The Tim Ferriss Show - #574: Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (And Much More) (Repost)

Episode Date: February 25, 2022

Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (And Much More) | Brought to you by Vuori comfortable and durable performance apparel and Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement.In this episode, I interview the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger… at his kitchen table.In our conversation, we dig into lessons learned, routines, favorite books, and much more, including many stories I’ve never heard anywhere else. As a starting point, we cover:The Art of Psychological Warfare, and How Arnold Uses It to WinHow Twins Became His Most Lucrative Movie (?!?)Mailing Cow Balls to PoliticiansHow Arnold Made Millions — Fresh Off The Boat — BEFORE His Acting Career Took OffHow Arnold Used Meditation For One Year To Reset His BrainAnd Much More…This episode originally aired in 2015. You can find the show notes here: tim.blog/arnold*This episode is brought to you by Vuori clothing! Vuori is a new and fresh perspective on performance apparel, perfect if you are sick and tired of traditional, old workout gear. Everything is designed for maximum comfort and versatility so that you look and feel as good in everyday life as you do working out.Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at VuoriClothing.com/Tim. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but you’ll also enjoy free shipping on any US orders over $75 and free returns.*This episode is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.*For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Can I ask you a personal question? Now would have seemed an appropriate time. What if I did the opposite? I'm a cybernetic organism living tissue over metal endoskeleton. Me, Tim, Ferris, Joe. Hello ladies and germs, this is Tim Ferriss and welcome to a very special episode of the

Tim Ferriss Show, where each episode I attempt to deconstruct world-class performers to find what makes them tick, the tools and tricks that you can use in your daily life, ranging from professional athletes to chess prodigies to billionaire investors to, in this episode, that's right, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man himself, the governator, the terminator, the man who killed the goddamn predator, people. This was an amazing experience for me. Of course, there are many things that I associate with my upbringing, if you want to call it that, in the 80s, Guns N' Roses, but of course, there's Commando, there's Predator. The list goes on and on.

This man is a force of nature, and I had the opportunity, the rare opportunity, to visit him at his home in Southern California at the kitchen table. We dug into everything, and I really wanted to dig into areas that had not been explored widely in any other interviews that I could find. And that ranges from the art of psychological warfare. He is a master. How did he apply that? What phrases did he use? Questions did he use to get inside the heads of his opponents? We cover that. What was his most lucrative movie? I'll give you a hint. Twins. How the hell did that happen? Well, there's a lot that goes into the backstory of that. How did he make millions of dollars fresh off the boat before his acting career took off? A lot of people don't realize

he was a millionaire before his acting career took off. How did that happen? We dig into it. How did Arnold use meditation for one year and just one year to completely reset his brain and prime the stage for massive success? And of course, mailing cowballs to politicians, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. This was an amazing episode. I want to let you get right into it. The show notes, links, all that good stuff will be found at 4hourworkweek, all spelled out, 4hourworkweek.com. Click on podcast, or you can just go to 4hourworkweek.com forward slash Arnold. And without further ado, please enjoy a wild romp through the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kind sir, I wanted to start with a thank you for welcoming me to your house, number one. But number two, I've felt awkward all morning because I don't know how I should address you. And I wanted to ask

you how I should address you. Well, you can address me any way you want. You can call me Governator, Governor, Schnitzel, Arnold. But I think Arnold would be right. I'll go with Arnold. I felt like my first year in Japan when I was 15 because I didn't know how to address anybody. So I figured we could start with a favorite topic. Well, it's become a favorite topic as I've been thinking about this,

which is big balls and cow balls and bull testicles. So you've mailed sculptures of bull testicles to people before. Is that right? Well, there was one incident uh in particular this was when i was governor and there was uh you know one of the the leaders legislative leaders gerald steinberg uh and i we both had a huge challenge. California was hit by an enormous economic decline. There was a worldwide recession that was hitting us in 2008

and everyone kind of was caught by surprise of what effect it had. All of a sudden we had $20 billion less in revenues. Therefore, we had to make big cuts in education and in various different areas that really hit the vulnerable citizens of California. And so when we did the budget, I basically sent him up before we negotiated, you know, a set of balls.

And, you know, kind of just with a note that said, I hope you have that. Maybe negotiate the budget because that's what we both need. That's what we all in this building need in order to get this budget done because it's not going to be a pretty budget because people will hate it. They will hate us. They'll be making those cuts, but it's all the money we have. And so he didn't take it lightly. Did he take it well or did he take it seriously? No, no, but he take it well or did he take it seriously no no because he took it seriously

he kind of like what happened is is i've like you said i've done it before and um it's kind of things that i do you know i do always you know pranks and people and jokes and stuff like that but it's always kind of meant with a sense of humor right you know so it's always when you and i always have this tendency that when things get really intense and when people right you know so it's always when you and i always have this tendency that when things get really intense and when people start you know freaking out i try to make a joke or something to to lighten things up and just say look you know 10 years from now we're gonna look at this day and laugh about it right now it's very serious and now we you know we have to you know really concentrate on this and we have to do something that we don't feel comfortable.

Whatever the situation is, in this case, at the Capitol, this was the situation. It was a terrible situation that we were in economically and I thought they would loosen it up before the legislative leaders come down to my office and we start negotiating and it just didn't go very well. I mean, he felt insulted and he felt hurt and he felt, how could I do this and all this stuff.

So I said, look, I'm sorry. I did not mean it that way. I don't think it's as serious. It was meant to be a joke. These things happen. Now, you're no stranger to adversity, of course. I mean, you grew up in a very small village in Austria. You had, I think, the Splash Toilet

or what was the nickname for it? Basically, a chamber pot. A Splash Toilet, or what was the nickname for it? Basically, a chamber pot. A Splunge Toilet, yes, exactly. And basically, it's like an outhouse, but it is in the house. And you sit there, and you hear, maybe a second later after,

you go number two, you hear them, they plush. You know, so that's why they call it plush toilet. And so that was a common thing in old buildings. Our building was like 200 and some years old. And there was, you know, there was no flushing toilet, and there was also no running water in our house where I grew up. And so we had to get basically the water from around 100 to 200 yards away from a well that we had to pump, and winter and summer didn't make any difference.

And we had to carry the buckets of water to our house to our kitchen and then it was used very sparingly we drank from that water we washed ourselves with that water there was no shower so we washed ourselves with washcloth and with soap and there was a whole kind of a you know but everyone had their position my mother went first and washed herself and then it was my father's turn and then it was

my brother's turn and by the time I washed myself the lavour or the base where the water was in was pretty black you know

so it was not pretty anymore I maybe got more dirty from the water than I actually cleaned myself good idea to drink first make sure you sit your thirst but you know the interesting thing about it was it was you know other places had exactly the same situation we were not the only one so we didn't feel that kind of wow you know we are really growing up poor as a matter of fact i never felt when i was a kid that we were poor i always felt like we were like everyone else because we

were surrounded by farmers that had very little money they had little farms or workers the working class where workers made actually less money than my dad and my dad didn't make much money at all because he was a police officer and there was much more the benefits the you know the the pension that you get in the health care and all this stuff, but not much salary. Just enough that my mother could buy the groceries and to buy some things. And once a year to buy clothes at Christmas time for us or to knit some clothes for us and stuff like that. But I mean, there was like the neighbors were living the same way.

