to 12 midnight. I went to acting class four times a week say I did all of that there was not one single minutes that I wasted and this is why I’m standing here today. I became very friendly with Muhammad Ali in the 70s and Muhammad Ali worked his butt off and I saw it firsthand and I remember that there was a sports Rider that was there in the gym.
When he was working out and he was doing situps and they asked him how many sit-ups do you do and he said I don’t start counting until it hurts now think about that he doesn’t start counting his sit-ups until he feels pain that’s when he starts counting that is working hard and so you can’t get around the hard work it doesn’t matter who it is a matter fact. I believe for ted turner said work like hell and advertise you get it work like hell go to bed and early early to rise work like hell and advertise so you work your ass off and then you let the world know about your work that’s what it is all about people know if you company. If you have a movie if you do a sports work you ass off but then advertise and let everyone know so this is what it’s all about so anyway so those are the three main rules that I have here for you today right here than the rest of it we talk about when we sit down.
Now I think that Jan said he’s going to pull out some chairs then we’re going to talk about the other one which is of course okay well I hate Plan B and I tell you why? because we have so many doubters as I’ve said earlier the nosers we have so many of those people that say no and you can’t do it it’s impossible that is okay because we just turn off as I said earlier and we listen and we hear the no being a yes you can’t do it do you can do it and all of that so that is possible to do that amongst all the negative people around you but when you start doubting yourself that’s very dangerous because now what you’re basically saying is that if my plan doesn’t work I have a fall back plan I have a plan B and that means you starting thinking about plan B and every thought that you out into plan B. You’re taking away now that thought and that energy from plan A and it’s very important to understand that we function better if there is no safety net because plan B becomes a safety net it says that if I fail then I fall and I get picked up and I have something else there that was that will protect me and that’s not good because people perform better when there’s no safety net people perform better in sports in everything else.
If you don’t have a plan B I’m telling you I’ve never ever had a plan B I say I made a full commitment that I’m going to go and be a bodybuilding champion. I made a full commitment that I’m going to be in America. I made a full commitment that I’m going to get in the show business and I’m going to be leading man so matter what it takes I will do the work over and over and over until I get it and the same in politics in everything like that so to me it is very dangerous to have a plan B because you’re cutting yourself off from the chance of really succeeding and the reason one of the main reasons why people want to have a plan B is because they have worried about failing what is if I fail then don’t have anything else well let me tell you something don’t be afraid of failing because there’s nothing wrong with failing you have to fail in order to climb that ladder there’s no one that doesn’t fail Michael Jordan said in one of his interviews when they said you ‘re unbelievably you’re the greatest basketball player of all times. I mean tell me about that about that and he says well you just mentioning the successes but he says for me to become the greatest basketball player. I missed 9,000 shots.
When I was basketball at the NBA games so during this games that he was so successful he missed 9,000 shots does it make him a failure no he’s one of the greatest basketball players of all times but he failed 9,000 times do you get it we all fail it’s okay what is not a case that when you fail you stay down whoever stay down is a loser and winners will fail and get up fail and getup fail and get up you always get up that is a winner that is a winner. I failed in bodybuilding. I lost bodybuilding competitions. I lost power lifting competitions. I lost weightlifting competitions. I had movies that went in the toilet and that were terrible and got the worst reviews and in politics. I remember I had many of the initiatives on the ballot and be lost my approval rating in California went down to 28% and then it went back up again and they won again the governorship. Hey we all lose we all have lost us this is okay and this is why I say don’t be worried about losing because when you’re afraid of losing then you get frozen you get stiff you’re not relaxed you got to be in order to perform well in anything if it’s in boxing or if it is on your job or with your thinking is only happening when you relax so relax it’s okay to fail let’s just go all out and give it everything that you got that’s what it is all about so don’t be afraid to fail.
And I think this is one of my six rules to success. You can only feel complete as a person if you think about what can you do for your fellow member around you that may be needs help I felt like that everyone has a different motivation why you get into that I was an immigrant going to America and I saw how America was the most generous country in the world. I mean they opened up their arms to me they helped me they invited me for thanks giving dinner to people they brought me uh the bodybuilder in the gym brought me blades to my apartment because I has no blades I had no blades I had no silverware I had no bed wear I had no pillows I had no blanket I had no TV I had no radio I had nothing.
They brought it to my apartment they helped me and I saw that firsthand this generosity in America and I said to myself as an immigrant that is being embraced with open arms that I need to go and make sure that they give something back right because I said I started thinking about how did America become such a great country how did America become such as generous country well I look back in history and I realized that people have fought for America and people have died for America and people have suffered for America and so it’s my job now to contribute to keep it as being the number one country in the world and this is when I started feeling obligated and I said to myself so what can I do I’m a bodybuilder what can I do but then I realized when there so special Olympics that I can help and train special Olympians and so we started getting involved in special Olympics in no time I proposed to them to start powerlifting in special Olympics to have deadlift which was a safe thing to do and to have bench press which was a safe thing to do and it became the number one sports in special Olympics powerlifting they always have a packed hall of 5,000 people and I became the national trainer and the international trainer of special Olympics and I tell you I felt so good.
I felt better than winning a bodybuilding competition going to one of their competitions and seeing a hundred of those athletes from all over the world competing in powerlifting and being happy and being included and being felt that they’re equal to all of us it was the most unbelievable feeling and this is why I got so excited about it that then after that I started you know going around to military bases in America and training our military personnel because in those days bodybuilding and weight training wasn’t popular now it is now when you go to Iraq to Baghdad or Eled you see the American soldiers train. They have the biggest facilities it’s like this Dome here this is how big the facility the training facilities are now so it all changed but in those days there was it wasn’t popular at all so I went from military base to military base to train the soldiers and the sailors the Airmen and all of then and it made me feel good again and then after when I met President Bush then Vice President Bush and we traveled around to campaign he asked me what I want to do and I said I would like to be fitness leader in America.
I would like to be the chairman of the president’s council on physical fitness and sports and then when he becomes president he appointed me to that and so now I really was able to travel through all 50 states and promote health and fitness the more. I got into that the more I realized how good it feels to give something back and that’s when my idea came about after school program because after school. When I traveled to all the schools to train students I saw there was a huge gathering of students after the school was over outside the school.