Third part of our exegesis of the wisdom which you can't find permeating through Arnold's autobiography.

Dream big!

As soon as the bodybuilder moved from the podiums in search of a Hollywood career, he kept being proposed small parts and movies which didn't suited his vision for himself. Rather than jumping at each and every opportunity, he learned to being picky and smart. 

You could argue that, no matter what the part, being in front of a camera was always good practice. But I felt that I was born to be a leading man. I had to be on posters. I had to be the one carrying the movie. Of course I realized that this sounded crazy to everybody but me. But I believed that the only way you become a leading man is by treating yourself like a leading man and working your ass off. If you don't believe in yourself, then how will anyone else believe in you?

Always aim up the ladder!

His first years in Hollywood taught Arnold that the movie business was crowded with wannabes stars, who lacked one essential item: trust in themselves. Such a thing, Arnold always had plenty of! 

People were always talking about how performers there are at the top of the ladder, but I was always convinced there was room for one more. I felt that, because there was so little room, people got intimidated and felt more comfortable staying on the bottom of the ladder. But in fact there more people that think that, the more crowded the bottom of the ladder becomes! Don't go where it's crowded. Go where it's empty! Even though it's harder to get there, that's where you belong and where there's less competition.

Pace yourself

As soon as he entered the stages of movies, Schwarzie kept his eyes and ears opened in order to learn as much as possible from his fellow actors and pick the right habits.

Some actors pay very little attention to the master shot because they know this is just to establish where they are physically in the scene. Therefore, they don't overexert themselves. But the closer the shot, the more they perform. You realize how important it is to pace yourself: don't go all out in the first takes; gives just 80 percent. Eventually your close-up will come, and that's when you really need to act. Eventually your close-up will come, and that's when you really need to act. I figured out that this was also a way to get ,ore close-ups of yourself into the film, because the editing will often pick the shot with the best performance.

Learn to delegate and trust your partners

As his career picked up, Schwarzie made sure to work with the best partners and more essentially even, to build a trusting relationship with everyone involved in order to ensure a good collaboration and a common spirit.

I did become part of the decision-making in a lot of films, with power to approve the script, approve the cast, and even to choose the director. But I still made it my rule that once you pick a director, you have to have total faith in him. If you question everything he does, then you will have nothing but struggles and fights.

Find the two first parts here:

https://steemit.com/life/@herverisson/the-arnold-schwarzenegger-s-chronicles-how-to-compete-work-succeed-and-reach-your-goals

https://steemit.com/life/@herverisson/life-lessons-from-arnold-schwarzenegger-s-autobiography

Source:

https://www.amazon.com/Total-Recall-Unbelievably-True-Story/dp/1451662440