All the new training technology and all the new products for bodybuilding fans have not managed to knock Arnold Schwarzenegger off his throne as the best bodybuilder in the history of humankind. Of course, very few people know the tremendous effort Arnold had to make to become world champion, through training at home and a constant effort that consisted of getting ahead while the rest of the world was resting.
At the end of the article you will find a short documentary about Arnold’s hard life. Born in Austria, he decided to take a very different path from the one the young people of his town were taking, despite harsh criticism and even though bodybuilding was barely known. Arnold didn’t want to be a bodybuilder; he wanted to be the world bodybuilding champion, and he was willing to sacrifice everything to chase that dream, including slipping away from the army without permission to compete in championships, even though it exposed him to military punishment.
Some time ago, Arnold gave a highly motivational talk in which he set out what he considers the keys to achieving success in whatever you set out to do. Both his advice and the documentary are well worth your while.
1. Trust yourself
The most important thing is to ask yourself not “what” you want to be but “who” you want to be. Not what your parents or your teachers have told you, but what you feel makes you happy. It doesn’t matter how crazy it may seem to everyone else. Trust yourself, no matter what other people think.
2. Break some rules
We have too many rules in life for almost everything. Arnold said: “Break the rules, not the laws, but do away with whatever seems normal.”
It is impossible to be special, outstanding or original if you behave like everyone else and do the same as everyone else does. Break the rules. You have to think beyond the established parameters. That’s the key.
3. Never be afraid to fail
Arnold says that in everything he has tried, he has been aware that at no point was he safe from failure. You can’t always win, but that is no reason to decide not to try. Don’t let the fear of failure paralyse you, because if you do, you will never demand anything of yourself in life. Keep up a constant effort, trusting that you can make it, and project the image you have dreamed of for your life. Always remember that if you keep doing the right thing and working hard, success will come.
4. Don’t listen to people who say something can’t be done
Most great inventions, products and successful careers would never have come about if those people had paid attention to what others were saying. How many times have you heard that you can’t do this or that because nobody has done it before?
In Arnold’s words:
I love the expression “nobody has ever done that before”, because I know that if I manage it, it means I will be the first to do it. So don’t pay attention to discouraging messages like that. Listen when people say it’s difficult, that it will take hard work, but not when they say it’s impossible. Because practically anything is possible if we put our heart into it. I always say: “YES, I CAN.”
5. Take action: work very hard
Leave nothing unfinished. Muhammad Ali, one of Arnold’s great heroes, was asked back in his day: “How many sit-ups do you do a day?” He answered: “I don’t know, I don’t count them all. I only start counting when they begin to hurt, because those are the only ones that count, and the ones that make me a champion.” Without pain there is no victory, Arnold says.
Whenever you slack off on something, there will be someone, somewhere, doing it better than you, trying harder than you and working harder than you. And that is the kind of person who is going to beat you. “There is absolutely no way to succeed in life other than through constant effort.”
Everyone’s day has 24 hours, so sleep six hours and push yourself for the other 18. If you don’t, someone else will. Arnold knows that many people need to sleep nine or ten hours, so he joked, offering them this advice: “To those people, all I would say is: sleep faster.”
6. Give back
Whatever you do in life, you should always find a way to give back to others: to your community, your state, your country. Helping others gives you a sense of fulfilment unlike anything you have achieved before.
Watch: Short documentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s life
Further reading
- Bruce Lee’s life and philosophy in 10 quotes for entrepreneurs
- The 8 beliefs of successful people
- 7 lessons for success from the commander who hunted down Bin Laden
Featured image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
