have so many rules in life about
everything I said break the rules not
the law but break the rules my wife has
a t-shirt my wife has a t-shirt that
says well-behaved women rarely make
history boy you know I don’t want to
burst a bubble but the same is true with
man it is impossible to be a maverick or
true original if you’re too well behaved
and don’t want to break the rules you
have to think outside the box that’s
what I believe after all what is the
point of being on this earth if all you
want to do is be liked by everyone and
avoid trouble the only way that ever got
any place was the breaking some of the
rules after all I remember that after
was finished with my bodybuilding career
I wanted to get into acting and I want
to be a star in films you can imagine
what the agent said when I went to meet
all those agents everyone has the same
line that it can’t be done the rules are
different here just looked at your body
have this huge monstrous body and overly
developed that doesn’t fit into the
movies
you don’t understand this was 20 years
ago the Hercules movies now there is the
little guys that they in Dustin Hoffman
Woody Allen Chuck Nicholson before he
gained weight of course that is but
anyway those are the guys that win and
the agent also complained about Max and
he says no one ever became a star with
an accent like that especially not with
the German accent in yes I can imagine
with your name Arnold Schwarzenegger or
whatever the name is on a billboard yeah
that’s gonna draw a lot of tickets and
sell a lot of tickets here right so this
is the kind of negative attitude they
had but I didn’t listen listen to those
rules even though they were very nice
and they said look we can get you some
big parts be kingmaker get you to be a
you know being a wrestler or bouncer Oh
maybe with the German accent we can get
it to be a Nazi officer in Hogan’s
Heroes or something like that
but you know I didn’t listen to all this
this what their rules not my rules
I was convinced that could do it that if
I worked as hard as I didn’t
bodybuilding five hours a day in a
started getting the world
I started thinking acting fastest took
English classes to speech classes
dialogue classes accent removal classes
I even took I remember running around a
fine wine grows on a vine you see
because Germans had difficulties with
the F and the W and the B it’s a fine
wine prose and the vine I know what some
of you now say is that hope that our got
its money back but the day is something
I had a good time doing those things and
it really helped me finally I throat
through I broke through and I started
getting the first part in TB streets of
San Francisco Lucille Ball hired me and
made pumping ions stay hungry and then I
got the big break in Conan the Barbarian
[Music]
and the earth the director say the
people wouldn’t have Schwarzenegger we
would have to build one now think about
that and then when I did Terminator I’ll
be back became most of one of the most
famous lines in a movie history or
because of my crazy accent now think
about it the things that the agent said
will be totally a detriment and will be
impossible for me to get a job all of a
sudden became an asset for me all of the
things my accent my body and everything
so it’s just shows do you never listen
that you can’t do something and you have
to work your way up of course run for
something else first I mean it was the
same when I ran for governor the same
lines that if the rug you wrap it can’t
be done and then of course I ran for
governor and the rest of course its
history they said you have to start with
a small job as mayor and then there’s a
simply man and then he was lieutenant
governor and then as governor and he
said that’s the way it works in a
political career I said I’m not
interested in the political career I
want to be a public servant I want to
fix California’s problems and bring
people together and bring the parties
together so like I said I decided to run
I didn’t pay attention to the rules and
I made it there is this history I think
it’s the most important thing that we
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
and 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 and you’re not going
to 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 right along 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 that was
famine there was starvation and all
those things and also it was kind of a
little place and narrow I felt kind of I
wanted to get out of there I wanted to
escape and I couldn’t see myself really
do work there in to stay there to work
in the factory of the work and a farm
although even to follow my father’s
footsteps and 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 in the mirror 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 think big because then
you’re gonna get big then you’re gonna
go and achieve big things that is the
most important thing you know we don’t
achieve big things by accident so shoot
for the top shoot for the sky you know
for the stars first thing I think you
can do is retire retiring means that you
maybe have hated something that you did
your whole life and now you’re retired
finally you get rid of this pain or this
horrible kind of like being an
assembly-line and some car factories I’m
again I don’t know what it may be but
people just sometimes look forward to
retiring I mean I cannot imagine why
would I want to retire from organizing
the armored classic I am having a ball
