what is the secret to success and I
always tell them what the short version
is you got to have a 22 inch biceps and
you got to be able to kill predators
with your bare hands and you have to be
able to travel back in time to save the
human race and of course you got to have
this charming Austrian accent that’s a
given
the long version is that I actually
always had five rules and everything
that they did always use those five
rules and those five rules helped me to
become successful in various different
areas and I think I believe that those
rules can be applied to almost anyone
and everyone you don’t need to be a
bodybuilding champion you either need to
want to be a Governor of California or
to be an action here or anything like
that if you want to excel in whatever
you do those rules are for you it’s that
simple
now I have to tell you right off the top
that I always was very intense as a kid
the radio was very intense and it was
very hungry
I always wanted to be the best I always
wanted to be number one I always wanted
to get to the top I never believed in
just getting by now I have nothing
against people that just want to get by
because I think they’re many roads to
happiness but I think that we all here
like to be successful and be a driven so
that’s why those rules apply to you so
my first rule is find your vision and
follow it you see I think it’s the most
important thing that you have a very
clear vision of where we go a goal where
do we go because you can have the best
ship in the world you can have the best
cruise liner but if the captain does not
know where to go
that ship will drift around the world
out there that sea and we’ll never end
up anywhere and this is exactly the way
it is in real life if you don’t have a
core if you don’t have a vision you just
drift around you’re not gonna be happy
this is why it is so important to have
that vision now I created that vision in
Austria because I grew up after the
Second World War
Austria rather long with Germany lost
the Second World War
thank God and the problem was that
everyone was so depressed because they
lost the war that there was alcoholism
everywhere there was of course
depression there was a terrible economic
situation there was famine there was
starvation and all of those things and
also it was kind of a little place in
narrow I felt kind of I wanted to get
out of there I wanted to escape and I
couldn’t see myself really do go clear
into stadia to work in the factory of
the work on the farm although even the
follow my father’s footsteps to become a
police officer I couldn’t see that
either and I think that’s what my
parents wanted me to do they wanted me
to become a police officer and the marry
a girl by the name of Heidi and to have
a bunch of children and to run around
like the fun trap family in The Sound of
Music
but that’s not what I saw this was the
vision of my parents but not mine and
luckily one day in school I watched the
documentary about America and I found
myself I knew exactly that is where I
wanted to end up I wanted to be in
America everything that I saw that the
commander just loved everything was so
big I remember the tall skyscrapers the
monstrous bridges the giant freeways
filled with beautiful cars
the huge jet liners movie stars Muscle
Beach and all of those things I could
not wait to get there the question was
just how do I get there how do I get the
America I mean it’s just not a common
thing to do
way back in the 50s no one had the money
to travel or anything but one day I was
fortunate enough to see a magazine in
Dead magazine showed me the path to
America
and it was a bodybuilding magazine and
on the cover bust is very muscular guy
that was standing there like Hercules
with the Hercules outfit
his name was rich Park this rich part
was undercover and I remember the cover
said mr. universe becomes Hercules star
I read the article as fast as I could
learning about how he grew up in Leeds
in England poor and how he trained five
hours a day every single day and trained
and trained and trained and lifted
weights and then he finally became mr.
Great Britain and then he became mr.
universe at any one a second mr.
Universe title in the third mr. Universe
title and then all of a sudden he landed
in Rome in cinecittà doing Hercules
movies and there he made millions of
towers and there’s this money he took he
bought himself a gymnasium chained in
South Africa he became a successful
gymnasium owner and as I read I became
more and more certain about my own
future as I read this story I was so
excited some interest that I knew
exactly that I wanted to become another
reg Park I know he laid out the
blueprint for my life basically I could
see myself I could visualize myself
clearly to be a champion on that same
stage where he wanted mr. universe and
then to move to America thinking into
movies and then become rich and famous I
had that vision very clearly laid out I
was so happy that I knew exactly where I
was going
from that moment on everything that I
did no matter how hard I had to work or
how much I had to struggle it didn’t
matter
it was a wonderful joyride because I
knew what the purpose was and I found my
passion the simple truth is if you don’t
have a vision if you don’t have a goal
if you don’t see your future laid out in
front of you you’re just floating around
without a purpose and I think that the
numbers speak for themselves
this is why so many people around the
world are unhappy with their jobs I mean
in America 74 percent of the people hate
their job and would like to change jobs
to think about that that means that only
a quarter of the Americans love the
life’s work I mean that is a very
depressing statistic I always smiled
when I worked the matter how hard I
worked I always had a great time no
matter what I did it didn’t matter if it
wasn’t bodybuilding or if it was in the
movies of it was as governor I remember
in a pumping iron days people asked me
in the gym all the time why are you
smiling all the time why are you so
happy you have to lift 50 tons of
weights you have to train five hours a
day I mean I look at the other body
balance faces and lifters faces and they
look kind of depressing
they look sour they’re miserable that
they have to lift weights you don’t look
miserable you look happy and I tell them
always they say I smile because I know
exactly that every rep that I do there
every set that I do every weight that I
live they get one step closer to turning
that vision of mine into reality and
becoming that mr. University I couldn’t
wait to lift another 500 pounds in the
squats I could not wait to do another
thousand sit-ups I couldn’t wait to do
bench press more bench press and more
girls until I couldn’t move my arms
anymore because I knew that every rep
got me closer to standing on that stage
as a champion as a matter of fact when I
lifted weights I didn’t really feel like
I was lifting weights I felt like I was
lifting a trophy over my head each time
I lift it and you have all those
bodybuilders around me and thousands of
people screaming
[Music]
and I tell you that this vision didn’t
just help me in bodybuilding it helped
me in everything like I said I remember
in the movie business there was many
times stunts that they had to do we I
got hurt that was in pain and agony and
had to do it over and over again I
remember one incident specifically on
Conan the Barbarian there there I was
crawling on all four unwaxed over rocks
and gravel holding my sword right in
front of me and as I was crawling the
