THE BEST OF ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH [MOTIVATION 2017]
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?
What is the secret to success?
the long version is that I actually always had five Rules and
Everything that I 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. I have to tell you right off the top that I always was [very] intense
As a kid the radio it 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 there are many roads to happiness
But [I] think that we all here like to be successful and we are 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 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 out there that sea and will never end up anywhere
And this is exactly the way it is in real life
If you don’t have a goal if you don’t have a vision you just drift around 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 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
Devastation and all 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 they couldn’t see myself really do work there
[it] [was] stated work in the factory of the work in the farm although even to follow my father’s footsteps
[to] become a police officer, [I] couldn’t see that either as a Maverick
That’s what my parents wanted me to do they wanted me to become a police officer and the merrier group at the name of Piety
And to have a bunch of children and to run around like the von Trapp 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 Monsters Bridges the Giant freeways built with beautiful cars the huge jet liners movie stars
Muscle Beach and all those things I could not wait to get them the question was just how do I get there?
How do I get to America? [I] mean it’s not all the 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
See a magazine and that magazine showed me the path to America
And it was a bodybuilding magazine an undercover 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 he made millions of [dollars] and this this money he took
importance of a gymnasium chain 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 the 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] it is no matter how hard I had to work
Or how much I had to struggle
It didn’t matter it was a wonderful joy right 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 the purpose, and I think that the numbers speak for themselves
This is why so many people [around] the world unhappy with their jobs. [I] mean in America
[74] [percent] of the people hate their job and would like to change jobs
But 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 smile when the world no matter how hard I work
I always had a great time no matter what I did it did matter [wasn’t]
Bodybuilding or it was the [movies] [of] it was as governor. I remember in the 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 live 50 tons of weights you have to train five hours a day
I mean, I look at the other body bullets 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 over to the I smile because I know exactly that happy rep that I do
That every set that I do every way that. I live to get one step closer
To turning that vision of mind in the reality of becoming that Mr.
Universe I could not wait to lift another five [hundred] thousand the squats
I could not wait to do another thousand sit-ups
[I] could not 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 for standing on that stage as a champion
So matter of fact when I lifted weighs, I didn’t really feel like I was lifting weights
[I] felt like I was lifting a trophy over my head each time I lifted and to have all those body builders around me and
thousands of people [screaming]
And I tell you that this vision didn’t just help me in bodybuilding
It helped me get everything like I said I remember in the movie business
There was many times stunts that [they] had to do we all got hurt that was in pain and agony
[I] 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 on rocks 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 troll endures rocks in 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 is you mind if we do another take?
[I] need a close-up of you, and I said them no
I don’t mind at all as they go into as many takes us you want. This is none
I don’t want to do it because I know you’re in pain. You’re bleeding. I said no, no, I don’t feel any pain
I say the only thing I see 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 tune 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 see
Remember crush your enemies see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of the 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
The reason why people think small invited to 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 are afraid of failing
There’s one of the most common things my people are frozen it by the kid [might] make a move in life
Because they [are] scared of failing [I] say to myself hey, I’m not worried about failing because that’s part of life
You’re not going to be going win everything and how far can you fall look at 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 they always move forward
This is the important thing
I never had any patients of course force me thinking small because in German we were saying ven chung
Tension and that means that if it is something thing go all out and do it well
This is not just a case in bodybuilding. I didn’t just want to be [a] bodybuilding champion
I wanted to be the greatest particles of all times. I wanted that the most muscle
They’re the most most of all time the most definition. I wanted to win the most trophies the most world championship titles
I just wanted to be the best and the same as also movies. [I] didn’t just think about being in movies
No, I wanted to be [a] movie star. [I] wanted to have a pasta title building
I wanted to become the highest paid entertainer. [I] faced if you wanted to be another John Wayne
What’s wrong with that, and then the same is 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 does it sound right Schwarzenegger City Council. No [command]?
Not even sworn against mayor. No it had to be schwarzenegger running for governor
but not just any governor a governor of the greatest state [in] United States of
California that was the important thing I
Give you an example of picture 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 hasn’t started rebuilding that infrastructure. I mean we haven’t
Invested in new roads or in new transit and schools or in energy or anything like that for decades?
The number of cars that we have not in America of four times as many as we had in the 60s
so therefore
We should be having four times as many freeways four times as many tunnels for them 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 things [enclose] some holes and the roads I
Wanted to build massive free base 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 more on ramps and off ramps. [I] wanted to see literally cranes everywhere
Well there was no excuse for californians to get stuck in traffic
And there was no excuse really to send you 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 when 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 some politicians of course at the [heart] and to see the big picture
Because they didn’t really ever travel outside, California, so they haven’t really seen big infrastructure
They’ve really seen big infrastructure all over the united [States] or maybe in Asia in China
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 vision of
The future past the next election which is a common problem politicians have all over the world
So it is because my job as governor
to motivate them and to take them and to see the traffic change in Los Angeles and to see the
Overcrowded classrooms and to see all the problems that you have with [a] kid pushing and pushing and a pump them up enough that eventually
They saw the big picture
[and] eventually democrats and republicans came together and be invested [60] billion dollars to rebuild
California’s infrastructure the biggest investment of our state in 15 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
thanks, Big a
Third Rule is
ignore the NaySayers
I think it is natural thinking you have the big fish and big dreams
And you have big [cores] that [people] are going to 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 score
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 when someone said no, then I heard loud [and] clear. Yes
So this is what I believe I am a big believer with 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 instead happened
I said I want to be a world champion in bodybuilding. I want to be Mr.. Universe
The immediate Listen are you crazy?