here I love coming here every year you
know I’m saying I cannot imagine
retiring from going to Gold’s Gym how
can I retire from playing chess with
Franco how can I retire you know going
around and promoting a healthy
environment or the fitness crusade and
stuff like that I’ll go into the you
know Schwartz against
so I cannot imagine that there is such a
thing as retirement I mean I think that
it will be over when it’s over you know
yeah I don’t know I mean some people
just look forward to that but like I
said it depends if doors understand one
thing 74 percent of the American people
that is a poll that was done do not
enjoy their work so this is why it is
very tough it’s easy for us to say Bob
would I retire because I love everything
I do but there’s a lot of people that
don’t like their work and they’re just
doing it because they need to make a
living therefore family to feed and so
they take the next best job but they
don’t really like the job you know they
done nothing how to switch over to
another job and stuff so it’s very tough
that’s why I always tell kids and my
success seminars have a clear vision
where you want to go what is it that
you’re really passionate about and then
go after that no matter what it takes
go after that as crazy as it may sound
because you got to do something did you
really enjoy doing all of those
liabilities that they talked about
started turning into assets when it had
Conan the Barbarian the director came to
me and he said if we wouldn’t have you
we wouldn’t have to build one and then
Terminator the director said I couldn’t
imagine to have anyone predetermine ated
it wouldn’t have an accent and they
wouldn’t have your body I cannot imagine
the line I’ll be back with a normal
American accent it works so perfectly
then you have this German accent so all
of those things that they say the
liabilities became an asset the moment
as moment went on they grew and grew and
I went from one movie to the next so to
make more and more money and then on the
hand ended up being the highest-paid
actor with 30 million dollars and
Terminator 3 the other thing is is that
you get to work your butt off if you
think that you’re gonna go and
accomplish something really special and
be the best in anything in the world
if you think you can do it without
working you make a big mistake because
no matter what I did if it was a
bodybuilding or an acting or if it is in
the political arena it always took a lot
a lot of work and you got to put out and
you got to you know sometimes make a lot
of sacrifices notice if you’re not
willing to work hard forget about it so
there’s another rule that is very
important use your power of potential
and make this nation in this world a
better place
it worked for this immigrant that came
over here to this country with $20 in
the pocket and I know and I guarantee
you it will work for you too don’t be
afraid to fail because if you’re afraid
to fail then you’re always holding
yourself back because you’re afraid that
if you go all out you may fail well in
weightlifting we learned it very quickly
the only way you could break a record is
if you’re willing to fail that’s when
you put on more weight you try it
sometimes you maybe don’t you would not
be able to lift it we just happen to me
many times but eventually when you train
hard enough you will lift it so don’t be
afraid to fail you I mean how far can
you fall that just shows you again so
much for it can’t be done this is why I
try to tell you anything and everything
can be done if you can visualize it and
if you believe in yourself it was the
same thing again when I ran for governor
you can imagine when I went on at the
night show and I announced that I’m
gonna run for governor of the great
state of California people came to me
after it says you’re crazy you don’t
announce something like this under
tonight’s show you have an official
press conference at the State Capitol
plus you don’t start with governorship
you go start first with mayor or with
state senator and I said I don’t want to
be senator I don’t want to be mayor I
want to be governor don’t you understand
that well the rest is history I won in
2003 and they won also in 2006 let me
tell you you’re going to find the
naysayers in every turn that you make
don’t listen
just visualize your call know exactly
where you want to go trust yourself
get out there and work like hell and
break some of the rules and never ever
be afraid of failure
because not everyone is the same there’s
some people that just like to kick back
and coast through life and I just want
to be very intense and want to be number
one and want to be successful let’s like
me I always wanted to be very intense I
always wanted to be number one I took it
very seriously in my career so this was
the same when I started with
bodybuilding I didn’t want to just be a
bodybuilding champion I wanted to be the
best body build of all times the same
was in the movies I didn’t want to just
be a movie star I wanted to be a great
movie star that’s the highest paid movie
star has above the title building and so
this intensity always paid off for me
this commitment always paid off for me
so here are some of the rules the first
rule is trust yourself what I mean but
there is is so many young people are
getting so much advice from their
parents and from the teachers from
everyone but what is most important is
that you have to dig deep down dig deep
down and ask yourselves who do you want
