Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

What a truly amazing life story. If you looked at Arnold’s life now without knowing his story you would not even begin to believe the journey he has taken to get there. This is why I love biographies of successful people, there is so much great insight, learnings and most of all inspiration. If you believe that what you dream is impossible, unreachable, then read this – you may just turn impossible into possible.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria and as a kid had a fairly normal upbringing, at least for the time. Like any young boy he did boy things, tried to impress the girls, looked for adventure, sought passion to sink his teeth into and always looked for way to make a dime. Fast forward to today, Arnold has had an amazing array of success in life.

From the world champion and arguably the greatest bodybuilder of his time, to a number 1 action movie hero, and more recently Governor of California his achievements are none other than grand. They are not everyone’s dreams but none the less they are huge dreams achieved by a guy from a standard upbringing. Not to mention that majority of his success was made in America, a country he immigrated to at age 21 without limited knowledge of the language.

I will leave the story and the finer details of his life’s journey for you to discover yourself – you can grab a copy of his book here..

After reading this book I felt inspired. So much so that I have decided to embark on a 3-month fitness goal to tone up and get ripped. I have no real desire to be ripped as such but rather the associated health benefits that come weight training. I am further inspired also to keep my dream alive, keep building on my dreams and to keep chasing them.

Here is what I took away from Arnold’s story. From this story you will pick up many more lessons as Arnold exposes all but these are the ones that I thought I would write on here.

1. Dream BIG.
2. Never give up. “Stay hungry”
3. Be Yourself.
4. Take Risk.
5. Put it all on the line. “Forget the plan B”

We are all told to dream big and most of us do but that is often as far as we get. Our limited mindset, beliefs and thoughts of what is actually possible usually slow us down from ever even starting towards our dreams and for that they remain just dreams.Dreams start breathing once you take that first step towards them. It is then you will reinforce and build you beliefs of the possibility. There will be many more challenges along the way but simply to start is the first step.

What I have learnt from Arnolds story and many of the other mentors I look up to is that attaining a big dream doesn’t require innate skill, talent or the right resources, although they all help, what it’s really about is going above and beyond in pursuit of them. Do what the others are not willing to do. Work harder, smarter, and longer than the others will. And put yourself into the space where competition is less.

I love that final point. It really makes me think about my own dreams and what action I take in my attempt to achieve them. The space that is comfortable and most common is the space where the majority of competition is. It is less fearful here and why most people congregate there. Go to the place were majority are fearful of going, which may require more hustle, more pain, more sacrifice, more innovation but the rewards can be greater as competition is less.

In pursue of your dreams you must as Arnold says, “stay hungry.” I really connect this ability to stay hungry, even when your weak, even in the face of adversity, to your reason – your why. Arnold had a strong connection always with his why. He knew what he wanted and he knew why and this allowed him to keep on pushing forward no matter what.

One things that emanates from Arnold’s story and from many of the successful people I read about is that they are themselves. They stay authentic. When you read their life story from childhood to stardom you notice that their essence, their character doesn’t alter much.

Arnold talks openly about his secret affair he had that lead him and his wife, Maria, to getting a divorce late in their marriage and his political career. He attempts not to excuse himself from the wrong, instead sharing quite vulnerably why he did it and why he kept it a secret. Whilst I believe honesty is integral in life and dishonesty will always come back to haunt you, I appreciate the fact that he is who he is, with no need to portray someone he is not.

Without a doubt he is a great risk taker. He puts it all on the line. Two things come from this. Firstly, the risk first must be a definite risk that he absolutely wants to chase. Becoming Governor is one example. As is famously quoted, “If its not a hell yeah, it’s a hell no!”

Secondly, when he takes a knew challenge he forgets any other plan. I still struggle with whether its good to have a plan B or not. After Arnold’s thoughts I have gained some more clarity. When he ventured into becoming a Governor he went all in. He knew that worse case he could go back to being an actor and while he may have some short term hurdles in getting going again that’s not such a bad fall back.

What he didn’t do is dabble. He dedicated himself fully to that challenge. This didn’t mean he had no time to manage investments or keep healthy it simply meant his career focus was entirely on Governorship.

Typically, no matter what your goal is, no matter the dreams you chase, there is usually something comes with sacrifice. The greater the success you want in one aspect of life the great the sacrifice you may need to make in another area of your life. For Arnold this meant he sacrificed time for his family during is campaign for Governor.

I believe in balance in life as it creates greater harmony in the soul however fully appreciate the idea of just focusing on plan A when you set out to achieve the new life goal. This is to truly focus on one thing until you have success. My weakness truly.

In summary, I would absolutely recommend you have a read of this book. If you want to be motivated and inspired to ignite your dreams and take action towards them this will assist. If you want to navigate and learn the lessons from what those that have had success to help you overcome the challenges you may face along the way stories like this are the bomb.

Finally, I have to mention how much I enjoyed the details shared during the several chapters on his movie career – really cool and insightful. Enjoy!

If this book sounds of interest you can purchase Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story here.

Please leave your thoughts, comments & questions below.

Peace, passion and purpose…

Other biographies that you might enjoy.

                   

If you are interested in finding more freedom, fulfilment and happiness in your life take the opportunity to jump on the Discovery Call. Valued at $250, this is a one on one coaching session to help you define your hidden why and discover the action steps to getting your there.