Arnold Schwarzenegger Returns | The Tim Ferriss Show (Podcast)

1. 0:00 – 8:38

   Responding to Trump's tweets

   1. TFTim Ferriss0:00

      Optimal minimal. At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking.

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger0:06

      Can I ask you a personal question? Now would seem an appropriate time.

   3. TFTim Ferriss0:10

      What if I did the opposite?

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger0:12

      I'm a cybernetic organism, living tissue over metal endoskeleton.

   5. SPSpeaker0:16

      The Tim Ferriss Show.

   6. TFTim Ferriss0:23

      This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront, and this is a very unique sponsor. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive, in a good way, set it and forget it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years, and they now have more than two and a half billion dollars under management. In fact, some of my very good friends, investors in Silicon Valley, have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. So the question is why? Why is it so popular? Why is it unique? Because you can get services previously reserved for the ultra wealthy, but only pay pennies on the dollar for them. And this is because they use smarter software instead of retail locations, bloated sales teams, et cetera. And I'll come back to that in a second. I suggest you check out wealthfront.com/tim. 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For everything, they charge 0.25% per year on assets above the first 15,000, which is managed for free if you use my link, wealthfront.com/tim. That is less than $5 a month to invest a $30,000 account, for instance. Now, normally when I have a sponsor on this show, it's because I use them and recommend them. In this case, it's a little different. I don't use Wealthfront yet because I'm not allowed to. Here's the deal. They wanted to sponsor this podcast, but because of SEC regulations, companies that invest your money are not allowed to use client testimonials, so I couldn't be a user and have them on the podcast. But I've been so impressed by Wealthfront that I've invested a significant amount of my own money, at least for me, uh, in the team and the company itself. So I am an investor and hope to soon use it as a client. Now back to the recommendation. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, you'll get $15,000 managed for free if you decide to open an account, but just start with seeing the portfolio that they would suggest for you. Take two minutes, fill out their questionnaire at wealthfront.com/tim. It's fast. It's free. There's no downside that I can think of. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I've used Athletic Greens for many, many years, and I'm asked all the time, "If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?" My answer is inevitably Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. At least that's how I think about it. It is much more than greens. It's a complete whole food supplement with 75 or so ingredients packed into one tablespoon per day. So when I travel, for instance, of course, I would like to follow all of my regimens, all of my pills, all of my supplements, all of my food to the T, but sometimes circumstances intervene, and you're too busy or things are too hectic. This helps me to mitigate the likelihood of getting sick and to perform optimally. So if I go to, say, South America for an acroyoga intensive, which I did in Colombia at one point, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and I took this every morning, and it is extremely, extremely helpful. And I usually travel with travel packets, among other things. So you should try it out is the short version of this. As listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show, you can receive $100 worth of travel packs for free when you order. That's 20 free additional individual travel pouches when you order. Simply go to athleticgreens.com/tim to check it out. So take a look. Athleticgreens.com/tim. Hello, my friendly little Mogwai. This is Tim Ferriss, and welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is typically my job to deconstruct world-class performers. This episode is a little indirect because the questions come from you. Arnold Schwarzenegger is back for a round two on the podcast. I could not be more excited. In our first conversation, which is Episode 60, one of my most popular of all time, the former Mr. Olympia, Terminator, and Governator shared lessons learned, daily routines, psychological warfare tactics, which were amazing, favorite books, early entrepreneurial ventures and tips. For instance, how he made millions in real estate before he had his movie break, meditation, and many stories no one had heard before. This time around, the new host of The Celebrity Apprentice answered your most popular and upvoted questions, including some controversial questions. He does not shy away from anything, and this is no exception. He does not mince words. In this episode, among other things, Arnold talks about his recent Twitter battle with President-elect Donald Trump, his investment strategies, politics, the state of bodybuilding, his sleep schedule, and many more never-before-told stories. He did, however, forget to plug his latest project, so I will do it here. Tune in to the new Celebrity Apprentice Mondays at 8:00 p.m., or watch it on the NBC app. I hope you enjoy this incredible round two with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I promise that it does not disappoint.

   7. SPSpeaker5:56

      The first question comes from Tim Ferriss He wanted to lead off with, "A lot has been written about the president-elect's use of Twitter. His tweets have moved the stock market and defined the news of the day. You were recently on the receiving end of a couple of his tweets. I think your response said it all, so I don't want to reopen it. But I would like to hear about the process. How did you react when you heard he had tweeted about you, and how did you formulate your mic drop response?"

   8. ASArnold Schwarzenegger6:25

      Well, first of all, let- let's just kind of create the atmosphere here. We're sitting outside here, outside my house. The fire is on. It's outdoor fireplace. I'm smoking my stogie, and we are having a great time. The jacuzzi is warming up slowly so that afterwards we can take a jacuzzi, and so on. So that's number one. Number two, let's get now to a- answer this very important question that Tim had, a great question. First of all, it is important when you want to respond that you don't respond immediately, that you don't respond with, uh, with your emotion. Because of course, you go through various different stages. You know, the fig... Because if I would've responded right away, I would've said, "Don't go into a stinking contest with a skunk." But then I said to myself, "Well, maybe that's not the right answer, and it really doesn't say anything, so let me wait a little bit." Then I said to myself, "Well, you know, I think actually I expected that tweet because I tweeted out, uh, that I'm not gonna vote for him, and I encouraged other people not to vote for him." So I said to myself, you know, being Donald Trump, and probably I would've done the same thing, just, uh, you know, tweet back. So that was to be expected. So now it was just, you know, how do you answer back? And then slowly but surely, you know, I started developing different... Got s- went through different stages. Then I said to myself at one point, you know, maybe I should just go back east and just, uh, you know, hit his head against the table or something like that. And then I said to myself, "No, that is stupid. Uh, okay, let's [laughs] get out of that one." And so eventually I came up with something that was, uh, you know, uh... Where I talk about, look, this is... You know, a lot of energy that he put in there to, to, to compete about the ratings and what, who has better ratings and the rest. I hope that he put the same amount of energy into serving all the people of America. Because it's a really important job to be the president, and you have to be able to serve both Democrats and Republicans and decline to stay, state, and i- independents and everybody. And so he should put the, his energy into that. So that's how I came up with that, basically.

   9. SPSpeaker8:32

      It's great. So Jan D. Wiegand, or maybe Jan, said,

2. 8:38 – 14:33

   Running for governor and leading as a person

   1. SPSpeaker8:38

      "What was the hardest choice in your life, and what was the biggest sacrifice you've made while climbing the ladder of success?"

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger8:46

      I think that there's no doubt about it that the toughest choice was to get my bikini wax before Conan the Barbarian. [laughs] No, uh, I, I, I think, uh, you know, definitely the toughest choice was to run for governor because I really felt very passionate about becoming a public servant, and I felt really strongly that I could do a better job than the politicians in Sacramento. I felt that the politicians screwed up the state. That's why we had blackouts, that why, why we had, uh, huge debt and deficits and, uh, no one could get along. Democrats and Republicans couldn't work together, and it was just a huge mess here. And, um, I felt that I could do a better job. And so, but at the same time, I recognized the fact that I just finished Terminator, and Terminator 3 came out, and I... This was... I, I became the highest paid actor at that time in the world. And so that meant that I was not going to be able to make two movies a year and make this kind of millions and millions of dollars. So am I willing to go and walk away from all that money? Uh, potentially over $100 million over the next, you know, uh, seven years. And, uh, so, um, then there was the family question. You know, uh, my wife was not very enthusiastic about it. She comes from a family that, uh, had... Uh, where politics had a tremendous impact on the f- on the family, and side effects, and so she felt like the same would happen to our family. And so there were all of those debates, but eventually after long deliberation and thinking about the whole thing, I did, uh, make up my mind, and I decided to do it. But it was a very, very tough decision to make because I had to think about all of those different aspects and, uh... But I went for it, and I felt very passionate. And then after I made the decision, I was 100% behind it, and I felt like I had the need to serve the people and to give back to this gr- great country that gave me everything.

