Awakening the Champion: How to Think, Speak, and Live Like a Conqueror

12 Proven Principles to Growing Your Impact, Influence, and Income

Titles by Lakeisha McKnight

GOALS: Guidelines on Achieving Life Success Igniting the Fire Within: Professional Speaker Training for Women The Essentials for Starting a Small Business People Management: How to Get People to Perform Mastering Communication Effective Time Management Strategies How to Manage Business Finances Small Business Management Become a Master Speaker

Awakening the Champion: How to Think, Speak, and Live Like a Conqueror

12 Proven Principles to Growing Your Impact, Influence, and Income

Lakeisha McKnight

 2012 by Lakeisha McKnight All rights reserved. All information in this book is protected by copyright laws. No part may be used without the expressed written consent of the author. Printed in the United States of America. First printing; May 2012 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 Library of Congress in Publications Data LCCN: 2011909102 McKnight, Lakeisha Awakening the Champion: How to Think, Speaker, and Live Like a Conqueror ISBN: 978-1-4675-1460-6 Edited by Dr. P.J .George and Mari Mercurio Cover design & Graphics by William Lee

Dedication
This book is dedicated to the thousands of new entrepreneurs, experienced business owners, and spiritual leaders who I have been able to inspire during the course of my speaking and training career as well as those readers and listeners I will touch within the near future. I dare not leave out all of my extended family and friends for their continual support. Lastly, this book represents all of the men and women who have sown wisdom keys and their knowledge into my life, which includes my mentors, coaches, teachers, and advisors. I want to encourage all you and inform you that despite what it looks like on the outside, there is a champion within you. Never give up. The best is yet to come.

Acknowledgements
Without strong faith, this book would not have been possible. Also, my husband and family has been there to encourage me to press forward in this writing and entrepreneurial journey. I cannot conclude this section within thanking all of the mentors, coaches, teachers, and spiritual leaders that have sowed seeds of inspiration and wisdom within my life. Every person that I have come in contact with, good and bad, have contributed to me living the life as a champion and writing this book to awaken the champion within others.

Contents
13 15 21 23 71 93 109 Foreword Introduction Part I: The Rising Champion: Your Thoughts Set the Foundation Chapter 1: Establish Stability Chapter 2: Build a Power Corner Chapter 3: Defend Yourself Chapter 4: Know and Face Your Opponent

119 Part II: More than a Winner: Foundation Sets Stage for 121 141 159 197 Your Offensive Strategy Chapter 1: Obtain an Environmental Snapshot Chapter 2: Develop Your Offensive Strategy Chapter 3: Establish Your Delivery Chapter 4: Take the Open Shot

203 Part III: Become an Overcomer: Strategically Living to 205 227 243 257 Finish the Fight Chapter 1: Dont Waste Energy Chapter 2: Breathe Properly Chapter 3: Be Always Ready Chapter 4: Give It Your All

270 Conclusion 272 Action Plan 290 Appendix 292 Bonus Champion Guide

Foreword by Vincent Harris

CHAMPIONS ARE NEVER remembered for how they started, but rather, how they finished. No matter how well you start, you never qualify for rewards unless you finish. Why not tap into a system that will enable you to harness the power of your thinking and enable you to experience success in a whole new dimension? The basic principles and concepts supporting Awakening the Champion come from extensive research. Lakeisha McKnight embraces the thought that its never the size of ones brain, but rather the size of ones thinking that will determine the outcome. We forget the failures of great people and only record in history, their successes. In their failure, they found a seed of success that motivated them to finish the race and receive their crown as a champion. Getting started was certainly progress for these individuals, but finishing is what made them a champion. Can you name one thing in life that yields the same results for those who start versus those who finish? NO!! The prize is only given to those who are fearless to begin and courageous enough to finish. The truth is, you picked up this book for a reason. You want to enjoy a better life. I believe if better is possible then good is not enough. We have been given one very distinctive and unique feature, and thats the power of choice. Because of our creative power, we can move beyond average and become champions. We can enjoy the position of champion rather than the position of scarcity. This book will provide you with the tools you need to live a life of pursuit without regrets. It will cause you to release some of your hidden creative power thats been lying dormant for so long. Lakeisha challenges us to remove the obstacles of your past and move beyond procrastination in your present. Now is the time for you to be part of the immersion process

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of ongoing personal development and success. There has never been a time in history where people are becoming massively successful and the question remains, Why not you too? Enough with the promises; its time to work to become a champion. Be mindful, you are two people; the person you are now and the person you were destined to becomethe goal is to get those two people to meet! Youve just taken another step to releasing the champion on the inside. Continue your journey by embracing and implementing the principles outlined ahead.