camera followed me there was around
thirty feet that the crawl unders rocks
and his gravel and eventually after ten
takes my elbows my knees started
bleeding and hurting and the director
came to me sheepishly and said to me
says do you mind if we do another take I
need a close-up of you and I said him no
I don’t mind at all I said going to as
many takes as he want this is none I
don’t want to do that because I know
you’re in pain you’re beating I said no
no I don’t feel any pain I say the only
thing I see is is the finished scene I
see the finished scene of me crawling on
all four with my sword in the front
crawling up and sneaking up behind salsa
tomb the main villain of the Conan movie
that killed my parents
and rising up behind him and cutting his
head off that’s what I say
[Applause]
remember crush your enemies see them
driven before you and hear the
lamentation of their women so this is
why because I visualized that scene this
is why I did not feel that pain I did
not care if I was bleeding on my knees
because I know that pain is temporary
but the film is permanent and I
explained that to the director so this
is why I try to tell you always discover
your vision and the rest will follow now
my second my second rule is never ever
think small if you’re going to
accomplish anything you have to think
big you have to go and shoot for the
stars
the biggest challenge most people have
is because they think small and the
reason why people think small and why
did you choose small little goals is
because they are afraid to fail they
know that if you shoot for big goal then
the chances of failing are very high and
they’re afraid of failing is one of the
most common things why people are frozen
it by they cannot make a move in life
because they’re scared of failing I say
to myself hey I’m not worried about
failing because that’s part of life
you’re not gonna be going win everything
and how far can you fall look at this
this is the ground that’s as far as I
can fall and you know something that the
only time you really consider the
failure is if you fall and you don’t get
up but if you get up you never consider
the failure so I never considered myself
a failure I always consider myself a
winner
even though FL every so often but I
always got up and I always move forward
this is the important thing I never had
any patience of course for Smita
thinking small because in German we were
saying
ven chung tension and that means that if
it was something then go all out and do
it well this is not just the case in
bodybuilding I didn’t just want to be a
bodybuilding champion I wanted to be the
greatest bodybuilder four times I wanted
s the most muscle the
first of all times the most definition I
wanted to win the most drove is the most
World Championship titles I just wanted
to be the best and the same is also a
movies
I didn’t you think about being in movies
no I wanted to be a movie star I wanted
to have a buff the title building I
wanted to become the highest paid
entertainer I basically wanted to be
another John Wayne what’s wrong with
that
and then famous in politics I didn’t
just want to go and be in politics and
enter a race for City Council
I mean let’s be honest they said sound
right Schwarzenegger City Council no
come on not even Schwarzenegger mayor no
it had to be Schwarzenegger running for
governor
but not just any governor but governor
of the greatest state in United States
of California that was the important
thing
[Applause]
I’ll give you an example of bigger
thinking big when I became governor I
wanted to rebuild California’s ancient
infrastructure you see America has been
living off infrastructure that was built
in the 50s and 60s and it drives me
absolutely insane that America has
started rebuilding that infrastructure I
mean we haven’t invested in new roads or
in new transit on schools or in energy
or anything like that for decades the
number of cars that we have now in
America of four times as many as we had
in the 60s so therefore we should be
having that four times as many freeways
four times as many tunnels four times as
many bridges and orders but we don’t so
this is why I wanted to get our act
together and do the upgrading least in
California so when I talk about
infrastructure I didn’t really want to
just fix roads and fix and close some
holes in the roads I wanted to build
massive freeways on top of freeways I
wanted to build the first high speed
rail in the United States I wanted to
build more bridges and more tunnels were
on ramps and off ramps I wanted to see
literally trains everywhere there was no
excuse for Californians to get stuck in
traffic and there was no excuse really
to send your kids in overcrowded
classrooms and schools and it was also
no excuse that Los Angeles has a
hundred-year-old sewage system that’s
shitty I thank you first of course some
of the legislators looked at me like I
was absolutely insane man I told him
this vision they were willing to spend
maybe five billion dollars which of
course is petty cash and compared to
what my vision was but some politicians
of course had a hard time to see the big
picture because they didn’t really ever
travel outside California so they
haven’t really seen big infrastructure
they haven’t really seen big
infrastructure all over the United
States or maybe in Asia and China or in
Korea or in Brazil or in European
countries or here in Australia maybe so
they haven’t seen that and then of
course there are other politicians that
simply don’t have a bill
of the future past the next election
which is a common problem politicians
have all over the world so it is it was
my job as governor to motivate them and
to take them and to see the traffic jams
in Los Angeles and to see the
overcrowded classrooms and to see all
the problems that we have for they kept
pushing and pushing and a pump them up
enough that eventually they saw the big
picture and eventually Democrats and
Republicans came together if we invested
sixty billion dollars to rebuild
California’s infrastructure the biggest
investment of our state in 50 years so
that’s what we did because we had a big
vision and everyone bought in on this
big vision so remember never think small
think big the third rule is ignore the
naysayers I think it is natural that we
have a big vision and big dreams and you
have big cores that people are gonna say
around you I don’t think it can be done
I think it’s impossible or no I tell you
hear this all the time but I want to
tell you don’t ever let them stop you
from dreaming and from shooting for the
big goal because eliminate just simply
those words no impossible and it can’t
be done I mean in each one of my careers
when someone said it’s impossible
I heard it’s possible and someone said
it can’t be done I heard it can be done
and then someone said no then I heard
loud and clear yes so this is what I
believed in I am a big believer what
Nelson Mandela said he said it always
seems to be impossible until someone
does it and that’s exactly what it is
and I wanted to beat that one that does
it I wanted to break the new records and
I wanted to do something that no one
else has ever done so I think that’s
what you need to do don’t ever be
worried about that someone hasn’t done
it just think about how many times my
career would have stopped my career
would have ended if I would have
listened to the naysayers I mean it
started right away when I was 15 years
old and I became a bodybuilder right and
if that happened I said I want to be a
world champ
in bodybuilding I want to be mr.
