upworthy

arnold schwarzenegger

Pop Culture

Arnold Schwarzenegger's 14 best pieces of advice he's sharing for his 77th birthday

He shared ‘77 Lessons at 77’ with his ‘Pump Club’ newsletter group.

Arnold Schwarzenegger visits Brazil.

There are few more remarkable examples of someone achieving the American Dream than Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had a humble upbringing in Austria, where his family struggled to make ends meet. Still, after enjoying the opportunity in America, he became a 7-time Mr. Universe, the biggest action star of the ‘80s and ‘90s and the 2-time Governor of California.

Even though Schwarzenegger is known for being a larger-than-life movie star who never had a problem flaunting his ego, he’s also a generous man who’s always spoken about the importance of giving back. He attributes much of his success to being helped by others.

“The whole concept of the self‑made man or woman is a myth,” he said in a commencement speech at the University of Houston in May 2017. “The reason why I want you to understand that is because as soon as you understand that you are here because of a lot of help, then you also understand that now is time to help others.”

July 30th was Schwarzenegger's 77th birthday, so he shared some of the wisdom he’s accumulated over the years with members of “Arnold’s Pump Club,” a daily newsletter by him and his team about nutrition, fitness and wellness. Schwarzenegger calls the club the “positive corner of the internet."

“No matter where you are in life, negativity and jealousy won’t help you get to a better place. I put together these 77 lessons from my 77 years to help you learn and dream a little more, and offer suggestions that will support you in living a better life,” Schwarzenegger wrote in the book’s intro.

Here are 14 of the most inspiring pieces of advice Schwarzenegger shared in his 77 Lessons at 77 e-book. You can download the whole book here.

1. Everything starts with vision

You have to see it before you can achieve it. You will never regret the time you spend to develop a very clear vision. When I say clear, I mean so clear that it plays in your mind like a movie. Before I stepped on a bodybuilding stage, I saw myself standing on the podium holding the trophy. It was like a memory — one that just hadn’t happened yet.

5. Decide who — not what — you want to be

Make your vision a part of your identity. Don’t say, “I want to be fit.” Say, “I want to be the type of person who can keep up with my kids and grandkids,” or “I want to be the person who everyone looks at on the beach.”

9. None of us make it alone

I am not a self-made man, even though I came to America without any money. Claiming I made it on my own would mean disrespecting my parents, the mentors and early coaches, the training

partners and friends like Franco, and every single person who reached out and gave me a hand when I needed it. No matter who you are, someone helped you or laid the groundwork for you along the way. Once you accept that, you can see the tremendous responsibility that comes with it. You have a duty to help the next generation.



12. Reps, reps, reps

You might think you only do reps in the gym, but repetitions are the key to life. Whether you want to improve at speaking in public or reading books or just eating better, you will need to do reps. Whatever you work at, it becomes easier and less uncomfortable with every rep you do.

25. Your mind can be your greatest enemy

It can be your biggest naysayer. Learning to overcome yourself is much more important than learning to overcome anyone else. Your mind will seek comfort. It will ask why you don’t just stay in bed, under the covers, when you wake up before the sun to train or to work. It will tell you that you might fail, so why even try? You need to learn to shut it off.

26. There are times for thinking, and there are times to be a machine

I start every day like a machine. Everything is on automatic pilot. I wake up, I make coffee, I feed all of my animals, then I drink my coffee, get on my bike, and ride to the gym to train. I don’t turn my brain on until I’ve biked to breakfast after the gym.

39. Sometimes, nothing f*ckin’ matters

There are other times that my team makes fun of me because I am so relaxed. We will come to someone else’s event where I’m supposed to speak, and they’ll tell me they’re sorry, but we don’t know when I’ll be on stage. I say, “It doesn’t f*ckin matter.” Because it doesn’t. We don’t have control. Trying to control something we can’t will only make all of us stressed out, and that won’t help anybody.



43. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of progress

I know a lot of people who will start a workout plan that’s supposed to be every other day, and then as soon as something comes up and they miss a day, they give up. You’re never going to be perfect. None of us are. Just accept it. Progress is about moving forward. So you can only do two workout days this week instead of three? That’s still progress compared to zero workouts. Just keep moving forward.