And everyone, when I went to school, all the other kids were kind of in the same boat. And which brings up a question for me that I've always wanted to ask you related to confidence. Because I was looking at, of course, I think your name is almost synonymous with confidence for a lot of people.

And people look to you to try to borrow confidence. And that's part of the appeal of a lot of your movies and your successes. But I was looking at a very old photograph of, I think, your first major bodybuilding competition

in Stuttgart. I think it was the Junior Mr. Europe. And I looked at this photograph and what stuck out to me was if we had just looked at the faces, not the bodies, it was so clear to me that you were going to win and that you knew or believed you were going to win. Your face was so confident compared to every other competitor. Where did that confidence come from? My confidence came from my vision because I am always a big believer that if you have a very clear vision of where you want to go, then the rest of it is much easier because you know always why you're training five hours a day you always know why you're pushing and going through the pain barrier and why do you have to eat more and why

do you have to struggle more why do you have to be more disciplined and all of those things become much more clear it's not like oh my god i have to do another you know 200 sit-ups it's more kind of like i can't wait to do another 200 sit-ups because that will get me one step closer to have the abs that I need to win that Mr. Universe. And that's my goal. I see myself clearly on that stage, winning the Mr. Universe.

I see myself very clearly of getting the trophy, standing there with the trophy, raising it above my head, and having hundreds of bodybuilders around me, kind of below me on stage, looking up and idolizing me, including the thousands of people that are watching the event. So that was always my clear vision, and that always inspired me to go all out.

And so when I went for a competition, you have to understand, I went to the junior Mr. Europe during my time in the military. And so what it took for me to go and to get on that train, which was a people's train, meaning kind of like, it was not a fast train. It was the slow train that literally stopped in every train station to let workers off and to bring new workers on. And that's what the train was.

And so with that, you went all the way to Stuttgart because it was the cheapest way of going because I didn't have much money. And you didn't get hit by any customs officers or anything like that? Well, we got hit, but I mean, we got through it. And I didn't have my passport because you have to give up the passport

when you go into the military, right? So, oh, you pass. I didn't even have a passport. Passport we got afterwards when we were finished with the military. But I mean, so we got through and we got to Germany, to Stuttgart.

And so there was this will there that no matter what it takes, even if I have to crawl to Germany, that I will be there at that event because that was my shot when I saw the ads about this Mr. Europe Junior competition, Best Gebauter Athlet Europas in German. And that was my opportunity to really go and to make my first kind of entry into an international competition.

And I felt that I can win it, and that's what I was there for. I wasn't there to compete. I was there to win. And so that's why you saw that facial expression there was a certain arrogance there there was a certain way that i posed with the other competitors i always felt during the pose off that i had my act together much more than the others did and then i'm gonna you know kind of you know make them feel inferior and uh and i will win and I will look facially and physically

to the judges that I'm the champion. So you touched on something I really want to dig into, which is the psychological warfare of bodybuilding, of life in general. I really feel, and this is a compliment, I mean it as a compliment, a real master. And if anyone who's watched Pumping Iron or anything, I think comes away with that as a takeaway. How did you develop that? And for instance, when you were, I guess, 17 or 18, how did you get inside the heads of those people at that point?

I think that it came about when I trained in the gym. I always felt that people are kind of really vulnerable in certain areas. So that someone that comes to the gym and works out because he wants to have a better body, that he most likely will be vulnerable. And that's during conversations that I discovered in Munich when I was a trainer in the gym. They were vulnerable when you said something like, well, you're fat.

Well, there was not even a doubt in anyone's mind if 10 people would have looked at that guy or 100 people, they all would have said that that guy is fat, but he was outraged. He said, what? Do you really think I'm that fat that you're mentioning it? I said, well, you're in the gym. I go to the doctor's office and say, I have a cough.

I don't go and beat around the bush. I say, I have to tell him what the problem is, and then he can give me the medication. I said, and it's the same thing in the gym. I said, you come here because you're fucking fat. And so now let's solve the problem. And so there's no beating around the bush there either. And so I could see that they were kind of like shriveling up

and kind of shocked. So I could see the vulnerability. And then I tried different lines on people. And we'll talk about the hairline. We'll talk about the hair the hairline uh or we'll talk about the hair color turning gray or something and then they would just freak out you know about little things like that so it was natural that with all the experience that i got now being a trainer and working with people and all this that i learned about people's psychology and about their weaknesses and their strength and all this how do you build build people up? Because my whole thing was, let's first discover and talk about the weakness.

And then let's go and rebuild everything. And so that was the idea, to give this guy a six-pack, to make him feel great, to declare victory by next summer, that he can go to the beach and that he can go and feel proud of himself and feel great and all this,

and then continue training. So that was the idea. So by the time i came to america and i started you know competing over here uh it was very clear that when i said to someone um let me ask you something is it you have any knee injuries or something like that and then they would say they would look at me and say no why why no i've no no knee injury at all no my knees feel great and i said why are you asking i said well because your thighs look a little slimmer to me i mean i i thought maybe you can squat though

maybe there's some problem with leg extension or something this is really and then i saw them all for two hours in the gym always going in front of the mirror and checking out the thighs if the thighs still exist or something so but i mean this is you know people get people are vulnerable about those things so naturally when you now have a competition you use all this yeah and so did they use you ask people were they sick uh for a while you know why did they look a little leaner or that you know uh you know did you take any salty foods lately and they say say, why? I say, because it looks like you have water retention. I say, it doesn't look as ripped as you were like a week ago.

So it throws people off in an unbelievable way. And they get defensive. And they walk away kind of like, oh, this didn't bother them at all. But then you can see, you watch them as they walk around the pump-up room. And when you warm up for the competition, and you could see them kind of thinking to themselves, kind of then going to a mural and checking it out secretly and all that stuff.