universe they immediately said are you
crazy
you in Austria in Austria you can become
a ski champion or a bicycle champion or
something like that but bodybuilding is
an American sport forget about it it’s
nuts ten men I wanted to move to America
they said again it’s impossible you will
never be able to do that you’re from the
money you owe by yourself and then men I
wanted to go into show business
after 113 World Championship titles in
bodybuilding I said I want to be like
reg Park I want to be a Hercules I want
to get into movies well I tell you when
I met those agents and managers and
studio executives their reaction was so
funny you want to be what a leading man
oh come on I mean look first of all
let’s start with your body look at your
body I mean your overdevelopment you’re
gigantic
you’re like a monster are you kidding me
do you know what the new thing the new
trend is is little guys like Dustin
Hoffman Al Pacino Woody Allen those are
the new sex symbols don’t you get it and
then your accent oh it gives me the
chills just listening to your German
bullshit come on now I mean oh god I
mean it’s like it’s scary when you talk
it’s unbelievable I mean have you ever
Arnold
every piece years have you ever seen an
international movie star
with the German accent it doesn’t happen
forget about that and then you name what
is it what’s in it still or something
like that
yeah I can see that name already up
there in a billboard yes and people are
gonna storm the field and the movie
houses because what some seriously
starring in a movie oh yeah I can see
that already
so that’s what they say they said to me
it says look forget about that you a
nice guy I mean your body building
champion why don’t you you’re much of a
bitch in a zoo more health food store or
something like that we can help you with
that then let me get the other side some
little parts like maybe playing a
bouncer I mean with your body perfect or
maybe a wrestler oh oh I have a good
idea but you accent the Nazi officer now
that’s really great for you I call my
buddies over at Hogan’s Heroes I mean
they would probably use someone like you
so that’s what it said imagine that
everywhere I turn they said no it won’t
happen it’s not gonna happen and forget
about it
luckily I did not listen I did not
listen because I knew if I worked hard
enough and I worked as hard as I did in
bodybuilding five six hours a day that I
will make it that I could prove them
wrong and I started working very hard I
started taking acting classes English
classes speech classes dialog classes
even accent removal classes I ran around
all day saying lines like a fine wine
grows and a bind
because you see the Austrians and
Germans have a difficult time with the B
and with the W and did the F we get it
all mixed up so it was a fine wine grows
and a vine or the sink is made out of
the zinc I all those kind of lines is it
a window when you know something over
sadly I got a little break in the early
70s I remember all of a sudden I got a
TV show a little part then another
little part then all of a sudden I got a
phone call from Lucille Ball to being
her special happy anniversary and
goodbye which was without Connie I had
the 6-minute seen as an Italian masseur
now most people don’t know the
difference between an Italian accent in
the German accent so I got away with my
German accent but I played this Italian
Monsieur and I was so delighted and then
right after that I got that guest
starring role in streets of San
Francisco with Michael Douglas and cow
Morgan and then pumping on and stay
hungry and then of course I landed the
big role as Conan the Barbarian so
finally I got the big big break and you
know what was so interesting about it
was that soon as we were finished with
the Conan movie we were out there and a
promotion to her and the director said
that the press conference the directors
John Milius he said if we wouldn’t have
had Schwarzenegger with those muscles we
would have had to build one
now think about that before it was this
huge obstacle to have this party and all
of a sudden the director says if he
wouldn’t have etched what’s like over
his body we would have had to build one
now water turn around and then when I
did terminator James Cameron said which
was really great he said the Albie
backline became one of the most famous
movie lines in history because of
Arnold’s crazy accent because he sounded
like a machine when he talks
[Music]
[Applause]
so as you see everything that the
naysayer said was a liability became an
asset and the same was also in my
political career when I ran for governor
they immediately said I shouldn’t do it
it is a big mistake it won’t happen I
will lose and all of those kind of
things in the rest of course is history
the bottom line is if I would have
listened to the naysayers my career
would have ended when I was 15 years old
I will be still yodeling in Austria in
the Alps and I would not be talking here
today to you and the reason why I’m here
today and talking to you is because I
did not listen to you can though it’s
impossible or no so I just recommend you
very strongly ignore the naysayers
[Music]
[Applause]
the fourth rule is work your ass off
nobody ever stumbled up on success by
accident except maybe the guy who found
gold in California but don’t ever think
that you can be that guy
I mean idiot you never want to fail
because you didn’t work hard enough I
always believed no stone unturned work
your butt off that’s what I always
believed the matter what you do work
work work I remember
Muhammad Ali one of my great heroes had
a great line in the 70s when he when he
was asked how many sit-ups do you do he
said I don’t know because I start
counting only when it starts burning
when it starts burning that’s when he
starts counting you see that’s what
makes you a champion it doesn’t matter
in what area you in no pain no gain the
bottom line is one of my rules which is
working part off if you don’t apply that
rule all the other rules won’t mean
anything I mean it drives me absolutely
nuts when people say I don’t have time
to work out have me here at that many
times I don’t have time to work out or I
have worked so hard all day I’m tired I
cannot work out anymore oh I cannot read
another book oh I cannot improve myself
oh I don’t have time or I work so hard
that I cannot really improve my business
or I cannot grow as a person or any of
those things what the hell are we
talking about here
I mean today is 24 hours you sleep six
hours so you have 18 hours left I mean I
know that some of you out there that say
well wait a minute I sleep actually
eight hours but that’s just sleep fast
though okay you know I mean let’s not
get bogged down with this stuff here
[Applause]
listen man I came to the United States
I remember that I trained five hours a
day every day and I was managing a
construction business that was a
bricklayer and I went to college also
and I took acting classes from a to
target nights to 12 o’clock midnight all
that in one day every day I did that I
did not worry about it I knew that at 24
hours and they didn’t want to waste one
single hour because I believed of what
Ted Turner said who is one of the great
entrepreneurs who start at CNN and so on
he said early to bed early to rise work
like hell and advertise so that’s what I
believe just remember you can’t climb
that ladder of success with your hands
in your pockets you must work your ass
off it’s that simple
it may 5th and last rule is don’t just
take give something back leave your mark
