Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 6 Tips to Success

Written and narrated by Leigh Martinuzzi (originally published Mar 13, 2015)

I grew up watching Arnie movies! To many of us, he is a bit of a legend. With great lines like “get to the chopper”, and “I’ll be back”, one of the most quoted movie lines ever, I believe that he has certainly worked hard to achieve success across his various careers. For sure, like anyone, he probably has traits not to be admired and had an equal share of challenges and turmoil, that’s a given. However, from the success that he has had there is a thing or two we could most certainly learn.

I have written this post not to place judgement on areas in his life that he or the broader public may feel like a letdown but to highlight the lessons of his success. His passion and vision in life have allowed him to become the very best in three careers that I know of – bodybuilding, movies and more recently the Governor of California. And now is on a new path to give more back and help others through his various health and fitness initiatives.

I wrote this post after I had the privilege of hearing him speak at a conference in Australia. He told us that he has always been asked of how to become successful so in this speech he dedicated to giving some answers. Here are Arnold’s six principles for success and what I took away.

1. Have a Clear Vision

Arnold believes this to be the most important starting point of success. Without a clear vision on where you wish to head in life, and accompanying goals, life will be a chore. When you wake up every day without an end goal or vision the days are more painful. Passion is what gets us out of bed, motivates and pushes us, and vision inspires passion.

Statistics indicate that 74% of the American population, similar in Australia, are dissatisfied with their jobs. This suggests to me that many of us are living without a vision and without passion.

Arnold remembers as a kid seeing a magazine in the streets with Reg Park as Hercules on the front cover, ripped as ever, and from then his obsession for bodybuilding began. His vision was created and at the age of twenty, he became the youngest ever to win the Mr Universe title.

People asked him why he was so happy and always smiling at the Gym and he would say “because this is what I like to do”. It was his passion. Every bicep curl, every rep, every sit-up he knew he was one step closer to fulfilling his vision and reaching that goal.

Regularly he would visualise himself on that stage accepting the winning trophy until it became a reality.

Arnie said his vision in everything he did was a powerful driving force. He reflected upon a scene from one of his earliest hit movies Conan, where he was crawling across some rough terrain. After many takes, his knees and elbows were bleeding and the director asked if he needed to rest, he said, “No, we can do as many takes as needed”.

He had a vision of how the end scene would look and was dedicated to getting it right regardless of how many takes necessary. In his words, ‘the pain was not permanent, but this movie is’. Think about how our personal life vision could help us propel forward in life and success.

2. Dream and Think BIG

Dream BIG, Think BIG, pretty common advice from most of the books, mentors and people I look up to for inspiration. The self-help genre is full of it. Arnie is certainly no exception to this rule and continues to challenge just how BIG he can dream.

After growing up in a little village in Austria in a Roman Catholic family, with apparently very strict parents, who would have imagined that he would have gone on to achieve all that he has. To become the world champion bodybuilder, a highly successful actor in blockbuster movies and to top that to become the Governor of California. A life backed by BIG dreams.

Arnold’s visions for what is possible has always been above and beyond. He said no matter what it was he never just wanted to do something but rather do something and be the best at it. And this required the ability to think big. Many of us limit ourselves by our thoughts and beliefs and this is something we have absolute control over, so why not change them.

“You use the same energy to think big as it does to think small” Arnold Schwarzenegger

3. Ignore the Naysayers

Arnold says that people always told him that it was impossible to live his dream but all he ever sees are the possibilities.

Don’t listen to ‘No’ or ‘Impossible’, as these words often come from others that have limiting beliefs themselves. Listen to what you believe is true, listen to your vision, and follow your dreams.

He talks about how many people throughout his progress in his various careers always had a lack of belief that he couldn’t achieve what he wanted to achieve.

How could an Austrian compete and become a world champion bodybuilder against all those Americans – it won’t happen!

Entering his acting career everyone told him he was too ‘bulk’ to be an actor, he wasn’t pretty enough like all the current actors of the day, and certainly, his accent was going to be a huge obstacle.

He moved past the naysayers and followed his dreams. He worked his butt off to beat the naysayers.

