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Arnold Schwarzenegger evokes strong imagery. Big man (seven-time Mr. Olympia, five-time Mr. Universe). Big actor (Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator). Big politician (California’s governor from 2003 to 2010).
Not just physically. He was street smart, a quick learner, and intensely ambitious. Now, with an estimated network of $400 to $450 million, he’s written a book Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life, in which he looks back on is life and extols the virtues of grinding hard work and a never-say-die attitude that led to fame, fortune and, tremendous personal achievement. Now, at 76, it’s time to give back. Arnold says he wrote his new book to help people, no matter where they live in the world to become more successful. And real estate investing is at its core. He wants to dispel the most common fears that hold us back – fear of failure, choosing small goals instead of big ones, listening to all the naysayers who crush our dreams before they even start – and project positivity. He says he could have included 15 rules, but his publisher would only permit 260 pages and so he distilled his home truths into just seven. Becoming Arnie Arnie was a bodybuilding icon in the 1960s and 70’s but he had no money. Bodybuilders couldn’t making a living from their physical accomplishments in those days. You were admired within the bodybuilding community, but viewed as somewhat of a musclebound curiosity by everyone else. The one thing Schwarzenegger was not afraid of though was work. He grew up in poverty in post-World War Two Austria (born 1947) and built himself up physically, perhaps in response to beatings from his violent father. He describes himself as rebellious and refused to let domestic violence form hus father quell his spirit. He wanted to become someone. He wanted to be rich. And so, before the term side-hustle had even been thought of, Schwarzenegger began exploring ways to make money. Arnie was a bodybuilding icon in the 1960s and 70s but he had no money. Bodybuilders couldn’t making a living from their physical accomplishments in those days. You were admired within the bodybuilding community, but viewed as somewhat of a musclebound curiosity by everyone else. The one thing Schwarzenegger was not afraid of though was work. He grew up in poverty in post-World War Two Austria (born 1947) and built himself up physically, perhaps in response to beatings from his violent father. He describes himself as rebellious and refused to let domestic violence form his father quell his spirit. He wanted to become someone. He wanted to be rich. And so, before the term side-hustle had been tinvented, Schwarzenegger began exploring ways to make money.  Posing in 1966 PHOTO: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY One of his earliest friends was fellow bodybuilder, Mr. Olympia, and future chiropractor Franco Colombu. They worked out together, stayed lifelong friends until Franco’s passing in 2019, and were early business partners.
According to Arnie, in 1971: “I said to Frank you're a masonry worker, a bricklayer. Why don't we start a bricklaying business? I said, here in America they love this European bullshit. So, we called it Italian Masonry Expert and put a little ad in the LA Times.” As luck would have it, LA was hit by an earthquake the very next day chimneys, patios, and masonry across the sprawling city began to fall. “So, Frank and I started going out and doing estimates. Of course, we weren’t really experienced in all that stuff so we just started measuring stuff and then we always had arguments. I was always the good guy. He was the bad Italian who always charges too much. And I would say, ‘This is outrageous Frank. You cannot charge $7,600 for this. We can do it cheaper than that. No, no, no… And then he started in German, and Italian, and we started arguing. Once the theatre was over, Schwarzenegger would tell the owner he had beaten down Frank’s price to something reasonable - $5,000 – and there would be hugs all round from the home owner. Arnie says he learned these tactics while working as a sales apprentice back in Austria when he was a teenager. Instead of grooming himself for university, he worked from the age of 15 to 18 as a sales apprentice. His motto was, sell, sell, sell and this became the one of one of his Seven Rules in the new book.  “The art of selling in this case was, when I go to a customer and he says, ‘Can you tell me how much it costs to redo this chimney?’, it sounds better if you go with how you do it in a store, ‘50% off’. But of course, first they add the 50% and then take it off.” “So, my idea was, I measured it out and I said, ‘Frank, by the time we buy the material, which will be $2,000, our workmanship, it would take us a week to do this, a thousand-500 dollars each, that’s three thousand, so that’s five-thousand dollars. Frank said, ‘Five thousand, we can do it.’ Then I would go to the guy and say, ‘He wants $7,800”, and the guy would freak out. ‘Oh my god, I don't know if I can afford this. This is outrageous!’. And I would say, ‘Let me work on it.’ And so I would go to Frank and all of a sudden we would have a screaming match. And then the next thing, I go back to this guy and say, ‘I brought him down to $5,000.” And the guy would say, “Thank God!’ and he would hug me and we would get the job. So, we gave them a good deal, but we also sold them on the idea they got a special, SPECIAL deal.” Arnold was then the cement mixing brawn and Colombo was the guy who laid the bricks. Schwarzenegger drove his car to the local tool rental shop, picked up a concrete mixer, and drove it back to the site. Of course, every client noticed how jacked the two men were but the pair didn't want to reveal they couldn’t make a living from bodybuilding. So, Arnold devised a story that he had lost a Mr. Universe title in Florida because he wasn’t sufficiently tanned, which was partly true. (The other reason he says was because he was ‘a little bit too chubby”.) For the customer though, he embellished the story by swearing he would never lose a title that way again. Laying bricks a few hours every day was his way to solve the tanning problem because it allowed him to rip off his shirt and get bronzed by working in the blazing California sun. And of course, Frank was a master mason who’d worked everywhere in Italy, including helping to build the Vatican. Breaking into Movies & Commercial Real EstateArnold attributes hard work for his success. He built his body lifting weights daily. He went to America with nothing. He got on the Merv Griffin show because of his physique where Lucille Ball saw him and phoned him up him out of the blue to read for a minor role as a masseur. Schwarzenegger didn’t know much English, he had a thick Germanic accent, and he’d never acted. But he’s a Yes-and …” kind of guy with a ‘take action’ personality. “I learned the language quickly. I remember I went to Santa Monica City College and took English classes, then eventually took business classes, and all the stuff I learned as an apprentice - selling, marketing, publicity, and accounting, mathematics, micro and macro-economics, and all this stuff.
Arnie dreamed of being a leading man like Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson and Marlon Brando – because they were all earning more than a million dollars per movie in the early 1970s. But he soon learned that life changing wealth can be generated in other days. “There was an apartment building for sale for $240,000. And I needed $37,000 for the down payment. I had in my bank account $27. So I went to Joe Weider, who was the publisher of the body building magazines, and I said, ‘can you go and loan me $10,000 for one year?’ And he said, absolutely. And so, I bought this building. Two years later, someone comes to me and offers me $500,000 for the same building. This is how much real estate went up in the 70s because of the high inflation rare. So, I immediately sold this building, took the profit and traded up to a 12-unit apartment building. Then I sold that two years later and traded up to a 36-unit building. So, in the 70s I was already a millionaire.” This post has borrowed liberally from Dana Carvey and David Spade’s podcast Fly on the Wall when the two stand up comedians interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger. The episode was published October 25, 2023. Please listen to it – nothing replaces hearing Arnold talking. And read Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life. The building where Carvey and Spade recorded their interview was actually built by Schwarzenegger in 1984 and is now worth a small fortune compared to what he paid. https://shows.cadence13.com/podcast/fly-on-the-wall https://tim.blog/tim-ferriss-books/#tools-of-titans
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