Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Doesn’t Consider Himself “Self Made” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

I do want to talk about your book be. useful seven tools for life because I. read this book yesterday and there's so. much in here that as I said if I had. just seen your only your action movies. over the years uh I in especially in the. early ones I would think well this man. he's a great action star but then as as. you started to make other movies and uh. and I got to interview you and be around. you a couple of times I saw how. hilarious you are how funny you are. naturally and that's in you I thought.

okay there's more in this book that. comes out that I never imagined for. example you say that and and and I would. have thought if you have to define the. self-made man in Hollywood it would be. Arnold Schwarzenegger you come from a. very poor part of Austria you grew up no. running water um and you didn't speak. the language and you came here on unite. managed to not only be a bodybuilding. Champion but a biggest movie star in the.

world and Conquer politics you do all. these things and you overcome all these. challenges and in your book you say you. can call me whatever you want you can. call me schnitzel you can call me Arie. do not call me a self-made man what do. you mean by that well it's um I know. that people when they call me a. self-made man it's a compliment they. mean it as a compliment but I also at. the same time want to make it clear that. a self-made man means that there is no. one that helped me that I made myself.

which is not true I mean my parents. helped me um my father my mother my. teachers helped me my coaches helped me. I had ERS bodybuilding uh coaches and. weightlifting coaches that helped me I. had Joe weeder uh who was kind of like. the king of bodybuilding and fitness in. America bring me to America and make my. dream become a reality got me an. apartment when I came to America got me. some money so I could get started here. and become the greatest bodybuilder of.

all time um it was you know the agents. and the producers that helped me to get. then into movies um so and I remember. 5.8 million people voted for me to. become governor of California how can I. say I made myself self Governor right. it's wasn't it's not a dictatorship or. anything like that so so I think that I. got a help I got to help from millions. and millions of people and I want to. have people understand that that I know.

that I'm a product of a lot of help. because that's important to each one of. us to know that that we product of a lot. of help because that makes you then go. and feel responsible also to go out and. help other people because a lot of young. people and people that are helpless. people that are poor people that just. don't know how to make the next move to. help them because we were helped so. let's help them so this is what made me. an enthusiastic kind of public servant. someone that got involved very.

enthusiastically with Special Olympics. in the beginning in the 70s and create. weightlifting for special Olympians and. become the international coach for them. uh that's what got me involved in the. president's Council on Fitness and. travels through all 50 states um and. give something back and promote health. and fitness I started after school. programs and then eventually I ran for. governor when everyone said Arnold. you're. insane uh because you're going to miss. out on two movies a year.

which you make $20 million a movie. you're missing out on all that money for. becoming Governor are you crazy and I I. tell people I said look every dollar. that I made was because of America I. became rich and famous because of. America not because of Austria not. because of Germany or any other place. America so it's it's natural for me to. want to give something back so it. doesn't bother bother me at all not to. go go and make movies for a few years. yeah there surprise in this book is you.

talk a lot about failure and um it it. really uh resonated with me because I am. very aware of all the things that have. gone you could perceive as going wrong. in my life at different points and then. I later on look at them as kind of. strange gifts and I realize how much. they they help me you make this point. about bodybuilding which is built into. the fabric of bodybuilding is failure. because you need to grow the muscle you.

need to push it to the point of absolute. failure recover then add more weights. and you need to push it to failure again. so it's rep in a weird way bodybuilding. is repetitive failure over and over and. over again which I had never really. thought about yeah and that is. why um I tell people. that what makes you sometimes not be. successful is your fear of failure and. and as soon as you become kind of.

friends with failure and you say to. yourself wait a minute Michael Jordan. talks about he became the greatest. basketball player because he missed. 5,000 shots and he screwed up 280 some. uh games and all of this and that's what. made him the greatest basketball player. so it's failure where we learn really. the most and in bodybuilding it's buil. in that you do the exercise like you say. until you fail in weightlifting you go. and lift until you fail because it's the. only way you know how much you can lift.