So, you know, it works. I just slowly developed it because I always felt that sports are not just a physical thing. As a matter of fact, I felt that the mentality and the mental strength in sports in the psychology in sports is much more important than the physical thing because in reality i mean i see when i watch a mr olympia competition or mr universe competition or any of those things you know they all look pretty much the same the top five guys but what makes one emerge is is the

way he acts if he acts like a winner, if he seems smiling, having a great time on stage and all this. So I felt one should use the psychology, one should use everything as far as food supplements is concerned. Use your best posing trunks. Try to use the sun out there and work out in the sun so you get tanned all around, use the best posing routine, just really give me a tan of everything, then you have a shot of winning. And psychology was definitely part of that. And you developed this arsenal of

intimidation through the bodybuilding. Did you use that, for instance, in movies waiting in line to audition against other people who were going to audition or anything like that? Did it apply to show business? I never auditioned. Okay. Never.

Because I would never go out for the regular parts because I was not a regular looking guy. So my idea always was, okay okay everyone is going to look the same and everyone is trying to be the blonde guy in california going to hollywood interviews and then looking somewhat athletic and cute and orders uh okay how can i carve myself out the niche that is unique that only i have and so i always felt like really strong about you, I have to get into the movie business like Reg Park did or like Steve Reeves or Paul Wendell, Larry Gordon, and all those guys that were in the muscle movies in the 50s and 60s, that's the way I'm going to get in there.

Of course, you know, the naysayers were right there and they said, well, you know, this time has passed. This was 20 years ago. You look too big, you're too monstrous, too muscular. You will never get in the movies. So that's what producers said in the beginning in Hollywood, and that's also what agents said, managers. They said, I doubt that you're going to be successful in that

because today's idols, I mean, this is not the 70s, Arnold. Today's idols are Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Woody Allen. I mean, look at this. These are all little guys. Those are the sex symbols. Those are the hot stars. Look at you.

You weigh 250 pounds or something like that. That time is over. But I felt still very strongly and had a very clear vision that the time would come where someone would appreciate that. And then sure enough, when people saw me on talk shows, they got inspired, directors like Barbara Averson, and then bought the script of Stay Hungry, the book of Stay Hungry, and had it written into a script and then did the movie with me because he believed in me, that I had the personality and I had a certain strength

and a certain kind of a look that would be great on the screen, that the camera loves me and all that. And so it worked. I did Stay Hungry. I did then Pumping Iron, the documentary. And I did the streets of San Francisco and worked then with anne

margaret and with kirk douglas and a villain and then all of a sudden i got the contract for conan the barbarian and uh bang there we were 20 million dollar movie which today will be a equivalent of a 200 million dollar movie um and dino de lanti is producing Universal Studio and International Studio financing the movie and so it was John Milius, first class director directing it, so my whole plan worked and I was so right

even John Milius after he has done the movie he said, if we wouldn't have had Schwarzenegger, we would have had to build one because of the body and when I did Terminator Jim Cameron said if we wouldn't have had Schwarzenegger, we would have had to build one because of the body. And when I did Terminator, Jim Cameron said, if we wouldn't have had Schwarzenegger and we couldn't have done the movie only because he sounded like a machine, was it so believable that he actually played a machine? And that's where people bought in.

When he says, I'll be back, it's totally different than when I say I'll be back kind of thing is so so so here was the greatest compliment that that the very things that they the agents and the managers and the studio executive said would be a total obstacle became an asset and the my career started taking off so the the not auditioning is really interesting to me and I I knew you were very successful in real estate but uh correct me if I'm wrong, you had basically become a millionaire in real estate before your first movie. Is that right?

Not before the first movie, before my career took off. Got it. So I did not rely on my movie career to make a living because that was my intention because I saw over the years the people that worked out in the gym and that I met in the acting classes they all were very vulnerable because they didn't have any money and they had to take anything that was offered to them because that was their living I didn't want to get into

that situation I felt like if I'm smart with real estate and take my little money that I make in bodybuilding and seminars and selling my courses through the mail order and orders, I could save up enough money to put down money for an apartment building. And I realized that in the 70s, the inflation rate was very high and therefore an investment like that is unbeatable because buildings that I would buy for $500,000 within a year were $800,000 and I only put maybe $100,000 down. So you made 300% on your money. So you couldn't beat that. So I quickly developed and traded up my buildings

and bought more apartment buildings and office buildings on Main Street down in Santa Monica and so on and the investments were very good and it was just one of those magic decade the day you couldn't do it in that same field there's another field in real estate where you can do that but in this particular field I don't think you will see those kind of jumps ever again. And I benefited from that and I became a millionaire from my real estate investments. And that was before my career took off in show business, in acting, which was after Conan the Barbarian in 1982, that movie came out. We shot it in 81 and in 82 it came out. So from that point on, my career took off because

people saw that the movie was successful at the box office. Then I signed a contract to do Conan number two and then that led to a contract for Terminator 1 and then Commando. And then the action genre. Also, there was another fortunate thing. Each of those decades offered something very fortunate

that was a little bit beyond my control, but I benefited from that. So there was the action genre that all of a sudden took off in the 80s with Stallone and Van Damme and all those guys coming in. It really was terrific. Our salaries went,

I got like a million dollars for Terminator 2, and then all of a sudden by the end of the decade i made 20 million dollars that's incredible and uh so i wanted to talk about the mail order for a second because that was done with with franco colombo or no the the with franco colombo who for those that don't know is was a European champion in powerlifting and also a boxing champion and then became a bodybuilding champion. And then I brought him over here with Joe Wieters' help to train with me here in America. But at that point, there was no money in bodybuilding. That's a key thing that everyone has to understand.

Unlike the day where the top bodybuilding champions make millions of dollars, in those days there was no money in bodybuilding. That's a key thing that everyone has to understand. Unlike the day where the top bodybuilding champions make millions of dollars, in those days there was no money in bodybuilding. And so when we didn't have enough money, we literally had to go to work. And so Franco and I, since Franco's talent was to be a bricklayer and a very skilled bricklayer and learned that in Italy and in Germany, we were able to go and start thinking about the idea of putting an ad in the LA Times, creating a company and calling it European Bricklayers and masonry experts, marble experts, building chimneys and fireplaces, the European style.

