Becoming Your Own Champion

EVENT

I

INTRODUCTION

Most people never live up to their potential. They just drift along day in and day out and call it living the dream. I have worked many years in sales, customer service, and maintenance, and many times when I’ve asked people, What’s going on? they sarcastically reply, Oh, you know, just living the dream. In reality, they’re just trying to get through the day. One of my favorite replies is when I ask someone, How are you doing? they reply, Just hanging in there. What a horrible way to go through life, barely hanging on by a shoestring! That’s the Eeyore approach to life. Eeyore the donkey, a character from Winnie-the-Pooh, is the classic gloom-and-doom, super-depressed, pessimistic, President of the Ain’t It Awful Club!

Seventy percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. In debt up to their eyeballs, they are stressed out, have no time for family, have no plan, and are just drifting through life. The stress and tension in their lives is tighter than a mosquito’s butt stretched over a rain barrel. Now that is stress! That’s not living a championship life like you’ve dreamed about.

Is this a picture of you and your situation? Are you that person who is in the Ain’t It Awful Club? Are you living the Eeyore lifestyle? Are you the one who goes to the local coffee shop complaining about everything and everyone? What are you doing to change things? Anything? Do you blame everyone for everything, or are you accepting 100 percent responsibility for everything going on in your life? The 2016 Presidential election was the biggest political upset in Presidential history. Which side of that were you on? Guess what—it doesn’t matter. You know why? Neither candidate was or is going to help you. For God’s sake, don’t leave it up to the politicians and Presidents to change your life. You get to do that. It’s your time to declare a championship season and become the champion in your own life.

I feel your pain. I have been in your shoes. I have made lots of mistakes and had to pay what Dave Ramsey calls a Stupid Tax for the mistakes I have made. I know what it is like to be chosen last on the playground and to be the underdog, the underachiever, and the average best of the worst, worst of the best. However, I have learned ways to overcome the setbacks and face the obstacles head on. Now I want to help you get out of your own way so you can live the life you deserve.

My purpose in writing this book is to use my humor and enthusiasm to inspire you to enjoy life, develop your personality with high self-esteem, and achieve peak performance so you can feel and do your best. In this book, you will learn how to:

Surround yourself with greatness

Control your self-talk and talk to win

Act on great ideas

Do the right thing

Cultivate an attitude of gratitude

Become an uncommon leader

Succeed in sales because we are all in the people business.

Rekindle your dream.

Life is a gift to be enjoyed, not a sentence to serve. When you pick up the tools and techniques offered in this book, you will have doors open for you that you never knew existed. You will become the champion of your life. You will learn to experience life like you never dreamed possible. If you are married, that relationship will change for the better; you will become a better spouse, friend, worker, and parent. It’s time to stop watching reality TV and create your own reality with you as the champion.

That’s a big promise. Remember I just said I have made a ton of mistakes. That is so true. I still don’t have all the answers. I am learning and growing nearly every single day, and that by itself is very powerful. But I have a long way to grow; that is why I want to help, mentor, and guide you. I had every chance in life to head down the wrong path. I could have been killed at a very young age. I could have been a raging alcoholic. I had lots of bad influences and stood at the crossroads of good and evil. I am not a big shot; I am a little shot who kept shooting. I grew up in Big Timber, a small town in Montana. I was the last of ten kids who lived in a 900-square foot house with one tiny bathroom with a shower small enough that you could just soap down the walls and turn in circles to get clean. We didn’t have money, but I didn’t even realize that for a long time. I have learned that you get to write your own story of success.

I have a BA in Mass Communication and Public Information from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. I am the only one in my family who chose to go to college. I am a devoted husband and father of two sons; I always say that being a father is one of the greatest things I will ever do in my life. My wife and I do not feel our kids are an inconvenience to us; they mean the world to us, and with them, we are changing our family tree forever in many wonderful ways. We have a family life and marriage that most only dream about. You can have that too, but you must approach each day with confidence and intention.

