Arnold Schwarzenegger wants young people to be comfortable with failure and struggle — characteristics he claims are necessary to develop mental resiliency.
In a Wednesday interview for SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, the 76-year-old action star worried that modern society is raising “a generation of wimps and weak people” overly concerned with hurting feelings.
“It’s nice to be considerate, I totally agree with that,” Schwarzenegger defended. “But let’s not over-baby the kids, and let’s not over-baby the people.”
Schwarzenegger said adults should be teaching children to be “tough” and “go through those painful moments.”
He argued those who baby themselves will never be able to reach their full potential.
Schwarzenegger compared the human mind to a bicep — just like the muscle, the mind needs resistance and pain in order to grow, he said.
The former California governor maintained you can only become a strong person if you fail, get up again and continue to work hard.
“The more you struggle, the further you’re going to go, and the stronger you’re going to get,” he said. “You have to be able to struggle, and if you’re not able to, work on that.”
The Terminator actor continued: “The more you experience the things that you really don’t like, the more you can grow, and the tougher you get, and the more you can handle. It’s just that simple.”
Schwarzenegger told Stern the U.S. was not built by people “who slept in.”
“These were ballsy women and men that went out at 5 in the morning, and got up, and struggled, and fought and they worked their butts off. That’s what made this country great.”
Schwarzenegger appeared on The Howard Stern Show to promote his new book, Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life.
The self-help style book teaches readers Schwarzenegger’s “seven tools” for finding purpose in one’s life — clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back.
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