Arnold Schwarzenegger (Maybe) Changed My Life

If you listen to podcasts, you probably have a rotation of a few that you checkout at least semi-regularly. During the beginning of the pandemic, there were a ton of celebrities that found themselves with an abundance of free time, leading many of these stars to elbow their way into a largely celebrity-free space.

For years, podcasts were the domain of men and women talking into microphones in their basements, with even the most successful podcasters barely scraping up enough money from ads to keep food on the table. In 2020, however, that all changed. Not only did many people (including the aforementioned celebrities) have more time to make podcasts, many of us found more time to listen to podcasts. As someone who hosts a podcast myself, the way the dam of celebrities entering the podcast space burst in 2020 is frustrating. Prior to this onslaught of celebrity pontification, podcasts were a place where normal people could reach other normal people talking about normal (or sometimes not-normal) stuff.

But as frustrating as it is to see celebrities seemingly overnight push men and women who had worked for decades in the podcast space into the margins, I cannot help but enjoy a couple of these shows hosted by people I have only known through characters they have portrayed on screen. One of these shows is “Smartless.”

Maybe a little crass, but…

Listen, I am not going to sit here and say that everything these guys (and their guests) say edifies and uplifts us to moral and spiritual improvement. Much of what they say is probably only a glimpse of how people in an industry that can sometimes be very dark speak to each other. But with their A-List celebrity connections, they bring on a guest each week to talk about their careers, lives, and thoughts on a variety of different things. Recently, they Zoomed with The Terminator himself, and I was not prepared for how his words would resonate with me so deeply.

I am by no means a huge Arnold fan, but “Kindergarten Cop” was a part of my entertainment foundation as a child. You know how we all have books, cartoons, movies, and music that come to define our childhoods? Kindergarten Cop was one of those pieces of media for me. There is a scene where he is in a classroom full of screaming children and complains of a headache, to which a child exclaims “it’s a tumor!” leading Arnold to retort “It’s not a TOOM-AH!” This scene is burned in my brain. My brother and I quoted this and many other great lines back and forth to each other in our elementary years, so Arnold does hold a special place in my heart.

All that being said, I do not think about Arnold that much, and had never taken the time to consider the full scope of his career. As he shared with the guys on “Smartless” about how body building led to action movies, which led to health and fitness initiatives with the president, which led to running the state of California as governor, he expressed a passion for helping others see and realize the big goals they have for their lives.

With his trademark accent, it felt like he was personally speaking to me, encouraging me to reach for the goals that seem impossible in my life. At every step of his career, he decided to do things that no one else thought were possible for him, and he seeks to encourage others to do the same. Of course there are limitations, but his commitment to working hard to achieve the craziest goals that came into his mind inspired me to look seriously at what I could achieve in 2024.

Staying the course in 2024

One of my primary goals is to get my book published this year. It would be easy to talk myself out of such a lofty thing, but the more research I do, the more I realize that getting copies of my words in the hands of parents who need encouragement is not that far-fetched. I may not find a publisher to fund and distribute my content, but it is not a stretch to believe that in 2024 I will see hard copies of “You’re Not a Bad Person, You’re a Parent” printed and distributed to people who are struggling in the trenches of parenting.

Arnold reminded me that with hard work (and with a little help from friends that he talks about in the interview) it is possible to achieve the big goals that come into my mind, but it does require a single minded pursuit of achieving those goals. Putting in the work is a lot of the battle and then, if it’s meant to be, it will be. But so many times I talk myself out of the hard work because it feels like the goal is out of my reach.

Thanks to a podcast featuring some comedians chatting with a former Mr. Universe, I’m feeling like 2024 will be a year where crazy goals become reality, and I am working hard to stay the course. I don’t yet know if Arnold Schwarzenegger changed my life, but I am hopeful to see what this year will bring as I journey toward cheering people on in the hardest job there is- parenting.