These notes and highlights are from the book;
Total Recall By Arnold Schwarzenegger
The vision became so clear in my mind that I felt like it had to happen.Read more at location 535
Being on that pedestal was always my vision of where I would end up. It was very clear: I knew what it was going to feel like and look like. It would be like heaven to make that real, but I didn’t expect to win this year.Read more at location 904
After that, I never went to a competition to compete. I went to win. Even though I didn’t win every time, that was my mind-set. I became a total animal. If you tuned into my thoughts before a competition, you would hear something like: “I deserve that pedestal, I own it, and the sea ought to part for me. Just get out of the fucking way, I’m on a mission. So just step aside and gimme the trophy.”Read more at location 940
My initial success in London had reassured me that I was on the right track and that my goals were not crazy. Every time I won, I became more certain.Read more at location 1026
I learned the advantage of training early, before the day starts, when there are no other responsibilities and nobody else is asking anything of you.Read more at location 1078
The limit I thought existed was purely psychological. Now that I’d seen someone doing a thousand pounds, I started making leaps in my training. It showed the power of mind over body.Read more at location 1084
The mind. Sports are so physical that it’s easy to overlook the mind’s power, but I’ve seen it demonstrated again and again.Read more at location 1094
From now on if I lost, I would be able to walk away with a big smile because I had done everything I could to prepare.Read more at location 1254
To be successful, however, you must be brutal with yourself and focus on the flaws. That’s when your eye, your honesty, and your ability to listen to others come in. Bodybuilders who are blind to themselves or deaf to others usually fall behind.Read more at location 1555
I wanted no handouts.Read more at location 1602
We were both into the discipline of getting up in the morning and straightening up before you leave the house. The more you do it, the more automatic it becomes, and the less effort it takes.Read more at location 1789
Eventually we went to see the producers, and Joe told me not to say much. The next thing I knew, I got the job. Joe knew how to sell.Read more at location 1861
would take out index cards and write that I was going to: • get twelve more units in college; • earn enough money to save $5,000; • work out five hours a day; • gain seven pounds of solid muscle weight; and • find an apartment building to buy and move into.Read more at location 2228
After any competition, I always sought out the judges to ask for their input. “I appreciate that I won, but please tell me what were my weak points and what were my strong points,” I’d say. “You’re not going to hurt my feelings.Read more at location 2352
I caught myself listening. “Artie, you almost scared me just now.” I laughed. “Don’t tell me any more of this information. I like to always wander in like a puppy. I walk into a problem and then figure out what the problem really is. Don’t tell me ahead of time.” Often it’s easier to make a decision when you don’t know as much, because then you can’t overthink. If you know too much, it can freeze you. The whole deal looks like a minefield.Read more at location 2446
Morris turned out to be a skinny guy in his late thirties, with shaggy blond hair and penetrating eyes. His full motto was “Don’t act. Only be real.”Read more at location 2979
I’d deprogrammed myself from being onstage in competition and from needing that glory. Now starring in movies was the motivating thing. That shift had involved months of adjustment. So to go back now was a real challenge. How would I convince myself again that that body was the most important thing?Read more at location 3175
Note: arnold literaly programed his mind to reach certain goals
actor—how could I undo that and refocus myself on winning Mr. Olympia again? I knew the way my mind worked, and that to accomplish anything, I had to buy in completely. The goal had to be something that made total sense and that I could look forward to every day, not just something I was doing for money or some other arbitrary reason, because then it wouldn’t work.Read more at location 3193
But I felt that I was born to be a leading man. I had to be on the posters, I had to be the one carrying the movie. Of course I realized that this sounded crazy to everybody but me. But I believed that the only way you become a leading man is by treating yourself like a leading man and working your ass off. If you don’t believe in yourself, then how will anyone else believe in you?Read more at location 3376
So when I told Maria that was my vision, I knew that it could become real.Read more at location 3880
I would do whatever it took to get there. I didn’t share my feelings of pride with anybody. My style was to keep moving and not reflect too much. But it felt great.Read more at location 3999