   3. SPSpeaker10:55

      Rachel or Rachelle Windholz asks, "What is the most important thing a woman needs to know if she wants to lead both men and women effectively?"

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger11:05

      Well, I think that the first thing she needs to do is just take out the, as a woman. Because if you want to be a leader, you know, you got to th- think of yourself as a person, as a human being, and not as a woman or as a man. But just, you know, paint a great, uh, vision of where you want to go. What is your, your goal? And then that clear vision that you share with everyone, men and women around you will follow you because of the enthusiasm and because you have a very clear vision, and you will inspire them. So being inspirational and, and having a clear vision, having a clear goal and rally everyone behind you, I think is the most important thing. But don't think of yourself as a woman in this case, because I tell you, uh, Indira Gandhi Did not think of herself as a woman when she led India. I think that Mrs. Thatcher, who was successfully leading England, did not think of herself as a woman and, "Oh my God, what would it be like now as a woman to lead England?" Or something like that. Mrs. Golda Meir was one of the most extraordinary leaders of Israel and led, uh, the, the, this great country, uh, through the '67 war against so many different countries, was highly successful, did not think of herself, I bet you any money, as a woman. Uh, you know, Chancellor Merkel, who is one of the greatest, you know, leaders in Germany right now, who has been a longer in office I think than anyone else, uh, very effective leader, is a woman. I don't think she sees herself as a woman. As a matter of fact, I remember when I met her several times during the time I was governor, you know, she was a tough leader, really good, smart, be- uh, smart with history, with politics, and with economics, and with all of the different issues, but it never even come up, the subject of, "I'm a woman, and as a woman, I do this and that," and so on. Imagine Catherine the Great when she led Russia. I mean, do you think that she thought of herself as a woman? So I, you know, I, I think take that out, uh, completely, uh, the woman stuff, and just see yourself as a person and as someone that is a great leader with a great vision, and then rally everyone behind you.

   5. SPSpeaker13:08

      This reminds me, you've talked before about wanting to bring women's bodybuilding into the Arnold Classic. Does, is this the same philosophy, that you didn't want them to think of themselves as women?

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger13:19

      Well, it's a, it's a little different because I think that there is, uh, still a tremendous prejudice towards women and what women should not do. And, uh, I feel that through sports I have learned that we are all equal and that women should have the same right, uh, to do the same sports as guys do, and guys should have the same right to the same sports women do. And so I felt like, uh, who is to say that bodybuilding is a male, uh, thing? That, no, women can also build their bodies, w- maybe differently, but, uh, let them decide how they want to do it. But let women compete in bodybuilding competitions. So we started with, uh, Harold Schneider, I remember, uh, back east. We, we started, uh, in Pennsylvania, we started the first Ms. Olympia competition, and then we moved it to Columbus, and we had in Columbus, Ohio, uh, at our competition, it combined with the, uh, Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe, uh, the, the, the, the, the Ms. Olympia, and then it became highly successful. And, uh, now women bodybuilding and women fitness and training and, uh, all of this stuff is as much a part of the international bodybuilding scene as for the male bodybuilders.

3. 14:33 – 18:38

   Sleep schedule and morning routine

   1. SPSpeaker14:33

      Joseph Durrell Rod asked, "Arnold, have you always slept so sparingly, or do you purposely sleep less to gain extra hours in your day? What's your current sleep schedule like, and how do you keep high energy with little sleep?"

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger14:46

      Well, uh, my, my current sleeping, uh, schedule is pretty much the same as it has been for the last, uh, few years. Uh, where I get up early in the morning, and then I go and, uh, uh, work out, uh, ride the bicycle for an hour and, uh, take a shower, have breakfast, you know, uh, feed my dog, play with my dog, uh, call my kids, tell them I love them, and, uh, read a script or two, read the papers, uh, in English and in German also. And, and at, by that time, it's around 5:00 in the morning.

   3. SPSpeaker15:18

      [laughs] Okay. What's your actual morning routine?

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger15:23

      [laughs]

   5. SPSpeaker15:26

      [laughs]

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger15:27

      Well, uh, uh, the, the, the bottom line is, is that I have slept nine hours a day when I was 19 years old, because at that point, when I was younger, I needed more sleep. And I woke up nine hours later, and I took my nine hours and got the full nine hours of sleep. As time went on, I needed less and less sleep, and now it doesn't matter where I am, I wake up six hours after I go to sleep. That doesn't mean, um, six hours after I go to bed, because there's a lot of people that have trouble getting to sleep. And there's another secret that I use, and that is I don't have my iPhone or my iPad or anything in the bedroom. I do not, an hour before or two hours before, get into some heavy kind of debates about business and stuff like that, or accept phone calls, where those kind of things can happen, because I've seen that then, then you go to bed and your mind keeps going and going and going and doesn't allow you to go to sleep. So it's important to not do that. There's o- other people that are very successful by not even watching TV, and they just read a book or something like that, and that puts them to sleep, and that's the end of that. I watch TV because that does not kind of, like, bother me when I watch the, the news and so on, or make me think about it for the next hour or so, so I can af- actually doze off watching TV or reading something. So the key thing for me is, is that I sleep until I wake up, and that is usually six hours, five and a half hours, sometimes five hours, sometimes six and a half hours, but it's an average of around six hours. It doesn't matter if I'm flying to Europe. On a plane that is a 12-hour flight, uh, sometimes I also s- wake up six hours later after I go to sleep. And in Europe with the time change, I get up six hours later. So, uh, it, it gives me an advantage, of course, that I have a extra few hours then to do other things and to learn or to read or to do something, uh, that is fun to do. But I mean, I think the k- peop- the key thing is for people not to get as obsessed about the sleep that you can carve out extra time, but to organize your day really well so that you can do a lot of things and accomplish a lot of things rather than wasting the day, if that's what you want to do. You know, there's people that, that, that say, "Okay, I'm retired. I'm just gonna play golf, and I don't even pay any attention to being productive. I have done this my whole life." Others want to be productive, then I would just say, okay, here's when they get up. The early risers usually are the most successful people. Uh, if it's the President of the United States, if it is the Pope, or if all, all the leaders, all the business leaders, everyone always tells me that they get up at 5:00 or at 6:00, they read the paper, they get going, they get organized, you know, start answering mail, communicating with Europe, and stuff like that. So I think, uh, uh, organizing your day and having a, a very clear vision and program of what you want to accomplish and being enthusiastic, I think that is the key thing, not just to worry about, I got to only sleep six hours, otherwise I'm losing too much time, or something like that. Health-wise, the best thing is to get enough sleep that you need. Everyone is a little bit different about that.

4. 18:38 – 20:52

   Environment and economy: California's example

   1. SPSpeaker18:38

      Perry Reed asks, "What is something you believe that others might consider totally crazy?"

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger18:45

      I think the first thing that comes to my mind is, um, that you can't protect the environment and protect the economy at the same time, and we have seen this in California, uh, how successful we have been. When I was governor, uh, I was very fortunate to, uh, lead a state that had a great history, uh, in protecting the environment, but also had a great history of, you know, being economically a powerhouse. Uh, we have been consistently anywhere between the fifth-largest economy to the eighth-largest economy in the world. Now, we again the fifth-largest economy in the world, and I think that just shows to you that having a great environmental protection and laws in place in protecting the environment, that you can do that successfully. We have made a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases by 25% by the year 2020. We have made a commitment to have almost 50% of renewables by the year 2020. We have made a commitment to make our buildings more green, and to have, uh, um, you know, to do things that really moves us in the direction of keeping our environment clean. But at the same time, we've also proven that our GDP, for instance, where the national GDP is, uh, a one and a half, 2% of growth, uh, we in California had a GDP growth, uh, last year, for instance, of 4.2%. So as you can see, that we are doubled, uh, as good as the nation is as an average, and we have the strong- strongest and the toughest environmental laws at the same time. So there's a huge misconception that going green means that you destroy the economy, and we have, as a matter of fact, the green sector in California. You know, it produces 10 times more jobs now than any other sector in California. So no matter which way you look, you know, we have become a leader, and we are the fifth-largest economy in the world, and we are outdoing, uh, the rest of the states in the United States, so I hope that the federal government takes really close notice of what California is doing.

