First Rule of Success
My fifth and final rule is not to just take something, give something back. Tear down that mirror that always makes you look at yourself, and you`ll be able to look beyond that mirror, and you`ll see the millions and millions of people who need your help. And that`s why I try to take every opportunity to give back. I started training special Olympians, I started after-school programs for the most vulnerable children, for children from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, so that they could say no to drugs, no to gangs and no to violence. We can all make a difference, whether in our neighbourhood or in our local schools, because the bottom line is that it`s up to us. Have a vision, think big, ignore opponents, work through it and give something back and change the world. Because if it`s not us, then who? If not now, then when? Somehow, I ended up in a YouTube video in which Arnold discussed his “6 Rules for Success.” The first rule of success is that you need to create your own definition of success. It`s time to open your eyes, see the light of the new day and set the right priorities! This is the first rule of success and happiness. This is the first step to productivity and success.
Suddenly, I had a little break, suddenly I had a TV show. A small part, then another small part, then Pumping Iron and Stay Hungry and then of course I landed the big role of Conan the Barbarian, so I finally had the big breakthrough. And you know, what was so interesting was that the director said that at the press conference, if we hadn`t had Schwarzenegger with these muscles, we should have built one. And then, when I did Terminator, James Cameron said that because of Arnold`s crazy accent, the I`ll be back line became one of the most famous movie lines in history because it sounded like a machine! As you can see, everything that the naysayers called a liability became an asset. Ignore the naysayers. The fourth rule is to work on yours. You never want to fail because you didn`t work hard enough. And it doesn`t matter what region you`re in. Without diligence, there is no price. Listen, when I came to the United States, I remember exercising five hours a day every day and running a construction company and I was a mason and I was also going to college. And I took acting classes from eight at night until 12 midnight, every day I did that. Work your butt, that`s what I always believe, no matter what you do, work, work, work.
The first step you need to take on your path to success is to harness your energy. Well, I`ll tell you, when I met these officers and managers, their reaction was, oh Arnold, it`s so funny. You want to be something, a leading man? Oh come on, I mean, look first, let`s start with your body. You are gigantic, you are like a monster. And then your accent, oh, it gives me chills, if only I hear your German, come on. Have you ever seen an international movie star with a German accent? It doesn`t happen, forget it. And then your name, what is it, blacks, schnitzel or something like that? People will storm theater and cinemas because Schwartzenschnitzel is in a movie. Oh yes, I can see it. Imagine, everywhere I turned around, they said, no, it won`t happen, it won`t happen, and forget about it. Fortunately, I did not listen.
I started taking acting classes, English classes, even accent suppression classes. I ran all day and said, lines like a good wine grows on a vine. And this requires, first and foremost, freedom in the broadest sense – politically, economically, socially and personally — , live one`s own life, not someone else`s. People ask me all the time, what`s the secret to success? And I always tell them, well, the short version is, you have to have a 22-inch bicep. And you have to be able to kill predators with your bare hands and of course, you have to have that charming Austrian accent. That goes without saying. The long version is that I`ve always had five rules. You don`t have to be a bodybuilding champion, you don`t have to want to be an action hero or anything like that. If you want to excel in everything you do, these rules are for you. So my first rule is to find your vision and follow it.
If you don`t have a goal, if you don`t have vision, you drift and you won`t be happy. I grew up after World War II, Austria lost World War II with Germany. There was, of course, a depression, there was a terrible economic situation. I wanted to get out of there, I wanted to escape. And luckily, one day, at school, I saw a documentary about America. I knew I wanted to end up there. The question was how to get there. How do I get to America? If you don`t have the energy to get up early, pull long hours, and think about your feet, you won`t succeed.
Period. I`m sure I`m not the first person to tell you to write down your goals, but are you? Unfortunately, most people don`t or don`t do it once and never look at it again. There is a magical power to writing words. Constantly looking at and visualizing your destination creates a bridge from here and now to your future. This is your roadmap to your destiny. Would you foolishly get on a boat and cross the Atlantic without oars or GPS? Earl Nightingale said, “People who have [written] goals succeed because they know where they`re going. It`s as simple as that.â Dr. med. Wayne Dyer said, “You`ll see it if you believe it.” And let`s not forget the law of attraction: if you visualize the future with a lot of passion and conviction, you will begin to attract people and find ways to reach them. They will come out of nowhere like the Hall of Famer from the cornfield in Field of Dreams.
If you know anything about Arnold Schwarzenegger, then you know that he achieved an incredible amount of success in life. Ultimately, success is being able to do the things you want to do when you want to do them, with whom you want to do them. Consider them and how each rule can be applied to you in your life. We can learn a lot from his “plan for success” – so here it is. 6 simple rules. I read “Arnold, the Education of a Bodybuilder” and it opened my eyes to many things beyond pure bodybuilding. The first half of the book is his story and rise to fame as a bodybuilder. Clearly, there are no universal answers to these questions. Some people will choose the former over the latter, while others will choose the latter over the former. This means that success and happiness depend on the type of life each individual wants to live and whether that individual is willing to bear the consequences of their choices.
Most of these rules contradict conventional wisdom, don`t they? A few weeks ago, I was in Europe, where I was invited to teach entrepreneurship at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria.