YOU are The Last Action Hero!

Why do we find stories, and particularly adventure stories, so utterly fascinating? We read books, we watch films, we follow soaps on TV, we buy magazines … it seems our hunger for stories can never be satisfied. We lose ourselves in these dramas and fantasies and we keep coming back for more. The temptation is just too much to withstand!

I think it all goes back to earliest times, when we lived in family groups and small collectives. We would all gather round the camp fire and listen to the elders telling about their adventures. We’d hear about the hunt, the search for food and water, the sudden and deadly changes in the weather, the skirmishes with rival groups … in short, the never ending struggle to survive.

We’d listen, totally enthralled, and we’d huddle a little closer to the fire, feeling secure that we were, at least, safe from predators and enemies that might lurk in the darkness.

Action movies are today’s equivalent of the elders’ stories

Our modern day equivalent might be curling up to read an adventure novel, or watching a thrilling action movie, or just passing the time watching life unfold in some banal soap opera on television. It all comes down to the same thing really – a strong interest in life, in the struggle to make sense of it all, and to participate, if only by proxy, in the dramas that play out, whether across the screen or across the page.

And what’s the most important thing about all these dramas, the single thread that keeps cropping up in them all? The fact that we can imagine we are the main character in them. We can easily see ourselves as the leading character, and we feel the excitement of being at the heart of each heart-stopping dramatic encounter.

So it’s not too much of a stretch to say that each one of us is the action hero in every story. In Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero, he plays the main character, Jack Slater, in an action movie, who somehow draws a watching youngster into his over-the-top dramas. It’s a very cleverly constructed story, almost poking fun at the genre that gave birth to it.

Each one of us really is the Last Action Hero

It’s not the most successful of his movies, but it’s about all of us. We all want to be successful, against all the odds. In a sense, we’re all the one and only action hero, the main character in the single most important drama there is … the drama that is our own personal life.

And to be successful as the hero we need to stay in shape, just as the action heroes of the silver screen nowadays, more than ever, stay in excellent shape to portray their roles. Take a look at Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Lee, Dwayne Johnson, Sylvester Stallone, Hugh Jackman and all the rest. These aren’t actors who just happen to fall into action movies, their impressive physiques and personas sell themselves to the public. Their look says it all – I can handle whatever life throws at me.

We can all strive to be the best we can be

Now we can’t all be action movie heroes, of course, but we can still take steps to make the best of our physical opportunities. And no, we don’t all have personal dietitians and nutritionists, but we all have access to the internet. We can get a lot of important information from such articles as Vitamins: all the basics, and 25 best ever nutrition tips.

Same goes for our workouts. We don’t necessarily need a personal trainer, although you can bet all the Hollywood stars have them. All you need are articles like 35 all-time best workout tips, and A simple bodyweight routine.

Once you arm yourself with the right information and motivation, you’re all set to start on a course of self-improvement. You can start building a habit of waking up each day with the determination and expectation that today is going to be a good day, and that you will make the most of every single hour. You will start to build up a habit, just gradually at first, of eating sensibly, and eating the kind of diet that will fuel your workouts and boost your energy, without packing on unnecessary pounds of fat.

Even Hollywood hunks have to work hard to look that good!

Look, even Hollywood action heroes have to obey certain guidelines. They can’t just employ the best trainers and nutritionists and expect miracles to happen. They have to be prepared to work hard and to stick to sensible rules.

If you want to see how Arnold trained, take a look at this video. He was constantly studying exactly how he was doing, seeing where improvements were needed and how he needed to approach the problem. He was the epitome of the thinking bodybuilder. Is it any wonder that bodybuilders today (and almost anyone interested in physical improvement of any kind) look to him as a source of inspiration?

So, you can do this. You can arm yourself with the right information – it’s all around, and some of it is right here on this website. You can start to build your self confidence and improve your self-image. You can learn to build good fitness habits, and you can learn to use and benefit from positive affirmations. And, very importantly, you can learn that mistakes are just a part of life, each one a stepping stone to get you a little closer to your goal. You could even supercharge your subconscious by creating and using a success slideshow.

It’s all there for you, if you can take on the challenge

So, you know you can take on this challenge and you can reach for your own personal goal, whether it’s to hone your physique almost to perfection, or just to lose a bit of unsightly body fat. It just takes the right information and the right attitude. And if you’re like nearly everybody else you’re kidding yourself that you have really good reasons not to do this, or to do anything of any great importance, when the truth is those reasons, if you’re brutally honest with yourself, are usually no more than pathetic excuses.

So enjoy your book. Or your action movie. Pass the time watching your favourite soap. No problem. Just remember to switch your attention once in a while to the real drama that is waiting to unfold majestically in your life … your own personal story. And determine to take action and make a start on the road to achieving greatness!