Total Recall — an extraordinary autobiography

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Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography is an inspiring read, and you don't have to have been raised, as I was, on the action films I devoured on VHS tapes with a single-voice dub and a picture that looked at least ten generations removed from the original. All the boys, or at least my cousin and I, wanted to look like this action hero, a mountain of muscle from neighboring Austria. Graz, to be precise. He even served in a tank near the then border of Czechoslovakia. I don't remember whether Arnie was the only reason we made those tentative attempts at lifting weights, but he certainly inspired us. So I gladly started reading his autobiography, or rather, listening to it.

The story starts in Austria, where Arnold remembers how poor they were and how his mother sometimes had to beg for food. An ever-present fear of the Red Army and communism. A strict father who was a gendarme and Second World War veteran and sometimes drowned what he had been through in a glass of alcohol. The beginnings of weight training back home in Graz, military service spiced up by sinking a tank, his first win in a bodybuilding contest (he had to go AWOL), leaving the army and moving to Munich. Besides the occasional fight in Munich bars, his first international successes at Mr. Olympia in London. Then he left for the US, where he held about three jobs at once while training and studying. Incidentally, he won Mr. Universe.

Then came the film career, from the fourth-rate Hercules in New York through Conan the Barbarian to box-office success as the villain in The Terminator for a million-dollar fee. Charity work, marrying into the Kennedy family and the inevitable move into the highest levels of politics, followed by a sobering dose of disillusionment and a return to film.

Arnie's autobiography embodies the American dream. It shows that hard work and a little luck can take you to the top in sport and in society. His determination is astonishing. A typical day when he combined bodybuilding and work went like this. Up at six for two hours of exercise before the gym burst at the seams, heavy manual labor at the building company he ran with Franco Columbu, four hours of acting class or university study, another three hours of exercise in the evening and finally bed at midnight. Then he'd do it all over again.

He began each year by writing down a list of goals. He needed to visualize whatever would motivate him. Then he went after it relentlessly until he got it. Over time he learned that mastery in anything comes through repetition. He practiced posing in front of a mirror for hundreds of hours so he could beat the unbeatable Sergio Oliva. He learned the basics of acting and worked on his accent. He prepared diligently for every part, beginning with Conan the warrior. It seemed to me that he stayed humble, had a knack for recognizing what mattered to success and had no problem doing a little extra.

Unlike other actors, he understood that the job didn't end at the last take, and he worked hard to promote all his films around the world. They often made more internationally than in the US as a result. He applied what he learned about marketing in show business to his political career. Not everything worked out. Some films were outright flops, and he might still break out in a rash at the thought of his political career. But you can bet he saw every failure primarily as valuable experience.

He calls himself a man of contradictions. A Republican who loves Democrats. A champion of healthy living who enjoys a good cigar. A European who feels more at home in America. A decent guy who plays killers.

For inspiration, here are ten of his rules.

1. Never let pride hold you back. If swallowing it helps you get what you're after, do it.
2. Don't think it over too long. Use instinct and intuition. The more you know, the more you doubt. Let your mind shift into neutral.
3. Forget plan B. If you want to grow and challenge yourself, don't give yourself a safety net. Ask instead what the worst thing is that could happen. Often it's hardly a disaster.
4. Whenever you want to settle a score with someone, use some unexpected humor.
5. A day has 24 hours. Use all of them.
6. Repetition, repetition and more repetition. Write down your goals. There are no shortcuts. Repetition makes a master. Do something a thousand times and it gets under your skin. Whatever you do in life, it comes down to repetition.
7. Don't blame your parents. They may have left you with some problems, but they're your problems now.
8. Change takes a lot of courage.
9. Take care of your body and mind. The mind is a muscle too, and every muscle needs training.
10. Stay hungry and look for the next opportunity. Don't rest on your laurels, and help others. Be useful. You'll have plenty of time to rest in the grave.

We should all stay hungry.