to be not what but who
and I’m talking about that with your
parents and teachers wanted to be with
you I’m talking about figuring out for
yourselves what makes you happy no
matter how crazy it may sound to the
people spend a lot of time for myself so
could figure out and listen to what is
inside my heart and inside my head and I
recognized very quickly that inside my
head and heart were a burning desire to
leave my small village in Austria not
that there was something wrong with
asked Austria as a beautiful country but
I wanted to leave that little place and
want to be part of something big the
United States of America a powerful
nation the place where dreams can come
true I knew when I come over here I can
realize my dreams and I decided that the
best way for me to come to America was
to become a bodybuilding champion
because I knew that was my ticket the
instant that I saw magazine cover of my
idol reg Park he was mr. universe he was
starring in Hercules movies he looked
strong and powerful he was so confident
so when I found out he got that way I
became obsessed and I went home and I
said to my family I want to be a
bodybuilding champion now you can
imagine how that went over in my home in
Austria
my parents they couldn’t believe it it
would have been just happy if I would
have become a police officer like my
father something else burned inside me
something burned inside me I wanted to
be different I was determined to be
unique I was driven to think big in the
dream big everyone else thought that I
was crazy my friend said if you want to
be a champion in the sport why don’t you
go and become a bicycle champion or
skiing champion or soccer champion those
are the Austrian sports but I didn’t
care I wanted to be a bodybuilding
champion and use that to come to America
and use that to go into the movies and
make millions of dollars I wanted to
become a champion I wanted I was on a
mission so rule number one is of course
trust yourself no matter how and what
anyone else thinks be afraid to fail
anything I’ve ever attempted I was
always willing to fail in the movie
business I remember that you pick
scripts many times you think this is a
winning script but then of course he
find out later on when he do the movie
that it didn’t work and the movie goes
in the toilet now we have seen my movies
I’m in red Sonia Hercules in New York
last action heroes those movies went in
the toilet but that’s okay because
they’re the same time I made movies like
Terminator and Conan and True Lies and
predator and twins that went through the
roof so you can’t always win but don’t
be afraid of making decisions you can’t
be paralyzed by fear failure or you will
never push yourself you keep pushing
because you believe in yourself and in
your vision and you know that it’s the
right thing to do and success will come
so don’t be afraid to fail which brings
me the rule number four which is don’t
listen to the naysayers I mean how many
times have you heard that you can’t do
this and you can’t do that and it has
never been done before just imagine if
Bill Gates had quit when people say it
can’t be done I hear this all the time
isomeric I love it when someone says
that never no one has ever done this
before because they mean I do it that me
that I’m the first one that has done it
so pay no attention to the people who
say he can’t be done
I remember my mother-in-law eunice
Kennedy Shriver when she started Special
Olympics in 1968 people said that it
would not work the experts the doctors
that specialized in mental disabilities
and mental retardation said it can’t be
done you can’t bring people out of the
institution you can’t make them
participate in sports and jumping and
swimming and in running they will hurt
themselves to reward each other they
were drowned in the pool but let me tell
you something now 40 years later Special
Olympics is one of the greatest
organizations in 164 countries dedicated
to people with mental disabilities
amid intellectual challenge and
intellectual challenge and she did not
take no for an answer and the same miss
many look at Barack Obama I mean imagine
if he would have listened
if he would have listened to the
naysayers he would have never run for
president
people say that couldn’t be done that he
couldn’t get elected that he couldn’t
beat Hillary Clinton that he would never
win the general election but he followed
his own heart he didn’t listen to the
you can’t and you changed the course of
American history so I went over you see
that if I would have listened to the
naysayers I would still be in the
Austrian Alps yodeling I would never
have come to America I would have never
met a wonderful wife Maria Shriver I
would have never had the wonderful for
kids that would have never done
terminated and there wouldn’t be
standing here in front of you today as
governor of the greatest state of the
greatest country in the world
so I never listened that you can’t I
always listened to myself and said yes
you can that brings me to rule number
five which is the most important rule of
world of all work your butt off you
never want to fail because he didn’t
work hard enough I never wanted to lose
a competition or lose an election
because they didn’t work hard enough I
always believed leaving no stone
unturned
Muhammad Ali one of my great heroes had
a great line in the 70s when he was
asked how many sit-ups do you do he said
I don’t count my sit-ups I only start
