Do you want your dreams to become a reality? How did Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dreams evolve over time?
In Be Useful, Arnold Schwarzenegger uses his life story to show how your dreams can guide you, though your aspirations will change over time. He suggests that just because your dreams change, doesn’t mean you’ll be set back in life.
Continue reading to learn how to make your dreams come true.
Turning Dreams Into Reality
To teach you how to make your dreams come true, Schwarzenegger recounts his own life story driven by his aspirations. From an early age, Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, knew that he wanted to come to America, which he saw as a land of opportunity, though he couldn’t imagine exactly how far that opportunity would take him. At first, he imagined himself standing triumphant on a bodybuilding stage, which he saw as a springboard to a Hollywood film set as a leading actor, just like other strongmen he’d watched in the movies. But once he’d made his initial dreams real, Schwarzenegger didn’t stop there. He envisioned taking on more nuanced roles to show his range as a performer. Ultimately, his dream evolved into using the influence he’d garnered to make a positive impact. At every step, Schwarzenegger could see the next mountain he wanted to climb.
(Shortform note: It’s easy to forget that Schwarzenegger was already famous in the 1960s as a world-class bodybuilder before launching his film career, or that his rise to movie stardom wasn’t as meteoric as he depicts it. His first film role was 1970’s Hercules in New York, in which he was billed as “Arnold Strong” and the producers dubbed his lines with another actor’s voice to conceal his Austrian accent. Before his breakout role in 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, the first film Schwarzenegger mentions in his book, he played smaller parts in a long string of movies, notably winning the Golden Globe for Best Acting Debut for his performance in 1976’s Stay Hungry, co-starring with Jeff Bridges and Sally Field.)
Unveiling a life-defining dream might take time, and that’s perfectly OK. Setting and meeting goals—no matter how small—might be the spark you need to break free from an aimless life. Schwarzenegger suggests that if you find it hard to define your ambitions, consider building them from scratch by setting short-term goals to enhance a skill or improve an aspect of your life. Once you achieve your low-level goals, you can gradually move toward bigger objectives, through which you may uncover your passions. Keep in mind that even if finding a purpose in life is hard, it’s better than feeling adrift and disconnected with nothing meaningful to drive you.
(Shortform note: Though Schwarzenegger presents setting and meeting small goals as a backup plan to starting from a point of strong motivation, it may actually be the stronger strategy. In The Motivation Myth, Jeff Haden argues that motivation comes after achievement, not before. While not discounting the value of lofty goals, Haden says they only give direction, while true motivation comes from taking pride in incremental progress. Haden concurs with Schwarzenegger about the values of curiosity and persistence, which we’ll cover later in this guide, but he also stresses the importance of designing a positive feedback loop that uses small goals, not the big ones Schwarzenegger prefers, to propel you toward your grander aspirations.)