in the world I believe that we all have
an obligation to do something for our
community something for our state
something for our country we must serve
a cause that is greater than ourselves
because we all know that in the end we
will be judged not for how much we made
but the how much we give ever since
America greeted maybe dope moms I’ve had
this sense of responsibility and I felt
obligated to give something back to
America because I know that everything
that I have accomplished is because of
America if it’s my bodybuilding career
if it is my show business career my
political career the money that have
made my great family that I have all of
this is because of America but I have to
recognize the fact that America did not
become the land of opportunity in this
great country by itself no in history
people work tirelessly in America people
fought and people died to make it the
land of freedom and opportunity in the
land of liberty so now it is our
responsibility if you want to keep it
the number one country in the world to
work for that and to give something back
to that country and it doesn’t matter if
you’re in America if you’re in Australia
or if you enjoy no oven in Japan or in
Italy it is the same thing you all have
to give something back to your country
and by the way you’re from now I love
the words of my father-in-law Sargent
Shriver who started the Peace Corps the
Job Corps legal aid to the poor during
the Kennedy and during the chanson
administration he was the number one
public servant and he always inspired me
to become a public servant he was one of
my heroes he said at Yale University the
commencement speech he said to the
students tear down their mural
tear down that mirror that makes you
always look at yourself and you will be
able to look beyond that mirror and you
will see the millions and millions of
people that need your help and I saw
those millions and millions of people
and this is why I tried to take every
opportunity that I could to give
something back I started training
Special Olympians people did went
electorally handicapped to help them
with weightlifting in powerlifting I
became the International powerlifting
coach and the torch bearer for Special
Olympics then later on I joined the
Simon Wiesenthal Center to fight
prejudice so we don’t have the things
happening again as we had during the
Second World War during the Nazi Reich
it
I joined also the President’s Council on
Fitness that became the German on the
President Bush from 1990 to 1993 to be
the German had to promote health and
fitness in all 50 states that traveled
all 50 states
I started after-school programs for the
most vulnerable children for inner-city
children to make them be able to say no
to drugs no to gangs and no the violence
and to say yes to education and yes to
life and every single time I reached out
and I give something back I felt
fantastic nothing made me happier I
would rather play chess with an
eight-yard kid in an after-school
program or play golf
around the CAF with a special Olympian
then go down another red carpet of a
movie premiere
and have nothing against movies but to
give something back to me is more
important than just to think about
myself eventually the joy of giving back
was so great that I decided to become a
public servant full-time and to turn my
back actually walk away from my career
as an actor after finished promoting
Terminator 3 I jumped into the race into
the governor’s race in California in a
reign for governor and even though my
friends advised me not to do that they
said are you crazy Arnold don’t you
understand that he would lose now this
2030 million dollars a movie that you’re
getting paid and they will only pay you
a hundred and seventy eight thousand
dollars as governor a year well I didn’t
care because I knew that all the money
that I’ve made and to be in that
position the first place to make this
money is because of America it was time
to give something back so I became
governor and I didn’t even take the
hundred and seventy eight thousand
dollars I give it back to the taxpayers
because it was petty cash it’s the last
thing I needed
and I can tell you that those seven
years were the most exciting and the
most rewarding and the most gratifying
years of my life to work all day long
the South problems and deserve the
people was absolutely heaven it was the
best job I’ve ever had but they also
knew that eventually it’s going to come
to an end and after two terms it did
come to an end but when he came to an
end the one thing that didn’t come to an
end and was not finished was my desire
to be a public servant industry of the
people and this is why I continued to
work for Special Olympics that’s why I
continued to work on fighting my fitness
crusade and traveling around the world
to promote health and fitness this is
why I continued to support after-school
programs and we even started the
Schwarzenegger
Institute at the University of Southern
California to continue to inspire
students and leaders around the world to
find solutions to complicated issues and
to give back but to make the world a
better place
so because thank you
[Applause]
but I tell you that I was very fortunate
that they had great heroes
I prayed heroes that I could look up to
and I mentioned two of them Muhammad Ali
and Sacha Shriver my father-in-law
but there’s other great heroes like for
but Jeff Reagan Mandela great leaders
like Mother Teresa Chancellor Kohl and
Churchill and the list goes on and on I
mean those people had such an impact in
the world single-handedly they’ve
changed the world I mean if you think
about just Gorbachev I mean this man
every time I meet him I’m in awe I mean
he grew up on the communism and he rose
from the bottom of the ranks straight up
to the top
he came president of the Soviet Union
one of the most powerful people in the
world and he was the leader of the
Communist Party and when he was in the
top position he realized that the system
was broken now what do you do when you
had the top leader of the Communist
Party and he realized that the system
that communism doesn’t work well you
know what he did he dismantled communism
think about the courage that it takes I
mean the gut still it takes to do that
think about the co-operative completely
transformed his country with glass toast
to give his people for the first time
freedom and then through perestroika
reforming Russia’s economy he didn’t
wait for the next president he didn’t
complain he simply said if not me who
and if not now when
so I feel very strongly all of us need
to have an embrace that kind of a spirit
we all can create change whether it is
now neighborhood or in our local schools
or in our country he can’t be big but it
can also be as little as just going to a
school kid that is problems reading and
teaching that kids are the read or how
to math we don’t have to just work on me
we should also work on we not just me
but also we remember that to lead a
truly full life you must give back you
must leave the world a better place than
you found it because the bottom line is
it is up to us I mean those rules that
have given you important rules but
giving back is one of the most important
rules I guarantee you that if you follow
all of those rules you will have many
victories to celebrate and you will
leave you know you work and you will
have extraordinary kind of a record and
you will leave a legacy behind that you
can be proud of
so what do you do remember those rules
have a vision
think big ignore the naysayers work your
ass off and give back and change the
