Success comes from deliberate planning, disciplined execution, and personal responsibility. Too many people wait for external changes—a new law, a lucky break, or someone else’s approval. Or they make excuses. In contrast, successful individuals take control of their journey by following a structured, self-directed approach.
While in prison, one of my mentors encouraged me to write a framework. I took him up on the challenge and came up with a project I called the Straight-A Guide. It’s a personal accountability system that anyone can follow to build a meaningful life, no matter the obstacles. It revolves around a few key principles, including: Attitude, Aspiration, Action, Accountability, Awareness, and Authenticity.
1. Attitude: Control Your Mindset
Your mindset will determine whether you move forward or remain stuck. Challenges will always exist, but how you respond to them makes all the difference. In prison, I knew people who:
- Waited for the system to change—they blamed others, made excuses, and wasted time.
- Work within their reality—they accepted responsibility and took action.
The second group built skills, found mentors, and created opportunities—even in the most restrictive conditions. That’s the power of attitude.
Your Takeaway: Choose a mindset that aligns with success. Complaining and resentment don’t change outcomes—only preparation and execution do.
2. Aspiration: Set Clear, Ambitious Goals
Once you have the right attitude, the next step is setting clear aspirations. Without goals, motivation fades, and progress stalls. While incarcerated, I set ambitious but achievable milestones:
- Earn a college degree.
- Write and publish books.
- Build a network with business leaders and educators.
- Develop a plan to succeed upon release.
These aspirations gave me a reason to wake up every morning with purpose.
Your Takeaway: Set meaningful goals that challenge you to grow. Identify what you want to achieve, then break it down into smaller, manageable steps.
3. Action: Take Steps Every Day
Planning and goals mean nothing without action. Progress happens through daily, measurable steps. I committed to:
- Reading and writing for several hours each day.
- Completing coursework to earn my degrees.
- Writing letters to potential mentors and supporters.
- Staying physically active to maintain discipline.
Over time, these small actions compounded into significant accomplishments.
Your Takeaway: Identify the daily habits that move you closer to your goals. Commit to them consistently, regardless of circumstances.
4. Accountability: Measure Your Progress
Success requires personal accountability. If you don’t track your progress, you won’t know what’s working and what needs adjustment. I kept journals to measure my growth, documented my work, and created plans with clear benchmarks. By holding myself accountable, I ensured that I stayed on track.
Your Takeaway: Regularly assess your progress. Are your actions aligning with your goals? If not, adjust your strategy and keep moving forward.
5. Awareness: Define Success on Your Terms
Every journey starts with understanding where you are and where you want to go. Success isn’t the same for everyone—it depends on your values, circumstances, and goals. When I was sentenced to 45 years in prison, I had to define success differently than someone on the outside. Instead of focusing on release dates or external changes, I asked:
- What can I control?
- What kind of life do I want to build?
- How can I use this time productively?
Meditating on those questions helped me keep my head in the game, always aware of opportunities I could seize or create. Simultaneously, others became aware of me, and many invested in me to help me reach a higher potential.
Your Takeaway: Success starts with clarity. Take time to reflect on what you want and why it matters. Without a clear definition, it’s easy to drift aimlessly.
6. Authenticity: Be for Real
If you’re striving to reach a higher potential, as I was, you’ve got to show your work. I encourage people to memorialize the journey. It’s one of the reasons our nonprofit built PrisonProfessorsTalent.com, a platform to help people in prison show all the ways that they’re using time inside to prepare for success.
But people in the real world have other vehicles to show the ways that they’re sowing seeds today to build a better life tomorrow. Anyone with access to the Web can use Linked In, or, as I do, they can write a daily blog–showing commitment to a pursuit of excellence.
Final Thoughts: The Straight-A Guide Works in Any Situation
No matter where you are—prison, college, a struggling business, or a new career—you can take ownership of your future. The Straight-A Guide keeps people working toward intentional choices that accelerate progress toward success.
- Attitude: Control your mindset.
- Aspiration: Set meaningful goals.
- Action: Take daily steps.
- Accountability: Measure progress and adjust.
- Awareness: Keep your head in the game.
- Authenticity: Be for real.
Those who follow this framework build opportunities for themselves—just as I did.
Self-Directed Question:
- How can you apply the Straight-A Guide to take control of your future, regardless of your current circumstances?
