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Founders

#309 Arnold Schwarzenegger (Before He Was Successful)

Founders

David Senra

History, Entrepreneurship, Business, Technology

4.82.4K Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What I learned from reading Arnold and Me: In the Shadow of the Austrian Oak by Barbara Outland Baker. --- Join my free email newsletter to get my top 10 highlights from every book --- (6:30) He forced his sons to eat with silverware at perfect right angles. They had to keep their elbows to their waists. If the boys did not obey, the back of his hand was quick to strike their cheeks. (7:30) His life began to flourish through the art and science of bodybuilding. Arnold ate it, slept it, worked it, imagined it, thought it, believed it, and trusted it. Bodybuilding became his existence. (8:10) He had no time to waste on naysayers. He aligned only with those who shared his passion.  (8:15) He knew that to succeed according to his manic standards he needed to master an individual sport. (8:30) His intelligence did not show on his report cards yet he mastered his goals like a wizard. (If you do everything you will win) (8:50) His singular concentration provided a rock solid belief in his potential. (9:30) Not even his peers could understand the enormity of his lifetime dreams. (11:00) Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Founders #193) (11:15) Gradually a conflict grew up in our relationship. She was a well-balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man and hated the very idea of ordinary life. She had thought I would settle down, that I would reach the top in my field and level off. But that's a concept that has no place in my thinking. For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. (13:40) If you do everything you will win. (13:45) And I then saw very clearly what I could achieve, and that gave me a tremendous amount of motivation. (13:55) Instead of training two hours a day like most kids did, I would train twice a day, two hours. Totally abnormal. Sometimes three times a day and sometimes four times a day. I would go home during my lunch time, and then do, for an hour straight, just sit-ups to get that extra hour that no one else has gotten in, just to be ahead of everyone else. (16:20) Arnold was not a man of many surprises. He was clear in his focus, firm in his decisions, and egocentric at all costs. (17:55) Champions behave like champions before they’re champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners. — The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh. (Founders #106) (21:20) He made it clear that his world was huge and I must learn to accept that other people and activities demanded his attention. (23:30) His family foundation was instrumental in setting up his intense motivation to succeed. This negative motivation pushes him to achieve the maximum potential in every activity. (27:30) No one could restrain his mutinous energy. (27:55) Arnold always felt self-confident, no matter the disparity in sophistication, income or status. (29:30) Francis could sell ice to the Eskimos, Lucas said later. He has charisma beyond logic. I can see now what kind of men the great Caesars of history were, their magnetism. — George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones. (Founders #35) (31:30) I’m not so dominant that I can’t listen to creative ideas coming from other people. Successful people listen. Those who don’t listen, don’t survive long. — Driven From Within by Michael Jordan  (Founders #213) (22:40) Problems are just opportunities in work clothes. — Henry J. Kaiser: Builder in the Modern American West by Mark Foster. (Founders #66) (33:10) Optimism is a moral duty. — Edwin Land A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War by Ronald Fierstein. (Founders #134) (33:50) A sunny disposition is worth more than fortune.  — The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie by Andrew Carnegie. (Founders #283) (35:30) Stay public. You gotta promote, promote, promote, or it all dies. You just gotta be out there all the time. — Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever. (Founders #219) (37:00) He maintained his rigorous training schedule. (38:30) He craved the interaction with each new expert and remembered every tip. Arnold already recognized that he had the ability to learn any content he chose. (38:45) The best jobs are neither decreed nor degreed. They are creative expressions of continuous learners in free markets. — The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Naval Ravikant and Eric Jorgenson. (Founders #191) (39:15) Imitation precedes creation. — Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. (Founders #210) (44:35) Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #141) Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #193) --- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast ---- Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work.  Get access to Founders Notes here.  ---- “I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast

Transcript

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0:00.0

One of the most unique things about this podcast is that I know the founder of every company that advertises on founders.

0:05.7

I know Chris and Andrew from Tiny, I know a Neil from Meter, and I know Mateo from Ait sleep.

0:10.3

And I do this, well first of all because all of them listen to founders so it makes building a relationship a lot easier

0:15.4

But the primary reason I do this is because I only want supporters of the podcast that live and breathe their product in every case we share the same obsession for the quality of the

0:24.4

products that we make and the businesses that we are building. And Ait sleep is one of the supporters of this

0:28.8

episode and the founder Mateo and I actually live in the same city. A few months after I started using 8 sleep I randomly ran into

0:35.6

Mateo at a restaurant I was with some founder friends of mine and I went over and said hi. When I got

0:40.1

back to my table my friend asked me who that was and I was like oh that's

0:43.0

Mateo the founder of 8 sleep and my friend replied he said the

0:46.6

funny thing he said oh he looks like he gets good sleep

0:49.7

Mateo is living and breathing his product I've never had the ability to change the temperature of my bed before I had an eight sleep.

0:56.1

I had no idea how much that would improve the quality of my sleep. I keep my eight sleep ice cold.

1:02.4

I make sure it's cold even before I get into bed so I can fall asleep

1:06.0

faster and I wake up less during the night. There are very few no-brainer investments in life and I believe

1:11.6

an 8 sleep is one of them you can get yours by going to

1:14.6

8 sleep.com forward slash founders they'll give you a hundred and fifty dollars off for

1:19.2

being a founders listener they ship all over they ship in America the UK certain parts of Europe and Australia go to 8 sleep.com forward slash founders and get 150 dollars off today

1:29.6

Another supporter of founders and this episode is our good friends at Tiny Tiny.

1:33.3

Tiny is the easiest way for you to sell your business.

1:36.2

They provide straightforward cash exits for founders.

1:38.4

I want to read something to you from their very first shareholder letter as a public company.

1:44.7

And it's about the fact that they built their entire processes focused on founders.

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