world because if not us who if not now
when
[Music]
always tell them what the short version
is you got to have a 22 inch biceps and
you got to be able to kill predators
with your bare hands and you have to be
able to travel back in time to save the
human race and of course you got to have
this charming Austrian accent that’s a
given
the long version is that I actually
always had five rules and everything
that they did always use those five
rules and those five rules helped me to
become successful in various different
areas and I think I believe that those
rules can be applied to almost anyone
and everyone you don’t need to be a
bodybuilding champion you either need to
want to be a Governor of California or
to be an action here or anything like
that if you want to excel in whatever
you do those rules are for you it’s that
simple
now I have to tell you right off the top
that I always was very intense as a kid
the radio was very intense and it was
very hungry
I always wanted to be the best I always
wanted to be number one I always wanted
to get to the top I never believed in
just getting by now I have nothing
against people that just want to get by
because I think they’re many roads to
happiness but I think that we all here
like to be successful and be a driven so
that’s why those rules apply to you so
my first rule is find your vision and
follow it you see I think it’s the most
important thing that you have a very
clear vision of where we go a goal where
do we go because you can have the best
ship in the world you can have the best
cruise liner but if the captain does not
know where to go
that ship will drift around the world
out there that sea and we’ll never end
up anywhere and this is exactly the way
it is in real life if you don’t have a
core if you don’t have a vision you just
drift around you’re not gonna be happy
this is why it is so important to have
that vision now I created that vision in
Austria because I grew up after the
Second World War
Austria rather long with Germany lost
the Second World War
thank God and the problem was that
everyone was so depressed because they
lost the war that there was alcoholism
everywhere there was of course
depression there was a terrible economic
situation there was famine there was
starvation and all of those things and
also it was kind of a little place in
narrow I felt kind of I wanted to get
out of there I wanted to escape and I
couldn’t see myself really do go clear
into stadia to work in the factory of
the work on the farm although even the
follow my father’s footsteps to become a
police officer I couldn’t see that
either and I think that’s what my
parents wanted me to do they wanted me
to become a police officer and the marry
a girl by the name of Heidi and to have
a bunch of children and to run around
like the fun trap family in The Sound of
Music
but that’s not what I saw this was the
vision of my parents but not mine and
luckily one day in school I watched the
documentary about America and I found
myself I knew exactly that is where I
wanted to end up I wanted to be in
America everything that I saw that the
commander just loved everything was so
big I remember the tall skyscrapers the
monstrous bridges the giant freeways
filled with beautiful cars
the huge jet liners movie stars Muscle
Beach and all of those things I could
not wait to get there the question was
just how do I get there how do I get the
America I mean it’s just not a common
thing to do
way back in the 50s no one had the money
to travel or anything but one day I was
fortunate enough to see a magazine in
Dead magazine showed me the path to
America
and it was a bodybuilding magazine and
on the cover bust is very muscular guy
that was standing there like Hercules
with the Hercules outfit
his name was rich Park this rich part
was undercover and I remember the cover
said mr. universe becomes Hercules star
I read the article as fast as I could
learning about how he grew up in Leeds
in England poor and how he trained five
hours a day every single day and trained
and trained and trained and lifted
weights and then he finally became mr.
Great Britain and then he became mr.
universe at any one a second mr.
Universe title in the third mr. Universe
title and then all of a sudden he landed
in Rome in cinecittà doing Hercules
movies and there he made millions of
towers and there’s this money he took he
bought himself a gymnasium chained in
South Africa he became a successful
gymnasium owner and as I read I became
more and more certain about my own
future as I read this story I was so
excited some interest that I knew
exactly that I wanted to become another
reg Park I know he laid out the
blueprint for my life basically I could
see myself I could visualize myself
clearly to be a champion on that same
stage where he wanted mr. universe and
then to move to America thinking into
movies and then become rich and famous I
had that vision very clearly laid out I
was so happy that I knew exactly where I
was going
from that moment on everything that I
did no matter how hard I had to work or
how much I had to struggle it didn’t
matter
it was a wonderful joyride because I
knew what the purpose was and I found my
passion the simple truth is if you don’t
have a vision if you don’t have a goal
if you don’t see your future laid out in
front of you you’re just floating around
without a purpose and I think that the
numbers speak for themselves
this is why so many people around the
world are unhappy with their jobs I mean
in America 74 percent of the people hate
their job and would like to change jobs
to think about that that means that only
a quarter of the Americans love the
life’s work I mean that is a very
depressing statistic I always smiled
when I worked the matter how hard I
worked I always had a great time no
matter what I did it didn’t matter if it
wasn’t bodybuilding or if it was in the
movies of it was as governor I remember
in a pumping iron days people asked me
in the gym all the time why are you
smiling all the time why are you so
happy you have to lift 50 tons of
weights you have to train five hours a
day I mean I look at the other body
balance faces and lifters faces and they
look kind of depressing
they look sour they’re miserable that
they have to lift weights you don’t look
miserable you look happy and I tell them
always they say I smile because I know
exactly that every rep that I do there
every set that I do every weight that I
live they get one step closer to turning
that vision of mine into reality and
becoming that mr. University I couldn’t
wait to lift another 500 pounds in the
squats I could not wait to do another
thousand sit-ups I couldn’t wait to do
bench press more bench press and more
girls until I couldn’t move my arms
anymore because I knew that every rep
got me closer to standing on that stage
as a champion as a matter of fact when I
lifted weights I didn’t really feel like
I was lifting weights I felt like I was
lifting a trophy over my head each time
I lift it and you have all those
bodybuilders around me and thousands of
people screaming
[Music]
and I tell you that this vision didn’t
just help me in bodybuilding it helped
me in everything like I said I remember
in the movie business there was many
times stunts that they had to do we I
got hurt that was in pain and agony and
had to do it over and over again I
remember one incident specifically on
Conan the Barbarian there there I was
crawling on all four unwaxed over rocks
and gravel holding my sword right in
front of me and as I was crawling the
