Change Anything You Want About Your Life

Change anything you want. I’ve been inspired by this phrase recently from one of my biggest heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Known for his bodybuilding, acting, and brief life in politics, this man achieved a lot of things in his life. But it was the mindset and fortitude he built in bodybuilding that laid the foundation for his future success. It’s not just because he had big muscles, either; it was because he changed his mindset to accomplish his biggest goals.

In his first book called Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder, he shares many of the strategies and life lessons he learned to get to the top of the world in his sport. One of the simplest, and probably the most important, is his ability to change his life through sheer determination and discipline. After learning how much he could achieve through building his body, he realized the same principles could be applied to anything:

“If I had been able to change my body that much, I could also, through the same discipline and determination, change anything else I wanted… I know that if you can change your diet and exercise program to give yourself a different body, you can apply the same principles to anything else. The secret is contained in a three-part formula I learned in the gym:

1. Self-confidence

2. A positive mental attitude

3. Honest hard work.”

I don’t think anything you just read is new. It’s probably not even something you’ve never heard of before. It’s still life-changing, though, because we often need to be reminded more than we need to be taught. Arnold was sharing a reminder that we can achieve anything we want through discipline and determination. It’s amazing how we are capable of achieving our biggest dreams, and it all begins with wanting it and deciding to work for it. Schwarzenegger talked how he was hungrier than anyone else he knew, even among the other elite bodybuilders. Nothing, not even his parents’ disapproval, got in his way of achieving his goals. He simply wanted it more.

I’m a big believer in disciplining yourself, but it’s not just about being mentally tough. It’s also to use discipline to achieve what you’re aiming for. While there is value in discipline for the sake of discipline, it is another level when you are able to do that with a vision in your sight. When this is the case, there is no difference between the most talented or the most intelligent; there is only a line dividing people by their work ethic. You don’t need to be born in the right family, have the right brain, or have the right amount of money – you simply need to have the right attitude and right work ethic. These principles can be achieved by anyone. You can change anything you want in life if you are able to dream it and do it. To leave with you Arnold’s quote a second time:

“If I had been able to change my body that much, I could also, through the same discipline and determination, change anything else I wanted.”