49. Sell, sell, sell

No matter what you do in life, you need to learn to sell. Whether you have a product or whether you are the product, we all have to sell something. Become comfortable with selling.

58. Develop a sense of humor

People love to laugh. They like being around funny people. You might think you’re either funny or you’re not. That’s not true. Like everything, you can get better with reps. When I wanted to get into Hollywood, I became friends with a very famous comedian, Milton Berle. I asked him to help me with comedy. Milton would write jokes for me, and then he would critique my timing. (He wasn’t very gentle about it, I remember a few, “Schwarzenegger, you Nazi, you fucked it up!”) The more I practiced, by getting in a joke in every TV appearance, the better I became.



62. If you ever feel stuck, pick three small things you can focus on

Make them so small it’s impossible for you to fail. If your goals are to learn a new language, get in shape, and read more, write all three things on a notecard, and write “5 minutes a day.” When you wake up, do 5 minutes of reading, 5 minutes of pushups and squats, and 5 minutes of language practice before you brush your teeth. Make a tally for each habit on the notecard, and keep it on your nightstand. No matter what, you get that tally every day. Even if you’re about to climb into bed and you realize you didn’t do all three things, you do it and then go to sleep.

68. Find joy, not happiness

I think one of the nicest things anybody ever said about me came from Jim Lorimer. He said, “If I needed one word to describe Arnold, it’s ‘joy.’ When he’s working, there is joy, when he’s with his friends, there is joy, when he’s with his family, there is joy. I’ve never seen someone have joy in everything they do.” Now, I believe joy is different than happiness. Joy is deeper. People chase happiness, but I think they should chase joy. Happiness is fleeting. You can feel joy when you’re struggling. You can feel joy when you’re grieving the loss of a dear friend. Joy, to me, is having a sense of purpose. It’s what gives meaning to life.

70. The world isn’t as broken as your phone makes it seem

Read your social media feed. Now imagine going to a gym, or a bar, or church, and hearing

people talk like that. You’d say, “It’s enough already — stop fucking whining.” But that’s normal on social media! Get out there in the real world as often as you can. Talk to real people, not avatars. You will not find joy on social media.

76. Leave the world better than you found it

That’s it. If every one of us tries to live up to that simple rule, imagine the world we’ll leave to our grandkids.

Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks out against antisemitism.

Like a flame that never seems to get completely snuffed out, antisemitism is again on the rise in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says that the number of documented reports of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jewish people has risen to the highest level since it began recording these incidents in 1979.

The ADL says that antisemitic incidents have steadily increased since 2016.

The pain is felt among the Jewish community, of which 41% say that the status of Jews in the U.S. is less secure than it was the year before. Thirty-one percent agreed with the same statement in 2021.

This disturbing trend inspired actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to speak out. Interestingly, he didn’t direct his words at those who stand against hate but at those who may have "stumbled... into the wrong path."


In his speech, he tried to explain how being a bigot is a sign of weakness and failure to take responsibility for one’s life.

Schwarzenegger has first-hand knowledge of the pain of being an antisemite because his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a Nazi who fought in World War II. The elder Schwarzenegger was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as the Storm Troopers or Brownshirts, and fought in some of the war's most brutal conflicts.

"I don't know the road that has brought you here, but I've seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs," he said in the video. "So I want to speak with you before you find your regrets at the end of that path."

The actor noted that when his father and many men like him returned from war, they were "broken men" who were "riddled with guilt."

"They felt like losers, not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell for horrible, loser ideology. They were lied to and misled into a path that ended in misery," Schwarzenegger continued. "...In the end, it didn't really matter why they joined [the Nazis]. They were all broken in the same way. That's the bottom line here."

