1. He was focused and disciplined
Arnold Schwarzenegger won Mr. Olympia in 1970 at age 23, making him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia, a record he still holds up to this day. Schwarzenegger began his weight training in 1960, when his football coach took the entire team to a local gym. Since then, Arnold decided to focus and compete in bodybuilding, working out five hours a day, six days a week, consistently increasing his reps and resistance training until he bulked up to a massive 250 lbs (113 kg) in 1974. The young Schwarzenegger put a lot of focus and discipline into his training, which rewarded him a six-year streak of winning Mr. Olympia, from 1970 to 1975.
2. He had a big dream
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria on July 30, 1947 to Police Chief Gustav Schwarzenegger and mother Aurelia Schwarzenegger. In an interview with Fortune in 2004, Arnold said that he and his brother Meinhard had a very difficult childhood as both their parents were very strict especially his father, saying that if they disobeyed them, they definitely got hit with the belt. When asked about why he wanted to become an actor, Arnold said that when he was young, his father took him to an Austrian theatre for his very first cinematic experience, and that he watched a John Wayne movie. Since then, Arnold has become a lover of films and aspired to become a movie actor himself in the future despite the slim amount of chance of it happening since he lived in the very difficult post war- torn country of Austria.
3. He invested in his body
Arnold Schwarzenegger's goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant he had to win Mr. Olympia. Arnold's preparation for the 1970 Mr. Olympia required him to train for six days a week, twice a day, with three different training partners at separate workouts. Furthermore, he also trained each muscle group three times a week, constantly increasing his reps to as many as 30 sets for each body part. Schwarzenegger committed himself to pumping iron every single day, which gave him the title of Mr. Olympia for 7 years, and brought him to Hollywood stardom through his box office hit movies such as The Terminator, Pumping Iron, Total Recall, Predator, Commando, and many others.
4. He was humble and good-humoured
At school, the young Schwarzenegger had only an average academic performance but stood out in his class for his cheerful, good-humoured, and exuberant character. In his early years, money was a problem in the family, and Arnold even recalled that one of the highlights of his youth was when their family was able to buy a refrigerator. Schwarzenegger's humility in the set and unique sense of humour, paired with his Mr. Olympia physique, has brought us into an era of action-comedy movies such as True Lies, Last Action Hero, Jingle All The Way, Kindergarten Cop, Junior, Twins and many others. Arnold's fame skyrocketed in Hollywood in the 80s and 90s because of the number of films he made, and his unbeatable cheesy pick up lines.
5. He wasn't afraid to fail
Schwarzenegger, who grew up watching a lot of movies and aspired to be an actor, finally achieved his dream in 1970, when he got casted as Hercules in his debut-film "Hercules in New York" under the stage name "Arnold Strong". Unfortunately, Arnold's accent in the film was so thick that it had to be dubbed after production. In his next film in 1973, which was titled The Long Goodbye, he was featured as a deaf-mute mob hitman. Schwarzenegger said that almost every time, he got told by agents and casting people that his accent was too weird, his body was too strange, or his name was too difficult to pronounce. Arnold, having recognized the main problem which was his very poor English speaking skills, became determined to improve his fluency by taking English classes, reading newspapers and magazines, working at a fitness store so he could practice conversational English, and living for a while with a friend called Wag Bennett in London, who was a Mr. Universe judge. Arnold eventually improved his English and propelled him to his 1982 breakthrough film Conan The Barbarian, which was a box-office hit followed by a1984 sequel titled Conan The Destroyer.
6. He still trained hard despite health problems
Schwarzenegger was born with a bicuspid aortic valve - an aortic valve which has only two leaflets, whereas a normal one has three. Medical experts advised him to have a mechanical-valve replacement, which was a permanent solution to his heart problem, to which he refused. Instead, Arnold chose to have a tissue valve replacement which constantly needed replacing every six to eight years through an open-heart surgery, but allowed him to train hard without limiting his capacity to exercise. On March 29, 2018, Arnold had to undergo an emergency open-heart surgery to replace his pulmonic valve and had to use a walker and do multiple breathing exercises every single day in his recovery period. Despite losing his strength, Arnold's mentality didn't change about persistence and determination to achieve any goal that he aims for. He was able to regain his strength and health back, and was declared fit enough to shoot Terminator: Dark Fate in 2019.
7. He believed in hard work and long hours instead of shortcuts
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been notorious for his unbeatable inhuman work ethic. From his book titled "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story", Schwarzenegger said that he would do a high intensity workout for six hours during the day, work at his physical labour brick-layering job, and attend business courses at university all at the same time. Arnold slept for 6 hours every single night, and would make the most of the remaining 18 hours of his time for working out in the gym, going to a physical job, acting, improving his English through classes, and learning about new business opportunities. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a very tough philosophy in life, constantly repeating this speech to crowds of hundreds of people - "The mind is the limit, as long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe a hundred percent".
8. He was a self-made man
Arnold Schwarzenegger met his now ex-wife Barbara Outland Baker, six to eight months after his arrival in the US. Arnold and Barbara had their first date after watching the first Apollo Moon landing on television, which then lead to the couple living together in a small apartment in Santa Monica, California. Baker said that they had very little money at that time and would just go to the beach all day, or have barbecues in their backyard, but they were happy. She further mentioned that Arnold never got any encouragements from his parents, his family, or his brother but had a very huge determination to become successful in life, which was what Barbara liked best about him.
9. He knew how to make money
We all knew Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan The Barbarian, The Terminator, or the fearless commando who killed the Predator, but didn't know much about his other wealth building tactics in his early years. The young Schwarzenegger moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and started a brick-layering business with fellow bodybuilder Franco Columbu, which flourished, thanks to the pair's unique advertising strategy - pitching themselves as European-style Bricklayers with big big muscles. Arnold saved $10,000 from his bodybuilding competition winnings, and bought his first real estate investment venture which was an apartment building in LA. Arnold would then later invest in a ridiculous number of real estate holding companies, an international chain of restaurants called Planet Hollywood with partners Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, and Demi Moore, a number of shopping malls, an investment firm, and a nutritional sports company with basketball superstar Lebron James. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a net-worth of $400 million dollars, and is considered one of the highest-paid actors of all time.
10. He kept growing
Although Arnold Schwarzenegger had successfully made over 60 movies in his acting career, Mr. Olympia wasn't quite finished being in the spotlight just yet. In October 7, 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected as the Governor of California, defeating incumbent Democratic governor Gray Davis, with media outlets dubbing him the title "Governator" in reference to his Terminator films. Schwarzenegger sat as governor from November 17, 2003 to January 3, 2007, and ruled again for the second time, as the governor of the same state from January 5, 2007 to January 3, 2011. From the young boy who constantly got beaten by his father, to becoming the 7-year champion Mr. Olympia, to becoming the biggest action star/Terminator in Hollywood, and to becoming Governor of California for nearly a decade, Arnold Schwarzenegger achieved all of his dreams through hard work and persistence, paired with an unbeatable determination to win.
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