Arnold Schwarzenegger Told me to sleep faster

Back in 2018 I was in the fortunate situation to attend a two-day intensive seminar from Jürgen Höller, called the Power Days 2018. The highlight of these 10.000 people events was a keynote by one of my idols Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the following, I’m going to share my main takeaways with you.

Have a vision

If you don’t have the right pilot, the best plan can’t bring you to your destination.

Arnold saw a bodybuilding magazine with the title” How Mr. Universe (Reg Park) got the Hercules.” This was Arnold’s Blue-Print for life and he knew right away from a young age that this is what he wants to achieve.

“When you know what you want to achieve, then it’s easy because all you need to do is work hard towards this goal.

Every time when he was working out he wasn’t only pushing weights, he was also imagining winning the Mr. Universe's title. Also in the studio for the movie Conan the Barbarian Arnold was working through bloody elbows and knees, all with one thing in mind:

The vision for the perfect scene in the movie.

In politics too, Arnold had a clear vision:

to be the leader of California, which he accomplished in 2003 by being elected as governor.

Notice: Arnold couldn’t aim for president, because he was born in Austria and only US-born citizens can run for the highest office.

Don’t listen to the naysayers

“you can’t be a bodybuilding champion in Austria”

Whenever someone said it’s not possible he heard “it’s possible”

“You can’t” also simply sounds like “you can” to him.

“I’m a strong believer in myself and therefore I can achieve everything I can dream of.”

“But Arnold, it’s never been done before”

“That’s okay. I’m going to be the one, who is doing all the things that have never been done before.”

When Arnold was told that he can never get into movies because of his accent: “ I didn’t give a shit, and I believed in myself”. His accent becomes his trademark which made him one of the most famous action movie heroes of all time. I’m pretty sure you remember “ hasta-la-vista baby “

Work your ass off

There is no magic out there, you can’t get around, you simply have to work and work and work.

“It makes me sick if people don’t find 45 minutes of time for working out a day”. Arnold was also really busy his whole life and he always found time for things that really mattered to him.

We have 24 hours and we only sleep for 6 hours, so 18 hours are remaining. “Yeah sure, some people say they sleep 8 hours. For them I have only one message: Sleep faster.”

During his college years, Arnold worked out 5 hours a day and was also working in construction to earn some money, because bodybuilding at that time wasn’t a well-paid source of Income

This was only possible because there wasn’t a single minute that he wasted.

You need to let people know that you are a hard-working person.

Early to bed, early to rise. Work like hell and advertise!

Get yourself a morning routine

I learned that a morning routine is a key to success. How I spend my morning affects how the rest of my day will look like. It all starts when the alarm rings. I primed myself using the launch formula to immediately jump out of bed and stop the alarm before it got the chance to ring a second time.

Then I immediately run to the bathroom. In addition to what you do in the bathroom, I wash my face with cold water to be 100% present. Next thing I clean my tongue with a scraper to get rid of all the unhealthy bacteria.

After that I drink at least half a liter, sometimes even a liter of water. Over the last years, I learned that the more I drink directly after waking up the higher my energy level will be the rest of the morning.

Next, I start reading on my kindle or in a book for a minimum of 30 minutes. I tend to read business-related things in the morning, to get new inspiration and strategies for a long day of work.

When done reading, I prepare myself a protein shake and get to my desk and start working on my business morning routine. This routine consists of things like checking leads & sales, browsing the new releases on product hunt, but inboxing zero.

After that, I’m ready to jump into work. As I run my business from the home office I don’t need to add physical activity to my morning, because I have the freedom to take a break from it whenever I feel like I start lacking focus. If you are employed I would definitively advise you to add 30–60 minutes of sport to this morning routine.

Inspiring facts

“The discipline of desire is the background of the character.” John Locke

Arnold was used to working out for 6 hours a day, so he also had no problem working 6 hours a day to fix his accent.

He wasn’t always successful at all the time. Hercules in New York e.g. went directly into the toilet and was one of the worst movies ever. Still, Arnold didn’t give up and become Conan the Barbarian and the Terminator.

Arnold becomes close friends with Mohamed Ali in the 70s and he told the stories that Ali only starts counting his sit-up at the moment it starts.

To Sum Up: Meeting my idol was an unbelievable experience. It was motivating, inspiring, and powerful. It motivated me to work twice as hard on myself as I ever did before. It's crazy to look back almost two years later and see that a single person can be the fuel necessary for you to grow into a better version of yourself.

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Originally published at https://www.newsbreak.com on March 13, 2021.