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Seven Tools for Lifeby Arnold Schwarzenegger |
“Granted, I am a lunatic. I don’t do anything like a normal person. I don’t have normal dreams. My risk tolerance for big goals and new challenges is sky high. Everything I do, I do big.”ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER |
BIG IDEA
Have a Clear Vision—Skip the Secret
FROM THE BOOK“Before I go any further, I recognize that this sounds like a lot of woo-woo manifestation mumbo jumbo, like The Secret and all those law of attraction books being peddled by BS artists.
This isn’t that. I’m not saying that if you visualize what you want, then it will come true. Hell no. You have to plan and work and learn and fail and work and fail some more. That’s just life. Those are the rules.
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What I am saying is that if you want your vision to stick, if you want to increase the chances of success looking exactly like you hoped it would when you first figured out what you wanted your life to look like, then you need to get crystal clear on that vision and tattoo it to the inside of your eyelids.
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You need to SEE IT.”
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Brian's Notes
That’s from the first chapter featuring the first rule of life: “Have a Clear Vision.”
As you may know, Arnold is renowned for the power of his vision.
In fact, George Leonard actually quotes him in his classic book Mastery: “All I know, is that the first step is to create the vision, because when you see the vision there—the beautiful vision—that creates the ‘want power.’ For example, my wanting to be Mr. Universe came about because I saw myself so clearly, being up there on stage and winning.”
In the book, Arnold tells us about how clearly he saw himself becoming Mr. Universe. Then how clearly he saw himself as a Hollywood star. Then how clearly he saw himself sitting at his desk as the governor of California.
And...
I love the way Arnold makes it VERY clear that we’re not talking about woo-woo Secret nonsense where we think that if we stare at our vision board long enough we’ll somehow “manifest” everything we’ve ever dreamt of.
Arnold’s wisdom and success is essentially the concrete expression of Gabriele Oettingen’s scientific wisdom in Rethinking Positive Thinking. Check out those Notes for what remains one of my all-time favorite books.
As Professor Oettingen says: “Based on two decades of research findings, replicated across a variety of research participants, contexts, and methods, you would be ill-advised to indulge in dreams about achieving your goals and then assume you’re well on your path to success. Life just doesn’t work that way.”
Her recommendation echoes Arnold’s...
START with a clear vision.
THEN rub it up against reality.
“You have to plan and work and learn and fail and work and fail some more. That’s just life. Those are the rules.”
So...
What’s YOUR vision?
And...
What’s your plan to make it a reality?
P.S. Although I didn’t tattoo my eyelids with my ultimate vision, I did tattoo my left forearm. Every single morning (and multiple times a day) I look down and say to myself, “Hero, I see a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by the year 2051.”
P.P.S. Here’s a quick look at Arnold’s seven rules:
- HAVE A CLEAR VISION
- NEVER THINK SMALL
- WORK YOUR BUTT OFF
- SELL, SELL, SELL
- SHIFT GEARS
- SHUT YOUR MOUTH, OPEN YOUR MIND
- BREAK YOUR MIRRORS
Big Ideas
01: HAVE A CLEAR VISION
02: THINK BIG
03: WORK YOUR BUTT OFF
04: DON’T COMPLAIN
05: BREAK YOUR MIRRORS
“I relish the challenge of having to climb back up. It’s the struggle that makes success, when you achieve it, taste so sweet.”ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER |
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