is if you go all out and always lift. Beyond of what you can lift and then you. know exactly what you can do I I I. missed the 500b bench breast at least 10. times in different competitions but the. 11th time I did it you know so I was I. didn't feel like I was a failure I just. felt like I have to do train more and so. so I think the key thing is to tell. people don't be afraid of failure. because it makes you kind of like freeze. and not make a move forward be friends. with with that and understand that from.

failure we can learn more and therefore. let's go all out and just feel free of. that and not be worried and and Afraid. all the time I also didn't realize just. how much I mean there all these you know. cliches no pain no gain and and you talk. about that you're very just you say look. there's a lot of cliches out there but. here's the reality of it but when you. talk about lifting and the pain that's. involved There's real pain involved. that's why I never got into professional. bodybuilding okay. is be excuse me what do you mean I'm.

sorry no no no you're I have the frame. for it I have the natural uh genetic. disposition absolutely thank you see. there's someone here who knows who I. think we should respect he seemed very. genuine when he what uh what kind of. mirros do you. use I got them from a circus Arnold why. do you. ask they were free and I love them I. have a massive chest whenever I look at. then I see these other mirrrors and I.

Spit on. them um but it's it's that you became. comfortable with paint and you were you. were kind of almost it's almost sounds. like you were addicted to not in a bad. way but addicted so addicted to uh to. working out I love this section of the. book that as a Young Man 15 16 years old. you broke into a gym because it wasn't. open on the weekend and you wanted to. work out now I've broken out of gyms I. have never broken into I've never broken. into a gym that intensity was always. there wasn't it it was well our.

weightlifting Club was in a stadium and. so on the weekends there were always. games soccer games because it was. underneath the stadium and so you were. not allowed to go in underneath where. the wrestling club was where the boxing. club was the weightlifting club and all. that because it was for the soccer. players and uh so I had to kind of sneak. in so what they did on Friday night was. I did I opened the lb match of the.

window on top M and so that from the. outside I can open up the window and. then crawl in and sometimes one time it. was I forgot to open it and I just broke. the window and and I and I climbed into. the into the the back and then I worked. out for hours and hours and hours it was. like absolute heaven but what is. important here is is to recognize that. your. brain and your your mind is no different. than the muscle so the muscle grows uh.

by you know pushing it and going through. pain and so discomfort but the same is. with with your head that if you really. want to grow as a person and if you want. to get tough you got to go through pain. you know you should not shy away this is. a lot of times today with today's youth. you know when they talk about you know. the boys are having a problem the girls. having a problem this is a problem that. is a problem everyone has a problem. problem it's like they're getting softer.

MH and they're not willing anymore to. kind of take themselves through this. pain period and through the discomfort. everyone wants to be in com in Comfort. people kids want to sleep in uh to 7. 8:00 at night when I when I sleep longer. than. 6:00 I already hear my father's. Voice who has been dead for more than 50. years but I still hear his voice Arnold. be useful mhm because that that's what. my dad always said and he always would.

say he says do you think this country. was built by people sleeping in no this. country was built by people that were. able to work hard to work their ass off. and to go through torchure and to go. through pain and to do all that and so I. was that's what motivates me because I. don't want to go and lie around and live. live in comfort you have any G vacation. of course when we go skiing I go to S. Val yeah then I live in Comfort I sit. out in the jacuz after skiing and all.

that stuff but I mean throughout the. year it's all about okay we got to go. and do something move the things forward. and if I don't have enough to do with my. own work then you do some stuff for the. community so there's always things to do. and so this is what I'm trying to teach. people is to make this life rich not to. exist but to live and living means. really to go all out 24 hours a day yes. you sleep 6 hours a day or if you need 7.

hours so be it but the rest of the time. there's so much that we can do well I. need 15 hours of sleep 15 hours no good. baby. yeah and then I need to sit in have bath. of heavy cream how many Sony you. remember you just have to pour the cream. into the tub how many times you have to. change diapers during the. night and you need some. [Laughter]. bottle.