13 Lessons from Arnold Schwarzenegger

“You can have results or excuses. Not both.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger

# 1 — Believe in yourself.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was always determined to be truly unique. No matter what other people would be saying about him, he strongly believed in himself that one day he will realise that his dreams in bodybuilding will come true. Even though his family wanted him to become a police officer or do some sport, such as soccer, rather than bodybuilding, he firmly believed in his own dreams and pursued it until he achieved it. Don’t ask yourself WHAT you want to become, but WHO you want to be later on in life and that with no consideration as to what others might want you to be. You need to find out by yourself what makes you happy, regardless of how crazy others might consider you. Remember, it’s YOUR life and you surely don’t want to live other peoples’ life but your own.

# 2 — Look for a partner, don’t do it all alone.

He knew that having a knowledgeable and strong partner could increase his motivation even further and be beneficial in many other ways. He found Franco Columbu with whom he did many workouts. Later on in his career the applied the same secret to success for his business.

# 3 — Take advantage of mentors.

As many other sports professionals, also Arnold Schwarzenegger, learnt that having a mentor is crucial. In his case it was Joe Weider. It was him who taught Schwarzenegger everything about posing, training, business and promoting. Taking advantage of experienced advisors and mentors proved to be useful many times in Arnold’s diverse careers.

# 4 — You don’t get strong by winning.

When you keep on winning, it doesn’t mean you become strong. You start developing your strength through the struggles you are going through. Once you experience hardships and you don’t give up at any point, that is the moment when strength starts growing.

# 5 — Surround yourself with other great people.

If you look at Golden Age bodybuilders you will notice that they are very often in groups. They have fun, hang out together, trying to push and make each other better and motivating each other to reach new levels. Arnold was willing to be social and he always tried to surround himself with people who he thought could help him to reach new levels of success. That made him also more aware of his weaknesses and strengths compared to others. You will become automatically better if you surround yourself with the best rather than isolating yourself from the rest.

# 6 — Going abroad, yes it’s possible!

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in a small village in Austria, called Thal. He always had this burning desire to go to the USA. He became the world’s best bodybuilder, the best paid actor, and even the Governor of California. There are not many other people who can say that they made an impact in so many diverse categories, be it sports, entertainment, politics, etc. If you think you can’t make it abroad, think twice! Arnold Schwarzenegger went to America with no money and no English skills and still made it big! Yes, in America it is possible!

# 7 — Sometimes you need to break the rules.

Arnold faced a lot of rejections before he succeeded as a Hollywood movie star. Many thought that his Austrian accent would not be easily understood by everyone, his body size would be too big, his surname (Schwarzenegger) was difficult to pronounce and last but not least, his English was also not that great. What previously he considered as a disadvantage, he then turned into advantages which made him unique and special in its own way. Let’s not forget that he was the highest paid Hollywood actor and he was different from all other people. Breaking the rules, doesn’t mean you have to break the law, just think outside the box and do things differently. Believe in the fact that standing out from the crowd is often necessary in order to succeed and to be more memorable.

# 8 — Failures are just normal.

As mentioned earlier, Schwarzenegger achieved a lot in his life. However, he also failed sometimes in all those careers. He lost championships in bodybuilding, he also made poor movies, went through an ugly divorce with Maria Shriver and made mistakes as Governor of California. But he never allowed his fear to paralyze him because he kept on pushing himself and succeed again in the end.

# 9 — Giving back pays off.

Arnold realised that by giving back something to the community can bring more satisfaction than other things. Schwarzenegger collaborated with Special Olympics, started after school programs, helped the homeless and helped raising money for many other initiatives. He said once ‘Playing a game of chess with an 8-year-old child in a school is far more exciting than walking down the red carpet or a movie premiere.’ Wow, that means something!

# 10 — The right mind set makes all the difference.

Whatever success Arnold Schwarzenegger achieved, he believes that it was due to his strong mind set. Getting up early in the morning, staying up late, pushing himself beyond his own limitations, and visualizing his dreams coming true was only possible with a determined mind set. With this powerful tool he was able to achieve many important milestones in his life, even though many never thought he would be able to achieve whatever his intentions were. Having this mentality of ‘I will succeed, I will do whatever it takes” helped him many times to be successful. He is who he is due to his strong willpower, supreme confidence and sheer determination.

# 11 — Never underestimate your competitors.

Some people say that Schwarzenegger entered the bodybuilding industry with a bit of arrogance because he was so self-obsessed of his physique. When he entered his first Mr. Universe competition in 1968 he lost against Frank Zane. He firmly believed that his size would suffice in order to beat his rival, unfortunately he lost. However, as you can imagine the defeat was difficult to digest and it came as no surprise that the following year he won the Mr Universe title.

# 12 — Think of alternatives once you are getting older.

Arnold was fully aware of the fact that he could not keep his bodybuilding passion for long as he gets older. That was the reason why he decided to dive into other careers, such as politics and acting. There is this prejudice that a person with lots of muscles must have a little brain, but Arnold Schwarzenegger proved also those people wrong. He gained a degree in business and economics from the University of Wisconsin and run for some years also his own business.

# 13 — Think big and aim only for the top.

If you would have told Americans years ago that Arnold Schwarzenegger would become a politician in America, many would have laughed at you. As you can see, he even achieved that goal! What can we learn from this? You need to reach for the top and think big! Believe it, visualize it and your chances are high in you succeeding, whatever your goal and dream is.