awakening the champion book preview

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Awakening the Champion:How to Think, Speak, and

Live Like aConqueror12 Proven Principles to Growing Your

Impact, Influence, and Income


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Titles by LakeishaMcKnight

GOALS: Guidelines on Achieving Life Success

Igniting the Fire Within: Professional SpeakerTraining 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


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Awakening the Champion:How to Think, Speak, and

Live Like aConqueror12 Proven Principles to Growing Your

Impact, Influence, and Income

LakeishaMcKnight


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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 CongressinPublications 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 MercurioCover design & Graphics by William Lee


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DedicationThis 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 willtouch 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 encour-

age 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.


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AcknowledgementsWithout 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.


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Contents

13 Foreword

15 Introduction21 Part I: The Rising Champion: Your Thoughts Set the

Foundation23 Chapter 1: Establish Stability

71 Chapter 2: Build a Power Corner

93 Chapter 3: Defend Yourself109 Chapter 4: Know and Face Your Opponent

119 Part II: More than a Winner: Foundation Sets Stagefor

Your Offensive Strategy121 Chapter 1: Obtain an Environmental Snapshot

141 Chapter 2: Develop Your Offensive Strategy

159 Chapter 3: Establish Your Delivery

197 Chapter 4: Take the Open Shot

203 Part III: Become an Overcomer: Strategically Livingto

Finish the Fight205 Chapter 1: Dont Waste Energy

227 Chapter 2: Breathe Properly

243 Chapter 3: Be Always Ready

257 Chapter 4: Give It Your All

270 Conclusion272 Action Plan290 Appendix292 Bonus Champion Guide


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Foreword by Vincent HarrisCHAMPIONS ARE NEVERremembered 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 onesbrain, 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 youname 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 achampion. 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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IntroductionIf 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 ALLto my ref lections on how to become a trueconqueror 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 easyand 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 champion

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 anddepression. 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 cantruly 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 haveto 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 yourhand, the irresistible surge of your will and your energy to

execute your ideas. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all prog-

ress! 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 Americanmultinational 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 distinguishesa 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.

awakening the champion book preview

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