Title: Preparing for Success After Prison
Author: Michael G. Santos
Date Read: 8/30 – 9/21/24
Why I Read:
A fell AIC was participating in the Peer Mentor group at my facility at FCI Aliceville. She knew I had a strong desire to change, but was unsure how to start the process. She recommended Mr. Santos Course.
What I learned:
The main thing I learned from this course is structure, which is the one thing I lacked my entire life. Mr. Santos provided me with an easy to understand guideline to follow to prepare for success.
One thing Mr. Santos referred to was how his decisions led him into a labyrinth. I can relate to this on a very personal level. Over half my life I have been wandering around this intricate labyrinth making wrong turn after wrong turn.Thankfully, because advice given by Mr Santos and lessons he learned from Masterminds, I have the tools needed to map my way to freedom. Now instead of learning from people of questionable character, I have the Mr. of learning from respectable leaders. To do this, I must reflect on my past decisions and connect the dots, so I know how my decisions led me to my current situation. I must aspire to what I want to become and then figure out the changes I need to make to reach my full potential.
I learned to use the Straight-A Guide to set goals and make sure they align with my values and definition of success. I must define what success looks like for me, create a plan, put my priorities in place, develop tools, tactics, and resources to help me excute my plan and hold myself accountable. I must stay in the mindset of success, make good choices, take incremental action steps, stay persistent, create accountability logs, and stay aware of new opportunities around me. I need to diligently work towards developing emotional intelligence, cultivating empathy, and continually strive for personal excellence. Most importantly, I must always remain in a state of gratitude and appreciation and keep a growth mindset.
How will completing the Preparing for Success After Prison Workbook contribute to my success upon release:
It has changed my entire outlook on life. I now am mindful of every single decision I make, who I surround myself with, and how I use all of my time. I have structure and an action plan. I am gaining self-confidence, which I have never had. The knowledge I obtained from this course has given me confidence and resources, tools and tactics to become a pursue becoming paralegal, and accomplish my goals of running my own halfway house and publishing a book in the future.