And this was also a time where everything that was European was huge in America. So we benefited from that, you know, Swedish massages and everything had to be kind of a foreign name. Or Japan is this and this. So Europe and Japan and all these places were used, the names were used because for some reason the other people just thought that was better. so we used that in the ad and we put the ad in the paper and

literally a week later we had the big earthquake in in los angeles and i mean the chimneys fell off the the apartment houses and all this stuff and it cracked walls and all this and so frank and i we uh as a matter of fact one of the friend of ours wife who was very smart and she worked in a supermarket um she did uh answering the phones and calling people back and all this uh just to make sure that our english doesn't get all screwed up with talking over the phone and all this. And so she gave us the addresses, and then we got to do the estimates, and I was kind of set up to be the math genius, and that figures out the square footage,

and that Franco would play the bad guy, and I played the good guy. And so we would go to someone's house, and then someone would say, well, look at my patio, it's all cracked. Can you guys put a new patio's house and then someone would say well look at my patio is all cracked can you guys put a new patio in here and i would say yes and then i will run around with the tape measure uh but there will be a depth measure with centimeters no one in those days could at all figure out anything with centimeters and we will be measuring up and i say what this

is you know uh four meters and uh 82 centimeters And they had no idea what we were talking about. And this is so much. And then we were writing up formulas and the dollars and amounts and square centimeters and square meters and all this stuff. And then I would go to the guy and I said, well, I said, it's $5,000. And the guy would be in a state of shock. And he said, it's five thousand dollars

i said this is outrageous i said i mean they didn't think that this is a well what did you expect the debases i thought maybe it's like two three thousand dollars is about five thousand it says i said let me talk to my guy says because he's really the masonry expert i said but i can beat him down for you a little bit. Let me soften the meat. And then I would go over to Franco and we would start arguing in German. This is a bullsh**t. You can't ask for so much. This is a bullsh**t. We work

here in America. And this would be going on and on. And he would be screaming back at me in Italian and some stuff. And then I would be, then all of a sudden he'd calm down and then I would go to the guy and say, okay, here it is. I said, I could get him as low as $3,800. I said, can you go with that?

And he says, thank you very much. He says, I really think that you're a great man, blah, blah, blah, and all that stuff. I said, give us half down right now. We go right away and get the cement and get the bricks and everything that we need for here. And we can start working, I said, okay, give us half down right now. We go right away and get the cement and get the bricks and everything that we need for here. And we can start working, I said, on Monday. And the guy was ecstatic.

He gave us the money. We immediately ran to the bank, cashed the check to make sure that the money is in the bank account. And then we went out and got the cement and the wheelbarrow and all the stuff that we needed and went to work. And so we worked like that for two years. I mean, very successful. As a matter of fact,

in the end, we had various different jobs where we employed like 16 different bodybuilders, all the laziest bastards that you can ever hire, but nevertheless, because they all were interested in working outdoor

and getting a tan at the same time for their bodybuilding competitions. They were not interested in working. But anyways, we all had a good time. We all made money. And this is actually then, I did this until I started my mail order business.

And then that became the new source of extra income so we could afford everything and then save also some money and so on. And so I've, well, I shouldn't say of course, but I've followed you since I was a little kid. Also Franco though, I remember watching the replay of the World's Strongest Man competition say of course but i've i've followed followed you since i was a little kid uh also franco though i remember watching the replay of the world's strongest man competition with the refrigerator walk when his leg gave out but i was always impressed by how uh how strong he was for his

weight i mean i think he's deadlifted more than 750 pounds at less than 190 or something like that well he did with the 730 he did like five reps that's just amazing it was like uh and how uh what are the reasons the two of you have remained uh remained friends for so long i think we both come from europe uh i think we both were struggling on the beginning, I met Franco the day of the Mr. Europe Junior competition. That same day, he won the powerlifting championships in the lightweight category. And so he was up there on the stage getting his trophy. I was up there on the stage getting my trophy. And then the category of bodybuilding championship of the world past 18 years of age, which they called the senior division, but it was not really senior what they consider now here senior,

being over 45 or whatever it is. But, I mean, then it was just someone that was older than 18. He was up there, the winner, on stage. So there was all three of us on stage, and then Franco worked out in Munich and I said to him, I said, I want of us on stage, and then Franco worked out in Munich, and I said to him, I want to come to Munich, I want to work out in Munich after the military is finished. And Franco said, well, I'm there if you ever come.

He says, let's work out together. And I told him that I admire powerlifting, that I do powerlifting and weightlifting and bodybuilding, and I want to work out with him and get stronger. And so when I basically moved to Munich, Franco was one of the first guys that I went to see and asked him if he wants to be my training partner. Now, Franco didn't train as much as I did at that time. So I used several training partners, but Franco was one of them.

And we just developed a really great friendship because he was a foreigner in Germany. He was what they call a gastarbeiter. And I was considered a gastarbeiter. I mean, kind of a guest from the outside, from Austria coming to Germany. And we developed a really close relationship. So we trained for two years together. He helped me with the power lifting i helped him with the bodybuilding

and then uh by 1968 i moved to california and i convinced joe wheeler then to uh give franco a airline ticket and bring him over here that he would not regret it that he is really what i am in bodybuilding except in the short man category, the champion. He's like the ultimate. There's no one better, and he's a great strong man. He bends steel bars and blows up hot water bottles and breaks wood and steel and everything. He's a crazy guy.

His tremendous power, he has this sunshine here, and the training equipment and the food supplements i said that he will blow everyone out of water maybe it would just it would be unbeatable and that's exactly what happened frank came here in 1969 and we trained together and he won every championship after that he won mr universe and mr world and then eventually uh even mr olympia after i retired and we always worked that together. We always were very good friends and very supportive and everything and even today.

And I'm very proud of him because he spoke no English. Unlike me who spoke a little English, he spoke absolutely none. And he went then and passed the entrance examination to the Chiropractor College and went with me to take some classes at the community college and got his English better and his commander with a language then passed the entrance examination to the chiropractor college and then became a chiropractor and passed his board the first time. Not like some of the guys that I worked out with in the gym that tried it two or three times

and then finally passed it the third time. So I was really proud of him at that. And then he just became an expert in actual manipulation and working with the body. He had a special talent for that. And that's why he has so many patients today. I remember watching his just catastrophic leg explosion on on video and then he's calmly laying on a stretcher and he says well just by

looking at my leg i can tell it's not broken it's a dislocation he went on and people thought he was was doctors included as i understand it thought he would never walk again and then he came back and after he retired i guess in 80 or 81 he won that's when he won the olympia that's right yeah i mean it was it was one of those unfortunate things that the universal the back lot where they did the strongman act that there was a hole in the road at the parking lot and uh no one saw it it's you know it was just one of those unfortunate things and um you know frank had to pay for it, for that mistake that the organizers made. But he came back.

I think Franco knew that I had, a few years before, a heavy knee injury in 72 when I hurt my knee down in South Africa, doing squats and posing. And I came back from that knee injury and my thighs were bigger and better and were cut in 1973 at the Olympia and I won the Mr. Olympia. So he knew that you can come back, that if you have a great surgeon

and if you have great therapy after the surgery, that you can come back and be better than ever. And so that's exactly what Franco did. And he went through his surgery, he went through the therapy and came back, and then he was squatting again with his 600 pounds, like at great ease. So incredible.