5. 20:52 – 26:06

   Mental preparation through reps, and aging well

   1. SPSpeaker20:52

      Patrick Chapman says, "I'm a musician taking auditions and competitions constantly. I'd love to hear your best tips for preparing mentally for competition."

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger21:03

      Well, I think that it doesn't really matter if you're going to an audition for music or for movies or TV, uh, or if you're competing on a stage in a bodybuilding competition, or if you're doing a downhill race as a skier, or if you're a UFC fighter, uh, or if you run a corporation. It is mileage, it is reps that count. The more often you do something... I am a big believer in practicing and practicing and practicing. Why? Because the more you practice, the better you get, and the more it becomes second nature, and then slowly the fear goes away that you may not be able to remember your lines when you go for an audition, or the fear that you maybe, uh, sound stupid and that you're not gonna pull it off, or whatever it is. It is always the, the more you practice something, the more confidence you get, and the better you're gonna perform when you go to those auditions in the first place. So reps, reps, reps, and just keep practicing and practicing. Uh, we have a saying in German, Übung macht den Meister, which means, you know, the more you practice something, the more you become the master of something, you know? And so that's, that's a reality.

   3. SPSpeaker22:11

      Is that why when you have a new speech, you're practicing, you write the tallies on it?

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger22:15

      Well, be- the, the, the tallies I write on it because that's comes from my bodybuilding and weightlifting background. Because we used to have a, a chalk, uh, in our weightlifting gym, and we, uh, made, uh, a, a line for each rep that we did, so that I know in the end when I look at it, did I really do all my sets, rather than cheating on yourself with your reps or with your sets or with anything like this. We even wrote the weight on it next to it and compared it to the last week's chart of, uh, how much we improved on the weight and all this. So it is all about always to do enough reps, and of course you learn this in sport. This is why I always say, you know, families should insist that the kids do sports, because in sports we learn the lessons. There is no shortcut, uh, and the, the only way you get confidence is by doing reps and getting good at what you're doing, and that's what gives you the confidence. Then you cut down the failures, and on and on and on. So just do the reps.

   5. SPSpeaker23:11

      Marsha Peterson asks, "In Arnold's experience, how does age and aging affect diet and fitness? What adjustments do you recommend for those of us who are no longer spring chickens?"

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger23:23

      [laughs] Well, I think the first thing that comes to my mind is you got to really be very adamant to use, uh, when you get older, uh, organic gluten-free Botox.

   7. SPSpeaker23:35

      [laughs]

   8. ASArnold Schwarzenegger23:37

      I mean, this is extremely important. Um, no, in all seriousness, I think that the most important thing really is, is that you recognize that your metabolism slows down, and, uh- Let's say as a male, that you don't produce as much testosterone, and so therefore you have to take certain food supplements that, uh, that, that you can supplement and produce more testosterone and that you eat, uh, that you watch more, uh, the kind of food you eat because, uh, what you get away with when you're 19 or 20 years old, you're not gonna get away with now. I remember that when I was competing in the, a Mr. Olympia competition, and that was at the height of my bodybuilding career, you know, we worked out five hours a day, and the body was, had, had a, a much faster metabolism. We would go even before a competition, before the Mr. Olympia competition, to the House of Pies and we would eat a pie. And that, the day I could not get away with that because you would immediately gain weight. In those days, it was before the competition and we still won the competition because your metabolism is different. So you have to recognize that. You have to go and stay away from bread. You have to stay away from desserts. Maybe you can have it every so often, but don't think that it's a daily routine where you just keep eating bread and pasta and, uh, your desserts and ice cream and all the kind of things. And I'd have to tell you that this is very torturous for me because I am Austrian, and in generally grow up in Austria with beautiful, wonderful desserts. I mean, from, with the Sachertorte, Kaiserschmarrn, Apfelstrudel, Topfenstrudel, Lebkuchen. I mean, they, there's so many different things that we have that are fattening, and they got to get off all of those things and just really, you know, eat much lighter. I eat smaller meals now. At night many times I just have soup and not eat anything, uh, in order to really stay trim. It is a real battle, and I think that I'm not the only one that goes through the battle. I think everyone in the gym, and I go to Gold's Gym, it, uh, everyone tells me the same story. That when, as soon as they get to be past 40, you know, uh, they have a tendency of getting easier overweight and fat. And now of course is a good time because it's new year, so you can make a New Year's resolution and say, "I want to lose 10 pounds," or, "I want to lose 20 pounds, and here's the diet that I'm gonna be on." And that's exactly what I would recommend.

6. 26:06 – 31:52

   Communicating on pollution and the Prop 23 campaign

   1. SPSpeaker26:06

      Mike Yunick says, "You have a great history combating climate change, and you've recently taken on trying to get people to eat less meat, as animal agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. What are your future plans to keep spreading this message and reach more people?"

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger26:22

      Well, I think that the most, uh, upsetting thing to me is that we have so many really passionate environmentalists that really are serious about helping the earth be healthy and, uh, reducing pollution, but their communication skills are lousy, uh, because they always keep talking about climate change. It doesn't matter what speech did you listen to. If it is President Obama's speech or if it is some senator's speech or if it is some environmentalist's speech, they talk about climate change, and it doesn't mean anything to, to the mass, uh, in the world. It goes right over their head, and they talk about something that happens in, in 10 years from now. They talk about what happens in 20 years from now, and the sea levels rising in 50 years from now. And the, the, the, the, the human mind is not equipped to think down the line, what happens down the line. They want to know what's happening today, what's happening right now. And what's happening right now is disastrous because pollution, and that's what environmentalists should be talking about, pollution is killing seven million people a year. That is happening right now, and they never talk about it. I say to myself, what is going on with these guys? Why are they so obsessed about, uh, you know, climate change and not about the amount of people that are dying every year because of pollution? I mean, the amount, seven million, that I'm talking about, that's much more than all the traffic accidents. That's much more than the, the, the wars that kill, uh, people, uh, or that ISIS that we worried about, uh, or suicides or homicides or all of these things together is not even close to that ma- amount of seven million people. So pollution is the biggest killer, and they're not talking about it. They kind of throw it away. Yeah, and there's th- this climate change, and then there's also the health aspect of it that's very... You know, people get sick from pollution and all that. So they mention it as a sidebar, but not really as like the main thing that's, what happening today. So the communication has to be better. I always talk about the four-legged stool. I always talk about that yes, we should talk about climate change because that is a reality. We will have climate change and it is disastrous. But in order to really make people react and become part of the, uh, uh, of the environmental crusade, we should tell them that right now seven million people die. In America, 250,000 people die, and, uh, you know, in India over a million people, and in China over a million people die because of pollution, and this goes on and on and all over the world. That's what we should talk about. So the, the first leg should be, you know, climate change. Second leg should be the, the, you know, talking about the pollution. The third should be that how many jobs we can create with the green economy. And the fourth is national security. So we should... This is the four-legged stool because we got to get energy independent. We got to get off fossil fuels so we don't have to ever rely on countries that are our enemy and that w- don't wish us well. So, uh, it, those are the, the, the, that's the four-legged stool that I talk about. And I think that is what we need to concentrate on, and we just have to kind of let everyone know that they got to communicate differently and gotta communicate in the way that means something to people and they understand. Because people are basically survivalists. They worry about right now. When you have an accident, you don't go and say, start thinking about when someone breaks their leg and they have a open wound that the w- how are we gonna fix the leg? No. First you stop the bleeding. That's the first thing that you do, and then you go and take them to the hospital, and then they can worry about how to fix the leg and all those kind of things. And the same is with our environmental movement. We got to talk about the amount of people that die every year because of pollution.

