Arnold Schwarzenegger Leaves the Audience SPEECHLESS | … — Transcript

I'm here to talk about success. [Music] The first rule of success is to have a vision. You see, if you don't have a vision of where you go and if you don't have a goal where you go, you drift around and you never end up anywhere. I mean, as you know, I was born in 1947 in Austria after the Second World War, so I was very fortunate that I stumbled upon my vision. I didn't really like Austria when I grew up. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I couldn't see myself becoming a farmer or a worker in a factory or anything like that, even though my parents wanted me to stay there and have a normal life. But that was their vision, not mine. My vision was totally different. I felt that I was born for something special, for something unique, for something big. Then one day I went to school. I remember I was 11 years old and they showed a documentary about America. There they showed this documentary, the huge skyscrapers, the high rises, the huge bridges, the six-lane freeways, and all of this stuff in this emissive. That's where I want to be. [Music] I don't want to be around here with these little farmhouses and these little buildings. I want to be in America.

One day after school, I walked by a store in Graz, so I went inside and I looked around. Then I saw a magazine. There was a bodybuilding magazine that had Reg Park on the cover. Reg Park was then a three-time Mr. Universe, and I saw him on the big screen as Hercules. I read that and I said to myself, "Wow, this is the blueprint for my life. This is exactly what I want to do. I want to become a bodybuilding champion, just like Reg Park. I want to get into movies just like Reg Park, and I want to make millions of dollars and be rich and famous just like Reg Park." Do you know how great it felt that I knew where I was going?

Imagine the majority of people don't know where they're going. I knew where I was going—that I'm going to become this bodybuilding champion just like him. So it was just a question of how do you do it. I was so relieved because when you have a goal, when you have a vision, everything becomes easy. So people always ask me when they saw me in the gym in the Pumping Iron days, they say, "Why is it that you're working out so hard, five hours a day, six hours a day, and you always have a smile on your face?"

And I told people all the time, I said, "Because to me, I'm shooting for gold. In front of me is the Mr. Universe title, so every rep that I do gets me closer to accomplishing that goal, to make this goal, this vision, turn into reality. Every single set that I do, every repetition, every weight that I lift will get me a step closer to turn the goal into reality." So I couldn't wait to do another 500-pound squat. I couldn't wait to do another 500-pound bench press. I couldn't wait to do another 2,000 reps of sit-ups. I couldn't wait for the next exercise.

At the age of 20, I went to London and I wanted to miss the universe contest as the youngest Mr. Universe ever, and it was because I had a goal. [Applause] So let me tell you something: visualizing your goal and going after it makes it fun. You've got to have a purpose. No matter what you do in life, you've got to have a purpose. [Music]

Seventy-four percent hate their job in America. Now, there's not much difference when you come to Europe. The majority of people don't like what they're doing because they're really not doing it because they didn't have a goal and they followed the score. They just aimlessly drift around, and then all of a sudden, if there's a job opening, they get their job because you have to work. But then when you work, it's a chore. It's work. It's not fun.

So if you think about only a quarter of the people really enjoy what they're doing in life, that is unbelievable if you think about it. So I felt so blessed that I knew what I was doing. It's like a medical student that studies and knows he wants to become a doctor. You know where to go. And the same thing is also in politics. I remember that in politics I had a very clear vision. [Music] That I will be the leader of California. This is as far as I could go because I was not born in America, so I could not run for president.

So being the governor of the fifth largest state—I should say the largest state, the fifth largest economy in the world—was for me really the ultimate title, the ultimate accomplishment in politics. So even though people came up to me and said, "Why don't you go and run for something smaller? You're never gonna make it," I ran for governor, and then two months later, I became governor of the state of California, again because I had a very clear vision of what I'm gonna do with California. [Applause]

So that's rule number one: have a vision. Rule number two is don't listen to the naysayers. Don't listen to the naysayers. Everything I ever did, the thing that I heard out of people's mouths was, "That's impossible." [Music] "That can't be done," or "No." That is exactly what I heard. And of course, I proved to the people that it can be done.

So whenever someone said to me, "It can't be done," I heard, "It can be done." When they said, "No," I heard, "Yes." And when they said, "It's impossible," I heard, "It is possible." I'm a strong believer in what Nelson Mandela said: that everything is always impossible until someone does it. Well, I'm gonna be the one who said to myself, "I'm gonna do it, and I'm gonna show it to them." Maybe it has never been done before. That's perfectly fine with me, but I'm gonna do it.