I want to talk about language for a second. When is the last time you spoke German privately in a conversation? I sometimes speak with a friend of mine, Ralf Möller, who is German. And so we sometimes speak German and

sometimes I would say it's a mishmash between German and English because some words are more accurate in German and some words are more accurate in German and some words are more accurate in English or it's easier to use in English. You find more specific words in English. So we sometimes

do, like I said, a mixture of both. And then Franco also speaks German and so sometimes we will be talking in English and then all of a sudden he will get into a German thing and then all of a sudden he will get into a German thing and then all of a sudden

we talk German. And the same is also with my nephew who is now a prominent entertainment attorney here. He came, I brought him over when he was 18

from Austria and from Portugal. He speaks Portuguese and he speaks German and French and also English now really well since he has been here

all these years and he also sometimes slips into the German and then we start in German and sometimes in English it's a it's a

every so often I get to speak German also well I enjoyed listening to on audio Total Recall your book and you threw in

Gemütlichkeit yeah and then kept on moving and i was like oh i like that because i lived in berlin for a short period of time right and i really enjoyed it uh also in uh the escape plan i used the german and uh you know we did this whole scene uh in in germany going crazy going crazy in germany so that was fun to do and all that stuff. But, you know, the Austrians have a different dialect. It's kind of the Austrians are like southerners. Right. You know, where people say,

huh, what did he say? You know, kind of thing. So the people that have the high German or they live up more north, they speak more and more perfect. Like when you go to Berlin, it's like totally like the way you write it. Hochdeutsch.

Yeah, Hochdeutsch, exactly. Now, I was having a conversation not too long ago with Arianna Huffington, and she was telling me about a conversation she had with Henry Kissinger because she was taking accent reduction classes. And Kissinger just said, no, no, no, you want to keep your accent.

That's right. So I wanted to ask you, you've taken accent reduction classes before, but was there a point at which you realized, wow, this is actually a strength, I don't want to get rid of this? Well, the objective was not to get rid of the accent. When you take accent removal classes

and dialect classes and English classes, that whole combination, it's all designed that you speak so everyone understands you. Sometimes people have a tendency, foreigners, have a tendency of pronouncing a word so wrong or with such wrong emphasis that people don't know what they're talking about. And then when you correct them and they say it the right way, then you totally understand it and you're perfectly fine. So the trick is really to learn how to enunciate

and how to really speak the language well and how not to rush and throw words together that makes it then almost impossible to understand. So Henry Kissinger is right. Everyone will always remember Henry Kissinger because of his accent and because of his brilliance. And I think everyone will always remember Arianna Huffington for her accent

and for being this woman that set out the goal of creating this magazine and being highly successful and being highly successful and uh being always politically oriented and policy you know becoming a policy wonk and all those kind of things but there are many of those but what separates her is the accent yeah you know the way she talks you know and uh she's greek and so she has of course a different accent than i have which made it really funny during the debates when we had the gubernatorial debates in Sacramento. She was there whining with her Greek accent

and I was there talking with my German accent and all this. It was hilarious. It just showed how far the world has come or California has come that all of a sudden you have two of the top candidates and they're all, with foreign accents and running for governor. I've been very fascinated to look at your film career

and hear the story of twins. I was hoping maybe you could tell us the story of twins, how twins came together and how you guys structured that deal because I didn't know anything about that. Well, twins came together and how you guys structured that deal because i didn't know anything about that well twins came together because i felt very strongly that i had a side of me that is a very humorous side and that if someone would be patient enough and willing to work with me as a director, that they will be able to bring that humor out of me.

And that's, you know, something that is very difficult because you can be humorous in your private life but cannot pull it off in a movie. There's many actors that have tried that and were not successful. So I felt, you know, that I should really talk to Ivan Reitman because I really loved Ghostbusters. And I said to myself, God, it was so well directed and all this.

And I just happened to run into him when I was in Aspen. And we were hanging out. There was Robin Williams and some other people. And we were all up there at Snowmass and we were hanging out. There was Robin Williams and some other people, and we were all up there at Snowmass, and we were skiing, and then at night, and before dinner, we all had a great time sitting by the fireplace and choking around. And Ivan Reitman would say to me,

Arnold, I listen to you, and I see a side of you that has never really been on screen. And I said to him, I said, I would love to do a comedy, and I would love to bring that side out, if it is the innocence of me, or the naivety of me, or the humor of me, whatever it is, I said, I would like to see that on the screen. I said, I think it could be good. And then he said, okay, so I said to him, I said, I want you to work with me and to

direct me in a movie. Let's figure out what it should be. And he said, okay, I said, I want you to work with me and to direct me in a movie. Let's figure out what it should be. And he said, okay, I would love to do that. I'm going to go home after Christmas, after this vacation, and I'm going to look into and develop a bunch of ideas. And then you and I get together and then pick the one that we like the best. He developed immediately within a short period of time, a bunch of ideas. I think there was five ideas.

And the one that we both liked the most was called The Experiment, which then became Twins. Experiment we didn't like because of my German-Austrian background, so we thought that it would be better to call it Twins. And we developed that project, got it written I came up with the idea then of

Danny DeVito that it shouldn't be just someone that is acting totally opposite of the way I am but it should also look physically totally opposite of the way I am and Ivan loved that idea and then we went after Danny DeVito and I remember

we sat in the restaurant, and we made a deal on a napkin and wrote down, you know, this is what we do. We're going to make the movie for free. We don't want to get any salaries, and we get a big back end, and Ivan should take this deal with the agent of the studio. And he took it to Tom Pollack, who was then running Universal Studio, and Tom Pollack said,

this is great, we can make this movie for $16.5 million if you guys don't take a salary and you get a big back end. We're going to give you 37% of whatever it was together, between Danny, Ivan and me

and we worked out the percentage of what our salaries are. So whatever Danny got at that time for a movie versus what I got for a movie and versus what Ivan got for directing, so we worked it out percentage-wise, and that's how we ended up dividing up the part amongst ourselves. And let me tell you, I made more money on that movie

than on any other movie. And the gift keeps on giving. It's just wonderful and I remember Tom Pollack, after the movie came out, he said to me, he says, all I can tell you is, he says,

this is what you guys did to me and he bent over, he turned around, bent over and he put his pockets out and he says, you fucked me and cleaned me up.

He said, it was very funny. He says, you fucked me and cleaned me up. It was very funny. He says, I will never make that deal again. It was funny. But anyway, so the movie was a huge hit. It came out just before Christmas, and throughout Christmas and New Year, it made every day $3 million to $4 million, which in today's term will will be of course you know double

or triple uh but it was just huge and it just went up to 129 million dollars domestically and i think worldwide it was like a 300 260 million dollars or something like that so it was really very very successful and it like i said it it ended up costing i think around 18 million dollars the movie amazing so amazing now you know i was when when i hear a story like that i think of the deal that george lucas did for star wars where the studio is like ah toys whatever sure yeah you can have the toys and then they probably felt very much the same way they're like wow we're not gonna make that mistake again that's right uh now you have um a new film uh you have several but maggie and uh i'd love to for you to tell people about it but i was also curious maybe you could comment on this but in this day and age why why you don't say finance an entire film yourself or crowdsource

all the financing yourself so you're the only uh not necessarily the only producer but you're the sole owner of that film yeah i i for some reason or the other um always felt that i should keep the two apart and i should not invest and uh put money into films um this is a whole other business to be in to finance movies and um i think I think that my strength is to be a performer. I think there's people out there that are very good in financing movies and raising money for movies or people that run studios and all this

and to let them do their job, what they're doing. I do my job, what I'm doing. And this is why I just never did that. It's something else. If someone has a great idea to do a documentary, something like this, and says, this costs $2 million. Can you help us with this?

