INFLUENCES

Daily Blog

Our daily blog series shares actionable insights, stories of resilience, and practical strategies to help members of our community navigate and grow through challenging times.

Drawing on personal experience and the lessons I learned from leaders during my 26-year journey through federal prison, I write these daily entries. I hope they inspire, teach, and empower others who are a path to personal excellence and meaningful change.

Daily blog

From my mentors, I learned the power of memorializing the journey. By writing daily, we document our commitment to personal growth, inviting others to support and invest in our success. This daily discipline carried me through 9,500 days in federal prison, preparing me for the challenges I would face upon release.

Because I never ask anyone to do something I don’t practice myself, I continue this daily writing habit, even though I concluded my obligation to the Bureau of Prisons on August 12, 2013.

Click any entry below for real-time lessons on resilience, accountability, and personal development. If you have a loved one in prison, use them as prompts to motivate them to work on personal development.

Daily Journal Workbooks

Daily Journal Workbooks

Our workbooks prompt people inside to prepare for success upon release. Use them to develop self-advocacy assets.

Digital Economy Workbook

Digital Economy Workbook

Learn about cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, blockchain, and steps to prepare for digital economy.

Preparing for Success

Preparing for Success

This self-directed course offers suggestions people can use to adjust effectively while serving a sentence.

Success after Prison

Success after Prison

Shows the relationship of results after prison depend with the decisions a person makes whille serving the sentence.

Prison: My 8,344th Day

Prison: My 8,344th Day

Shares the strategy to make it through a single day in prison, focused on preparing for success.

Earning Freedom Description

Earning Freedom Description

Earning Freedom tells the story of 26 years I served in federal prison, showing the power of deliberate adjustment strategies.

Support Networks

Support Networks

Develop a support network in prison and rely upon that network to advocate for you. The network becomes an asset.

Codefendants in Prison

Codefendants in Prison

Codefendendants can influence prison adjustments. Learn strategies to adjust and cope.

Transfers in Prison

Transfers in Prison

Transfers in prison can lead a person closer to home. The process, however, can be cumbersome.

Never Split the Difference

Never Split the Difference

The author of Never Split the Difference successfully negotiated for the FBI, and he shares tactics that can help anyone.

Sentencing Memorandums

Sentencing Memorandums

The Supreme Court grants enormous discretion on the tactical decisions that defense attorneys make.

Mind Made up at Sentencing

Mind Made up at Sentencing

Even if you think the judge made his mind up at sentencing, work to advance your case for leniency.

$Navigating Disciplinary Infractions$

Navigating Disciplinary Infractions

Disciplinary infractions complicate a journey through federal prison. Before going in, learn how to respond.

Release Plan Excellence

Release Plan Excellence

Building an excellent release plan requires ongoing development, with iterative steps, that show incremental progress.

How Prison Professors Helps

How Prison Professors Helps

Take responsibility for personal growth and transformation. Learn how small, consistent actions lead to success.

Decisions After a Federal Conviction

Decisions After a Federal Conviction

After a federal conviction, consider opportunities to write the next chapter of your life.

Executive Clemency Preparation

Executive Clemency Preparation

To pursue executive clemency, start with a strategic plan. Then engineer the tactics that will advance you as a candidate for success.

Prison Designations

Prison Designations

Various factors influence the prison designation process. Regardless of the decisions that others make, prepare for success.

Collorations Build Strength

Collorations Build Strength

Focus on building relationships, leveraging collective strengths, and aligning goals to grow stronger.

Unlock Day: Edovo Foundation

Unlock Day: Edovo Foundation

Edovo goes a long way toward ending intergenerational cycles of recidivism with its platform that delivers educational content to people in prison.

Education in Prison

Education in Prison

Education can become a bridge for those seeking to turn challenges into opportunities.

Requesting Early Termination of Supervised Release

Requesting Early Termination of Supervised Release

Plans early and well to build a strong case for early termination of Supervised Release.

Not Guilty

Not Guilty

Those convicted at trial may face a more severe sentence compared to what they might have received through a plea deal.

Soft White Underbelly

Soft White Underbelly

Soft White Underbelly Interview: Obstacles as checkpoints—gather strength and commit to the pursuit of excellence.

Build Efficiency Systems

Build Efficiency Systems

Effective systems can transform your life, whether you're navigating adversity or striving to reach your next level of success.

Changing Priorities

Changing Priorities

Know when to shift your priorities to achieve personal growth and build esilience. Take consistent daily actions and build.

Unexpected Changes

Unexpected Changes

Turn unexpected life changes into stepping stones for success. Adopt the right mindset and build strong daily habits.

Supportive Networks

Supportive Networks

Approach others with honesty, openness, and a desire to improve. Many will respond by joining your support network.

Wealth Mindset

Wealth Mindset

Personal finance empowers individuals to make informed decisions, avoid debt traps, and build sustainable financial habits.

Get to Know Bitcoin

Get to Know Bitcoin

Learn about Bitcoin and the digital currency landscape to seize new opportunities and build financial literarcy.

