The Secrets to Success of Arnold Schwarzenegger
If you expect to learn details on how to build an elegant body and look like an ancient greek God, this article may not be very useful. But if you want to learn a proven formula to success, it can be priceless.
In many of his public speeches, Arnold Schwarzenegger shares six rules that he always follows because they inevitably lead him on the path to success. And his accomplishments are so many and in so many different areas.
He became the most titled bodybuilder in the world. In the meantime, he became an extremely successful entrepreneur, and his career in Hollywood made him one of the most famous actors and one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. He was Governor of California between 2003 and 2011 and did not run for President of the United States for purely legal reasons.
But how Schwarzenegger manages to achieve so much in so many different areas - professional sports, business, cinema and politics? He himself gives it all to these six rules, which he follows in everything he does.
Rule №1 – Trust yourself
The first and most important ingredient for any purpose is desire. That strong impulse we feel to do something special. Something that will bring us exceptional happiness.
But on our way of making it happen, we will most likely encounter a lot of mistrust and doubt from other people. Not everyone will believe strongly and sincerely in our goal.
If we give in to these outside opinions, it will be very easy to lose our direction. I wonder, how many dreams don’t come true every day, because someone falls into other people‘s opinion?
This is why we should remind ourselves that opinions are not facts! Let’s trust ourselves and our dream and use every doubt as fuel for our success.
Rule №2 – Break the rules
In the pursuit of our goal we will constantly encounter different rules and established norms. If we try to do everything according to a textbook, we can only limit ourselves. Because very often theory and practice are two completely different things.
Arnold doesn‘t suggest breaking the law of course, but he means that we should be willing to break some rules by thinking outside the box. There is a huge difference between the two. We always have to obey the law, whether we like it or not. But if we blindly follow certain models, they will rarely lead us to success. We need to be creative and flexible instead.
Rule №3 – Don‘t be afraid to fail
Whatever we start in life there will always be a small possibility to fail. And if we focus on failure, we are only lowering our chances. This can also blur our consciousness and prevent us from making the best decisions.
It is better we learn how to turn fear into confidence. There will always be a risk with whatever we do. But our attitude impacts what we desire so much, that we cannot afford focusing on something else but success.
Rule №4 – Don‘t listen to the naysayers
How often do we hear from others that we can’t do something, or we are not going to make it, or what we want is impossible and too big for us. But just because they don't see our dream doesn't mean we have to give it up.
It is best for us to let these people live in their own limited world so that we can focus on our goal. Schwarzenegger himself says that he always listens to himself, and says to himself, "Yes, I can!"
And yes, we can make our dream come true, especially if we apply in practice the next piece of advice.
Rule №5 – Work your butt off
This is probably Arnold's most important rule - to work for what we want. Because there is no way we can achieve anything if we don’t make the necessary efforts.
We may have had an excellent mark at school by copying someone else‘s answers to a test, but in life we have to work hard for our goals. That is why it is good for us to love work, because it is our only path to success. If we focus our energy on work, sooner or later we will make our dream come true.
Rule №6 – Give back
Whatever we achieve, the satisfaction can be much greater if we share our success with others. And what a better way to share than help and give a part of what we gain. Thus we can easily make someone else's life better.
We can also do something good for the neighborhood or the community we live in. And why don‘t we try to do something good for our country as well? The possibilities are endless. And the best part of giving is that the more we give, the more we receive.
„The Terminator“ gives his advice on success for free, but in order to get the best out of it, we must answer honestly the following questions:
Are we ready to silence the voices of the negative people around us and believe in ourselves?
Are we ready to face our fears and even go beyond the generally accepted frameworks?
Are we ready to work hard for our goals and at the end share our success with others?
Because Arnold's rules work. Now it’s the time for us to do the same!