counting when it’s that’s hurting when
they feel pain
– not counting because that’s when it
really counts that’s what makes you a
champion that’s the way it isn’t
everything
no pain no gain so many of those lessons
that I apply in life I have learned from
sports let me tell you and especially
that one and let me tell you it is
important to have fun in life of course
but when you’re out there partying
horsing around someone out there at the
same time is working hard someone is
getting smarter and someone is winning
just remember that now if you want the
coast through life don’t pay any
attention to any of those rules but if
you want the win there’s absolutely no
way around hard hard work none of my
rules by the way of success will work
unless you do I’ve always figured out
that there’s 24 hours a day you sleep
six hours and if 18 hours left now I
know there’s some of you out there now
and says well wait a minute I sleep
eight hours or nine hours well then just
sleep faster I would recommend because
the only needs to sleep six hours then
if eighteen hours left there’s a lot of
things you can accomplish as a matter of
fact ed Turner used to say always early
to bed early to rise work like hell and
advertise and of course all you know
this is you know overrated those things
because otherwise you would be sitting
here today just remember you can’t climb
the ladder of success with your hands in
a pocket that takes me the rule number
six which is a very important or it’s
about giving back
whatever path did you take in your lives
you must always find time to give
something back something back to your
community give something back to your
state or to your country and my
father-in-law Sasha Shriver who is a
great American truly great American who
started the Peace Corps the Job Corps
legal aid to the poor he said that Yale
University to the students said the
commencement speech tear down that mural
tear down that mirror that makes you
always look at yourself and you will be
able to look beyond that mural
you will see the millions of people that
need your help let me tell you something
reaching out and helping people will
bring you more satisfaction than
anything else you have ever done as a
matter of fact today after having worked
for Special Olympics never starts
after-school programs have promoted
fitness and now with my job as governor
I can tell you playing a game of chess
with an eight-year-old kid in an
inner-city school is far more exciting
for me than walking down another red
carpet of a movie premiere so let me
tell you as you prepare to go off into
the world remember the six rules trust
yourself
break some rules don’t be afraid to fail
ignore the naysayers work like hell and give something back
everything I said break the rules not
the law but break the rules my wife has
a t-shirt my wife has a t-shirt that
says well-behaved women rarely make
history boy you know I don’t want to
burst a bubble but the same is true with
man it is impossible to be a maverick or
true original if you’re too well behaved
and don’t want to break the rules you
have to think outside the box that’s
what I believe after all what is the
point of being on this earth if all you
want to do is be liked by everyone and
avoid trouble the only way that ever got
any place was the breaking some of the
rules after all I remember that after
was finished with my bodybuilding career
I wanted to get into acting and I want
to be a star in films you can imagine
what the agent said when I went to meet
all those agents everyone has the same
line that it can’t be done the rules are
different here just looked at your body
have this huge monstrous body and overly
developed that doesn’t fit into the
movies
you don’t understand this was 20 years
ago the Hercules movies now there is the
little guys that they in Dustin Hoffman
Woody Allen Chuck Nicholson before he
gained weight of course that is but
anyway those are the guys that win and
the agent also complained about Max and
he says no one ever became a star with
an accent like that especially not with
the German accent in yes I can imagine
with your name Arnold Schwarzenegger or
whatever the name is on a billboard yeah
that’s gonna draw a lot of tickets and
sell a lot of tickets here right so this
is the kind of negative attitude they
had but I didn’t listen listen to those
rules even though they were very nice
and they said look we can get you some
big parts be kingmaker get you to be a
you know being a wrestler or bouncer Oh
maybe with the German accent we can get
it to be a Nazi officer in Hogan’s
Heroes or something like that
but you know I didn’t listen to all this
this what their rules not my rules
I was convinced that could do it that if
I worked as hard as I didn’t
bodybuilding five hours a day in a
started getting the world
I started thinking acting fastest took
English classes to speech classes
dialogue classes accent removal classes
I even took I remember running around a
fine wine grows on a vine you see
because Germans had difficulties with
the F and the W and the B it’s a fine
wine prose and the vine I know what some
of you now say is that hope that our got
its money back but the day is something
I had a good time doing those things and
it really helped me finally I throat
through I broke through and I started
getting the first part in TB streets of
San Francisco Lucille Ball hired me and
made pumping ions stay hungry and then I
got the big break in Conan the Barbarian
