While incarcerated, I met many people who were extraordinarily successful before their arrest. Yet the challenges that come from being separated from family were too much. Those challenges brought anxiety, leaving them incapable of building paths to success in federal prison, or in preparing for the success they wanted after release.
Don’t let a single crisis derail you from reaching your highest potential.
I began my serving a 45-year federal prison sentence when I was 23. I hadn’t achieved much of anything before my arrest. I had graduated from high school with mediocre grades. Not long after, I began pursuing a path that led to my incarceration.
While in solitary confinement, after a jury convicted me, I realized that the decisions I made moving forward would shape the rest of my life, inside and outside those walls. The system feels designed to obliterate hope. Yet with a deliberate plan, a person can begin building a pathway to something better.
What worked for me?
I learned from leaders who taught me how to change the way I think. I’ve since created a body of work to teach those concepts on developing the “CEO mindset.” Through careful planning and action, a person can transform time into something purposeful, paving the way to new opportunities that may not seem possible at the start.
Small, intentional steps can redefine your future during and after incarceration.
Leading with a Plan
When I transitioned to a high-security U.S. penitentiary after my sentencing, I could see that prison wasn’t designed for “corrections.” To get over the challenges, I drew inspiration from Socrates. Reading about his life helped me ask better questions. Through introspection, I could consider all the influences and bad decisions that led me to prison. Then, I could plan how to build a better future:
- What impression do I want to make on the people I’m going to meet in the future?
- How can build a body of work or accomplishments that will persuade others to believe in me?
- What resources can I leverage around me?
This simple mindset shift pushed me to focus on what I could do, regardless of external influences. I set clear goals with my threefold plan:
Pursue Education
I hadn’t excelled in school before my arrest, but I knew education could open doors. I set goals to work toward university degrees. By earning academic credentials, I hoped to persuade more people to believe in me.
Develop a Body of Work
I wanted to prove to society that I wasn’t just defined by my crime. Over time, I authored articles, wrote books, and created programs within the prison system. These efforts demonstrated my capacity to contribute meaningfully. They led to building credibility and opened income opportunities upon release.
Build Support Networks
Relationships became a critical component. Through my work, I found mentors, friends, and others who would join my efforts to advocate for the highest level of liberty, at the soonest time.
Rather than seeing the system as insurmountable, I saw it as a series of challenges to tackle systematically.
I encourage others to assess where they are today, and come up with a plan that will lead to what they want to become in five years, 10 years, or by the end of the sentence. The choices you make now can set that trajectory.
Adjusting Your Environment
Structure within prison matters. The environment pushes individuals to conform to unproductive norms, such as aligning with certain groups or getting carried into the political dynamics of the yard. Early on, I avoided the issues that might entangle me.
We have to deal with the good and the bad. During my sixth year inside, one prisoner murdered another near where I stood. Those kinds of setbacks can rattle us, but we’ve got to stay on focus, working through our plan.
Every prison environment is different. Some focus on rehabilitative programs, while others don’t seem to provide anything useful. Regardless of what the system offers, build a plan that will allow you to grow. A person can always work to:
- Develop a more robust vocabulary
- Improve writing skills
- Work on math skills
- Teach others
- Memorialize the journey by building a profile on Prison Professors Talent
- Build a support network
- Create business plans
Build Advocacy Assets Early
Advocacy assets are practical resources you can create now to influence how people see and treat you both during and after your prison term.
You don’t necessarily need to write a book or get a master’s degree to get people to believe in you. Start with one question, “What actions will make me more credible and trustworthy to the people evaluating my case?” For instance:
- Look for productive programs available while in custody (education, vocational training, etc.).
- Use free resources to develop skills or knowledge that strengthen your credibility.
- Document your progress in a professional, transparent way. Everything you do should be intentional and aimed at creating a record of growth.
Remember, your future is built incrementally. Small wins today can change the outcome later.
Build credibility through measurable actions. From the moment charges are brought against you, every step matters in reshaping how others perceive you.
Take responsibility. Start early. And above all, remember that no one should work harder on your future than you.
To help guide your path forward, use the free resources available at Prison Professors. Tools to strengthen your advocacy or build your credibility are available, and they won’t cost you a cent.