I have been blessed to learn leadership skills at different levels throughout my life. In high school, I was the president of five offices and once a vice president. College was one of the greatest turning points in my life. At the International Air Academy in Vancouver, Washington in 1991, I was the president of the class and the school. In 2003, I entered an international speech contest in Toastmasters International. Well over 25,000 contestants worldwide entered the contest. I placed second in the regional contest in Winnipeg, Canada. Had I placed first, I would have been on the world championship stage. So that year I was in the top twenty public speakers in the Toastmasters’ world. I have years of trial and error experiences and many advanced degrees from the University of Hard Knocks. I am excited to teach, guide, coach, and mentor you to become the champion you were meant to be. There is an incredible life out there that you are already part of. Let me teach you how to expand, enjoy, and appreciate it with the process I have discovered. You can be the champion of your own life. It’s not me who is great; it’s the process I have used and will share with you that will take you where you want to go.

I understand fully that life can get in the way. Trust me; I was a master at excuses. I could write a book about procrastination because I have a Ph.D. in it. That’s why I can help you. I have made a lot of mistakes, but I know how to come out from the underdog position. I know life can be tough. None of us are in the clear of a major disaster hitting us and our family. We all have our own mountains to climb and things we are not proud of. So what! That was yesterday. Today is a new day, so don’t live in the past. If you want to peek in the rearview mirror, you can, but only take a peek because even that can slow you down. Start a new day with new thoughts and higher expectations; just make slight adjustments as often as you can, and then things will begin to work for you.

I am ready to coach you to the top of your game. You can have a better life. You can be, do, and have more than you ever thought possible. Taking baby steps is the key. Day by day. As you are reading this book, you will soon realize that if I can do it, so can you. You will gain all the pieces necessary and a plan to put them into action to change your life. I will mentor you through your challenges and teach you how to stay inspired. Stand on my shoulders and learn from my flaws, my frustrations, and my firsts.

Are you ready to win? Are you ready to create happiness? This book will be your playbook for becoming the champion of your own life. Now is your time; make it happen today. There are no guarantees for how long you will be around, so start now. Don’t die with your music still in you. If you make the change that will help you now, you can make a generational shift that will influence everyone around you. It’s your time! Let’s go!



Duane Martinz

1

EMBRACING LIFE

Success is not only the financial wealth you accumulate, it is also about being a leader, improving your relationships, living healthfully, and making a real difference in the world.

— Darren Hardy

Life Is a Gift to Be Enjoyed, Not a Sentence to Serve

How do you look at your life? Do you just try to make it through the day? Do you spend most of your waking hours wishing things were different? Many of us live like we are serving a lifetime sentence without parole. Get a grip! Life can be more; life is incredible. Stop wishing it away and waiting for the next so called big event to happen. Most of the time the big event is nothing earth-shattering, but you think it will somehow change your life. Here is the deal: The next event isn’t going to change anything until you change your philosophy on what your life is about.

It is best to enjoy your life every day. We often forget the fact that none of us knows how long we get to hang around on this planet. We are frequently reminded of how fragile life can be, but yet we somehow forget that that fragility relates to us. Then we are shocked when tragedy strikes close by. We swear, This time I will change. I am going to start to live my life with purpose and be focused on what is important. Then, within a few days or a week, we are back to our old habits.

Your days are numbered; you just don’t know the count. That’s why you must do your best to enjoy the day you are living right now. We are all too familiar with the stories of people who lived the good life and were taken away from us way too soon. One of my great friends was the perfect example of this. Lane was a great employee, supervisor, friend, and just an all-around incredible lady. She was a great spiritual person, ate right, exercised, and did everything in moderation (except work; she was a workaholic). She was the closest thing to perfect, but she was taken away by cancer. No rhyme or reason. My sister Diane was taken from my family at the age of eighteen by a car accident. We all have limited time. We all have stories like this that make us think we are going to change the way we do things. Remember to go out and do the things you enjoy because you may only have a few times left to enjoy that activity. If you like to fish but you only get out a few times each summer, you may only have a few times left. I enjoy flying, but I only get to fly once in a while. Who knows? I may only have a few flights left.

