I'm here to talk about success!
Right?
Seriously, where I go people ask me all the time
what is the secret to success?
And I always tell them, well the short version is
you got to have a 22-inch biceps.
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 don't need to want to be an action hero
or anything like that.
If you want to excel in whatever you do,
those rules are for you, it's that simple.
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,
but if the captain does not know where to go
that ship would drift around the world
and will never end up anywhere.
And this is exactly the way it is in real life...
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 a purpose.
This is why so many people around the world
are unhappy with their jobs!
I mean in America seventy-four percent of the people
hate their job and would like to change jobs.
I always smiled when I worked!
No matter how hard I worked,
I always had a great time.
No matter what I did.
It didn't matter what it was in bodybuilding
or it was in the movies of it was as governor.
People asked me in the gym all the time:
"Why are you smiling all the time?
Why are you so happy?
You have to lift 50 tons of weights..."
I tell them always that I smile
because I know exactly
that every rep that I do
I get one step closer to turning that vision of mine
into reality and becoming that Mr. Universe.
Always discover your vision
and the rest will follow.
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
and the reason why people think small
and why did you choose small little goals
is because they are afraid to fail
they know that if you shoot for a big goal
then the chances of failing are very high.
I say to myself:
"Hey, I'm not worried about failing
because
that's part of life!"
You're not gonna be go and win everything
and how far can you fall look at this,
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're never considered the failure.
So I never considered myself a failure
I always consider myself a winner.
Even though I fell ever so often
but I always got up and I always moved forward.
I didn't just think about being in movies,
no I wanted to be a movie star.
I wanted to have above the title billing.
I wanted to become the highest paid entertainer,
I basically wanted to be another John Wayne.
What's wrong with that?
Never think small, think big.
My third rule is —
Ignore the naysayers.
I think it is natural that when you have a
big vision
and big dreams
and you have big goals
that people are gonna say around you
I don't think it can be done.
I think it's impossible.
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 goal.
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 after it happened, I said I want to be
a world champion in bodybuilding,
I want to be Mr. Universe.
They immediately said, are you crazy?
Bodybuilding is an American sport, forget about it.
It's nuts.
And then when I wanted to go into show business
after I won 13 world championship titles
in bodybuilding, (audience applauding)
I said I want to be like Reg Park.
I want to be a Hercules,
I want to get into movies.
Well, I tell you when I met those agents and managers,
their reaction was (laughs),
oh Arnold, that is so
funny.
You want to be what, a leading man?
Oh come on, I mean look...
First of all let's start with your body.
You're gigantic, you're like a monster,
are you kidding me?
And then your accent,
oh it gives me the chills
just listening to your German bullshit,
come on now.
I mean be serious,
have you ever seen an international movie star
with a German accent?
It doesn't happen, forget about that.
And then your name,
what is it, Schwartzen, Schnitzel
or something like that?
Imagine that...
Everywhere I turn they said no
it won't happen, it's not gonna happen
and forget about it.
Luckily I did not listen.
I did not listen because I knew
if I worked hard enough and I worked as hard as I did
in bodybuilding five six 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, even accent removal classes.
All of a sudden I got a little break,
all of a sudden I got a TV show.
A little part, then another little part,
and then Pumping Iron and Stay Hungry
and then of course I landed the big role 
as Conan the Barbarian
so finally I got the big big break.
So as you see everything
that the naysayers said
was a liability became an asset.
So I just recommend you very strongly
ignore the naysayers.
The fourth rule is —
work your ass off.
It doesn't matter in what area you in.
No pain, no gain!
Work your butt off that's what I always believed.
No matter what you do,
work work work!
The bottom line is —
if you don't apply that rule
all the other rules won't mean anything.
When people say
I don't have time to workout.
Or I have worked so hard all day,
I'm tired…
Or I cannot read another book…
Or I cannot improve myself…
Or I cannot grow as a person
or any of those things.
What the hell are you talking about here?
I mean today is 24 hours,
you sleep 6 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 let's just sleep faster, okay?
I mean let's not get bogged down
with this stuff here…
Just remember you can't climb that ladder of success
with your hands in your pockets.
You must work your ass off,
it's that simple.
And my fifth and last rule is —
don't just take,
give something back.
I love the words of my father-in-law
Sargent Shriver.
He said: “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
to give something back.
I started training Special Olympians.
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.
We don't have to just work on me,
we should also work on we.
To live the truly full life
you must give back,
you must leave the world
a better place than you found it.
I guarantee you that if you follow all of those rules
you will have many victories to celebrate.
And you will leave a legacy behind that
you can be proud of.
So I want you to remember.
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?