camera followed me there was around
thirty feet that the crawl unders rocks
and his gravel and eventually after ten
takes my elbows my knees started
bleeding and hurting and the director
came to me sheepishly and said to me
says do you mind if we do another take I
need a close-up of you and I said him no
I don’t mind at all I said going to as
many takes as he want this is none I
don’t want to do that because I know
you’re in pain you’re beating I said no
no I don’t feel any pain I say the only
thing I see is is the finished scene I
see the finished scene of me crawling on
all four with my sword in the front
crawling up and sneaking up behind salsa
tomb the main villain of the Conan movie
that killed my parents
and rising up behind him and cutting his
head off that’s what I say
[Applause]
remember crush your enemies see them
driven before you and hear the
lamentation of their women so this is
why because I visualized that scene this
is why I did not feel that pain I did
not care if I was bleeding on my knees
because I know that pain is temporary
but the film is permanent and I
explained that to the director so this
is why I try to tell you always discover
your vision and the rest will follow now
my second my second rule is never ever
think small if you’re going to
accomplish anything you have to think
big you have to go and shoot for the
stars
the biggest challenge most people have
is because they think small and the
reason why people think small and why
did you choose small little goals is
because they are afraid to fail they
know that if you shoot for big goal then
the chances of failing are very high and
they’re afraid of failing is one of the
most common things why people are frozen
it by they cannot make a move in life
because they’re scared of failing I say
to myself hey I’m not worried about
failing because that’s part of life
you’re not gonna be going win everything
and how far can you fall look at this
this is the ground that’s as far as I
can fall and you know something that the
only time you really consider the
failure is if you fall and you don’t get
up but if you get up you never consider
the failure so I never considered myself
a failure I always consider myself a
winner
even though FL every so often but I
always got up and I always move forward
this is the important thing I never had
any patience of course for Smita
thinking small because in German we were
saying
ven chung tension and that means that if
it was something then go all out and do
it well this is not just the case in
bodybuilding I didn’t just want to be a
bodybuilding champion I wanted to be the
greatest bodybuilder four times I wanted
s the most muscle the
first of all times the most definition I
wanted to win the most drove is the most
World Championship titles I just wanted
to be the best and the same is also a
movies
I didn’t you think about being in movies
no I wanted to be a movie star I wanted
to have a buff the title building I
wanted to become the highest paid
entertainer I basically wanted to be
another John Wayne what’s wrong with
that
and then famous in politics I didn’t
just want to go and be in politics and
enter a race for City Council
I mean let’s be honest they said sound
right Schwarzenegger City Council no
come on not even Schwarzenegger mayor no
it had to be Schwarzenegger running for
governor
but not just any governor but governor
of the greatest state in United States
of California that was the important
thing
[Applause]
I’ll give you an example of bigger
thinking big when I became governor I
wanted to rebuild California’s ancient
infrastructure you see America has been
living off infrastructure that was built
in the 50s and 60s and it drives me
absolutely insane that America has
started rebuilding that infrastructure I
mean we haven’t invested in new roads or
in new transit on schools or in energy
or anything like that for decades the
number of cars that we have now in
America of four times as many as we had
in the 60s so therefore we should be
having that four times as many freeways
four times as many tunnels four times as
many bridges and orders but we don’t so
this is why I wanted to get our act
together and do the upgrading least in
California so when I talk about
infrastructure I didn’t really want to
just fix roads and fix and close some
holes in the roads I wanted to build
massive freeways on top of freeways I
wanted to build the first high speed
rail in the United States I wanted to
build more bridges and more tunnels were
on ramps and off ramps I wanted to see
literally trains everywhere there was no
excuse for Californians to get stuck in
traffic and there was no excuse really
to send your kids in overcrowded
classrooms and schools and it was also
no excuse that Los Angeles has a
hundred-year-old sewage system that’s
shitty I thank you first of course some
of the legislators looked at me like I
was absolutely insane man I told him
this vision they were willing to spend
maybe five billion dollars which of
course is petty cash and compared to
what my vision was but some politicians
of course had a hard time to see the big
picture because they didn’t really ever
travel outside California so they
haven’t really seen big infrastructure
they haven’t really seen big
infrastructure all over the United
States or maybe in Asia and China or in
Korea or in Brazil or in European
countries or here in Australia maybe so
they haven’t seen that and then of
course there are other politicians that
simply don’t have a bill
of the future past the next election
which is a common problem politicians
have all over the world so it is it was
my job as governor to motivate them and
to take them and to see the traffic jams
in Los Angeles and to see the
overcrowded classrooms and to see all
the problems that we have for they kept
pushing and pushing and a pump them up
enough that eventually they saw the big
picture and eventually Democrats and
Republicans came together if we invested
sixty billion dollars to rebuild
California’s infrastructure the biggest
investment of our state in 50 years so
that’s what we did because we had a big
vision and everyone bought in on this
big vision so remember never think small
think big the third rule is ignore the
naysayers I think it is natural that we
have a big vision and big dreams and you
have big cores that people are gonna say
around you I don’t think it can be done
I think it’s impossible or no I tell you
hear this all the time but I want to
tell you don’t ever let them stop you
from dreaming and from shooting for the
big goal because eliminate just simply
those words no impossible and it can’t
be done I mean in each one of my careers
when someone said it’s impossible
I heard it’s possible and someone said
it can’t be done I heard it can be done
and then someone said no then I heard
loud and clear yes so this is what I
believed in I am a big believer what
Nelson Mandela said he said it always
seems to be impossible until someone
does it and that’s exactly what it is
and I wanted to beat that one that does
it I wanted to break the new records and
I wanted to do something that no one
else has ever done so I think that’s
what you need to do don’t ever be
worried about that someone hasn’t done
it just think about how many times my
career would have stopped my career
would have ended if I would have
listened to the naysayers I mean it
started right away when I was 15 years
old and I became a bodybuilder right and
if that happened I said I want to be a
world champ
in bodybuilding I want to be mr.