What would be most important to you if you were told you only had six months to live? What would you do? Who would you want to be around? Where would you spend your time? Think about these questions; once you figure out their answers (sooner than later), go to work to make them happen right now. Don’t wait any longer. You have already waited too long and used too many excuses. Just go out and do the things you want to do. Live your life to the fullest. I once saw a video of an elderly lady who was in a nursing home. Her advice was Just live. Just live your life.

Exercise

So how are you going to look at your life—as a gift to be enjoyed or a sentence to be served? Write down the top three things you would do if you were given six months to live.



Now, you better get busy and check off those three things because time is ticking.

Becoming a Reverse Paranoid

Twentieth-century businessman, philanthropist, and self-help author W. Clement Stone was a reverse paranoid. In other words, he thought everything and everyone was out to help him and do him good. Talk about a cool thing to think.

I know people who think just the opposite. They believe everyone is out to get them. Everything is a government conspiracy. Those same people will sit in coffee shops and restaurants around the world and sing the blues: It isn’t fair! Everybody owes me a living. It doesn’t matter what they are talking about, they are not happy. They will snivel while complaining I can never catch a break. I have been in those coffee houses across the nation and listened to many such people. If you hang around that crowd, it takes no time at all before you are feeling down on yourself and your circumstances. Be aware of whom you associate with. We’ll look at this topic more closely in a later chapter.

How about claiming that everything that happens to you is for a great reason—to move you forward and closer and closer to your goal and the person you want to be. Think like W. Clement Stone. Everyone is out to help you and do you good.

Being Shot (A Close Call)

Have you counted your blessings lately? Have you ever had an experience that could have ended in a tragedy? Why were you spared? Think back on what one or several of those moments would have been for you. You’re lucky, aren’t you?

Just like you, several times I have been spared from what could have been a tragedy or serious injury. In the summer before my freshman year of high school, I was injured in a shooting accident. Nothing dramatic. My friend Nicki and I were out shooting .22 rifles. Before we drove out of town, we stopped at the Fort sporting goods store in Big Timber to pick up some hollow point shells; they really explode when they hit the target. The Fort was out of them, so we asked for some .22 bird shot, which shoots tiny BBs. Fortunately for me, they were also out of those, so we just had to use the old reliable lead point wildcats.

We were at a gravel pit looking for birds when my friend’s gun went off and shot me at point blank range in the left thigh. I was able to walk back to the car, which was about a half-mile away. We rushed to the community hospital where the doctor determined that the bullet had not hit any bone. My family said that was a miracle because at that age, I was nothing but skin and bones. I also had no damage to any arteries, just the muscle. I was extremely lucky because a few years later in the same small town, two cousins who had been hunting stopped to eat at a restaurant, and when they came out, the rifle in the front seat of the car slid over, went off, and ended one of their lives.

Why are we sometimes spared when others are not? Well, there is no known explanation. But maybe if you’ve been in this situation, it’s because there is more for you to do on this earth before you expire. So get going. We don’t know when it’s our time. The only promise I can make about life is that none of us is going to get out of it alive. So get cracking on creating the life you want and the way you want to be remembered.

2

DECLARING A CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

Whatever you are, be a good one.

— Abraham Lincoln

Lessons from Abraham Lincoln

I have been a very avid goal setter and student of personal growth and development since 1985. I have an ongoing thirst for knowledge. While writing this book, I learned that many of the things I once wrote about, dreamed about, and talked about, I am now living or have experienced.

I have also failed miserably on many of my goals—some I gave up on; some I did not pursue. Some goals were forgotten or just became less important. And some I still want to achieve.

Have you ever set a goal? I mean actually been