Have you heard of the well-known American actor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Did you know that he had to make a decision to japa at some point in his life?
Follow our story to find out how Arnold's japa experience changed his life forever.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Styria, Austria on July 30, 1947. His is a classic example of someone from a low-income family succeeding through ambition, talent, and determination. At the age of 14, he decided to become a famous bodybuilder, the best in the world, and he succeeded. While on national service in 1965, he escaped to compete in the Junior Mr Europe competition and was imprisoned for a week.
He won the contest, however, and went on to win Mr Europe a year later, at the age of 19. He won numerous other titles, including Mr. Universe five times. At the age of 23, he became the youngest Mr Olympia ever, fulfilling his "world best" ambition.
He migrated to the United States in 1968, knowing very little English and speaking it with an impenetrably thick accent. He wrote for Muscle and Fitness magazine on a regular basis and went on to become a successful bodybuilding entrepreneur, with several business ventures that made him a millionaire by the age of 30. Despite his accent and lack of acting skills, he aspired to be a movie actor and found his big break in the 1982 epic, "Conan the Barbarian."
He listened to the critics and studied acting. Then came his signature role in James Cameron's 1984 sci-fi classic "The Terminator." Sequels followed, as did a string of blockbuster hits, mostly science fiction, with titles like "The Running Man," "Predator," "Total Recall," and "Eraser."
He became a Republican because, to him, Democrats in the US sounded like the Austrian socialists he had little patience for. Long before Schwarzenegger declared any interest in running for office, in 2000 I placed a wager with William Hill that he would succeed Arnold as the next elected governor of the state of California.
He was re-elected in 2006 and led with a conservative fiscal policy and a liberal social agenda. He promoted the San Diego Food Bank by using his notoriety and charisma to increase donations to it (whose outreach and public relations department is run by Chris Carter, a former ASI employee).
He refused to take the $175,000 annual salary offered by the governor. When his second term as governor came to an end in 2011, he went back to acting, and "Terminator: Dark Fate," which will be released on November 1st, is his return to the Terminator franchise.
The US Constitution's requirement that presidents be native Americans would thwart any attempt to run for office.
Schwarzenegger still holds dual citizenship with Austria despite having become a US citizen in 1983; he was not born there. Nevertheless, he is a success story that is uniquely American, demonstrating the nation's openness to talent, hard work, and a self-belief that attempts the impossible and succeeds.
His choice to enroll in business studies at Wisconsin-Superior University, where he eventually earned a degree in business and economics in 1980, shows his commitment to hard work and self-improvement ten years after arriving in the US. He is therefore both an economist and an Austrian, making him one of the most unique Austrian economists working today.
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