Schwarzenegger was also moved to speak out because he had recently taken a trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where the Nazis killed 1.1 to 1.5 million people, mainly Jews. He was especially moved by seeing the possessions of those who died at the camp.

auschwitz, nazis, antisemitism

Shoes taken from prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp

via Superchilum/Wikimedia Commons

"The suitcases never claimed by the prisoners who were told to remember exactly where they'd left their belongings so they could retrieve them after they were finished with their showers...the gas chambers with scratches in the walls from the fingernails of people who tried to hold onto life...the crematorium, where the Nazis tried to erase all of their atrocities," Schwarzenegger recalled seeing.

At the end of his speech, Schwarzenegger reiterated his belief that people succumb to hatred due to personal weaknesses that can be overcome. "When you spend your life looking for scapegoats, you take away your own responsibility. You remove your own power. You steal your own strength," he said. "...You have to give up your war against everyone you hate...The war you really have to fight is the war against yourself."

But, he believes there’s still hope for people to overcome their bigotry.

"There's still time for you," he said. "Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind."

Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking at the University of Houston in 2017.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the epitome of the American dream. He’s an immigrant from Austria who came to America with $20 in his pocket and wound up being one of the most celebrated people in the world. He was Mr. Olympia seven times, played the Terminator on the big screen and was elected governor of California twice.

However, even though he’s had tremendous success, he never call himself a self-made man. This is surprising being that Schwarzenegger is a member of the Republican Party, a group that has traditionally stood for self-reliance.

He explained his rationale in a moving commencement speech at the University of Houston in May 2017.


“Now, the diplomas — there will only be one name and this is yours, but I hope it doesn’t confuse you and you think that maybe you made it that far by yourself,” Schwarzenegger told the graduating class. “No, you didn’t. It took a lot of help. None of us can make it alone. None of us. Not even the guy that is talking to you right now, that was the greatest bodybuilder of all time.

“I didn’t make it that far on my own. I mean, to accept that credit or that medal, would discount every single person that has helped me get here today, that gave me advice, that made an effort, that lifted me up when I fell,” he added. “The whole concept of the self‑made man or woman is a myth.”

The former “Governator” then shared the names of a lot of people who helped him become successful, including his parents, teachers, a lifeguard, bodybuilder Joe Weider, the people at Gold’s Gym, producer Dino De Laurentiis, director James Cameron, comedian Jay Leno and, of course, the people of America.

At the end of the speech, he shared his belief that with success comes responsibility.

“The reason why I want you to understand that is because as soon as you understand that you are here because of a lot of help, then you also understand that now is time to help others,” he said. “Make sure that it is not about me. That it is about ‘we.’ Turn the ‘me’ into ‘we,’ and I guarantee you that you can change the world.”

Arnold Schwarzeneggar speaks directly to the Russian people.

The firehose of propaganda and information lockdown in Russia has made it possible for Vladimir Putin to attack Ukraine without having to face a significant backlash in his home country.

Russians have falsely been told that their country is in danger because Ukraine’s government is full of neo-Nazis with nuclear ambitions. These lies have been spread unabated because the government will retaliate against any media outlet or social media platform that challenges its narrative.

In an attempt to share the truth about the war in Ukraine, actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recorded a nine-minute video explaining what’s really happening, directed at the Russian people.


Arnold Schwarzenegger's message to the Russian people

"The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me," he said. "That is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in Ukraine and what is happening there. No one likes to hear something critical of their government, I understand that. But as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say."

Schwarzenegger hopes that his popularity and status as a private citizen can change some hearts and minds in Russia. The video is moving because he doesn’t just chastise Putin’s policies. He compares the struggles faced by Russian soldiers with the pain that his father endured after fighting in World War II on the side of the Nazis.

“I don’t want you to be programmed like my father,” Arnold said.

Arnold shared the truth about Russia

In the video, the “Terminator” star also shares the cold truth about the war, backed up by images of death and destruction to let the Russian people know about the horrors that are being committed in their name.

“The world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine,” he said. “The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down on innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country … This is not the war to defend Russia like your grandfather or your great grandfather fought. This is an illegal war!”

While it’ll be tough for Schwarzenegger’s message to make it past the iron information curtain surrounding Russia, his heartfelt effort to spread a message of peace should be applauded.