I feel passionate about it. Like, for instance, Brooklyn Castle. If someone were to come to me and say, hey, here's a documentary we want to do about after-school programs in the city kids, I said, wait a minute. These are two things I'm very passionate about. I love playing chess, which is what it's all about, right? The documentary, how kids in the inner cities play chess and how they become smart and how they stay off the streets,

therefore not get into trouble with teenage pregnancy and the juvenile crime and all those things. And they have adult supervision and they get confidence. And there's kids that 70% of them are below the poverty line. So that's a great story, and it is something that both of them, Jess and inner-city kids, after-school programs, they feel passionate about. So I would have put money into that, and I wouldn't have been in it.

I would have just done it because I think it's a story that ought to be told. So things like that is something else. But in my movies i don't know i never felt comfortable with that idea keep them separate yeah you know now i think about it i i do a lot of investing in startups and sometimes people ask me why don't you start your own startup and i basically give them a very similar answer it's like no i'm already heavily concentrated i'd like to keep the two very separate yeah so i'm glad you brought up Brooklyn Castle. So a friend of mine was interviewed on this podcast named Josh Waitzkin.

He was the basis for Searching for Bobby Fisher. So very well known as a chess player. And I've heard you talk about the, I think it's the 3 to 6 p.m. is the danger zone. And I'm on the advisory board for DonorsChoose.org and a number of nonprofits related to education. Why are you so passionate about afterschool programs? And I'm on the advisory board for DonorsChoose.org and a number of nonprofits related to education. Why are you so passionate about after-school programs?

Because I felt that when I grew up, even though we were very poor, but I had someone there 24 hours a day for me to improve, to learn, to do sports, and to get attention, and to get the love, and to get the discipline. It was a tough upbringing. But it was a combination of great discipline and also love. But I felt like having someone there with you 24 hours a day from the time in the morning you get up to the time you go to school and there were the teachers there and there were the coaches there

and there was the school principal and all of them. And then you go home and there's your mother there helping you with your homework. And then in the evening, your dad comes home and he goes, takes you to the soccer field and does sports with you. And in the winter, ice curling and all those things. So I just felt

when i watch and go from school to school which i did when i was the chairman of the president's council on physical fitness and sports i traveled through all 50 states and visited one school after the next and i always at three o'clock i felt like these kids are going out there and then i saw half of them standing around in front of the school and then wandering around. The other half were getting picked up. And I said to myself, what happens with those kids out there? And the teachers or the principal will always say,

you know, the problem today is that so many parents are working. Both of the parents are working. And they don't have really the ability to pick up their kids from school. And what happens is a lot of these kids then get into trouble. And so then I started looking into it, the idea of after-school programs. And I saw that there are after-school programs around, but they're not really well organized. And so I stepped in. I started after-school programs here in Los Angeles.

We very quickly then spread them all over California and then all over the United States. And now we're in like 13 or 14 cities all over the United States, including we're in Hawaii. And they have been really beneficial. And we even passed an initiative in California in 2002, which was the After- Afterschool Education and Safety Act that provides an additional $500 million for afterschool programs in California. And because of that, which started

going into effect in 2006, from that point on now, every high school and middle school in California has afterschool programs. And then also churches and other organizations that are not connected to the school can also get money for after-school programs so they can have their after-school programs. So it really has become one of my passions. And it's just simply, like I said, I had that upbringing. I had the attention 24 hours a day. And it helped me to be who I am. And I felt bad for the kids when they don't get an equal shot, because the only way you can be successful is

if you really get this kind of attention. And if you don't get kind of in the situation where you float around on the streets, then you get involved with gangs and with drugs and with violence. And like I said, teenage pregnancy, and you commit juvenile crimes and you end up in jail it doesn't serve anybody and it costs the community a lot of money and the way i got republican support for that in california had them endorse my initiative was because i showed to them that for every dollar we spent we save three dollars down the line and so from a fiscal point of view, they endorsed it. Even though they don't like the nanny state thing and to have government step in and do the job for parents, the Democrats endorsed it for that.

They thought the government is responsible and we ought to do something because it's a new challenge. That 70% of the kids come from homes where both of the parents are working and they do not have time for the kids in the afternoon. So who is helping this kid with homework? Who is helping this kid with tutoring and with sports programs and adult supervision and giving the kid the love that the kid needs and the confidence building that the kid needs? And for that, after-school program is the number one answer to the problem. We have seen it over and over what great success rate we have had with after-school

programs. And hopefully the movement will grow and eventually every child will have the opportunity to join an after-school program if they don't have a parent at home that can help them with all those things. And everybody listening, I'll obviously provide links to all the organizations that Arnold's involved with. And I encourage you and implore you to consider becoming involved, supporting, or becoming a mentor, a big brother or sister of some type. I grew up on Long Island and I was a competitive athlete. I was a wrestler for a very long time and that kept me out of trouble. And I can see how easily, both of my parents worked.

Many of my friends growing up there ended up overdosing on drugs, becoming involved with drugs because they had idle hands during that period of time. But the other thing you have to understand is when you are a foreigner, an immigrant,

and you come over here and you enjoy the unbelievable opportunities that America has to offer, it is natural that you feel like you want to give something back. And I felt like when I was the chairman of the president's council and then when I was a trainer for the Special Olympics and then with the after-school programs, it was my way also of giving back because people listened to me because at that point i was a celebrity already and i had a tremendous power of influence because of my movies and all that

says i might as well use this power of influence for something good and also give something back to the country and that's why i was arraigned for government all this stuff so i think it just feels good to do something for people that need help. That's what life is all about. Totally agreed. And for those of you out there who have read my stuff, I get asked by readers a lot, what's the key to happiness? And I think if you're not sure of how to make yourself happy, make someone else happy. Help someone else. And the payback is enormous.

Arnold, when you hear the word successful, who's the first person who comes to mind i think that um people like warren buffett bill gates larry allison elon musk i mean people like that right because it's it's the first thing that you do think of when you hear about success, that they're really worldwide known for their success. But then there's other layers. Like, for instance, you cannot avoid someone like Nelson Mandela, who showed to the world about forgiveness and showed to the world about tolerance and inclusion.

