never ever think small if you're going to accomplish anything you have to think
big you have to go and shoot for the stars
the biggest challenge most people have is because they think small and the
reason why people think small and why did you choose small little goals is
because they are afraid to fail they know that if you shoot for big goal then
the chances of failing are very high and they're afraid of failing there's one of
the most common things why people are frozen and by the kidman make a move in
life because they're scared of failing I say to myself hey I'm not worried about
failing because that's part of life you're not gonna be going win everything
and how far can you fall look at this this is the ground that's as far as I
can fall and you know something that the only time you really consider the
failure is if you fall and you don't get up but if you get up you're never
considered a failure so I never considered myself a failure I always
consider myself a winner even though AFL every so often but I
always got up and I always move forward this is the important thing I never had
any patience of course for Smita thinking small little something then go
all out and do it well and this was not just the case in bodybuilding I didn't
just want to be a bodybuilding champion I wanted to be the greatest bodybuilder
four times I wondered if the most muscle the the most muscle of all times the
most definition I wanted to win the most trophies the most World Championship
titles I just wanted to be the best and the same is also in movies I didn't you
think about being in movies no I wanted to be a movie star I wanted to have a
bomb I love building I wanted to become the
highest paid entertainer I'd face if you wanted to be another John Wayne what's
wrong with that
there I go people ask me all the time what is the secret to success the thing
that can give you the long version here
and the long version is that I actually always had five rules and everything
that I did always use those five rules and those five rules helped me to become
successful in various different areas and I think I believe that those rules
can be applied to almost anyone and everyone you don't need to be a
bodybuilding champion you don't need to want to be a governor of California
whether it be an action here or anything like that if you want to excel in
whatever you do those rules are for you it's that simple
I think that we all here like to be successful and we are driven so that's
why those rules apply to you so my first rule is find your vision and
follow it you see I think it's the most important thing that we have a very
clear vision of where we go a goal where do we go because you can have the best
ship in the world you can have the best cruise liner but if the captain does not
know where to go that ship will drift around the world and out there that sea
and we'll never end up anywhere this is exactly the way it is in real life if
you don't have a core if you don't have a vision you just drift around you're
not gonna be happy this is why it is so important to have that vision now I
created that vision in Austria because I grew up after the Second World War the
problem was that everyone was so depressed because they lost the war that
there was alcoholism everywhere there was of course depression there was a
terrible economic situation there was famine there was starvation and all of
those things and also it was kind of a little place and narrow I felt kind of I
wanted to get out of there I wanted to escape and I couldn't see myself really
do work there in the stadia to work in the factory of the work in the farm
although even to follow my father's footsteps to become a police officer I
couldn't see that either and I think that's what my parents wanted me to do
but that's not what I saw this was the vision of my parents but not mine and
luckily one day in school I watched a documentary about America and I found
myself I knew exactly that is where I wanted to end up I wanted to be in
America everything that I saw in that that commander just loved everything was
so big I remember the tall skyscrapers the monstrous bridges the giant freeways
filled with beautiful cars the huge jet liners movie stars Muscle
Beach and all of those things I could not wait to get there the question was
just how do I get there how do I get the America I mean it's just not a common
thing to do way back in the 50s no one had the
I need to travel or anything but one day I was fortunate enough to see a magazine
and Dead magazine showed me the path to America and it was a bodybuilding
magazine and on the cover bust is very muscular guy then was standing there
like Hercules with the Hercules outfit his name was Reggie Park this rich Park
was undercover and I remember the cover said mr. universe becomes Hercules star
I read the article as fast as I could learning about how he grew up in Leeds
in England poor in how he trained five hours a day every single day and trained
and trained and trained and lifted weights and then he finally became mr.
Great Britain and then he could became mr. universe at any one a second mr.
Universe title in the third mr. Universe title and then all of a sudden he landed
in Rome in cinecittà doing Hercules movies and yeah he made
millions of dollars and this this money he took he bought himself a gymnasium
chain in South Africa he became a successful gymnasium owner in a syrette
I became more and more certain about my own future as I read this story I was so
excited so interested I knew exactly that I wanted to become another reg Park
I know he laid out the blueprint for my life basically
I could see myself I could visualize myself clearly to be a champion on that
same stage where he wanted mr. universe and then the move to America then get
into movies and then become rich and famous I had that vision very clearly
laid out I was so happy that I knew exactly where I was going
from that moment on everything that I did no matter how hard I had to work or
how much I had to struggle it didn't matter
it was a wonderful joyride because I knew what the purpose was and I found my
passion the simple truth is if you don't have a vision
if you don't have a goal if you don't see your future laid out in front of you
you're just floating around without a purpose and I think that the numbers
speak for themselves this is why so many people around the world are unhappy with
their jobs I mean in America 74 percent of the people hate their job and would
like to change jobs but think about that that means that only a quarter of the
Americans love the life's work I mean that is a very depressing statistic I
always smile when I worked the matter how hard I work I always had a great
time no matter what I did it didn't matter if I was in bodybuilding or if it
was in the movies of it was as governor I remember in the pumping iron days
people asked me in the gym all the time why are you smiling all the time why are
you so happy you have to lift 50 tons of weights you have to Train five hours a
day I mean I look at the other bodybuilders faces and lifters faces and
they look kind of depressing they look sour they're miserable that they have to
lift weights you don't look miserable you look happy and I'd tell them always
they say I smile because I know exactly did every rep that I do there every set
that I do every weight did I live to get one step closer to turning that vision
of mine into reality and becoming that mr. universe I could not wait to lift
another 500 pounds in the squats I could not wait to do another thousand sit-ups
I could not wait to do bench press more bench press and more girls until I
couldn't move my arms anymore because I knew that every rep got me
closer to standing on that stage as a champion as a matter of fact when I
lifted weights I didn't really feel like I was lifting weights I felt like I was
lifting a trophy over my head each time I lift it and they'll have all those
bodybuilders around me and thousands of people screaming
and I tell you that this vision didn't just help me in bodybuilding and help
living everything like I said I remember in the movie business there was many
times stunts that they had to do we I got hurt
that was in pain the agony had to do it over and over again I remember one
incident specifically and Conan the Barbarian there there I was crawling on
all four unwaxed over rocks and gravel holding my sword right in front of me
and as I was crawling the camera followed me it was around thirty feet
that the crawlin does rocks in his gravel and eventually after ten takes my
elbows my knees started bleeding and hurting and the director came to me
sheepishly and said to me sis do you mind if we do another take I need a
close-up of you and I said him no I don't mind at all I said going to as
many takes as you want this is none I don't want to do that because I know
you're in pain you're beating I said no no I don't feel any pain I say the only
thing I see is is the finished scene
this is why I did not feel that pain I did not care if I was bleeding on my
knees because I know that pain is temporary but the film is permanent and
I explained that to the director so this is why I try to tell you always discover
your vision and the rest will follow
you