Struggle and Success

Struggle and Success

With strategies for resilience, adversity becomes a stepping stone for personal growth.

Build Financial Success

Build Financial Success

True transformation happens when we hold ourselves accountable. Accountability logs allow us to monitor progress.

Get Financial Literacy

Get Financial Literacy

Improve your financial literacy and become independ. Invest in the future, where more opportunities exist than the past.

Your Personal Brand

Build a personal brand and create an asset to open doors, opportunities, and become an influential leader in your space.

Ferris Wheels and You

Ferris Wheels and You

The right decision at the wrong time is the wrong decision. Learn how to align action with timing for true success.

Self-Discipline

Self-Discipline

Anyone can transform difficult tasks into opportunities for growth and resilience with the right tools. Get self-discipline.

Habits

Habits

Cultivating daily habits can strengthen resilience. Resilience helps us overcome challenges and adapt to life's uncertainties.

Reframing

Reframing

Your mindset determines how you approach obstacles—do you see roadblocks, or do you see opportunities?

Visualize

Visualize

What does your ideal future look like, and what small steps can you take today to move closer to it?

Challenges

Challenges

Embrace adversity as a tool for growth. Successful people shift negative perspectives into empowering beliefs.

Stoicism Lessons

Stoicism Lessons

Ancient wisdom for modern success comes from Stoics. Get lessons to personal development and overcoming adversity.

Career Growth

Career Growth

Develop skills to tell your story effectively, always with the intention of building a compelling case to advance.

Mentor Help

Mentor Help

Great mentors provide guidance, accountability, and real-world wisdom to help navigate challenges.

Strategic Thinking

February 28, 2025

Strategic Thinking

Anyone can get through crisis by developing the art of strategic thinking. We have examples all around us.

Success Systems

February 27, 2025

Success Systems

Success is intentional. Use the Straight-A Guide to build a self-directed future. Make life happen.

Resilience

February 26, 2025

Resilience

Anyone can build resilience Learn how Mandela, Frankl, and my journey. Turn obstacles into opportunities for success.

Discipline

February 25, 2025

Discipline

Discipline separates success from struggle. Don’t search for motivation—make a daily commitment to consistent action.

Set Goals

February 25, 2025

Set Goals

Success starts inside. Set clear goals, break them into action steps, and track daily. Your future depends on what you do today.

Tenacity

February 23, 2025

Tenacity

Getting through challenging times requires us to be tenacious, committed to our preparations and the plans we make.

Getting it Done

February 22, 2025

Getting it Done

Procrastination brings the opposite of confidence. Start getting things done, today. Restore strength.

Execute

February 21, 2025

Execute

Success requires planning, prioritizing, and executing. Take small steps consistently and get results.

Resilience

February 20, 2025

Resilience

Remember that gold is tested through the fire of adversity—humans are also tested in times of crisis.

Track Progress

February 19, 2025

Track Progress

If you're not measuring daily progress, you may not find the many opportunities that are available to grow.

Resources

February 18, 2025

Resources

MacGyver taught us that regardless of crises we face, we can always build resources that help us recalibrate.

Tactics

February 17, 2025

Tactics

A good strategy should lead to higher prospects of success, and a good strategy also needs good tactics.

Tools

February 16, 2025

Tools

Think of life as a challenge that you have to overcome. What tools can you develop to reach your highest potential?

Prioritize

February 15, 2025

Prioritize

To build potential, take the right steps at the right time. Incremental steps lead to new opportunities.

Procedures

February 14, 2025

Procedures

Pursuing excellence requires a daily commitment to the pathway that will take us to a higher potential, to better outcomes.

Be Intentional

February 13, 2025

Be Intentional

Take steps every day to reach your highest potential. Succeed as you define success, building innovative solutions.

Planning

February 12, 2025

Planning

If we look into the future, and see the person we want to become, we can more easily lay out a plan that will take us there.

Build a Board

February 11, 2025

Build a Board

More skills lead to more opportunities. Build your group of advisors to help you reach your highest potential.

12 Steps

February 10, 2025

12 Steps

We all face problems, and when we can empower ourselves when we focus on the incremental steps that will lead to solutions.

Mitigation

February 9, 2025

Mitigation

Strength comes when we accept that more challenges and crises will come. Build mitigation strategies to restore confidence.

Foundations

February 8, 2025

Foundations

By willing to adjust the foundation you lay while architecting your future. Every decision should lead to incremental progress.

Mentors

February 7, 2025

Mentors

Consider all you can learn from the people around you, and the authors you read. Make them your mentors.

Think Independently

February 6, 2025

Think Independently

Anyone can find an expert to express one side of an idea. Think independently, and own all that comes with your decisions.

Preparation

February 5, 2025

Preparation

While living in crisis, it's easy to get lost in the moment. Train to look five years out and build strength to change.

Ups and Downs

February 4, 2025

Ups and Downs

Charts don't always move up and to the right. Markets can turn. If we're making principled decisions, we can stay the course.

Asking for Help

February 3, 2025

Asking for Help

Before asking for help, we should introspect on what we want, and what makes a candidate worthy of asking.

