I'll Be Back: Crafting Your Personal Vision the Arnold Schwarzenegger Way

Vision. The prime minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, once called it an elephant that is blocking the view, describing vision as something that stands in the way of progress. I always hated that statement and found it extremely stupid because vision leads people in the right direction. Luckily, Mark figured this out later on.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my vision as well. My vision for life. These are big questions, but sometimes it’s very important to ask yourself. However, structuring this can be hard and creating the vision itself can be complicated.

Enter Arnold Schwarzenegger…

The man, the myth, the legend. An Austrian born bodybuilder who eventually became the governor of the sixth largest economy in the world: California. Besides that he is also a famous actor and… writer. Quite the resume I would say.

In his book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life, Arnold describes how to create a vision for yourself and what you can use to create a vision of your own. How big or small your vision is, it is good to have a clear few of it.

Think Big and Broad

Arnold’s vision was just one thing: America! He grew up in a small town in Austria with only dirt roads and dreamed of America. But that isn’t going to do it of course. It is necessary to work out your vision, otherwise it just stays a dream. So how do you turn your dream into a vision?

1/ Start with what excites you

Perhaps you already know what excites you. But this is a great starting point for creating your vision. It doesn’t matter how defined or clear this thing is that excites you. What’s important is, is that it does. Look at Arnold, his dream was just America. Nothing more. That led him towards an amazing career. It’s important that you allow yourself to dream and not about practicalities or specifics, you just dream.

2/ Allow your obsession to guide you

If there isn’t a clear thing for you that excites you, no problem. Let’s move from dream to obsession. Look at what you are naturally drawn to. What is something you cannot live without? Something you must read, listen to, or do; otherwise your week is not complete. This could be a path for you to discover and perhaps a path that leads to your vision

3/ Begin to focus

Now that you have a broad idea of your vision, begin to focus a little more. Focusing doesn’t mean narrowing. Arnold describes it as follows:

You have to find the building blocks of your vision. Just like an itinerary, you need to know which cities you are going to visit or even which neighborhoods. Look for the building blocks that act as the foundation of your vision

You can get inspiration from people who have lived your vision and analyze them. How did they get to the place you want to go to? For me, I am inspired by Noah Kagan, Tim Ferriss and Alex Lieberman, and closer to home Jeroen Smit and Alexander Klopping.

4/ Set specific goals

If we zoom further in onto the vision map, we really see what you have to do to create these building blocks. The book describes it as follows:

This means, you should set specific goals for yourself to reach the goals of your building blocks. This can mean several things; researching a country you want to live in, acquiring a new skill, or talking to one person in a specific sector every week. Creating these kinds of goals will allow you to work towards your vision and create a real action plan.

5/ Live your vision

Start implementing your plan and check off those goals you have set, meaning: live your vision. And of course, your vision will probably change over time, which, I guess, is part of life! Circumstances change and that might affect your vision. Adapt and go forward.

6/ Embrace the Challenge

This one won’t come as a surprise and this one I still have to face, but living and getting where you want to be, is not easy. You have to put in the work every day, step-by-step. It isn’t going to be easy, but you have to go all the way (this is a pep-talk for myself as well 😬)

And what is your big vision, Nils?

Ooh good question! As mentioned earlier, I have some people I admire and would definitely like to have the same life. I started working on my vision. It isn’t completely there yet, but I think I am getting there.

I started with some post-it and began smashing words upon my wall. Next, I tried to create some order with the words and rearrange them multiple times. And well, it is a beginning!

But I worked it out in a Miro board and I am happy to put it out here in the world and get some accountability! It is still work in progress though!

Nils’ Vision Board

I also try to put this in my weekly review. I look at the Miro board and see if I have done the things I needed to do to get closer to my goals. That’s how I keep myself accountable and now I have you guys also keeping me accountable 😉

Create your own vision

Arnold has helped me by putting my vision down and getting on the right track. And basically, this was about my life’s vision, but I think you can do the same exercise for your company, career or perhaps even your family(?). I don’t know, but thinking about it can’t hurt I guess.

So I invite you to do the same. Take a day, go for a walk and let the ideas flow in. Write them down and trust the process.

Good Luck!