From a small-town boy in Austria to a legendary public figure across the world, Arnold Schwarzenegger has the perfect rags-to-riches story. It wasn’t easy for the star to embark upon his first dream of becoming a successful bodybuilder. But the vision of him playing Hercules, like his idols Steve Reeves and Reg Park, got him going.
In a recent podcast with Steven D. Levitt, Schwarzenegger spoke about how disapproval hit him at home first before society. When he learned about his bodybuilding dreams, his parents weren’t too enthusiastic about encouraging them. Eventually, a victorious moment changed their perception.
At 15, when his peers were studying, playing, and doing whatever teenagers would do, Schwarzenegger had a dream—he wanted to be a bodybuilder in America. He began preparing for his dreams by regularly working out and participating in championships. But his parents, Gustav and Aurelia Schwarzenegger were not too impressed by this. Recalling his mother’s take on this, the star laughed:
“She called several times to the doctor for help on this, and he always talked off the ledge and said, ‘No, when kids get to a certain age, they get very ambitious, and they wanna get muscles; they wanna get stronger’.”
Schwarzenegger’s parents only began to see the potential in their son when he began appearing in the local newspapers. At 20, the star became the youngest Mr. Universe and made headlines everywhere for his impeccable physique. This led his parents to believe in their son’s dream.
“My mother then finally realized, my father realized that I was just a very ambitious guy and that I’m serious about my dreams, and they should not be in my way, and they should not be negative. And then they started supporting me.”
In 1972, in Essen, Germany, Schwarzenegger could finally present to his parents what he had already been blessing the world with. His Olympia streak began in 1970, and when he won his third title, his parents bore witness to what their son had been dreaming of for so long.
Unfortunately, that was the last time Schwarzenegger saw his father since Gustav passed away a few months later due to a stroke. But to be able to gift them his winning moment meant a lot to the star. This led Schwarzenegger to solidify his vision, go forth, and channel his path along the way.
How did Arnold Schwarzenegger trudge through the stereotype?
The former bodybuilder once spoke about how the stereotype surrounding bodybuilders was quite prominent back in the day. The idea that a man would be vain enough to look at himself in the mirror all the time called for sneers from society. But Schwarzenegger didn’t pay heed.
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In a previous segment, the Austrian Oak talked about how he kept his vision going and visualized his dreams every day. This helped him stay put while others called him ‘crazy’ to dream. And that’s how Schwarzenegger made a name for himself.