Creating Systems

February 2, 2025

Creating Systems

We may not have tools or resources. Yet we can always create systems that will make us more efficient and profitable.

Measure Progress

February 1, 2025

Measure Progress

We should measure our daily progress toward the goals we set. Then, each month, we can review whether we're on track.

Retirement

January 31, 2025

Retirement

Don't depend on the government to provide you with a comfortable retirement. Depend on yourself.

Movement

January 30, 2025

Movement

To start a movement, find something that you want to devote your life to improving. Then apply yourself with 100% commitment.

Inspiring Change

January 29, 2025

Inspiring Change

To be the change we want to see, we all have to take a position and begin spreading the ideas for something better.

Challenges

January 28, 2025

Challenges

Build confidence by creating plans. Regardless of external influence, keep building and you'll crreate opportunities.

Perspective

January 27, 2025

Perspective

We must train ourselves to accept that the world isn't always the way we want it to be. Perspective builds strength.

Adversity

January 26, 2025

Adversity

Just as with gold, we all get tested through the fire of adversity. Never stop building. Create more opportunities.

UC Berkeley Interns

January 25, 2025

UC Berkeley Interns

Before we can ask others to join our mission, or invest in our vision, we've got to invest in ourselves.

Pardon

January 24, 2025

Pardon

Ross Ulbricht pursued excellence every day, even in the face of a life sentence. His perseverance led to a Presidential pardon.

Appreciation

January 23, 2025

Appreciation

If we appreciate the blessings that come our way, we live in gratitude. When we live in gratitude, more opportunities open.

Achievement

January 22, 2025

Achievement

Earning $1 million in a month begins with tiny, incremental achievements. Those steps may begin in a solitary cell.

Authenticity

January 21, 2025

Authenticity

Learn from authentic leaders. They will show you the work that they do to reach the success they achieve.

Awareness

January 20, 2025

Awareness

To reach a higher potential, we've got to stay aware of opportunities, keeping our head in the game every day.

Accountability

January 19, 2025

Accountability

By developing our accountability logs, we create assets that enhance our ability to get the results we want. To succeed, use them.

Action

January 18, 2025

Action

When we're in a crisis and we want to emerge successfully, we should ask how bad we want to succeed. Then we must act.

Aspiration

January 17, 2025

Aspiration

Even when we feel trapped, figuratively or literally, aspiring to something bigger than ourselves can light the path forward.

Attitude

January 16, 2025

Attitude

To reach your highest potential, consider steps you can take to become the best in the world at what you do.

Set Goals

January 15, 2025

Set Goals

If we're committed to forward progress, and climbing our way into new opportunities, we should adjust our goals regularly.

Define Success

January 14, 2025

Define Success

We can climb our way out of crises if we start by defining success. Meditate on the best possible outcome.

No Banks

January 13, 2025

No Banks

Regardless of where we are, we'll have to cope with inefficiencies and frustrations. We should expect more to come.

Selling Toilets

January 12, 2025

Selling Toilets

Choosing one path to reach a higher potential should put us into positions that lead to new opportunities that we can seize.

Ripple Effects

January 11, 2025

Ripple Effects

When we take little steps each day that align with the ways we define success, more opportunities open.

Opportunity Costs

January 10, 2025

Opportunity Costs

Sow seeds every day with the intention of growing new opportunities that lead to more fulfillment and brighter future.

Goals and Failure

January 9, 2025

Goals and Failure

We may fail to achieve incremental goals, but we can always adjust and work toward the goal we set out to achieve.

Overcoming Crisis

January 8, 2025

Overcoming Crisis

Lessons from Mandela, Frankl, Gandhi, Socrates, and others apply to us all—not only people in prison.

Creating Meaning

January 7, 2025

Creating Meaning

Life and markets bring us many challenges. By living intentionally, we focus on the future, helping us build.

Strength in Crisis

January 6, 2025

Strength in Crisis

Many people have lived through enormous challenges, but by investing in themselves, left meaningful contributions to the world.

Straight-A Guide

January 5, 2025

Straight-A Guide

A values-based, goal-oriented strategy will lead to a life of meaning and purpose, even while living in crisis.

Social Contracts

January 4, 2025

Social Contracts

The social contract helps us understand our role in working toward projects that are bigger than our life.

Being Intentional

January 3, 2025

Being Intentional

Getting what we want out of life requires us to be very intentional about our daily choices and actions.

Master-Classes in Self-Advocacy

Restoring confidence begins by living as the CEO of your life.

Embrace this mindset by setting clear goals, prioritizing effectively, and developing the right tools, tactics, and resources.

When we consistently demonstrate our commitment to excellence, we build credibility, trust, and essential support. This strategy transformed my journey, and it can transform yours.

Influences

Memorialize the mentors, advisors, and influencers who inspired you to prepare for success. Build assets to advance your efforts in self-advocacy.

Daily Blog

If you write regularly, others will see that you're different from the people who talk about wanting to be successful. Show that you're for real.

Accountability

Create tools to measure your progress. The accountability logs that you build demonstrate that you understand the power of incremental growth.

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