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Introduction
If you want to take your mission in life to the next level, if youre stuck and you dont know how to rise, dont look outside yourself. Look inside. Dont let your fears keep you mired in the crowd. Abolish your fears and raise your commitment level to the point of no return, and I guarantee you that the Champion Within will burst forth to propel you toward victory.
BRUCE JENNER

I WELCOME YOU ALL to my ref lections on how to become a true conqueror in life. That means how to explore and bring out the conqueror within each one of you. That will unearth potentialities and avenues hitherto thought inaccessible. We will discuss the easy and rewarding pathways to realize our dreams of becoming true champions in our respective fields and environments. However, we cannot proceed straightaway to discuss how to be a champion without first recognizing that there are present concerns. For as far as leaders are concerned, there are common concerns that may prevent you from recognizing that you are champions. This inability to recognize the cham- pion within you may be due to the fact that these traits are dormant or because the champion is sleeping. Sleeping is necessary as it has a definite a role in our growth as well. There are several benefits of sleeping which include improving your memory, living longer, limiting inf lammation, boosting creativity, performance improvement, sharpening your attention, establishing healthy weight, lowering stress, helping to avoid accidents, and avoidance of irritability and depression. Now, you may be telling yourself

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that sleeping is not that bad. It isnt bad if it is done in modera- tion for health reasons. However, the negative aspect of sleeping is getting too much sleep or oversleeping. Oversleeping may cause several unwanted consequences. First, you will notice that life will pass you by. Secondly, you may feel restless or even sluggish. Lastly, the problems in your life will not be solved. Many people choose to physically sleep to avoid lifes problems as they may not be satisfied with where they are personally nor professionally. There are some people, however, who are physically awake but their real self, their untapped potential, is dormant and needs to be awakened. What does it mean to be truly awakened? Being awakened means to become completely conscious or being mentally perceptive and responsive. Being awake can also mean that you are putting something into action, giving new life to something, stirring something up, or awakening dormant faculties. Now that you have received a well-rounded grasp of what it means to be awakened, I ask you, what needs to be awakened within you? Is there a champion within you? Lets get that sleeping giant up, shall we? Before we can truly do this, one question must be answeredwhat is a champion? Now, how will the term champion be defined in the context of this book? A champion is a male or female who continually strives to reach the next level, triumphs over (what appears to be insurmountable) obstacles, and continues to fight until the end for the purpose of creating a contagious f low of growth and transformation within the world. This definition was inspired by my lifes journey as well as the lives of my mentors who have passed on to a better place. The fuel for the content of this book has been derived by looking at the lives of todays champions, both real and fictitious, including Michael Phelps, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Rocky Balboa, Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, and so many more greats. You can easily relate this to whatever field you belong to or interested in, be it sports, politics, or business. Naturally we will have to look at the following key areas of being a champion:

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Being a champion in sports and games Being a champion in business Being a champion in politics Being a champion in education Being a champion in technology Being a champion in writing Being a champion in arts The true life of a real champion

Now we shall look at all these aspects of becoming and being a champion. At the very outset we must remember that all this talk about being a champion or a conqueror becomes meaningful and practicable only if we have the enthusiasm and the determination to achieve it. In this context let us remind ourselves of what a fabulous achiever like Henry Ford thought about enthusiasm: You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and your energy to execute your ideas. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress! With it, there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis. Anyone will immediately realize that there is some golden wisdom in these words. These are indeed the things that differentiate between a great achiever like the founder of the American multinational automaker and an ordinary person. Look at the heights he cleared, armed with the enthusiasm and the solid determination to see that what he visualized came to pass. Sheer hard work is what makes our dreams of being conquerors possible. Look at what another great achiever Andrew Carnegie said of hard work:

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The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their creativity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%. What we hear from Ford or Carnegie are not impossible commands but very simple, doable things anyone can any time put into practice. What is required is the passion to know what we should be doing and the readiness to put into action what we plan to do on the basis of what we have understood. There may not be any certainty about success in the beginning but the conviction that we are right and that we shall succeed is enough to persevere continuously. What if success does not result? Theodore Roosevelt was heard to remark that the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at something worth doing. Just look at the conviction that what he was doing was worth doing, or the right thing to do. Lastly, I would like to remind you of what the great Martin Luther King said about relentless perseverance that distinguishes a true achiever: If a man is called to be streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. The street sweeper may not be the greatest celebrity in the town or the richest person around but he is a true achiever. That is because he achieves unprecedented success in his field of activity. Is there anyone who can say that it is not achievable now? It is, if we put our heart in it in full measure. Let that be our motto in our pursuit of the life of a conqueror. You may be a business owner or leader operating in the

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fields of multilevel marketing, ministry, entertainment, training, coaching, speaking, and other areas, asking yourself what is here that concerns you. I have been where you are, growing two successful businesses in the non-profit and for profit sectors. I understand the concerns you may be facing which may include but are not limited to the following: Lack of staffing or manpower Leadership/management skills Sales Client relations Training & staff development Change management Marketing Time management Pricing Networking

I have experienced having to close down businesses and failing many times only to rise again and build an international training company. I have learned that it is tough trying to succeed within these difficult economic times. However, through it all, there were twelve traits/themes which helped me survive and thrive. If you desire to surpass all of the hype and negativity within society, continue reading this book. If you want to know what it takes to obtain success in the midst of tough times, the first chapter awaits you. However, if you desire to remain sleep, neglecting your potential, and would rather settle for defeat, please close this book and give it to the young man who has the eye of the tiger or the young woman who will not take no for an answer. It is time to stand against the status quo. There is more within you that has not been tapped into yet. Take the limits off and let me help you awaken the champion within you.

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