[Music]
and the earth the director say the
people wouldn’t have Schwarzenegger we
would have to build one now think about
that and then when I did Terminator I’ll
be back became most of one of the most
famous lines in a movie history or
because of my crazy accent now think
about it the things that the agent said
will be totally a detriment and will be
impossible for me to get a job all of a
sudden became an asset for me all of the
things my accent my body and everything
so it’s just shows do you never listen
that you can’t do something and you have
to work your way up of course run for
something else first I mean it was the
same when I ran for governor the same
lines that if the rug you wrap it can’t
be done and then of course I ran for
governor and the rest of course its
history they said you have to start with
a small job as mayor and then there’s a
simply man and then he was lieutenant
governor and then as governor and he
said that’s the way it works in a
political career I said I’m not
interested in the political career I
want to be a public servant I want to
fix California’s problems and bring
people together and bring the parties
together so like I said I decided to run
I didn’t pay attention to the rules and
I made it there is this history I think
it’s the most important thing that we
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
and 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 and you’re not going
to 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 right along 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 that was
famine there was starvation and all
those things and also it was kind of a
little place and narrow I felt kind of I
wanted to get out of there I wanted to
escape and I couldn’t see myself really
do work there in to stay there to work
in the factory of the work and a farm
although even to follow my father’s
footsteps and 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 in the mirror 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 think big because then
you’re gonna get big then you’re gonna
go and achieve big things that is the
most important thing you know we don’t
achieve big things by accident so shoot
for the top shoot for the sky you know
for the stars first thing I think you
can do is retire retiring means that you
maybe have hated something that you did
your whole life and now you’re retired
finally you get rid of this pain or this
horrible kind of like being an
assembly-line and some car factories I’m
again I don’t know what it may be but
people just sometimes look forward to
retiring I mean I cannot imagine why
would I want to retire from organizing
the armored classic I am having a ball
here I love coming here every year you
know I’m saying I cannot imagine
retiring from going to Gold’s Gym how
can I retire from playing chess with
Franco how can I retire you know going
around and promoting a healthy
environment or the fitness crusade and
stuff like that I’ll go into the you
know Schwartz against
so I cannot imagine that there is such a
thing as retirement I mean I think that
it will be over when it’s over you know
yeah I don’t know I mean some people
just look forward to that but like I
said it depends if doors understand one
thing 74 percent of the American people
that is a poll that was done do not
enjoy their work so this is why it is
very tough it’s easy for us to say Bob
would I retire because I love everything
I do but there’s a lot of people that
don’t like their work and they’re just
doing it because they need to make a
living therefore family to feed and so
they take the next best job but they
don’t really like the job you know they
done nothing how to switch over to
another job and stuff so it’s very tough
that’s why I always tell kids and my
success seminars have a clear vision
where you want to go what is it that
you’re really passionate about and then
go after that no matter what it takes
go after that as crazy as it may sound
because you got to do something did you
really enjoy doing all of those
liabilities that they talked about
started turning into assets when it had
Conan the Barbarian the director came to
me and he said if we wouldn’t have you
we wouldn’t have to build one and then
Terminator the director said I couldn’t
imagine to have anyone predetermine ated
it wouldn’t have an accent and they
wouldn’t have your body I cannot imagine
the line I’ll be back with a normal
American accent it works so perfectly
then you have this German accent so all
of those things that they say the
liabilities became an asset the moment
as moment went on they grew and grew and
I went from one movie to the next so to
make more and more money and then on the
hand ended up being the highest-paid
actor with 30 million dollars and
Terminator 3 the other thing is is that
you get to work your butt off if you
think that you’re gonna go and
accomplish something really special and
be the best in anything in the world
if you think you can do it without
working you make a big mistake because
no matter what I did if it was a
bodybuilding or an acting or if it is in
the political arena it always took a lot
a lot of work and you got to put out and
you got to you know sometimes make a lot
of sacrifices notice if you’re not
willing to work hard forget about it so
there’s another rule that is very
important use your power of potential
and make this nation in this world a
better place
it worked for this immigrant that came
