The American Dream is real, it’s possible!
The testimonial for that claim? An immigrant named Arnold Schwarzenegger.
When asked, “Who do you admire and respect the most?” I think of Arnold. Sound odd? Other candidates become disappointing when you look at their life as a whole.
There are many admirable people, but most of them are imbalanced achievers. Think of some of the most successful and admired people of all time and while they might have changed the world, revolutionized an industry or even won a Nobel Peace Prize, if you look a little closer they were a terrible father, a miserable husband, morally bankrupt or just a plain jerk to those who really knew them.
The whole package. I love the story of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It eliminates everyone else’s excuse and illuminates what’s possible with a positive attitude, insatiable determination and relentless hard work.
The story to inspire us all. Arnold emigrates from a poor farm in Austria barely speaking a word of English. He attacks his goal of being the greatest bodybuilder of all-time with indomitable fervor. He not only wins the sport’s greatest title (Mr. Olympia), he utterly dominates the sport and wins six consecutive times. Four years after retiring from the sport, he makes a surprise appearance and wins for a seventh time.
Yet he is not content just being a sports star. He attacks his movie opportunities and roles with the same dedication, wins a Golden Globe for his first performance ever and (as you know) goes on to become the highest paid actor of all-time during his reign.
Yet, he doesn’t just bask in the spot light of Hollywood attention. Arnold studies money and finances and starts prudently and strategically investing smartly in real estate (not many know this). He ends up amassing hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate in Southern California (you’d be surprised how rare this parlay is for the mostly one-dimensional high paid but little retained wealth movie stars is).
Oh, along the way he marries into the “American Royal Family” to JFK’s sister’s daughter, nice.
I have known people who have been really successful at one thing, but VERY few who can duplicate that success in a completely different field. Arnold has now dominated and been heralded as the greatest of two different (and incredibly competitive) industries.
Enough? Not for Arnold. He now sets his sights on what many thought was completely ludicrous for him – politics. Apparently it wasn’t. He is now the two-term Governor of the seventh largest economy in the world!
Here is what’s best. All the while he is a doting father and committed and loving husband with gaggles of friends and allies of similarly impressive character.
This month is Arnold’s 60th birthday. What an amazing legacy he has carved thus far and I have a feeling he isn’t done yet!
What is the secret to his success? What tips can you gain from the “Austrian Oak”? A few insiders share some of his secrets:
“Everything in his life is goal-oriented, but he focuses on one thing at a time. That’s the difference between Arnold and most people. He focuses 100% on the goal in front of him.” – Franco Columbu, 50 year friend and two time Mr. Olympia
“Arnold has to be the most determined and the most focused person I’ve met in my life – and I’ve met people from about 106 different countries. He has that challenge personality. Everything he said he was going to do, he did.” - Ben Weider, Founder of IFBF
“Arnold just had a very winning philosophy” he didn’t entertain negative thoughts. He’s still like that. He would master what he put his mind to. He said if you can master it, you can be good at anything, because the rules for success are always the same.” – Frank Zane, three time Mr. Olympia
“What impressed me most about Arnold was that he was never afraid to ask questions. I found that very enlightening about the man. A lot of people never ask questions. Arnold searches for knowledge.” – Reg Park, three time Mr. Universe
What about YOU? Would people describe you as determined, focused, constantly inquisitive, relentlessly persistent with an unwavering winning philosophy that never entertains negative thoughts?
Most of us were born in this country and spoke the native language from the beginning. What separates our success from that of the farm boy immigrant with the funny name – Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Be like Arnold. Here’s how: have unwavering positive expectation, determination, focus, curiosity, persistence, work ethic an indomitable will to win… and believe the American Dream is possible – for you too.
Wow! Great post! I'm printing this one out.
Posted by: Kevin Rae Wood | Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 12:52 AM