And the job that he did in South Africa was not only a great job for South Africa, but it was a great job for the whole world because it inspired everybody to be remotely like that. No one can really be like that because it was really very, very special. And I was very fortunate to meet him twice and to work with him in special olympics in south africa and to be at his prison cell uh robin island and have him show me around notice and i had time to talk with him and spend a day with him twice so so he's definitely one of those guys or mikhail gopich I mean, someone that grows up under communism

and then when he's on the top, realizes that the system doesn't work and then dismantle it. I mean, think about the chutzpah that it takes, right? To do that. It's extraordinary. Didn't need to mail him any bull testicles. That's right, yeah.

Unbelievable leadership, you know, and vision and all that. Or if in sports, I mean, if you think about Muhammad Ali, how can you not think about success and not think about him? Because that guy was so successful, but also not only successful in sports,

but also in generosity. I mean, he gave everything away. I mean, he gave everything away. I mean, he would go through the airport and if he sees someone that has no money, he would give them a $100 bill. So he was an extraordinary athlete. So there's a lot of people like that.

I think that when he goes through history, also there's someone that I just thought of that I should mention that is Cincinnatus. And he was a Roman emperor and, uh, in the Roman empire. And, uh,

he, why I admire him. And as a matter of fact, Cincinnati, the city is named after him because he was a big idol of George Washington. Also. And the reason why he is a great example of a success is because he was asked reluctantly to, to into power and become the emperor

and to help because Rome was about to get annihilated by all these wars and battles. And so to step in there and to help them. And he was a farmer, powerful guy. And he went, took on the challenge, took over Rome, took over the army, and won the war. And then after he won the war, he has felt that he has done his mission why he was asked to go and be the emperor. And he gave the ring back and went back to farming.

And he didn't only do this once he did it twice they went back late on to him once again and when when they tried to overthrow the empire within and they asked him back and he came back he cleaned them up the mess it was through great great leadership, which he had tremendous leadership quality in bringing people together. And then again, he gave the drink back and went back to farming. And to be, as we all know, it's very addictive to be powerful.

And it's very addictive, and I know how difficult it was for me to let go of being governor and then all of a sudden you're not sitting there and making decisions about what's going to happen you know that the financial crisis what's going to happen to the regulations to greenhouse regulations what's going to happen you know to our you know high-speed rail what's happening with the university and you're not there anymore you know making the decisions it's very hard to let that go so imagine someone like that to let go to be the emperor it's a whole different thing and so so to me so that's very admirable and then when i think about success

he's also somebody i would put in that category i'll have to do some more research on him uh do we have time for just a few more questions um so feel free to not answer this if you don't want to, but this is almost the opposite of the last question. When you think of the word punchable, what's the first face that comes to mind? Punchable? I never even thought about that. Most people don't walk around thinking about it.

No. I don't think there's anyone that I can think of right now. Okay. I was worried thinking about asking this that you might just reach across and knock my front teeth into the back of my head.

But is there a particular, do you have a favorite book or a book that you've given to people as a gift the most? Well, there's one book that I have actually, since it was just Christmas, that I've given away a lot of copies. And this is a book about Winston Churchill

by Mayor Boris Johnson. I don't know if you're familiar with him. He's the mayor of London. And he's a real interesting character. They think that he could be eventually Prime Minister of England. Very talented guy, not a party servant, but a people's servant.

And he came up with the Boris bike that has now bicycles all over London that anyone can just take and ride around with the bikes. And then now they have this in all over Europe, in France, in Paris, in Vienna, and everywhere. They all took this idea that people would drive less in the city if they have the possibility to just get a bike from a bike stand.

And so he's a very interesting guy. I did not even know that he is this extraordinary writer at the same time. But I was in London for a promotion, and I saw on the bookshelf in my suite this book, Winston Churchill. And, of course, I admire Winston Churchill. He's one of those guys that I really love. And so I took this book down from the bookshelf, and then I looked, and I said, oh, Boris Johnson, the mayor.

He wrote it. I said, I've got to get that. So I put it back, and then Daniel wrote down. Oh, yeah, there it is. So anyway, we wrote down, oh yeah, there it is. So anyway, we wrote down the title and we wrote down all the information and then we got it as a Christmas gift for a lot of people. But the other book that I have given, I mean, hundreds of copies to is Free to Choose by Milton Friedman.

And it kind of lays out why the private sector is really the answer to a lot of the problems that we have and not government. And I think it's a real great kind of a philosophic kind of a book about how to approach our problems. If it's education, if it is economic growth and all of those kind of various different issues, he lays it out.

It's a very simple book to read, but it is very good, and it makes an impact on you when you read it. And the other one, I think, is California by Kevin Starr. Kevin Starr was our librarian, a state librarian, and he has written more books on California than anyone. So if anyone is at all interested in a book about California, what makes California unique and special

and the history of it, the political history of it and all the little details, I mean, that's a good book to have. So it's a great gift, especially when I was governor and you give people gifts and you give it, of course, of California,

a book about California and so on. So that's the kind of reading that I like and that I like to share with other people. Wonderful. Just one more question, then I'd love to hear where we can learn more about all of the projects that you're up to. And that is, I've heard you mention transcendental meditation in passing, briefly.

Do you meditate? I don't meditate now, but I got heavily into it in the 70s and i remember there was a time in my life where i felt like everything is just kind of coming together and i did not find a way or couldn't find a way of keeping the things separate so it was always when i was thinking about i was thinking about at the same time my bodybuilding career i was thinking about my movie career i was thinking about it. I was thinking about it at the same time my bodybuilding career. I was thinking about my movie career. I was thinking about the documentary, Pumping Out, that we're shooting right now

and the movie Stay Hungry that we just finished shooting and my investment in the apartment building and is this going to, do I get the financing from the bank? And all of this kind of stuff was always coming together. And at the same time,

I was training for the Mr. Olympia competition in South Africa. And I was training for the Mr. Olympia competition in South Africa. And I was training right here at Gold's Gym. And I remember there was all the camera equipment around five hours a day in my face. And then someone in the middle of squatting was trying to change the battery pack on my lifting belt and all this stuff. So it was like, you know, eventually I felt like I got to do something about it because i have such great opportunities here and everything is happening and everything is going my way but i'm just clustering everything into one big problem rather than separating it out and having calm and peace

and being happy and so i but total you know, I ran into this guy that I've run into many times on the beach, very, very pleasant man who told me that he is a teacher in transcendental meditation. And I said, well, it's interesting you mention it, because I feel like I should do something because I feel like, you know, I'm just overly worried and anxieties and all this stuff. And I feel like certain pressures that they've never felt before. And he says, oh, Arnold, it's not uncommon. It's very common. A lot of people go through this. This is why people use meditation, transcendental meditation,

as one way of dealing with the problem. And he was very good in selling it because he didn't say it's the only answer. He just is one of many. And he says, why don't you try it? He says, I'm a teacher there up in Westwood. I would not be able to teach you since we have friends and many years.