He recalls practising his speech with sentences like “A fine wine grows on the vine”. You see the Germans have difficulty with the letter’s ‘F’, ‘V’ and ‘W’ so he just practised his arse off every day.

His advice is that you must push on; you must keep on going and each step forward you keep building up, getting better.

And funnily enough, what people said were his liabilities became his greatest assets. Director James Cameron said in the movie Terminator it was because Arnold talked like a machine that made the movie such a great success.

It is the obstacles in our path that usually present the way forward. We can overcome these challenges and step outside the comfort zone that leads us to greater heights.

4. Forget Plan B

Arnold’s advice is that we must forget about our plan B. Focus only on our plan A.

When there is a plan B there is doubt in your ability to achieve plan A and when there is doubt there are usually limiting beliefs that will decrease your chances in reaching your dreams.

As Arnold said, “When there is a plan B you take your eye off the ball”.
He said you just have to never give up. Go out there and try it, give it your very best and if you fail then keep trying and keep failing but every time you fail, fail better.

Arnold certainly juggles many things at once, which takes us to his next rule. I think it’s important to niche down and keep the major priorities in life minimal.

5. Work Your Arse Off

Without a doubt in this world all the successful people I hear about have got there through bloody hard work. Some get lucky but luck doesn’t last forever!

When you work your arse off at the beginning things may seem slow. Soon enough however things begin to flow. The longer you go the more noticeable your hard work becomes. It is at this point people think you are lucky but often they haven’t seen all the work you have put in.

Arnold says, “No pain, no gain.”

He remembers a time he heard Muhammad Ali being asked how many push-ups he does, and Ali replied, “I don’t know, I keep going until it burns.”

Arnold certainly isn’t a fan of people who say I don’t have enough time. He says if you need to sleep then that is fine, however, sleep faster. Life is short but long! What matters is how we use our time. Watching T.V, reading a book, studying a language… there are many choices and it’s important we choose wisely.

Arnold said he uses every waking hour possible. He said when he was bodybuilding, he was also a builder so he would go to the gym early and after work and then after that, he would take acting lessons on his new journey to become an actor.

These are his thoughts, “Early to bed, early to rise, then advertise”.

6. Don’t Just Take

Arnold’s final tip is that you must give back, don’t just be a taker. It’s important to leave your mark in the world.

“We are judged not by how much we make but how much we have given”, Arnold

This is one of our human needs and that is the ability to give back beyond ourselves in a meaningful way.

He discusses that in the world behind “the mirror” there are people that need our help. It doesn’t have to be a global mission because there are plenty of people locally that need help also. Most importantly just give a little back however that may be.

He said helping people just made him feel good to the point he decided to run for Governor. No money, no previous career or experience, he just loved it. It was so far the most exciting job he has had.

After ending his political term, he has new missions and visions including his fitness and environmental crusades.

“Each of us has the power to see the change we wish to see in the world”.
He finishes off by saying that we all have the responsibility to leave this world to our future kids in good shape.

“Don’t just work on me, work on we”, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Further Reading and Resources 

TED Talks: Ideas worth spreading

Psychology Today: Psychology Today is devoted exclusively to everybody’s favourite subject – Ourselves

Life Hack: Tips for Life

Elite Daily: The Voice of Generation Y

Four Hour Work Week: How to escape the 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich.

The Minimalists: How to pursue a minimalist lifestyle and be happier.

Mind Hacks: Tips and Tricks for Using Your Brain

Rich Roll: Plantpowered Wellness Advocate

The Art of Charm: Build confidence, feel comfortable and networking differently.

American Psychological Association: The largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United State

The Art of Manliness: Encouraging men to be better husbands, fathers, brothers, citizens.

Tiny Buddha: Simple wisdom for complex lives.

Brain Pickings: An inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness, spanning art, science, design, history, philosophy, and more.

Mind Body Green: Lifestyle media brand dedicated to inspiring you to live your best life.

Zen Habits: Find simplicity and mindfulness in life.

Creative NonFiction: “true stories well told.” 

Addicted 2 Success: Motivation & Inspiration Website full of quotes and inspiring articles for entrepreneurs.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree: science-based answers and expert insight on how to be awesome at life.

The Positivity Blog: Practical articles on happiness, self-esteem, productivity and social skills.