   3. SPSpeaker30:13

      And just to expand on Mike's question, this isn't just theoretical for you. You actually ran the anti-Prop 23 campaign in California in 2010 with these principles, right?

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger30:24

      Well, y- you're absolutely correct because, uh, we, we found out by total, uh, coincidence that this is what the people really pay at- attention to the most, is the health aspect, and it is, you know, of what tremendous impact, uh, pollution has not only on, uh, the health of grown-ups, but for instance, in the Central Valley in California, we talked about, you know, how it creates asthma, uh, asthma, and what kind of effect it has on kids and their health and stuff like this, and people were so alarmed when they heard that, the statistics, that they did everything they could to go and to keep, in effect, our environmental laws, even though the oil and coal companies came into California, uh, with Proposition 23 and tried to have the people vote against our environmental laws, and they were not successful. We beat them by, we beat 80% of the votes and, uh, chased them out of the state because we used the health aspect as a means to really get through and to penetrate through to the people and let them know how important it is that we keep our environmental laws, which are the best in the nation.

   5. SPSpeaker31:27

      And our environmental laws won in conservative districts as well as liberal districts with that, right?

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger31:32

      That's right, because, uh, uh, Republicans and Democrats alike all want to go and have healthy air and have healthy water, clean water, and a clean ground. I mean, air, water pollution, and the, the, the, the, the ground pollution that we have is disastrous, and we got to always fight in order to clean our environment.

7. 31:52 – 42:21

   Failure, giving back, and tunnel vision

   1. SPSpeaker31:52

      Cody Schuckman says, "Arnold, we hear about your many successes in life. What do you consider your greatest failure, and how did it set up or shape your future successes?"

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger32:02

      Well, I think that, uh, you have to recognize that it doesn't matter who it is. The most successful person in the world can tell you honestly that they also had a tremendous amount of failures. Uh, it's not always just success. The key thing is, is that we learn from the failures actually more than from our successes, and, uh, it doesn't matter if you talk about the best, uh, uh, you know, basketball player. I remember Michael Jordan one time said, uh, in an interview that he missed 9,000 shots. Uh, you know, and here he was one of the great- the greatest, if not the greatest basketball player in the world. So yes, you miss, and I remember that, you know, Ted Williams, uh, one of the greatest baseball players, uh, remember 19, think it was 1941 or so when he had the best baseball season and he averaged, uh, .406, uh, 406, and, uh, and that meant that 40% plus, 40.6% to be exact, uh, he was successful with his hits, with his batting, and, uh, 60%, therefore, were failures. So think about it, and this is the greatest, you know, uh, y- y- baseball player, and that this record still stands today. So it just shows you that everyone has failures, and every- and, and, and so the key thing is, is that you learn from those failures and you move on. I had my failures in bodybuilding. I lost bodybuilding competitions. Most people only know my victories, which were a lot, but I've also lost. I lost in weightlifting. I lost in powerlifting. I embarrassed myself, uh, many times trying to lift the 500 pounds on the bench press in front of, uh, 2,000 people in a beer hall in Germany, and I failed, and it crashed on my chest, and I couldn't make it, but eventually I did make it. And, uh, I, I lost, you know, I had failures in the movie business. I remember I had a lot of movies that went through the roof, but then there were movies that went right in the toilet, that were not as successful. Books that I came out with that won a New York Times bestseller list, and then others that didn't, uh, you know, live up to the expectations and, and, and failed. So yes, we have those kind of things, and to me, the key thing is always, uh, and, you know, that we learn from it. I have failures also, I remember, in my personal life, and I learn from that, you know? And then you move on again. What is important is that you get up. When you fall, the winner always gets up, and the loser stays down. That was, uh, what's the difference. So to me, the important thing is always that when you, when you, when you fail on something, you dust your- you get up, you dust yourself off, and you move on and have, again, a great vision of whi- which direction you want to go. Pick another goal and keep moving forward.

   3. SPSpeaker34:40

      Philip Charles asks, "What tip did you receive at an older age that you could have used in your 20s?"

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger34:48

      Uh, well, there's a lot of things that we learn throughout the, uh, the years, obviously, but I think the main thing that, that comes to my mind is charity. You know that when you're young, you don't think about that you should reach out and you should help others, so you know, like I was only thinking about my goal, to be on that stage at, in London at the Mr. Universe, uh, competition. And just like Reg Park, my idol, that won three Mr. Universe competitions and then became Hercules in the movies and all that, I wanted to have that trophy on that same stage as he won it, and that was the only thing that in my mind. And then after I won that, it was winning Mr. Olympia and Mr. World and the, all the competition, become the greatest bodybuilder. That's all I had in my mind. It was total tunnel vision, and, uh, but then later on I learned, luckily, that, uh, how important it is to also not only think about me, but to think about we. And to go and to help others, that there are a lot of people that need help. If it is help people that need help in their training, and to go around and, and help people and hold seminars, uh, and teach them about training and about the importance of exercising the right way. If it is that, uh, to make sure that everyone can do sports, like I got involved in Special Olympics and started helping Special Olympians to do sports, and specifically to do weight training and power lifting. And I introduced, uh, into the Special Olympics movement, uh, power lifting competitions, which are now worldwide, and they're very, very successful. We started Special Olympics specifically in Austria also, and got all the ski racers together to start, and to help me and support me, and to start Special Olympics, then work together with the private sector and the government and all this. And then eventually, you know, I was starting after-school programs, and then becoming the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and travel around the country through all 50 states, and promote health and fitness, uh, and bring everyone together. And then eventually, it led to, uh, running for governor. Uh, so I think giving back and recognizing that every one of us, uh, needs help. I got plenty of help to be where I am today. There's no such thing as a self-made man, as I always say. You know, there's people that helped me to be where I am today, so it is up to me now to inspire other people, to help them, and to go and reach out and to help them. This is what made me be get involved in the environmental movement and in this environmental crusade, and I just love giving back where you don't think about what is in it for me, but, you know, how can I help this great nation of America that gave me all the chances in the world, and it opened up so many doors of opportunities? I would not have accomplished any of the things if I wouldn't have come to America. And, um, you know, so to give something back, to me, is extremely important. And I want to have kids learn this as early as possible, that part of being successful is to give also something back.

   5. SPSpeaker37:49

      You talked about tunnel vision. Louie, Louise or Louie Congdon says, "Have you ever found that your pursuit of success has made you blind to other parts of your life?"

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger38:00

      Well, I don't know if you would call it blind, but I would say that, yes, when you are, uh, trying to be successful, you have to have tunnel vision, and you got to have blinders on and not to see anything that is on the left and the right side, and just really focus on what they call in golf and in tennis and all those ball sports, keep your eye on the ball. And when you do that, and when you focus that much on, on something, then of course you, uh, are not being able to enjoy all of the things, uh, uh, that life has to offer because you're so focused on this one thing. I remember that when I started with bodybuilding and with weightlifting, one of the first things they told us was, because I come from a country where you do skiing, and where skiing is very popular, "Don't go skiing." You know, you can't go skiing because you're gonna break a leg eventually, and that will set you back, and you're not gonna go and be able to weight lift and do the bodybuilding and all that. So don't go skiing. Don't go ice skating. So you always kind of, uh, you know, have to turn down certain things and, and, and, and, uh, you, you see it there, but you, uh, you have to focus on the thing that you really want to be the best at, and that's what I did. And, uh, you know, I don't regret that at all because you cannot be good in everything and you cannot do everything and at the same time be a champion in one thing. There is no such thing. So I decided I want to be a champion. I decided that I wanted to go all out in my various different careers, if it is in bodybuilding, if it is in acting. Uh, I remember that in, in, in, in acting [laughs] it was a perfect example. Whenever you sign on to a, a movie, let's say The Terminator or Commando or Predator, whatever it is, you had to sign for the insurance and the bonding company, you had to sign that you are not going to, while you're doing the movie, do any motorcycle riding, any skiing, no horseback riding, no parachuting, no scuba diving, and all of those things, because those things are dangerous, and they don't want you to get into those dangers while you're shooting a movie. Because, you know, when you get injured, then the hold up on the whole production costs millions and millions of dollars. So that just shows you, you have to make sacrifices. Yes, you can be The Terminator. Yes, you can be the commander. Yes, you can be the last action hero and all those things, but you cannot do those kind of things while you're doing the movie. So you always have to s- make sacrifices. That's just the bottom line of it.