over here to this country with $20 in
the pocket and I know and I guarantee
you it will work for you too don’t be
afraid to fail because if you’re afraid
to fail then you’re always holding
yourself back because you’re afraid that
if you go all out you may fail well in
weightlifting we learned it very quickly
the only way you could break a record is
if you’re willing to fail that’s when
you put on more weight you try it
sometimes you maybe don’t you would not
be able to lift it we just happen to me
many times but eventually when you train
hard enough you will lift it so don’t be
afraid to fail you I mean how far can
you fall that just shows you again so
much for it can’t be done this is why I
try to tell you anything and everything
can be done if you can visualize it and
if you believe in yourself it was the
same thing again when I ran for governor
you can imagine when I went on at the
night show and I announced that I’m
gonna run for governor of the great
state of California people came to me
after it says you’re crazy you don’t
announce something like this under
tonight’s show you have an official
press conference at the State Capitol
plus you don’t start with governorship
you go start first with mayor or with
state senator and I said I don’t want to
be senator I don’t want to be mayor I
want to be governor don’t you understand
that well the rest is history I won in
2003 and they won also in 2006 let me
tell you you’re going to find the
naysayers in every turn that you make
don’t listen
just visualize your call know exactly
where you want to go trust yourself
get out there and work like hell and
break some of the rules and never ever
be afraid of failure
because not everyone is the same there’s
some people that just like to kick back
and coast through life and I just want
to be very intense and want to be number
one and want to be successful let’s like
me I always wanted to be very intense I
always wanted to be number one I took it
very seriously in my career so this was
the same when I started with
bodybuilding I didn’t want to just be a
bodybuilding champion I wanted to be the
best body build of all times the same
was in the movies I didn’t want to just
be a movie star I wanted to be a great
movie star that’s the highest paid movie
star has above the title building and so
this intensity always paid off for me
this commitment always paid off for me
so here are some of the rules the first
rule is trust yourself what I mean but
there is is so many young people are
getting so much advice from their
parents and from the teachers from
everyone but what is most important is
that you have to dig deep down dig deep
down and ask yourselves who do you want
to be not what but who
and I’m talking about that with your
parents and teachers wanted to be with
you I’m talking about figuring out for
yourselves what makes you happy no
matter how crazy it may sound to the
people spend a lot of time for myself so
could figure out and listen to what is
inside my heart and inside my head and I
recognized very quickly that inside my
head and heart were a burning desire to
leave my small village in Austria not
that there was something wrong with
asked Austria as a beautiful country but
I wanted to leave that little place and
want to be part of something big the
United States of America a powerful
nation the place where dreams can come
true I knew when I come over here I can
realize my dreams and I decided that the
best way for me to come to America was
to become a bodybuilding champion
because I knew that was my ticket the
instant that I saw magazine cover of my
idol reg Park he was mr. universe he was
starring in Hercules movies he looked
strong and powerful he was so confident
so when I found out he got that way I
became obsessed and I went home and I
said to my family I want to be a
bodybuilding champion now you can
imagine how that went over in my home in
Austria
my parents they couldn’t believe it it
would have been just happy if I would
have become a police officer like my
father something else burned inside me
something burned inside me I wanted to
be different I was determined to be
unique I was driven to think big in the
dream big everyone else thought that I
was crazy my friend said if you want to
be a champion in the sport why don’t you
go and become a bicycle champion or
skiing champion or soccer champion those
are the Austrian sports but I didn’t
care I wanted to be a bodybuilding
champion and use that to come to America
and use that to go into the movies and
make millions of dollars I wanted to
become a champion I wanted I was on a
mission so rule number one is of course
trust yourself no matter how and what
anyone else thinks be afraid to fail
anything I’ve ever attempted I was
always willing to fail in the movie
business I remember that you pick
scripts many times you think this is a
winning script but then of course he
find out later on when he do the movie
that it didn’t work and the movie goes
in the toilet now we have seen my movies
I’m in red Sonia Hercules in New York
last action heroes those movies went in
the toilet but that’s okay because
they’re the same time I made movies like
Terminator and Conan and True Lies and
predator and twins that went through the
roof so you can’t always win but don’t
be afraid of making decisions you can’t
be paralyzed by fear failure or you will
never push yourself you keep pushing
because you believe in yourself and in
