Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story
by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger has led an extraordinary
life.
Arriving in America as an immigrant at the
age of 21, he went on to dominate bodybuilding,
before switching to movies and then again
transitioning into politics.
Born in Austria in 1947, he grew up in a farming
village.
His father was a police officer and extremely
strict with Arnold and his elder brother.
He enforced discipline and training for his
sons, who regularly completed chores from
a young age and later played sports and exercised.
They even had to earn breakfast by doing sit-ups.
His first entrepreneurial project was selling
ice cream at the park when he turned 10 years
old.
Arnold turned the discipline into drive.
He knew he was destined for big things and
thought about going to America, which he viewed
as the most powerful country.
At school, he saw a picture of the bodybuilding
champion that was Mr. Austria also wearing
glasses which he associated with intellect.
He was fascinated by somebody who could be
clever and strong.
Arnold began to train with friends in the
park, going there daily.
One day he met Mr. Austria and occasionally
began to train with him.
It was here he saw that there was no shortcut
to success, you had to earn it.
He was told that if he trained hard he too
could win Mr. Austria, so he decided that’s
what he would do and envisioned that this
would be how he would get to America.
When he first performed weightlifting in public,
the applause from the crowd had a big effect
on him and he realised that he performed much
better in front of others.
At 18 he went to join the Austrian army as
all young men had to serve.
Basic training taught him that something that
may seem impossible at the start can be achieved.
He continued training in the army and was
able to eat meat every day for the first time
in his life.
He took the position of a tank driver which
required three years of service but he asked
to leave early as he was offered a job managing
a gym in Munich, Germany.
His accident-prone tank driving record may
have helped his request being approved.
Working in the gym and recruiting new members
meant that he had to split his own workouts
and train twice a day.
He realised that this was a great benefit
when he noticed the results.
Schwarzenegger signed up for Mr. Universe
in London, the biggest bodybuilding event
in Europe.
In 1966 at 19 years of age, he took his first
flight and came second, which was a lot better
than he imagined.
This caused him to start being mentioned in
magazines and his mindset for every competition
from then on was to win rather than just compete.
In his quest to “leave no stone unturned”
and not enter a competition at a disadvantage,
he used steroids, which were legal at the
time.
He won Mr. Universe the following year and
his lifestyle changed significantly.
Schwarzenegger knew that to get to America
he’d have to dominate bodybuilding in Europe
and set about doing just that, retaining his
Mr. Universe title.
He was then invited to defend his title in
Miami but came second.
As a rising star, Schwarzenegger was invited
to stay in America for a year to train with
other established stars.
Moving to such a different country was a challenge
but he quickly felt at home when training
at Gold’s gym in Los Angeles and made many
friends there.
He signed up for English classes to speed
up picking up the language.
His main mission though was to train like
hell and win more titles the following year.
He did this by focusing on his flaws to remove
any weak points and not just work on what
he was good at.
For some extra money, Schwarzenegger took
a driving job and then worked at a weightlifting
and supplements store.
He got advice and learnt on how to succeed
in business from the owner of the store, who
became his mentor.
One piece of advice was the importance of
going global rather than limiting business
to one country.
Schwarzenegger won more titles and then began
on phase two of his American dream – getting
into the movie business.
He was recommended when a bodybuilder was
required for the film, “Hercules in New
York” but his Austrian accent was so thick,
his lines were dubbed.
As his English improved, Schwarzenegger gave
seminars and also started a mail-order business
selling training booklets and other weightlifting
products.
This business gradually built over time.
He also worked in construction and went to
college to learn business.
In 1970 over a two-week period, Schwarzenegger
won Mr. Universe, Mr. World and Mr. Olympia
to become top of the bodybuilding tree.
The money he received from these titles coupled
with profits from his other businesses allowed
him to put some of it into an investment.
He researched real-estate for a couple of
years and worked with an existing real-estate
expert, investing in apartment blocks to rent
out.
After conquering bodybuilding, his next goal
was to promote bodybuilding to the masses.
He published a book on the sport and then
built on the book’s success by taking part
in a documentary where Schwarzenegger came
out of temporary retirement to win the 1975
Mr. Olympia for a record 6th time in a row.
He also created his own bodybuilding show
and appeared on national talk shows to educate
the public, giving the sport a face at the
same time.
His appearances on the tv opened up opportunities
to meet people from the acting world and he
was soon appearing in roles on television
shows.
After taking acting classes for three months
and working on his accent, he transitioned
into films.