   7. SPSpeaker40:25

      So this is why you believe in having a specific goal, so that you have an endpoint when then you can say, "Okay, the movie's finished. Now I can go skiing."

   8. ASArnold Schwarzenegger40:34

      Well, I started skiing at the age of 30 after I was finished with competition, and then I was not allowed to ski s- like I said, during the times when I was doing a movie, which I totally understood. Uh, it was hard to do because I'm, I'm very, uh, much into skiing. I love skiing because I missed out on it when I was young, uh, and now I love doing it, or motorcycle riding. You know, all of a sudden I cannot ride the motorcycle for the three months while I'm doing a movie. And so, so you have to, you have to make sacrifices and, you know, uh, but that's the, the, that's the difference between being a kid and being a grownup. As a kid, you always want to have everything. As a grownup, you have to make choices, and, uh, I made the right choice and I'm happy that I made the choice. And may I remind you, because you just mentioned something about you got to shoot for your goal. Not everyone is as driven as I am. I want to make this perfectly clear. I was always a very driven person. I grew up d- driven, and I think it's g- because I came from a little country and it was after the Second World War. There was poverty and, uh, starvation, and there was not much around. I grew up poor and all this stuff. So it creates an, a whole different fire in the belly and the will to succeed and all this stuff, and I just had that. But some- That was my thing. I was into that. Not everyone is as driven, and then you don't have to be that driven. Uh, there are people that are very happy with a normal job, to have a wonderful family, and to just relax and to live a, a moderate, uh, and, to good life, and that's what makes them happy. The key thing is, is to recognize there's many roads to, as being successful, and many roads to be, uh, happy. And the ultimate goal y- that people always should shoot for is that they're satisfied and that they're happy, and that can come many different ways.

8. 42:21 – 51:02

   Warren Buffett friendship and the state of bodybuilding

   1. SPSpeaker42:21

      Michael Denari says he's seen that Warren Buffett will be one of your advisors in an upcoming episode of The Apprentice. How did you get to know Warren Buffett?

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger42:31

      Well, Warren Buffett has become a friend of mine, uh, I would say for decades now. We used to travel around and end up, uh, at the same places and, uh, uh, you know, he asked me, uh, several times to come with him, and when he does his business presentations and stuff like that. And, uh, he and I hit it off really well. Then he bought NetJet, uh, because I flew around a lot with the, with the different jets, uh, for the movie promotions and all this kind of stuff. So we really got to, you know, like each other, and I, of course, had the highest respect for him because here's a guy that is so rich and makes so much money, and is so successful with so many companies, but he's not really into money. That is the wildest thing. I mean, he l- he stayed in normal hotel rooms, and he drives around when you go to Omaha with a regular car that he's been driving around with for the last 30 years. And, you know, and, and he, and he just isn't into it. So that is really fun that for him it's just kind of like, you know, being like the greatest athlete or being like, uh, uh, you know, uh, an astronaut or whatever. It... That happens to be his bag, and he's very, very talented to make one dollar into two, and he's a wonderful human being, the most giving human being, as you know, that he, in his will, that he, he's gonna give away all of his money, uh, afterwards. He gives a little bit to the kids, and then the rest of it he gives away for charity and all this kind of, uh, stuff. So to me, that i- he's a extraordinary human being. And so he was also one of the first ones when I ran for governor to, uh, he's a Democrat, I'm a Republican, but he stood by my side because he knew where my heart was, that I was interested in serving all the people, not to be an ideology, this ideology and get, uh, you know, caught up in its ideological corners of, o- o- or so on. That, uh, you know, he was there, he endorsed me, and he, he, uh, was standing on my left, I remember, at the press conference, and George Shultz, Secretary George Shultz, stood on my right side, and both of them endorsed me. That gave kind of the message that I wanted to serve all people of California, Democrats and Republicans and everybody. And so, uh, uh, so he was also supportive when I, um, you know, asked him, I said, "Uh, d- I'm doing The Celebrity Apprentice. Can you be one of my advisors?" He immediately said, "Arnold, anything you want. Anything, if you need any of my products to, to, to promote or to set up a certain kind of a task," uh, which then we ended up doing. So he's just a wonderful human being and a great, great friend.

   3. SPSpeaker45:03

      Dan Morelli says, "The current state of modern bodybuilding versus Arnold's time. What's your personal opinion on modern bodybuilding and your thoughts on steroid use, if it's ever appropriate?"

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger45:15

      If steroids a performance-enhancing drug, then I think Congress right now should take it immediately. [laughs]

   5. SPSpeaker45:23

      Okay. [laughs]

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger45:24

      So, uh, that's number one. Number two, I, I think when you talk about bodybuilding, it's always important that we think about is it the competitive world of bodybuilding, or are we talking about, in general, bodybuilding, which means building the body through weight resistance? Let's talk first about the, the, the, the, the one for the ordinary people that are not interested in competing. I think that the, the sport and the activity of bodybuilding has exploded in the last 40 years. I remember that when I started out, people had a very negative attitude about bodybuilding. Uh, they thought that you would get muscle-bound. Uh, they thought that you would turn gay, and that you would be stupid, and, uh, you, uh, you would become a narcissist hanging out in front of the mirror all the time, and all of those kind of things, and that it is bad for your health. The doctors were warning, "Don't do this." Uh, coaches were warning for athletes not to pick up any weights, that you will get muscle-bound, and it will, you know, reduce your performance, and you get stiff, and all of this stuff. So that all has changed. Now you go 40 years forward, and in this 40 years, we have seen now that, uh, weight resistance training is, uh, totally accepted, and, uh, it's one of the number one activities in the world. I mean, even now in hospitals where doctors say this is the worst thing for your health, now when you, uh, we, you have hospitals that have rehab rooms and facilities with weight machines, resistance machines, and dumbbells and barbells and plates and pulleys and all kinds of things because they know this is the best way to recover and, uh, uh, uh, to come back as quickly as possible after injury or after surgery and so on. And, uh, the same thing is in athletics. There is not one single athlete that doesn't work out with weights. If it is boxers, UFC fighters, if it is, you know, powerlifters, if it is golfers, if it is tennis players, football players. Every football team has a huge-ass weight rooms. Every basketball team have weight rooms. Every university has weight facilities. Every high school has weight facilities. Um, every military base that you go, they've... I mean, I travel around and visit the military bases around the world. They have hundreds of different bench press benches and, uh, you know, squat racks and, and heavy weights and machines and everything so people, so there's, uh, men and women can train day and night in the gymnasium and get ready for those battles and for those very risky kind of things that they do, uh, that are, that are very, very dangerous. So- They want, everyone wants to be in shape, and they know that the ultimate shape you get when you also include weight training in your, in your, in your daily training. So, uh, to me, it is fantastic. We have seen the changes. Every hotel now when you travel around the world has all the weight or also weight facilities. And when it comes to the competitive sport of bodybuilding, I have to say that there were huge progress. There was huge progress made. Uh, when I was competing, it was, like, 30 countries that had regular annual bodybuilding competitions. Now, there's 192 countries that hold annual bodybuilding competitions, international competitions, and all this, so that has grown also. The, uh, and the only thing that, that bothers me, uh, is the way we developed in professional bodybuilding. The ideal body now has changed so much. The guys that are winning today, um, not looking anymore the way the ideal body was, where people really admired and said, "I want to look like this." Now, they, they... You have guys that are 5'10 tall, tall and that weigh 300 pounds. They look more kind of like muscular powerlifters on stage a lot of times than bodybuilders or people that have really an attractive V-shape, beautiful body. So we got away from that. And of course, this is my opinion now. There's others that feel differently about that. And, uh, but this is a debate that we've been having now for the last 10 years in bodybuilding. How do we bring it back again and really idolize and make the winners look more attractive, where they don't have this big belly sticking out, where they don't have, uh, this kind of blocky kind of physiques, but to have a more athletic and a more kind of a thin waist, wide shoulders, and to have the biceps be the same measurement as the calves and as the neck, just the way it used to be. Uh, people in the old days, when they saw a picture of Steve Reeves, they said, "I want to look like that." Or if they saw a picture of John Grimek, who won Mr. Universe in 1948, I think it was, uh, he was a fantastic poser. He was, uh, he did acrobatics, handstand and all this. He was also extraordinary weightlifter. He could do muscle control. People wanted to be John Grimek. So that is really the ideal thing, and I think that eventually we have to get back to that again. Um, of course, the bodies have developed, and the techniques have developed. Food supplements have developed. Machines have developed. So the bodies are bigger and better than they were then, but that does not mean that we have to have, uh, you know, people look like monsters on a stage. I think they should have a much more appealing body, and that's why I think in bodybuilding, we have now created other categories, uh, which is, you know, Mr. Fitness and, uh, Mr. Natural and Mr. This and Mr. That to get away from this kind of blocky look. Uh, but bodybuilding is, is, you know, is booming, and a lot of more people than ever are doing it.

