How to Build an Incredible Career: Lessons from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Last updated on September 9th, 2021 at 03:00 pm

Young¹ Arnold Schwarzenegger plastered his childhood bedroom with pictures of the greats: Steve Reeves, Bill Pearl, Jack Dellinger, Tommy Sansome, Paul Winter. All were influential in Arnold’s life, but none more so than the winner of Mr. Universe in 1974, Reg Park.²

Reg Park provided Arnold with the blueprint for his own career:

• Become a world-class bodybuilder
• Win Mr. Universe
• Leverage that success into Hollywood

Reg Park’s career literally became Arnold’s vision for himself:

I could become another Reg Park. All my dreams came together and made sense. I’d found the way to get to America: bodybuilding! And I’d found a way to get into movies. They would be the thing that everyone in the world would know me for. Movies would bring money and the best-looking girls, which was a very important aspect.

I refined this vision until it was very specific. I was going to go for the Mr. Universe title; I was going to break records in powerlifting; I was going to Hollywood; I was going to be like Reg Park. The vision became so clear in my mind that I felt like it had to happen. There was no alternative; it was this or nothing.

So it was spoken, so it was done: Arnold become a champion bodybuilder, an iconic Hollywood star, and he accomplished a great many other things.

But I do think Arnold got one piece of his vision wrong:

“There was no alternative; it was this or nothing.”

An all-or-nothing approach is a powerful one. It allows a person to devote themselves fully to a single path or purpose. When it comes to building your career, however:

1. Most people have a range of paths to achieve career success
2. Arnold himself did not stick to an all-or-nothing approach (more on that shortly)

Why “this or nothing” doesn’t work for most careers

First, “this or nothing” doesn’t account for the what-ifs.

• What if he Arnold got injured and couldn’t train?
• What if he was deployed as an Austrian tank driver?
• What if Hollywood came knocking before winning Mr. Universe?

In hindsight the what-ifs sound farfetched. In the moment, any and all of these are real possibilities likely more likely than, say, Arnold becoming the Governor of California.

Second, Arnold picked this goal in a near-vacuum of information.

There were leading indicators he’d be successful in bodybuilding, but who would have guessed 7x Mr. Olympia champion?

He had no plan to reach American shores, let alone Hollywood. He’d never read a script, or been on set. He didn’t have any connections into the film business. It’s like me reading an article about TikTok and deciding on the spot that I’m going to become the next Charlie D’Amelio.

As Jay Vasantharajah wrote, “The chances that you picked the correct job, industry, niche, geography, on your first attempt is very low.”

What if Arnold discovered he hated acting? Or he loved it but hated standing around on set for hours? Would he have held fast to a teenage boy’s vision of success or picked another path?

Finally, the truth is Arnold didn’t take an all-or-nothing approach himself!

Early in his career, he recognized the power of multiple income streams: long before he peaked as an action superstar with Terminator 2 in 1991, he started a bricklaying business, a bodybuilding mail-order business, and invested in real estate. Later he’d open restaurants, start an investment arm, and even have a publishing imprint.

“They wanted me to play a Nazi officer, a wrestler, a football player, a prisoner. I never took jobs like that because I would say to myself, “This isn’t going to convince anybody that you’re here to be a star.”

I was very glad I could afford to say no. With the income from my businesses, I didn’t need money from acting. I never wanted to be in a financially vulnerable position, where I had to take a part I didn’t like.”

How Arnold actually built an incredible career

Do as Arnold did, not as he says. It wasn’t “this or nothing.” Here’s what you should do instead: Instead of blindly going all-in on a single direction in your career, do this instead:

Solve the money problem first 

Earn, save, and invest until you never have to take a job for the money again. Scott Galloway defines rich as “your passive income is greater than your burn”.

Most of us won’t get there in our next career moves. That’s okay. Start moving in this direction.

Two good ways to start solving the money problem:

1. Get paid to do something you’re good at (note: usually not your passion)
2. Start a business

Arnold did both. Early in his career, he got paid to promote bodybuilding for a local gym in Austria. He did the same for Joe Weider in the US.

Later, he started his bricklaying business, mail-order business, and invested in real estate… all long before he cemented his place in Hollywood history.

I³ spent 5 years climbing the Hollywood entertainment ladder. I finally got to a middling place (writer’s assistant) when I looked around and saw most of the people levels above me — smart, hardworking people — were never going to solve the money problem, not working in entertainment. The income is too low, the burn too high. I left to solve the money problem first.

Spend 10-20% of your time exploring

If something catches your intesrest (cryptocurrency, VR, golf, wooden spoon carving, whatever) carve out time to explore it. I recommend 10-20% of your time but do what makes sense to you.

10-20% exploration is critical if you’re not satisfied with your current career trajectory. If you’re curious, use the time to scratch the itch without YOLOing yourself into precarious financial straits.

Arnold established himself as an action star as early as ‘82 when he starred in Conan the Barbarian. However, he was always interested in comedy; he injected small doses into his films, as a means to relieve dramatic tension and downplay his physicality. He spent years regularly with comedians, in particular his mentor, Milton Berle, to understand the art and science of comedy, before Twins (1988) and Kindergarten Cop (1990).

I spent my first 2 years in entertainment exploring: I read scripts, worked as a production assistant, a product coordinator, casting assistant, and more. It’s how I discovered I hated physical production but could analyze story. To break into tech, content was the tip of my spear. Then after I was in, it was just a matter of exploring the right opportunities to work my way into product and growth.

Constantly test the market

Regularly and consistently get feedback on how much value you add to an organization. Ask for feedback from your manager, from your team. Remind them each time to be brutally honest, that you can take it. Then listen.

Sometimes the feedback is disappointing. But disappointment is better than surprise.

You also want to get regular feedback on much others would pay for that value. Are you overpriced, underpriced, or just right?

Arnold started testing the market early into his career. He paid close attention to audience sentiment from screenings and focus groups:

“I made it my business to be there for test screenings… I wanted to hear what the test audience thought about the character I played, about the quality of the performance and about what they’d like to see me do more or less of. That way I knew what I needed to work on and what kinds of parts I should play next.”

He knew that success, whether it was in a movie, project, or career is not built, but iterated towards.

1. Image is from Maggie (2015) a post-apocalyptic horror drama film Arnold stars in. It’s a dramatic turn for the action star. I love that he continues to push himself in his roles.
2. Source for all things Arnold: Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009G3MSC0/
3. In this article I juxtapose my career experience to Arnold’s just to have a slightly more sane data point. Not to suggest my career is comparable to his.