Schwarzenegger’s financial situation meant
he could reject roles where he wasn’t the
leading man.
He won a Golden Globe for the film, “Stay
Hungry”.
As he became more known, his size, accent
and unusual name became beneficial.
In 1977, he met his future wife, who is the
niece of the former President John F. Kennedy.
After marrying, they had four children but
the marriage ended many years later after
it emerged that Schwarzenegger had fathered
a child with their housekeeper.
His time with Maria’s family allowed him
to experience what it was like to be part
of a presidential race and other political
events.
By 1981, his real-estate portfolio had helped
Schwarzenegger make his first million.
He was awarded a degree in business.
He returned to bodybuilding to take his 7th
and last Mr. Olympia crown and he was cast
to play Conan in the box office smash, “Conan
the Barbarian” in 1982.
Despite being interested in politics, he stayed
away from it in public while focusing on his
movie career as any political view could turn
off some of the potential audience for his
films.
In 1983, Schwarzenegger acquired dual citizenship
and became an American citizen which allowed
him to vote and run for office.
His next goal was to earn $1 million for a
film role, which he achieved in 1984.
By 1990 he was earning $10 million per film
and eventually received $15 million for “True
Lies” in 1994.
He promoted his films across the world to
cultivate and expand his audience with each
movie.
He differentiated himself from other action
leading actors with humour and funny one-liners.
His dream of doing comedy came true when he
felt it was the right time to transition into
comedy films.
As an unknown comedic actor, he negotiated
his role in “Twins” so as not to take
a salary (in case it flopped) but received
nearly 20% of any income it made.
It was a hit and he’s earnt over $35 million
from the movie.
Schwarzenegger was exposed to more political
encounters when he supported vice-president
George Bush on his presidential campaign,
travelling with him across the country on
Air Force Two.
Later, when George Bush did become President,
he appointed Schwarzenegger as his fitness
czar where he coordinated a national fitness
campaign.
Former President Richard Nixon suggested to
Schwarzenegger that he should run for governor
and the idea of entering politics stayed in
the back of his mind.
In the meantime, one of his long-term goals
was to get rich and stay rich, so he looked
into diversifying from real-estate into other
endeavours.
He tapped into the growth of the stock market
by investing in big risks for big returns.
He also bought a Boeing 747 and entered the
aircraft leasing trade.
It cost $147 million.
He also invested in the restaurant chain Planet
Hollywood.
Life slowed down temporarily when he had open
heart surgery for a hereditary heart defect
in 1997.
He was operated on twice after the initial
operation was unsuccessful.
People were hesitant to offer him film roles
afterwards but after a year or so, the phone
began to ring again.
One of Schwarzenegger’s goals for 2001 was
to explore running for governor the following
year.
After researching how he would be viewed he
had advantages such as being known by the
public with 60% viewing him in a positive
light, but disadvantages such as no track
record and knowledge of certain issues not
being deep enough.
He slowly started raising funds and building
alliances but eventually decided against it.
Then in 2003 a special election was announced
for the state of California.
Schwarzenegger was tired of acting and needed
a new challenge, so he decided to stand as
a candidate in his adopted state.
He focused on improving his credibility by
gaining a deeper understanding on various
issues the state faced as well as learning
about policy and government.
He won and took office with no previous experience
as an elected official.
Schwarzenegger set about creating a ten-year
Strategic Growth Plan for the state, showing
he was not afraid to tackle big problems.
He took on major issues such as the environment
and infrastructure investment which were difficult
for opposition to oppose.
He capped and reduced carbon emissions and
successfully won a second term in a landslide
victory.
His second term was more difficult and after
failing in an attempt to reform health care
in 2007, he then had to deal with wildfires
in San Diego.
There were nine deaths and 85 injuries but
500,000 people were successfully evacuated.
He also had to make unpopular choices after
the financial crisis in 2009 and the resulting
unemployment and recession.
Eventually a lot of progress was made with
reform achieved in several sectors and the
state becoming an international leader in
renewable energy.
After leaving office, he returned once again
to movies, starring in films such as the box
office hit “The Expendables 2”.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s story of how a skinny
Austrian boy went on to become the Governor
of California is inspirational and shows how
a person can become a super achiever if they
are immensely disciplined.
The secret to his success is not a secret
at all.
There are no shortcuts, everything is reps,
reps, reps, whether it’s exercises in the
gym, practising lines and stunts in movies
or memorising speeches and information on
the political stage.
This is how he became the greatest in multiple
activities.