9. 51:02 – 57:20

   Risk, failure and staying motivated

   1. SPSpeaker51:02

      Aman Badruan says, "How do you think about risk? How would you train? Have you trained yourself to take better risks and increase your risk appetite?"

   2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger51:13

      Well, I think that, uh, risk shouldn't be the goal. How do you take more risk? The goal should be that you, uh, envision your goal, that you set a really high goal, and the only way you can set a high goal is if you are not afraid of failure. You have to take risks. I mean, the bottom line is, is that, uh, I mean, when I think the amount of risks that I took to be where I am today, I mean, it was very risky to say that I want to be the bodybuilding champion of the world in a country where skiing was really the national sport or bicycling and stuff like that, but sure not bodybuilding, uh, or weightlifting. And, uh, so it took risk also for me to have a goal to come to America. It was a risk to, to go and say, uh, you know, that I'm gonna get in the movie business, but not just to get into the movie business but to become a leading man, uh, or to run for governor. All of this, I was able to just go and say, you know, no matter what it takes, and, uh, yes, I may fail, but I'm gonna go and take that risk and go for it. And, uh, and, and, and, you know, when you... The more risks that you take, the higher the reward is on the end. I mean, just look at in, in the financial world. I mean, if you make an investment that is, uh, has no risk at all and you invest in bonds or something like that, there's very little return. Or you put your money in a bank, if you're lucky, you get 2% interest. But if you take, uh, an investment that is risky, then, of course, the, the, the risk could be that it fails, but the upside is much, much greater. So I am always the type of a person that is willing to take risks, and I think the, the key thing to success is not to be afraid of failure. As I said earlier, that if you fail, what's the worst that can happen? That you go and you get up, and you do it again, and you try it again, and you try it again. Uh, there's no one that stops you. That's what differentiates the winner from the loser, as I said earlier. You know, the people that get up are the ones that are the winners. And so don't be afraid of taking risks. Don't be afraid of failing because that would just make you freeze up, and you're never gonna accomplish anything. So be free and just relax and just go and say that this is what life is all about, uh, about, is taking risks and go and set big goals and go for it. End of story.

   3. SPSpeaker53:38

      Do you think a lot of your risk appetite came from things you learned in the gym?

   4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger53:42

      Well, it was not that I had a risk appetite. It was just that I learned from sports that you got to be able to take risk, and you got to be, you should not be afraid of failing. Uh, when you go to the, the... When you're a weightlifter, and you have in front of you, let's say 315 pounds, I remember I was this young kid, uh, lifting weights, and then you put on a weight- After the second lift. For the third lift, you always put on a weight that you've never lifted before. So automatically, you know that there's a 50/50 chance, or whatever it is the percentage, that you're gonna fail. But, and it is in front of people. Uh, so there, in, in sports there's no embarrassment there that when you fail, it's understood that you, like, as, as I said about the, the baseball player, about Ted Williams, right? It is you, you, you will not be able to do always everything successful. So take those, uh, uh, I took the risk to lift the weight that I've never lifted, and to give it a shot, you have, I have to approach the weight with a positive attitude and think about I'm going to do it. But there's still a chance that you're not doing it. But that does not make me stop and not put that weight on because it's the only way you're gonna go and grow and get better and know really on the end how much you can accomplish, how much you can lift and so on. And that's why it's an, a lesson that you learn in sports, and it's a lesson that is good for the rest of your life and everything you do. If it is movies, if it is business, if it's investments, if it is in politics, you got to take risks.

   5. SPSpeaker55:14

      Aditya Sinha says, "How do you stay motivated to keep working on your goals, and how do you not run out of juice?"

   6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger55:22

      Well, again, it goes back to the vision. I think that if you have a very clear vision of where you want to go, you always will be motivated. Because I remember that when I got in from, when I decided that I'm going to, uh, retire from bodybuilding competition and I'm gonna get into acting, I mean, it was such a great vision when I thought about Clint Eastwood. I want to be another Clint Eastwood. I want to be Ch- like another Charles Bronson. These were my idols. I wanna be like Warren Beatty. I wanna be like those guys that are making a million dollars. That was in the '70s now. They made a million dollars in movies, and I said, "Wow, can you imagine of working your way up to that?" So to me, that vision was just so wonderful that I did everything that I could to get there, and I was, like, working on, you know, uh, my English. I was working on my speech and the, uh, enunciation. Uh, I was, uh, taking acting classes. I was doing everything that I could, improv classes and all this stuff, and I really worked my way, uh, by hard work, worked my way up and slowly became, uh, you know, one of the top leading men. And so that is, I think with everything like that, it's, it's, it's, it's you get motivated by your vision. I remember, you know, just with the environment we talked about earlier. I really envision a world that eventually will be clean, and we will get rid of fossil fuels. And so to me, that vision motivates me to go out and to speak about the environment, to travel around the world and to speak about the environment, to use my sh- uh, USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and to go and promote a clean environment and all of those things. So it's, it's kind of the vision that motivates you. So I don't run out of juice because of that, because, you know, that has nothing to do with age at all. It's you always pick new goals, and you then go after those goals, and that's what motivates you, and that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes you passionate about it.

10. 57:20 – 1:03:07

    Real estate investing and the supersonic airport land

    1. SPSpeaker57:20

       Christian Gray says, "What specific things did you look for in your real estate investments?"