There will be another teacher there that will give you a mantra and blah, blah, blah and teach you how to do it. And then I can help you after that he says because I will be teaching up there so why don't you come up on Thursday and I will be there I will introduce you to the folks up there and so I went up there took a class

and I went home after that and I then tried it I said to myself I got to give it a shot and I did 20 minutes in the morning 20 minutes at night and I would say within 14 days 3 weeks I said to myself, I've got to give it a shot. And I did 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes at night. And I would say within 14 days, three weeks, I got to the point where I really could disconnect my mind and, as they say, to find this few seconds of disconnection

and rejuvenate the mind and also learn how to focus more and to calm down. And I did that for, and I saw the effect right away, that I was much more calm about all of the challenges that were facing me. And I continued doing that then for a year. And by that time, I felt like, I think that I've mastered this. I think that now I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. And I really felt kind of it was one of the things where, you know,

transcendental meditation was kind of anxiety and pressure meeting around the corner, tranquility. You know, this is kind of what it felt. And so I was happy from that point on. Even today, I still benefit from that because I don't merge and bring things together and see everything as one big problem. I take on one challenge at a time, and when I go and I study my script for a movie, then that day when I study my script for a movie,

I don't let anything else interfere in that and I just concentrate on that. The other thing that I've learned is that there's many forms of meditation in a way because when I study and I work really hard

where it takes the ultimate amount of concentration, I can only do it for 45 minutes maybe, maybe an hour. But then I have to kind of run off and maybe play chess. And I play chess for 15 minutes and then I can go back and I have all the energy in the world again and jump right back and then continue on with my work as if I have not done it at all today. It's like I'm fresh.

And so that's another way I think of meditation. And then I also figured out that I could use my workouts as a form of meditation because I concentrate so much on the muscle, and I have my mind inside the bicep when I do my curls. I have my mind inside the pectoralp when I do my curls. I have my mind inside the pectoral muscles when I do my bench press. So I'm really inside, and it's like, again, a form of meditation because you have no chance of thinking or concentrating on anything else at that time but just that training that you do.

And so there's many ways of meditation and I benefit from all of those. And I'm today much calmer because of that and much more organized and much more tranquil because of that. This whole conversation makes me want to go tackle the world. I love it. And I really appreciate all of your time. Where can people, and of course I'll link to all of these things in the show notes for folks, but where can people learn more about what you're up to? What would you like to share with people? Well, I think that people,

they know my ambitions in the movie business, that I love doing movies. But I think because of my interest in public policy, after my governorship, I have then started at USC, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, that deals with some of the issues that I felt very passionate about during the time I was governor, and even beforehand, which was political reform.

We were very successful in doing redistricting reform in California and open primaries and so on, which now brings politicians much more to the center. But this is not the only thing. There's many more things that need to be accomplished in California and nationwide. So our institute deals with that. It also deals with stem cell research. It deals with economic growth and opportunities. It deals with education, after- programs programs and so on and especially also

with environmental issues and you know i have an environmental organization on top of that which is the r20 which deals with sub-national governments because i feel always very strongly that while we are striving towards a um kyoto and all the nations in the world come together and I hope that they're going to be successful this year in Paris in December, I at the same time want subnational governments like California and other states and other provinces and cities

to set their own goals and not to wait just for this treaty, but to have the from the top down approach, which the international treaty will be, and from the bottom up, grassroots level approach from the bottom up. Because when those two meet, then we really create critical mass. That's what it's all about. So I want to continue pushing towards a renewable energy future. It is my crusade.

It's as much a crusade as my fitness crusade was for the last 45 years. And we've been pretty successful with that. So I hope that we're going to be successful with that too. But it does need everyone to buy in and everyone to participate. And that's why I go around the world and give speeches on environmental issues and try to bring countries together, make sure that this year it will be a huge success, but at the same time have subnational governments set their own goals and do exactly what we did in California. In California, we didn't wait for Washington. We didn't wait for a UN treaty or anything like this. We set the goal of reducing our greenhouse gases by 20%, by 25% by the year

2020 and 85% by the year 2050. We created the million extra solar roofs in California. We lowered the fuel standards here. We set the goal to up the renewables from 25% to 48% by the year 2020. So these are all things that we did. We didn't wait for Washington, and so we want other states to do the same thing. And luckily, California showed great leadership, and now we see other subnational to do the same thing. And luckily, California showed great leadership and now we see other subnational governments

doing the same thing. And that's regions20.org? This is R20, yeah, regions20. And people can find you on Twitter, at Schwarzenegger? That's right. Wonderful. All right.

Is there anything else that you'd like to mention before we close out? Yeah, or Maze. We're doing another fundraiser with Maze. And the last time we did for the after-school programs, which we talked about earlier, I do fundraising all the time because they always need money.

And for every dollar, we can send more kids to after-school programs. So we're always raising money. So the last time we had a tank uh drive and and destroy things amazing amazing video yeah there's a model tank right there behind you oh yeah this is so the big tank the real tank m47 for my military days it's the real tank so we basically you know whoever won the bid came out and you could sit with me in a in a in the tank and then we crush things together pianos toilet balls uh living rooms and everything that he picked, we just destroyed.

And we raised over a million dollars from that, which was really great. We had a lot of fun at the same time. This time, instead of destroying things with a tank, we blow things up. So this will be the new fundraiser, which we're going to start, I think, very soon, as in February, as a matter of fact. So that's another thing that I'm doing is always raising money for the after-school programs. And is the link going to be the same as the last?

Yeah, it'll be omaze.com. Okay, omaze.com slash Arnold. I'll put that in the show notes as well. Sir, thank you so much for the time. Thank you very much. This has been wonderful. Thank you. Until next time, thank you for listening, folks.

Hey, guys, this is Tim again. Just one more thing before you take off. And that is Five Bullet Friday. Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little fun before the weekend? Between one and a half and two million people subscribe to my free newsletter, my super short newsletter called Five Bullet Friday. Easy to sign up, easy to cancel. It is basically

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and you'll get the very next one. Thanks for listening. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time what I would take if I could only take one supplement. I've been asked this for years. The answer is invariably AG1 by Athletic Greens. I view it as all-in-one nutritional insurance, so you can cover your bases. If you're traveling, if you're just busy, if you're not sure if your meals are where they should be, it covers your bases. I've recommended it since the 4-Hour Body, which was gone eons ago, 2010, and I did not get paid to do so. With approximately 75 vitamins, minerals, and whole food source ingredients, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more nutrient-dense formula

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