6 Rules of Success [VIDEO] Arnold Schwarzenegger: Trust Yourself

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The rules of success make you understand what you need to do to get results

Many of us tend to feel insecure.

We doubt that we can achieve the goals we set to ourselves. We feel like hacks. There’s even a thing called impostor syndrome. We listen to others who discourage us.

We are afraid to fail.

Don’t do that to yourself! We can do so many things that seem impossible right now. Find out below how to improve your life.

When you are starting a new business or want to learn a new skill, then, in the beginning, you may feel inadequate.

But don’t worry, you are enough!

Time is on our side.

Grind!

Arnold Schwarzenegger six rules of success

Here are the six rules of success from Arnold Schwarzenegger speech that help you fulfill your dreams.

1. Trust yourself

As Henry Ford said in a famous quote:

If you think you can do it, or you think you can’t do it, you are right ~ Henry Ford

You have to believe that you can accomplish the task in front of you. Make sure you muster all the motivation and believe in yourself. It’s helpful to surround yourself with people who encourage and believe in you, but you have to believe in you first.

For example, six months ago, this website had less than 1000 visitors per month. Now it has 3,000. I know that with enough work, I can get that number to more than 500 thousand visitors per month.

My goal will take 3000 hours of work to get there. Maybe even more. Now the only question is if I am willing to do the work?

During your journey you will have moments when nothing is working as you expected. You may doubt if you are on the right track.

There will be ups and downs, but trust yourself and power through.

Sometimes people find it hard to trust themselves because they don’t think they have what it takes. Everyone has mastered something in their lives, you just have to remember those times and give yourself credit.

Trust yourself! ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. Break some rules

Rules are the guidelines and training wheels of life. There are some that you shouldn’t break in any circumstances. For example, don’t do to others you don’t want them to do to you. However, there have been rules in all human societies that we now find barbaric.

Slavery, for instance.

But there are everyday rules that are just part of the common knowledge accumulated over the millennia. To create change and do things in a better way, break some of those rules.

But don’t break the rules just for the sake of it. Try to understand why the rules were created, and then decide what you want to do about it.

Listen to what others have to say and make a decision which of those rules are you going to:

• use
• modify
• ignore

Then do it, and your way will become the new rule.

For example, Russia occupied my country for 50 years. During that time, the possession of our national symbols was a punishable offence. We still created flags and, in the end, won our freedom back.

To keep yourself on the right track, ask yourself, “Would I want to live in a world where everyone’s breaking that rule?”

Break some rules! ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

3. Don’t be afraid to fail

If you engage in anything worth doing, then it’s hard. When it’s hard, you will not succeed right away. Depending on the goal you are after, the results may be days, months, or even years in the future. The path to your success goes from one learning experience to another.

Don’t aim to fail, but move quickly and try different options. When you do this, then you will inevitably fail in most things that you try, but you will zero in on those methods that work for you.

On your journey, you will win some or learn some.

Whenever there’s a skill or a bit of information, you can learn from others. Learn! Do/fail/learn in the areas where there’s no prior art.

I have to say, this is one of the hardest rules.

Failing is not fun. Failing publicly even less so. Then there’s the wasted time. All the effort you put in seems pointless. The self-doubt will keep you from trying again. Remember, as long as you do not quit you improve and learn.

You win some, or you learn some.

As Edison put it:

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. ~ Thomas A. Edison

In cases like the Edison’s quote above, I wonder how did he feel when there was no progress? What did it feel like from experiment 5000 to 6000 when he was plateaued and didn’t seem to go anywhere?

4. Ignore the nay-sayers

The people who do not believe in you may have the best of intentions. When you go mountain climbing, your family might want you to be safe. When you want to become an artist, your friends might point out that few artists have made it in their lifetime.

Then there are the gatekeepers who think the old ways are the right ways and you shouldn’t break them. Years back, when first women entered marathons, officials tried to forcibly remove them from the track.

CREDIT: BOSTON GLOBE

They issued Kathrine Switzer a number through an “oversight” in the entry screening process. They treated her as an interloper when they discovered the error. Race official attempted to physically remove her from the race while shouting, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers!”

Find people who support you. They don’t even have to understand what you are doing. Your mom, for instance. Get a close circle of friends to support you emotionally and motivate you when going gets tough.

Sometimes the nay-sayers may wish you well. They want to save you from failing. They want to keep you from wasting your time and money. Maybe they want you to keep you from getting arrested.

It’s your vision. Maybe you are breaking the rules you think are outdated. It’s your time. It’s your money. It’s your choice. It’s your life.

Trust yourself not others. Ignore the people who don’t believe in you, or maybe even try to hold you back.

5. Work like hell

Put in the hours!

Whatever you are doing, it will take time. The most common reason for not getting to your goals is not working hard enough. Put in a little bit more. Of course, you can’t put in more than 24 hours per day, so try to be more efficient.

Try to improve every day. Take something you did yesterday and do it a bit better today. Step-by-step improvement may be invisible, but it will lead to great results.

Inconsistency it the number one obstacle to success. Make sure you show up every day. You can make your goal a challenge. Give yourself a promise to do something for 30 days or even 100 days in a row.

For example, most of my work is writing, and right now, writing these words, I am on the 1243^rd day of my writing streak. Do something every single day to get to your goal.

Doing ordinary things consistently will give you extraordinary results.

To make the point abundantly clear. The rules of success will not work if you don’t apply them.

The key is consistency!

The mistake, I and many others have made, is that the first bite we take is too big. Start small! Smaller than your current ability. If you are so lazy you can’t do anything, start by moving one finger. Write one word. Do one squat.

Maybe next week you can do two?

If you keep grinding, then you can achieve almost any goal.

Work like hell! ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

6. Give something back

Find ways to give something back. Help wherever you can. You can teach people how to do things that have made you successful. If you want to get away from your works, then perform random acts of kindness unrelated to your day job.

Help people in areas where you are an expert. If you are not an expert yet, help any way you can. Just saying a kind word will help others to keep going.

Yesterday a marketer who had attended my seminar about Facebook marketing sent me an email. The question was so basic I felt that I have failed as a teacher. It frustrated me.

I answered the question and then another came. The questions were so basic it was not about Facebook anymore but about computer literacy. We exchanged emails for a week. I hope he can now take better care of his business.

Usually offering your time is more meaningful than donations.

Now make a conscious decision to help someone or take part in a cause regularly.

Give something back! ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

And here’s another video of Arnold telling you to work your ass off.

Combining the Rules of Success

Start working on your goal! Use the the Rules of Success above. Understand that it takes enormous amounts of work and time to get there. You will have setbacks and failures. Get back up and get going. Things will probably take longer than you planned.

Start small!

Don’t stop!

Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

As with Arnold, six rules help you get through. As long as you keep going, your goals will get closer.

And you can break the rules Arnold gives you. Just not the rules of success.

For example, Arnold said, “Sleep faster!” Ignore that! Sleep as much as you need! Usually a good number for an adult is 7 to 8 hours every night.

Now look at Secrets of Success in 8 Words a video by Richard St. John Why do some people succeed? Watch this really insightful 3-minute video about what are the secrets of success.

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Image Miguel Discart

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