    2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger57:27

       Oh, to turn $1 into two. That was the number one goal, and the number two goal was is that it has to be interesting. I didn't like to invest just in raw land and to sit on it and to sell it five years later for a profit. To me, that was not exciting. What was exciting was is to buy raw land and then to draw up plans and to go and build an apartment building or to build an office building or to build a shopping mall, uh, and, and to find the right partners that you bring together and to go all out with it. And I remember that, uh, you know, my first, um, investment, it was back in 1974. I saved up $27,000 from doing seminars and exhibitions and all kinds of things. I had a mail-order business. I did bricklaying jobs. And dollar after dollar I saved up until I had $27,000. And I have to say that, so people understand, in bodybuilding, even though in 1974 I was already a multi-time Mr. Olympia, Mr. Universe five times, and Mr. World and all those things, but in bodybuilding, there was no money at this point. So I had to do it the, the, the old-fashioned way. I had to kind of earn it. I had to go to work and to do it, and I saved up $27,000, found an apartment building, a six-unit apartment building in Santa Monica, north of Wilshire Boulevard, which was very important, to be north of Wilshire Boulevard. Good area. And, uh, I bought it for $215,000, and I needed $37,000 down. So I went to Joe Weider, the man that, uh, was then the king of the m- bodybuilding empire and brought me to America, and he gave me $10,000. And it was kind of the third deed on this thing, and I paid him back within a year. Uh, but I had the $37,000 together, bought the apartment building, and then two and a half years later, we sold it for $365,000. And so imagine the profit from 215 to 365 in two and a half years, and I only put like 37 down. So, so that is a huge, huge profit. And I remember that I found then a 12-unit apartment building, and we then sold the, the, the, the six-unit one, uh, then rolled the money over, bought the 12-unit one, and then the, the, the, the next one was a 36-unit, and it got bigger and bigger. And then I had apartments all over the place and started, uh, you know, building office buildings and shopping malls and stuff like that. So it really, to me, uh, the key thing is, is that it's fun, that it's challenging, that you go and map it out, that you find out when you get into an area and you buy a property, that what kind of, uh, apartments do they need? What kind of size? Do they need three units or two units in this area, or just one unit? And what kind of shops do you want to have downstairs in your office building? What kind of a look? Who do you want to attract? So to me, that whole thing was really a lot of fun.

    3. SPSpeaker1:00:23

       Just so we're 100% clear, did you buy the six-unit apartment building before you'd ever bought a house?

    4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:00:29

       To me, it is much more important when you buy your first real estate to buy a rental apartment, uh, that is a income property. Uh, because I had the front unit in this apartment building which they called the owner's unit. It was 2,400 square feet, which was plenty for me at that time. Upstairs, downstairs, and there was five units in the back. And it was a great, great investment, but I would not go and buy a house first before I buy a income property. So to me, that was the important thing. That's what I always recommend to people, to buy first a income property and to go and make it a good investment. And one should, should realize when it comes to real estate, if you invest wisely, and if it is in a good area and stuff like that, and it's a growing area, uh, it's never called spending money. There's a difference between spending money and investing money. In real estate, you invest because the money, it goes up. The value goes up in most cases. And, uh, when you buy furniture, that's spending money because as soon as you take the furniture out of the furniture shop, you lose, uh, automatically right off the top 30%. You know? So that's spending money. You will never get that money back.

    5. SPSpeaker1:01:47

       So you were talking earlier a- about the raw land, about your worst investment with the supersonic airport that never happened. Do you wanna explain that one?

    6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:01:58

       Well, that's why I said raw land, uh, is not really, uh, you know, a fun thing to do, to invest in. I invested in that... My first investment when I came to America was in raw land. But I invested in that because it was in Palmdale, Lancaster area. And there, there was, um, very well-known, everyone wrote about it, uh, that they're going to build a supersonic airport. And th- th- there was the future to move away from the Los Angeles airport and to, to move and, and, and create a new giant airport for supersonic planes. And, uh, then they outlawed supersonic planes, and the airport was never built. And so now I still own the property, but even this $5,000 property that I bought then, now is worth six hun- $680,000. So I cannot call this a loss. This is something that my kids will inherit and will have a good time and can sell it and have some money.

    7. SPSpeaker1:02:56

       It's still raw land.

    8. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:02:56

       It's, uh, still, it's still... [laughs] Well, now in the meantime they've put streets in there-

    9. SPSpeaker1:02:59

       Okay

    10. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:03:00

        ... and electricity and, uh, and, and, you know, eventually th- the area will be built up, but it's not, definitely not gonna be a supersonic airport.

11. 1:03:07 – 1:07:37

    Laws, Congress and working across party lines

    1. SPSpeaker1:03:07

       Jeremy Potter says, "If you were allowed to make one law, remove one law, or amend one law in this country, which law would you choose and why?"

    2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:03:16

       Well, f- first of all, let me just say the obvious law is, I think what this question is, is, is referring to is, uh, would I like to change the law so that a, a foreign-born can also run for president? Yes, of course, I would create that law. But besides that, that's an obvious one. That's a, that's a no-brainer. But I mean, uh, the, the other law I think will be really interesting, that is if the legislature and the lawmakers in Washington do not perform and really don't solve the kind of critical problems, if it's immigration reform, if it is, uh, environmental, uh, you know, activities where we really shoot for, you know, 40 or 50% of renewable energy and reduce our greenhouse gases by a certain percentage, uh, in, in the next 10 years or so. Uh, if we don't accomplish those things and build the infrastructure a- and all that, they all should be voted out of office. I think we should start all over again because I think how long can America hang there with no action? How many decades now have we talked about that we need to build our infrastructure, that we have now so many more cars on the road, therefore we need to build more highways and freeways, and we need to build high-speed rail all over the country. Uh, we need to build out our airports so that when you arrive at those airports, they don't look, some of them, like Third World country airports and stuff like that. We need to build more dams and more water storage. I mean, in California for instance, I mean, uh, it's a, it's, it's dreadful when they talk about the drought when, when in fact really it just means that we have not built the infrastructure yet to capture the water when it rains and then have it when there is a drought and, and stuff like that. So I think the legislators, the lawmakers have to perform for the people. That's why they're there. It costs us in the two and a half billion dollars, uh, to, to, to have them there in capital. And, uh, so they gotta perform. And they got to recognize the fact that not one party can solve the problem, that you... The way it is designed is that Democrats and Republicans must work together, that no law can, you know, sustain for a long period of time if it's just done by one party or the other. Both of the parties, uh, you know, we see it now with Obamacare, I mean, where it was only done by Democrats and now it's gonna get undone. Uh, or, you know, executive orders, uh, that are just going to be thrown out by the next president always. So that is not really a solution. The solution is if, if Democrats and Republicans work together, even though this is very difficult to do, but that's why they are going to Washington, to take on this very difficult task. And, uh, look, I had to work together. Remember, California was an overwhelming amount of Democratic legislators, and I had to work with them. I was surrounded by Democratic lieutenant governor, a Democratic, uh, uh, uh, treasurer, uh, uh, controller, uh, you know, the head of education. Everyone was, uh, the attorney general. Everyone was a Democrat, and somehow I made it work so that at least 50% of all the things that I wanted to do, uh, uh, got done. And then some things, we failed. But I mean, the, the bottom line is, is they must work for the people and they gotta get the act together. Otherwise- There should be a law that they all get voted out of office

    3. SPSpeaker1:06:27

       So they have to show the accomplishments or they all go home

    4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:06:30

       Or they, they all go home, yeah. And now someone will say, "Well, that's why we have elections every four years, and that's why we have election for Congress every two years, and that's why this," but that's not the way it works because they all go home and says, "Well, I did really well, but the others," you know? But it's inexcusable that Congress has, like, a 14 or 15% approval rating. I mean, that's worse than the approval rating of Fidel Castro, of AIDS or something like that. I mean, what the hell are we talking about here?

    5. SPSpeaker1:06:54

       Yeah. [laughs]

    6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:06:54

       So it's, it's let's, let's get our act together. The potential is there. They have some smart people in Washington, Democrats and Republicans alike, they should work together and do something that is really good for the country.

    7. SPSpeaker1:07:05

       And you're talking about getting them to actually work together. It sounds like maybe we need a law that they have to schmooze together like you did in the cigar tent.

    8. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:07:12

       Well, remember that they, we cannot do things just all the way on the right or all the way on the left. Uh, I believe of what Eisenhower said, uh, President Eisenhower said, uh, uh, you know, always that, uh, politics is like the road, you know? The left and the right is the gutter, and the center is drivable, and that's exactly the way it's in politics. It's like that you gotta be in the center. You cannot be an extremist to the left or to the right.

12. 1:07:37 – 1:17:16

    Bricklaying business and closing questions

    1. SPSpeaker1:07:37

       David Pullet says, "How did you drum up business when you owned that construction company with Franco Columbu?"

