Turning the Mind into a Resolution Fulfillment Machine

In his autobiography “Total Recall,” Arnold Schwarzenegger discusses how he turned his mind into a resolution fulfillment machine…

Imagine if you could be good at anything you wanted…

Snap your fingers and be able to speak fluent French, play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano, run a marathon, recite Shakespeare, or get 6 pack abs.

Well most of us never quite seem to be able to pull these off.

We blame it on being too old, a bad memory, not enough time, or being too tired.

And wow – all I can say is love Arnold or hate him, you have to say that he knows how to turn dreams into reality (and I don’t mean that in the trite, cliché way you usually hear).

Arnold is a man who literally fulfilled his whole checklist of dreams:

->Immigrate to America

->Move to California

->Become Mr. Olympia Bodybuilder

->Make A Million Dollars

->Become the #1 Actor in the world

->Get Elected for Governor of California

His secret?

A little seed planted deep in his mind at 5 years old. His dad would make him do 1 or 2 sets of 5 push-ups to earn the right to eat breakfast or the right to play with his toys.

His parents used this strategy to instill the concept that if Arnold wanted some reward he had to earn it through repetitions. Let’s call it “Reps & Sets:” To get what you want, you practice one thing over and over until you get good at it.

Simple.

Arnold used this concept of “Reps & Sets” for the rest of his life. To get more muscles than anyone he decided to just do more repetitions – more practice than anyone else.

At one point he was working out 6 hours a day. He would do 500 sit-ups or 1000 calf raises a day. Ridiculous, but effective. By age 25 he was the #1 bodybuilder of all time.

Next he decided he wanted to become a millionaire before age 30 (he wasn’t an actor yet).

What did he do?

Same thing, he applied “Reps & Sets.” He just went out and practiced real estate until he had made his first million. He would spend 8 hours a day walking the streets of Santa Monica looking at houses, apartment buildings, and condos, and talking to realtors and investors until he knew everything inside and out.

He just out practiced everyone – out hustled them. He was a work horse.

Next, he wanted to become a Hollywood star. His foreign accent was in the way, so he practiced with a speech coach 7 hours a day until he toned down his accent. Eventually he made $29.5 million for Terminator 2, the highest ever at the time.

Then, at 40, he used reps and sets in politics despite the fact he started out knowing very little. That didn’t deter him. He just spent 5 or 10 hours a day learning from a cabinet of political advisers until he felt confident he could govern the largest state in the USA.

So if you want to learn Spanish, or lose a few pounds, – simply do MORE HOURS OF PRACTICE – MORE “REPS & SETS.”

It worked every time for Arnold. Ignore all the books and articles falsely teaching you that you can just skip the hard work of practice. It’s a lie we all have fallen for at one time or another.

Remember in most things there are simply no shortcuts.

“When you have something hard to do, just jump right in, and the next thing you know you will be done”.

So stop thinking about how much work it will take to live out your dreams – just jump in and the next thing you know you will have achieved them. Remember, the process of practicing can be fun. It’s not all about finishing. It’s like John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

Go hit the gym today, learn Russian, start a new internet business. Or really go all out and do all 3 of these at once. Find something super hard like learning physics and do it just for fun to start rewiring your mind to love the ‘burn.’

Strike up a passionate affair with the challenging pain of mastering new skills. Remember that pain is temporary and the rewards for high skill levels in difficult fields are amazing.