I’d finally met a girl whose world was as big as mine. I’d reached some of my goals but a lot of my world was still a dream. And when I’d talk about even bigger dreams, she never said, “Come on, this can’t be done.”Read more at location 4049
I was relentless, disciplined, hands-on, and street-smart enough to get there too. That was what made Maria want to be with me.Read more at location 4294
To me the work didn’t feel intense at all—just normal. You do a movie or a book, you promote the hell out of it, you travel around the world because the world is your marketplace, and in the meantime, you work out and take care of business and explore even more. It was all a joyride, which is why I never thought, “Oh my God, look how much work there is. It’s so much pressure.”Read more at location 4802
Note: arnold simplified his days and enjoyed the ride
My definition of living is to have excitement always; that’s the difference between living and existing. Later,Read more at location 4816
Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger
When I wanted to know more about business and politics, I used the same approach I did when I wanted to learn about acting: I got to know as many people as I could who were really good at it.Read more at location 4822
people got intimidated and felt more comfortable staying on the bottom of the ladder. But, in fact, the more people that think that, the more crowded the bottom of the ladder becomes! Don’t go where it’s crowded. Go where it’s empty. Even though it’s harder to get there, that’s where you belong and where there’s less competition.Read more at location 4924
wanted to be in the same league and on the same pay scale. As soon as I realized this, I felt a great sense of calm. Because I could see it. Just as I had in bodybuilding, I believed 100 percent that I’d achieve my goal. I had a new vision in front of me, and I always feel that if I can see it and believe it, then I can achieve it.Read more at location 4930
From the bodybuilding days on, I learned that everything is reps and mileage. The more miles you ski, the better a skier you become; the more reps you do, the better your body. I’m a big believer in hard work, grinding it out, and not stopping until it’s done, so the challenge appealed to me.Read more at location 5093
As Ted Turner said, “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.”Read more at location 5846
Marketing departments generate hundreds of statistics, and the trick is to find, right away, the numbers that are really important. The ones I lock in on are “awareness” and “want to see,” which measure how people answer the questions “On this list of movies that are coming out, which have you heard about and which do you want to see?”Read more at location 5986
But the experience also proves how important marketing is—how important it is to tell the people what this is about;Read more at location 6030
I never like business relationships that are purely work.Read more at location 7158
I had no regrets. None, because of the relationship that I’d nurtured with her after I came to America, as I learned to think a little bit more about my family rather than just myself.Read more at location 7612
Steven HellonRead more at location 10045
have a vision, trust yourself, break some rules, ignore the naysayers, don’t be afraid to fail.Read more at location 10364
- Turn your liabilities into assets.Read more at location 10366
- When someone tells you no, you should hear yes.Read more at location 10371
The only way to make the possible possible is to try the impossible. If you fail, so what? That’s what everybody expects. But if you succeed, you make the world a much better place.Read more at location 10374
- Never follow the crowd. Go where it’s empty.Read more at location 10376
It’s easier to stand out when you aim straight for the top.Read more at location 10381
- No matter what you do in life, selling is part of it.Read more at location 10382
So here are ten principles I want to pass along: 1. Never let pride get in your way.Read more at location 10390
- Don’t overthink.Read more at location 10403
- Forget plan B.Read more at location 10423
- You can use outrageous humor to settle a score.Read more at location 10438
- The day has twenty-four hours.Read more at location 10461
- Reps, reps, reps.Read more at location 10481
- Don’t blame your parents.Read more at location 10515
Maybe your parents were too supportive and protective and now you feel needy and vulnerable in the world—don’t blame them for that.Read more at location 10517
- Change takes big balls.Read more at location 10535
- Take care of your body and your mind.Read more at location 10551
- Stay hungry. Be hungry for success, hungry to make your mark,Read more at location 10568
Live a risky life and a spicy life and like Eleanor Roosevelt said, every day do something that scares you. We should all stay hungry!Read more at location 10581
