Tennis champion Serena Williams
Clive Brunskill | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived a lot in life. He was a bodybuilding champion, a Hollywood superstar and a successful politician.
In his new self-help book, “Useful: Seven Tools for Life,” the 76-year-old says he shares one trait with other greats in their fields that has helped them succeed: a vision for the future.
In fact, Schwarzenegger says that knowing what you want is a critical first step in achieving your goals.
“Start by looking back and thinking broadly about the things you once loved,” Schwarzenegger writes. “Your obsessions are the earliest clues to your vision for yourself, and it would be great if you noticed them in the first place.”
For his part, Schwarzenegger said his original vision was simply “America.”
Growing up in Austria in the 1950s and 1960s, he says “everywhere I went in those days I seemed to see the most amazing things about America,” from photos of highways and the Golden Gate Bridge to walking in New York City. Filmed talk show. City.
Although he doesn’t know what he’s going to do yet, he has a clear goal, which is to come to the United States.
Your obsessions are the earliest clues to your vision for yourself, if only you noticed them in the first place.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
To emphasize his point, the “Terminator” star highlighted some of the giants in their fields, all of whom began pursuing what made them famous as children: golfer Tiger Woods, tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams and director Steven Spielberg.
In the case of the Williams sisters, Schwarzenegger wrote that their father introduced all five Williams siblings to tennis when they were young, but “only Venus and Serena showed any interest in the sport.” The passion for sport.”
Encouraged by his father, Woods appeared on television as a child to demonstrate his skills with golf clubs.
Meanwhile, Spielberg received a camera as a gift as a child. Schwarzenegger said the camera, which he used to earn his Boy Scout badge and make home movies, “gave him his first direction.”
Schwarzenegger used bodybuilding to fulfill his dream of coming to America.
Harry Langdon | Archive Photo | Getty Images
“It’s not about becoming rich and famous or working with glamorous movie stars. Those more concrete ambitions will come later,” he wrote. “In the beginning, his vision was just to make movies. It was big and broad, like Tiger (golf), Venus and Serena (tennis) and me (USA).”
Schwarzenegger says having a broad perspective early on isn’t just normal: “For most of us, it’s a necessity.”
“Anything more detailed becomes too complex too quickly and you get ahead of yourself,” he said. “Having a broad field of view gives you an easier, easier starting point when determining where and how to zoom in.”
His own path to America included entering the world of competitive bodybuilding after learning about another working-class bodybuilder who became a movie star. But depending on your goals, it could involve anything from a new career to scenic opportunities.
“Maybe it involves a hobby that you want to turn into a lifestyle, or a career that you want to make your life’s mission,” he said. “As long as it brings clarity to your vision and the steps you need to take to get there, there’s no wrong answer.”
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