universe they immediately said are you
crazy
you in Austria in Austria you can become
a ski champion or a bicycle champion or
something like that but bodybuilding is
an American sport forget about it it’s
nuts ten men I wanted to move to America
they said again it’s impossible you will
never be able to do that you’re from the
money you owe by yourself and then men I
wanted to go into show business
after 113 World Championship titles in
bodybuilding I said I want to be like
reg Park I want to be a Hercules I want
to get into movies well I tell you when
I met those agents and managers and
studio executives their reaction was so
funny you want to be what a leading man
oh come on I mean look first of all
let’s start with your body look at your
body I mean your overdevelopment you’re
gigantic
you’re like a monster are you kidding me
do you know what the new thing the new
trend is is little guys like Dustin
Hoffman Al Pacino Woody Allen those are
the new sex symbols don’t you get it and
then your accent oh it gives me the
chills just listening to your German
bullshit come on now I mean oh god I
mean it’s like it’s scary when you talk
it’s unbelievable I mean have you ever
Arnold
every piece years have you ever seen an
international movie star
with the German accent it doesn’t happen
forget about that and then you name what
is it what’s in it still or something
like that
yeah I can see that name already up
there in a billboard yes and people are
gonna storm the field and the movie
houses because what some seriously
starring in a movie oh yeah I can see
that already
so that’s what they say they said to me
it says look forget about that you a
nice guy I mean your body building
champion why don’t you you’re much of a
bitch in a zoo more health food store or
something like that we can help you with
that then let me get the other side some
little parts like maybe playing a
bouncer I mean with your body perfect or
maybe a wrestler oh oh I have a good
idea but you accent the Nazi officer now
that’s really great for you I call my
buddies over at Hogan’s Heroes I mean
they would probably use someone like you
so that’s what it said imagine that
everywhere I turn they said no it won’t
happen it’s not gonna happen and forget
about it
luckily I did not listen I did not
listen because I knew if I worked hard
enough and I worked as hard as I did in
bodybuilding five six hours a day that I
will make it that I could prove them
wrong and I started working very hard I
started taking acting classes English
classes speech classes dialog classes
even accent removal classes I ran around
all day saying lines like a fine wine
grows and a bind
because you see the Austrians and
Germans have a difficult time with the B
and with the W and did the F we get it
all mixed up so it was a fine wine grows
and a vine or the sink is made out of
the zinc I all those kind of lines is it
a window when you know something over
sadly I got a little break in the early
70s I remember all of a sudden I got a
TV show a little part then another
little part then all of a sudden I got a
phone call from Lucille Ball to being
her special happy anniversary and
goodbye which was without Connie I had
the 6-minute seen as an Italian masseur
now most people don’t know the
difference between an Italian accent in
the German accent so I got away with my
German accent but I played this Italian
Monsieur and I was so delighted and then
right after that I got that guest
starring role in streets of San
Francisco with Michael Douglas and cow
Morgan and then pumping on and stay
hungry and then of course I landed the
big role as Conan the Barbarian so
finally I got the big big break and you
know what was so interesting about it
was that soon as we were finished with
the Conan movie we were out there and a
promotion to her and the director said
that the press conference the directors
John Milius he said if we wouldn’t have
had Schwarzenegger with those muscles we
would have had to build one
now think about that before it was this
huge obstacle to have this party and all
of a sudden the director says if he
wouldn’t have etched what’s like over
his body we would have had to build one
now water turn around and then when I
did terminator James Cameron said which
was really great he said the Albie
backline became one of the most famous
movie lines in history because of
Arnold’s crazy accent because he sounded
like a machine when he talks
[Music]
[Applause]
so as you see everything that the
naysayer said was a liability became an
asset and the same was also in my
political career when I ran for governor
they immediately said I shouldn’t do it
it is a big mistake it won’t happen I
will lose and all of those kind of
things in the rest of course is history
the bottom line is if I would have
listened to the naysayers my career
would have ended when I was 15 years old
I will be still yodeling in Austria in
the Alps and I would not be talking here
today to you and the reason why I’m here
today and talking to you is because I
did not listen to you can though it’s
impossible or no so I just recommend you
very strongly ignore the naysayers
[Music]
[Applause]
the fourth rule is work your ass off
nobody ever stumbled up on success by
accident except maybe the guy who found
gold in California but don’t ever think
that you can be that guy
I mean idiot you never want to fail
because you didn’t work hard enough I
always believed no stone unturned work
your butt off that’s what I always
believed the matter what you do work
work work I remember
Muhammad Ali one of my great heroes had
a great line in the 70s when he when he
was asked how many sit-ups do you do he
said I don’t know because I start
counting only when it starts burning
when it starts burning that’s when he
starts counting you see that’s what
makes you a champion it doesn’t matter
in what area you in no pain no gain the
bottom line is one of my rules which is
working part off if you don’t apply that
rule all the other rules won’t mean
anything I mean it drives me absolutely
nuts when people say I don’t have time
to work out have me here at that many
times I don’t have time to work out or I
have worked so hard all day I’m tired I
cannot work out anymore oh I cannot read
another book oh I cannot improve myself
oh I don’t have time or I work so hard
that I cannot really improve my business
or I cannot grow as a person or any of
those things what the hell are we
talking about here
I mean today is 24 hours you sleep six
hours so you have 18 hours left I mean I
know that some of you out there that say
well wait a minute I sleep actually
eight hours but that’s just sleep fast
though okay you know I mean let’s not
get bogged down with this stuff here
[Applause]
listen man I came to the United States
I remember that I trained five hours a
day every day and I was managing a
construction business that was a
bricklayer and I went to college also
and I took acting classes from a to
target nights to 12 o’clock midnight all
that in one day every day I did that I
did not worry about it I knew that at 24
hours and they didn’t want to waste one
single hour because I believed of what
Ted Turner said who is one of the great
entrepreneurs who start at CNN and so on
he said early to bed early to rise work
like hell and advertise so that’s what I
believe just remember you can’t climb
that ladder of success with your hands
in your pockets you must work your ass
off it’s that simple
it may 5th and last rule is don’t just
take give something back leave your mark
in the world I believe that we all have
an obligation to do something for our