your vision and you know that it’s the
right thing to do and success will come
so don’t be afraid to fail which brings
me the rule number four which is don’t
listen to the naysayers I mean how many
times have you heard that you can’t do
this and you can’t do that and it has
never been done before just imagine if
Bill Gates had quit when people say it
can’t be done I hear this all the time
isomeric I love it when someone says
that never no one has ever done this
before because they mean I do it that me
that I’m the first one that has done it
so pay no attention to the people who
say he can’t be done
I remember my mother-in-law eunice
Kennedy Shriver when she started Special
Olympics in 1968 people said that it
would not work the experts the doctors
that specialized in mental disabilities
and mental retardation said it can’t be
done you can’t bring people out of the
institution you can’t make them
participate in sports and jumping and
swimming and in running they will hurt
themselves to reward each other they
were drowned in the pool but let me tell
you something now 40 years later Special
Olympics is one of the greatest
organizations in 164 countries dedicated
to people with mental disabilities
amid intellectual challenge and
intellectual challenge and she did not
take no for an answer and the same miss
many look at Barack Obama I mean imagine
if he would have listened
if he would have listened to the
naysayers he would have never run for
president
people say that couldn’t be done that he
couldn’t get elected that he couldn’t
beat Hillary Clinton that he would never
win the general election but he followed
his own heart he didn’t listen to the
you can’t and you changed the course of
American history so I went over you see
that if I would have listened to the
naysayers I would still be in the
Austrian Alps yodeling I would never
have come to America I would have never
met a wonderful wife Maria Shriver I
would have never had the wonderful for
kids that would have never done
terminated and there wouldn’t be
standing here in front of you today as
governor of the greatest state of the
greatest country in the world
so I never listened that you can’t I
always listened to myself and said yes
you can that brings me to rule number
five which is the most important rule of
world of all work your butt off you
never want to fail because he didn’t
work hard enough I never wanted to lose
a competition or lose an election
because they didn’t work hard enough I
always believed leaving no stone
unturned
Muhammad Ali one of my great heroes had
a great line in the 70s when he was
asked how many sit-ups do you do he said
I don’t count my sit-ups I only start
counting when it’s that’s hurting when
they feel pain
– not counting because that’s when it
really counts that’s what makes you a
champion that’s the way it isn’t
everything
no pain no gain so many of those lessons
that I apply in life I have learned from
sports let me tell you and especially
that one and let me tell you it is
important to have fun in life of course
but when you’re out there partying
horsing around someone out there at the
same time is working hard someone is
getting smarter and someone is winning
just remember that now if you want the
coast through life don’t pay any
attention to any of those rules but if
you want the win there’s absolutely no
way around hard hard work none of my
rules by the way of success will work
unless you do I’ve always figured out
that there’s 24 hours a day you sleep
six hours and if 18 hours left now I
know there’s some of you out there now
and says well wait a minute I sleep
eight hours or nine hours well then just
sleep faster I would recommend because
the only needs to sleep six hours then
if eighteen hours left there’s a lot of
things you can accomplish as a matter of
fact ed Turner used to say always early
to bed early to rise work like hell and
advertise and of course all you know
this is you know overrated those things
because otherwise you would be sitting
here today just remember you can’t climb
the ladder of success with your hands in
a pocket that takes me the rule number
six which is a very important or it’s
about giving back
whatever path did you take in your lives
you must always find time to give
something back something back to your
community give something back to your
state or to your country and my
father-in-law Sasha Shriver who is a
great American truly great American who
started the Peace Corps the Job Corps
legal aid to the poor he said that Yale
University to the students said the
commencement speech tear down that mural
tear down that mirror that makes you
always look at yourself and you will be
able to look beyond that mural
you will see the millions of people that
need your help let me tell you something
reaching out and helping people will
bring you more satisfaction than
anything else you have ever done as a
matter of fact today after having worked
for Special Olympics never starts
after-school programs have promoted
fitness and now with my job as governor
I can tell you playing a game of chess
with an eight-year-old kid in an
inner-city school is far more exciting
for me than walking down another red
carpet of a movie premiere so let me
tell you as you prepare to go off into
the world remember the six rules trust
yourself
break some rules don’t be afraid to fail
ignore the naysayers work like hell and give something back
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