    2. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:07:45

       Well, the important thing was that Franco Columbu, who was my training partner for the last 50 years and, uh, a very, very dear friend, uh, he was a bricklayer. And so because in bodybuilding we didn't make any money, so we decided that we're gonna go and start a little, little small bricklaying business where we go to people's homes and we fix up things that are broken. And, um, we were very fortunate because we started the business and got our license, business license, and went to the IRS and told them about the company and these are the taxes that we're gonna have to pay, and all those kind of thing, and organized all this. And then we went out and started working, and we started getting jobs, you know, to build walls and patios and fireplaces and all this stuff. And then all of a sudden, the earthquake happened in 1971, and it was a massive earthquake that just wiped out a lot of things. And, uh, so we got from one day to the next, like, hundreds of phone calls to come and to give estimates and to go and to rebuild, uh, the patios and the walls and fireplaces and chimneys and all kinds of things. So we literally had to hire other people from the gym, bodybuilders, uh, from the gym, and all of a sudden we had this whole workforce and we started going to work and we made great money. I mean, not great, great money, but I mean, good money for, for, for those days. And we could save some money and, uh, buy our protein powders and, and were able to eat, you know, great, you know, the steaks and, and have our pro- uh, protein shakes and eggs and the best foods and all this stuff that we needed. And, uh, so I, I, uh, you know, we had a very successful business, and it was the greatest thing. We had the most fun doing those, uh, kind of things, and we just put the little ad in the LA Times, I remember, and that ad produced, you know, really great, great action for us.

    3. SPSpeaker1:09:36

       What did the ad say?

    4. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:09:37

       The ad just basically said, uh, European bricklayers and masonry workers and stone experts.

    5. SPSpeaker1:09:44

       [laughs]

    6. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:09:45

       You know, because people, uh, we realized very quickly that the American people loved when you, uh, get, you know, kind of work, uh, from other countries, and they love to mention Swedish massage. Uh, if you were give American massage, it wouldn't sell as well as when you say Swedish massage or Japanese massage or European bricklayer or a German car, uh, you know, mechanic or something like that. The, I remember when I came over here and then someone said to me, he says, "Bring your car down there to Lincoln Boulevard. There is a, there's a little garage. There's a German mechanic. I mean, that guy is so good. He be..." He, you know, I went down there and got my car down there. He was not any better than American, uh, you know, [laughs] uh, mechanic, but I mean, people just loved the European or some other foreign kind of a, a country. And, uh, so we used that European bricklayer and stone work and, uh, European, uh, you know, uh, experts and all this kind of, uh, language used, and it worked.

    7. SPSpeaker1:10:43

       That's good branding. Chip Franks, and this is our last question, says, "Could you take Tim Ferriss in a one-on-one fight right now? If so, how long would it take?"

    8. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:10:55

       Well, first of all, easy, because Tim Ferriss, even though he does his jujitsu and stuff like that and he's in fantastic shape, but I'm a machine. Let's not forget that.

    9. SPSpeaker1:11:08

       That's right.

    10. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:11:08

        And plus, let's also not forget he cannot hit me because it would be elderly abuse, right? [laughs]

    11. SPSpeaker1:11:15

        Right. [laughs]

    12. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:11:16

        So therefore, I would just grab him, and I would just put the, uh, finish him off with a five-minute kind of a routine, and then, and I just say, "Hasta la vista, baby."

    13. SPSpeaker1:11:29

        Do you have any closing advice for his listeners?

    14. ASArnold Schwarzenegger1:11:32

        Well, uh, first of all, I think that he's one of the best, uh, uh, podcasts, uh, because they're always interesting. They're always exciting. Uh, every time you listen to his, uh, podcast, you learn, and I think that's what it's all about. We got to always learn and, and, and listen to interesting material because I think this is always the challenge. And he, being that he's such a hungry guy that always also wants to learn, uh, he is so motivated to go and to, uh, put out information, and like his latest book, you know, what, what makes you successful and what are the kind of, uh, uh, little tricks that, uh, that successful people use and all that stuff. So he's always educating everybody, and that's what I like about it.

    15. SPSpeaker1:12:16

        [upbeat music] Hey, guys. This is Tim again. Just a few more things before you take off. Number one, this is 5-Bullet Friday.

    16. TFTim Ferriss1:12:25

        Do you want to get a short email from me? Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little morsel of fun before the weekend? And 5-Bullet Friday is a very short email where I share the coolest things I've found or that I've been pondering over the week. That could include favorite new albums that I've discovered. It could include gizmos and gadgets and all sorts of weird shit that I've somehow dug up [laughs] in the, uh, the world of the esoteric as I do. It could include favorite articles that I have read and that I've shared with my close friends, for instance. And it's very short. It's just a little tiny bite of goodness before you head off for the weekend. So if you want to receive that, check it out, just go to fourhourworkweek.com, that's fourhourworkweek.com all spelled out, and just drop in your email and you will get the very next one. And if you sign up, I hope you enjoy it. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. I've used Athletic Greens for many, many years, and I'm asked all the time, "If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?" My answer is inevitably Athletic Greens. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance, at least that's how I think about it. It is much more than greens. It's a complete whole food supplement with 75 or so ingredients packed into one tablespoon per day. So when I travel, for instance, of course, I would like to follow all of my regimens, all of my pills, all of my supplements, all of my food to the T, but sometimes circumstances intervene, and you're too busy, or things are too hectic. This helps me to mitigate the likelihood of getting sick and to perform optimally. So if I go to, say, South America for an acroyoga intensive, which I did in Colombia at one point, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and I took this every morning, and it is extremely, extremely helpful. And I usually travel with travel packets, among other things. So you should try it out is the short version of this. As listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show, you can receive $100 worth of travel packs for free when you order. That's 20 free additional individual travel pouches when you order. Simply go to athleticgreens.com/tim to check it out. So take a look. Athleticgreens.com/tim. This episode is brought to you by Wealthfront, and this is a very unique sponsor. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive, in a good way, set it and forget it investing service led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last two years, and they now have more than $2.5 billion under management. In fact, some of my very good friends, investors in Silicon Valley, have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. So the question is why? Why is it so popular? Why is it unique? Because you can get services previously reserved for the ultra-wealthy but only pay pennies on the dollar for them. And this is because they use smarter software instead of retail locations, bloated sales teams, et cetera. And I'll come back to that in a second. I suggest you check out wealthfront.com/tim. Take the risk assessment quiz, which only takes two to five minutes, and they'll show you for free exactly the portfolio they'd put you in. And if you just wanna take their advice, run with it, do it yourself, you can do that. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it, and here's why. The value of Wealthfront is in the automation of habits and strategies that investors should be using on a regular basis but normally aren't. Great investing is a marathon, not a sprint, and little things that you may or may not be familiar with, like automatic tax loss harvesting, rebalancing your portfolio across more than 10 asset classes, and dividend reinvestment add up to very large amounts of money over longer periods of time. Wealthfront, as I mentioned, since it's using software instead of retail locations, et cetera, can offer all of this at low costs that were previously completely impossible. Right off the bat, you never pay commissions or account fees. For everything, they charge 0.25% per year on assets above the first 15,000, which is managed for free if you use my link, wealthfront.com/tim. That is less than $5 a month to invest a $30,000 account, for instance. Now, normally, when I have a sponsor on this show, it's because I use them and recommend them. In this case, it's a little different. I don't use Wealthfront yet because I'm not allowed to. Here's the deal. They wanted to sponsor this podcast, but because of SEC regulations, companies that invest your money are not allowed to use client testimonials, so I couldn't be a user and have them on the podcast. But I've been so impressed by Wealthfront that I've invested a significant amount of my own money, at least for me, uh, in the team and the company itself. So I am an investor and hope to soon use it as a client. Now back to the recommendation. As a Tim Ferriss Show listener, you'll get $15,000 managed for free if you decide to open an account, but just start with seeing the portfolio that they would suggest for you. Take two minutes, fill out their questionnaire at wealthfront.com/tim. It's fast. It's free. There's no downside that I can think of.

Episode duration: 1:17:20