The Incredible Passion
Fitness buff Lou Ferrigno aka The Hulk thrives on challenges.
What makes The Hulk so strong, inside out? Actor and bodybuilding legend Lou Ferrigno talks to Home Finder on how he fought back in life to attain success.
"When I get knocked down, I get back up again. I get knocked down I get up again." These words ring with grit determination, one that comes from a heart that once filled with pain and anger.
"My life is all about pain. I was angry my whole life," Lou Ferrigno aka The Hulk says with a soft glow in his eyes.
Had Lou given up at the first sight of pain, he would be just Deaf Louie right to this day. Deaf Louie, this was just one of the many taunts he grew up with as a child. But Lou chose not to give in. Instead, he walked out of a comic fantasy into living his reality.
Lou lost 75% of his hearing when he caught an ear infection when he was a baby. This in turn affected his speech ability. But these limitations became a major factor in shaping the course of his life to this day.
Speaking to a hall filled with professionals from various levels during the National Achievers Congress, Lou delivered on the topic The Pursuit of Excellence – How to Overcome the Adversities in Life.
"Everyone has fear. The hardest thing to do when you're faced with fear is taking action, whether big or small. Taking action is not easy at all. But it gets easier."
"I learned at a very early age that nobody can do something for me but me. It's all about taking chances. That's what life is about."
The turning point to Lou's life was when a friend of his showed Lou his set of weights. With no proper equipment to start off, his innovative spirit led him to make his own equipment.
"I was poor as a kid so I made my own set of weights. I got a pail and filled it with cement. Then I stick a broom in it and I exercise. And I love the feeling of my mind connecting with the body."
Lou then went into body-building, winning the Mr Universe title two years in a row. But the Press couldn't understand Lou's speech during the interviews and that frustrates him.
"That was one of my most frustrating moments. There was I, the world's greatest bodybuilder and I couldn't speak. I couldn't talk. That was when I changed the negative to the positive."
Determined to change and improve his life, Lou committed himself to what he describes as "some serious speech lessons". He learnt to speak by "the feeling of his tongue".
Not taking 'no' for an answer, he constantly proves himself career wise by achieving the goals he has in life.
"I love taking action and maximizing my personal power."
As a fitness buff, Lou says, everything you have attained in life would account to nothing if you do not have health.
"Train your mind and body. Let your mind and body be a team and change your fear hormone to positive hormone because fear stops you from doing anything."
Words like 'if', 'I don't know', 'maybe' are patterns which you should come out of or else you're not going to be successful, he says. "It's a choice. It's you. You can't blame others."
The choice came for Lou in a big way when he landed the role of The Hulk in the 70s television series, which also starred Bill Bixby. "Becoming" The Hulk was an opportunity of a lifetime for Lou, one he has never regretted because he took control of his life and put his actions in place.
But if he could turn back time what would be the one thing Brooklyn-born Lou Ferrigno aka The Hulk want to do better?
"I wish I could do more at a younger age, to focus more on education, take more action in improving my life. I kind of 'woke' up when I was 30. I was stuck, in a frustrated mode until I learned to take action later in life."
"But, the beauty of life is knowing you can get up again when you fall."
"That's what makes your life rich."
"Everyone has fear. The hardest thing to do when you're faced with fear is taking action …"
– Lou Ferrigno
Tags: HulkLou Ferrignosuccess
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