And I did not listen to the naysayers. It's all about the hard work that you put in. I said, "I must have been bodybuilding. I worked out five, six hours a day. I'm gonna do the same thing now for acting." And of course, I went to college to study English. I studied accent removal, acting classes, and all of this stuff all day long. I worked and I worked in the work. [Music]

And within a short period of time, I made one movie called Hercules in New York, which of course went right into the toilet, but it didn't discourage me. I still had the same vision. And then all of a sudden, I did Streets of San Francisco. I did Stay Hungry and Pumping Iron and The Villain. And then all of a sudden, I was asked by Dino De Laurentiis at Universal Studios to star in Conan the Barbarian.

And after I did Conan the Barbarian, the director at the press conference said to the press—the director was John Milius—he said to the press, "If we wouldn't have had Arnold, we would have had to build one." So think about that: the very body that they said can never be sold because the time is wrong, a few years later, I'm doing Conan the Barbarian, and it was the number one hit at the box office when it came out in the summer of '82.

Think about that, and the director says, "If we wouldn't have had his body, we would have had to build one." So all of a sudden, my body became an asset, not a liability. And the same thing was with Terminator. After we were finished filming Terminator, Jim Cameron said to the press, "If Arnold wouldn't have had that accent and talked like a machine, I think the movie wouldn't have worked."

So think about that: the body and the accent that they attacked was an asset. But I didn't listen to those losers. I didn't listen to them at all. The reality of it is that you cannot listen to the naysayers. So this is a very important lesson for all of you. So when someone says, "No, this is a stupid idea," you in your mind, you don't have to say it out loud, but in your mind, you say, "This is you. You saw what? What do you know?" [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] You.

but then when you work it's a chore it's work it's not fun so if you think about only a quarter of the people really enjoy what they're doing in life that is unbelievable if you think about it so i felt so blessed that i knew what

i was doing it's like a medical student that studies and knows he wants to become a doctor you know where to go and the same thing is also in politics i remember that in politics i had a very

clear vision [Music] that i will be the leader of california this is as far as i could go because i was not born in america so i could not run for president so being the governor of the fifth

largest state of i should say the largest state the fifth largest economy in the world was for me really the ultimate title the ultimate accomplishment in politics so even though people came up to me and says why don't you go

and run for something smaller you're never gonna make it i ran for governor and then two months later i became governor of the state of california again because i had a very clear vision what i'm gonna do with california

[Applause] so that's rule number one have a vision rule number two is don't listen to the naysayers don't listen to the naysayers everything i ever did the thing that they heard out of people's mouth was that's impossible [Music]

that can't be done or no that is exactly what i heard and of course i proved to the people that it can't be done so whenever someone said to me it can't be done i heard it can be done

when they said no i heard yes and when they said it's impossible i heard it is possible i'm a strong believer what nelson mandela said that everything is always impossible until someone does it well i'm gonna be the one who said to

myself i'm gonna do it and i'm gonna show it to them maybe it has never been done before that's perfectly fine with me but i'm gonna do it and i did not listen to the naysayers it's all about the hard work that you

put in i said i must have been bodybuilding i worked out five six hours a day i'm gonna do the same thing now for acting and of course i went to college to study english i studied the accent removal

acting classes and all of this stuff all day long i worked and i worked in the work [Music] and within a short period of time i made one movie called hercules in new york which of course went right into the

toilet but it didn't discourage me i still had the same vision and then all of a sudden i did streets of san francisco i did stay hungry and pumping on and the villain and then all of a sudden

i was asked by dino de laurentiis at the universal studio to star in conan the barbarian and after i did conan the barbarian the director at the press conference said to the press the director was john millius he said to the press if we wouldn't have

had arnold we would have had to build one so think about that the very body that they said can never be sold because the time is wrong a few years later i'm doing conan the barbarian and it was

the number one hit at the box office when it came out in the summer of 82.

think about that and the director says if we wouldn't have had his body we would have had to build one so all of a sudden my body became an asset not a liability and the same thing was with terminator

after we were finished filming terminator jim cameron said to the press if arnold wouldn't have had that accent and talked like a machine i think the movie wouldn't have worked so think about that the body and the accent that they

attacked was an asset but i didn't listen to those losers i didn't listen to them at all it's just the reality of it is that you cannot listen to the naysayers so this is a very important lesson for all of you so

when someone says no this is a stupid idea you in your mind you don't have to say but your mind to say this of you you saw what do you know [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you