community something for our state
something for our country we must serve
a cause that is greater than ourselves
because we all know that in the end we
will be judged not for how much we made
but the how much we give ever since
America greeted maybe dope moms I’ve had
this sense of responsibility and I felt
obligated to give something back to
America because I know that everything
that I have accomplished is because of
America if it’s my bodybuilding career
if it is my show business career my
political career the money that have
made my great family that I have all of
this is because of America but I have to
recognize the fact that America did not
become the land of opportunity in this
great country by itself no in history
people work tirelessly in America people
fought and people died to make it the
land of freedom and opportunity in the
land of liberty so now it is our
responsibility if you want to keep it
the number one country in the world to
work for that and to give something back
to that country and it doesn’t matter if
you’re in America if you’re in Australia
or if you enjoy no oven in Japan or in
Italy it is the same thing you all have
to give something back to your country
and by the way you’re from now I love
the words of my father-in-law Sargent
Shriver who started the Peace Corps the
Job Corps legal aid to the poor during
the Kennedy and during the chanson
administration he was the number one
public servant and he always inspired me
to become a public servant he was one of
my heroes he said at Yale University the
commencement speech he said to the
students tear down their mural
tear down that mirror that makes you
always look at yourself and you will be
able to look beyond that mirror and you
will see the millions and millions of
people that need your help and I saw
those millions and millions of people
and this is why I tried to take every
opportunity that I could to give
something back I started training
Special Olympians people did went
electorally handicapped to help them
with weightlifting in powerlifting I
became the International powerlifting
coach and the torch bearer for Special
Olympics then later on I joined the
Simon Wiesenthal Center to fight
prejudice so we don’t have the things
happening again as we had during the
Second World War during the Nazi Reich
it
I joined also the President’s Council on
Fitness that became the German on the
President Bush from 1990 to 1993 to be
the German had to promote health and
fitness in all 50 states that traveled
all 50 states
I started after-school programs for the
most vulnerable children for inner-city
children to make them be able to say no
to drugs no to gangs and no the violence
and to say yes to education and yes to
life and every single time I reached out
and I give something back I felt
fantastic nothing made me happier I
would rather play chess with an
eight-yard kid in an after-school
program or play golf
around the CAF with a special Olympian
then go down another red carpet of a
movie premiere
and have nothing against movies but to
give something back to me is more
important than just to think about
myself eventually the joy of giving back
was so great that I decided to become a
public servant full-time and to turn my
back actually walk away from my career
as an actor after finished promoting
Terminator 3 I jumped into the race into
the governor’s race in California in a
reign for governor and even though my
friends advised me not to do that they
said are you crazy Arnold don’t you
understand that he would lose now this
2030 million dollars a movie that you’re
getting paid and they will only pay you
a hundred and seventy eight thousand
dollars as governor a year well I didn’t
care because I knew that all the money
that I’ve made and to be in that
position the first place to make this
money is because of America it was time
to give something back so I became
governor and I didn’t even take the
hundred and seventy eight thousand
dollars I give it back to the taxpayers
because it was petty cash it’s the last
thing I needed
and I can tell you that those seven
years were the most exciting and the
most rewarding and the most gratifying
years of my life to work all day long
the South problems and deserve the
people was absolutely heaven it was the
best job I’ve ever had but they also
knew that eventually it’s going to come
to an end and after two terms it did
come to an end but when he came to an
end the one thing that didn’t come to an
end and was not finished was my desire
to be a public servant industry of the
people and this is why I continued to
work for Special Olympics that’s why I
continued to work on fighting my fitness
crusade and traveling around the world
to promote health and fitness this is
why I continued to support after-school
programs and we even started the
Schwarzenegger
Institute at the University of Southern
California to continue to inspire
students and leaders around the world to
find solutions to complicated issues and
to give back but to make the world a
better place
so because thank you
[Applause]
but I tell you that I was very fortunate
that they had great heroes
I prayed heroes that I could look up to
and I mentioned two of them Muhammad Ali
and Sacha Shriver my father-in-law
but there’s other great heroes like for
but Jeff Reagan Mandela great leaders
like Mother Teresa Chancellor Kohl and
Churchill and the list goes on and on I
mean those people had such an impact in
the world single-handedly they’ve
changed the world I mean if you think
about just Gorbachev I mean this man
every time I meet him I’m in awe I mean
he grew up on the communism and he rose
from the bottom of the ranks straight up
to the top
he came president of the Soviet Union
one of the most powerful people in the
world and he was the leader of the
Communist Party and when he was in the
top position he realized that the system
was broken now what do you do when you
had the top leader of the Communist
Party and he realized that the system
that communism doesn’t work well you
know what he did he dismantled communism
think about the courage that it takes I
mean the gut still it takes to do that
think about the co-operative completely
transformed his country with glass toast
to give his people for the first time
freedom and then through perestroika
reforming Russia’s economy he didn’t
wait for the next president he didn’t
complain he simply said if not me who
and if not now when
so I feel very strongly all of us need
to have an embrace that kind of a spirit
we all can create change whether it is
now neighborhood or in our local schools
or in our country he can’t be big but it
can also be as little as just going to a
school kid that is problems reading and
teaching that kids are the read or how
to math we don’t have to just work on me
we should also work on we not just me
but also we remember that to lead a
truly full life you must give back you
must leave the world a better place than
you found it because the bottom line is
it is up to us I mean those rules that
have given you important rules but
giving back is one of the most important
rules I guarantee you that if you follow
all of those rules you will have many
victories to celebrate and you will
leave you know you work and you will
have extraordinary kind of a record and
you will leave a legacy behind that you
can be proud of
so what do you do remember those rules
have a vision
think big ignore the naysayers work your
ass off and give back and change the
world because if not us who if not now
when
[Music]
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