You in Austria in Austria, you can become a ski champion
or
Bicycle Champion or something like that, but bodybuilding is an American sport forget about it. It’s nuts
Then when I wanted to move [to] America, they said again, that’s impossible
[you] [will] never be able to do that if from the money you offer yourself
[then] when I wanted to go into show business
After I won 13 world championship titles in bodybuilding [I]?
Said I want to be like reg park. I want to be hercules. I want to get into movies
Well, I tell you when I made those agents and managers and studio executives their reaction was
Oh honor, that is so funny. Haha 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?
You know what the news 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 a good scary when you talk
It’s unbelievable. I mean have you ever?
Arnold [I] mean this year’s have you ever seen an
International movie star with a german accent it doesn’t happen
To get about that, and then you name. What is it’s [worth] little [or] something like that?
Yeah, I can see best [name] already
I stand a billboard. Yes
And people are going to storm the beer and the movie houses because what this barring in the movie
Oh yeah, I can see that already. So that’s what they say. This is [immunization] forget about that. You’re a nice guy I
mean Your bodybuilding champion
Dasyam or helpless or something like that?
Helpful besides, and let me get the other side some little pods like maybe playing a bouncer
I mean with your body perfect or maybe a wrestler. [oh], I have a good idea with you action 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 they said
Imagine that
Everywhere I turned they said no it won’t happen. [it’s] not going to happen and forget about it luckily
I did not listen
I did not listen because I knew if I worked hard enough
And I grew up those hard as I did [embody] [willing] 5 6 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 Rose and a vine
Because you see the austrians and germans have a difficult time with that be and with the [w] and [did] the f we get it?
all mixed up, so [it] was a fine wine grows on a vine, or the sink is made out of [the] zinc and
[all] those kind of lines is it a window when you know something all of a sudden
I got a little break in the early 70s. I remember
All of a sudden I got a TV show a little [pot] then another little pot
And then all of a sudden, I got a phone call from Lucille ball to be in her special. Happy [anniversary] and goodbye
Which was been odd connie. I had the 6-minute seen as an Italian masseur
That 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 a guest starring role in streets of San Francisco
With Michael douglas and Tom [Walden] and then pumping on and stay hungry
And then of [course] I landed the big role at 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 him and the director said that the press conference the directors John Milius
He said if he would 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 body and all of a sudden the director says if we wouldn’t have actual Saga with his body
We would have had to build one
Now water turnarounds, 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 it all
So as you see everything that the NaySayers said was a liability
Became an absence in 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 those kind of things in the rest of course is history the bottom line is if I were to
Listen to the Naysayers my career would have ended then it was 15 years old
[I] will be still yodeling in Austria in the alps and I would not be talking yet the day to you
And the reason why I’m here today and talking to you is is because [they] did not listen to you can so it’s impossible
[no], so I just recommend it very strongly
Ignore than they say us
My fourth rule is drop your ass off
nobody ever stumbled upon success for accident except maybe the guy who found gold in California
But they’ll never think that you can be that guy. I mean idiom you never want to fail because he didn’t work hard enough
[I] always believed no stone unturned
Work your butt off. That’s what I always believed the matter. What do you do work work work?
I remember muhammad Ali one of my great heroes
And a great line in the 70s when [he] said when he was asked, how many sit-ups do you do?
He says I don’t know because I [started] counting only when it starts burning
When it starts burning that’s when it 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 work your butt 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 heard 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 or I cannot improve myself
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 it’s just sleep fast though, okay. You know. I mean let’s not get bogged down with this stuff here
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 8 o’clock at night 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 I didn’t want to waste one single hour
Because I believe of what Ted turner said who is one of the great entrepreneurs who started CnN?
And so on he said really debate early to rise
Drop like hell and advertise
So that’s what I believe just remember you can climb that ladder of success
with your hands in your
Pockets you must work your ass off. It’s that simple
if my fifth 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 [to] how much we made but the how much we give
Ever since America greeted me with open arms. I’ve had this sense of
Responsibility and I felt applicators
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 it made
My great family that [I] have all 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 this 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 I
Love the words of my father-in-law Sargent shriver
We started the peace Corps the job Corps legal aid [to] the poor during the Kennedy and during the Johnson administration
[he] was the number one public servant that he always inspired me to become a public servant. He was one of my heroes
He said at yale university at a commencement speech. He said to the students tear [down] that 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
Look give something back. I started training special Olympians
people did when the lecture [lee] 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
and 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 and to promote health and fitness in all 50 states that Robert 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 to 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 [8] year [old] kid in an after-school program
or play
Golf a round of golf with a special olympian then goes 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
I should 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 rain for Ghana
And even though my friends advised me not to do that
They said are you crazy a note don’t you understand that you would lose now this
2030 million Dollars a movie that you’re getting paid
And they will only pay you one hundred and seventy eight thousand dollars as governor a year
or I didn’t care because
[I] knew that all the money that have made and the being their 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 gave it back to the taxpayers because it was petty cash 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 and solve problems and disturb 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 then he came to an end the one thing that didn’t come to an anthem was not finished was my desire to be a
Public Servant in to serve 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 continue 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
To make the world a better place
so because
Thank you
But I tell you
That I was very fortunate that [I] had great heroes I
Great heroes that I could look up to and I mentioned two of them muhammad Ali and Sargent shriver
My father-in-law, but there’s other great heroes like Gorbachev 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 range straight up to the top
Became president of the soviet Union one of the most powerful people in the world
And he was the lead of the communist party and when he wasn’t in opposition
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 they did he dismantled communism think about the courage that it takes
I mean the guts that it takes to do that
think about the gorbachev completely transformed his country with class knows to give his people for the first time freedom and
Then sue Perestroika by 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 needs to have and
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 it 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 of the read
or how to do 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
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 those rules
You will have many victories to celebrate you believe you know you work and you have
extraordinary kind of a records and you will leave a legacy behind that you can be proud of
So I want you to 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?
