Develop the Right Attitude

If a person wants to succeed in prison, or anywhere else, he must begin with the right attitude.

That statement may sound simple, but I do not use the word attitude the way many people use it. I am not talking about mood. I am not talking about personality. I am not talking about smiling through hardship or pretending that prison is easier than it is. In the Straight-A Guide, attitude means making a 100 percent commitment to success, as the person defines success.

That distinction is crucial for a person who is self-directed and focused on becoming the CEO of his life.

A person can define success clearly. He can build a plan. He can set goals that make sense. Yet if he lacks the right attitude, the plan does not deliver the result. Goals become platitudes rather than meaningful, action-oriented steps. The record never develops. A person with the wrong attitude may become discouraged, bitter, passive, resentful, or trapped in excuses. A person with the right attitude continues moving forward, even when the environment offers little encouragement.

Defining success and setting goals are the prerequisites of the Straight-A Guide. The right attitude helps a person stay committed to those goals when the journey becomes difficult.

Attitude Is Measured by Commitment

In our course, we measure the right attitude by commitment.

If a person defines success and then makes a 100 percent commitment to that definition, he is showing the right attitude. The world around him may not change quickly. Other people may not recognize the work he is doing. The prison environment may remain negative, hostile, or discouraging. Yet he continues adjusting in ways that align with his plan.

That is the right attitude.

The right attitude does not mean:

• waiting for others to become fair,

• complaining until conditions improve,

• blaming the system for every setback,

• or expecting progress to come without effort.

The right attitude means:

• changing what can be changed,

• accepting what cannot yet be changed,

• and continuing to build with discipline.

That way of thinking harmonizes with the Serenity Prayer. It also aligns with the lessons I learned from leaders who taught me that growth begins within. If I wanted a better future, I had to stop waiting for prison to become easier. I had to become stronger.

Faith Gave Me a Different Measure of Attitude

My understanding of attitude began with faith.

As I wrote earlier, during my first year in solitary, I had the Bible to read. It helped me understand and accept that God wants us to live as servant leaders, always developing. If we develop ourselves, more opportunities can come our way. If we fail to develop, or if we live as victims, making excuses for what we cannot achieve, we lessen the likelihood of growth and opportunity.

That understanding influenced my attitude.

I came to see that developing the right attitude required discipline. I hated being in prison, but that did not matter. I had to live in the world as it existed rather than as I wanted it to be. That commitment could become a pathway to showing God, myself, and the world around me that I would continue developing, regardless of conditions. I had made bad decisions that led to the loss of liberty. I lost my money, I lost my girl, and I lost my ability to live independently. The system controlled what I ate, when I ate, what I wore, and with whom I could communicate. Yet I still had responsibility. If I worked on the gifts that remained within my control, I believed more opportunities could come in the future.

This was not optimism detached from effort. It was discipline rooted in stewardship.

Prison Brings Pressures That Can Influence Attitude

Prison pressures attitude every day.

A person in prison will deal with:

• disappointment, apathy, and indifference,

• distance from family,

• rules that seem arbitrary,

• people who complain constantly,

• lowered expectations,

• delays in every process,

• and a culture that celebrates mediocrity.

If a person is not intentional, that environment can shape the way he thinks. He may begin to believe that complaint is wisdom, that bitterness is realism, and that lowered expectations are a reasonable response to confinement.

I understand how those patterns develop. Prison can exhaust anyone, especially if a person does not know how to live intentionally and deliberately. If he surrenders his attitude to the environment, he weakens his prospects for success.

That is why attitude is crucial. A disciplined attitude helps a person keep asking:

• What am I building here, and what have I gotten done?

• How should I respond to complications and obstacles, because more will come?

• What would a person with a 100 percent commitment to success do next?

• What should my written record reveal about the way I handle adversity?

Those questions pull a person out of reaction and back into self-governance.

Jim Collins and the Flywheel

Years after my first lessons in solitary, I continued studying leaders and ideas that could help me build a stronger life. One of the writers who influenced me was Jim Collins in Good to Great.

Collins taught me that great results do not usually come from one dramatic breakthrough. They come from sustained effort applied consistently over time. His analogy of the flywheel helped me understand the role of attitude. A person pushes and pushes, and at first the wheel seems not to move very much. But each disciplined push builds on the last. Over time, momentum grows.

That idea helped me think differently about prison.

I knew prison would be hard. I knew I would not receive immediate rewards for many of the decisions I was making. Decades might pass before I saw results. Still, if I kept reading, writing, documenting, preparing, and building relationships, those efforts would accumulate. The right attitude meant continuing to push even when results were not yet visible.

Collins also wrote about a BHAG, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. That concept helped me think beyond my own discomfort. If a person works toward something bigger than his own immediate gratification, he gains a stronger reason to endure hardship and remain disciplined.

Those ideas strengthened the practical side of serving God.

The Right Attitude Is Not the Same as Denial

The right attitude does not mean pretending the system is fair, that prison is easy, or that setbacks do not matter. Discipline begins with realism, but a person with the right attitude does not allow hardship to define the limits of his effort.

Some people hear language about attitude and think it means superficial positivity. In the context of the Straight-A Guide, the right attitude means:

• accepting reality,

• refusing victim thinking,

• staying committed to growth,

• and continuing to do the work.

It is one of the clearest ways a person can show maturity.

Josh Smith as a Contemporary Example

The right attitude is not only something I learned from historical figures or from books written long ago. I have also seen it validated in the life of leaders who are with us today. One example is Josh Smith, the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

Josh's story reinforces my belief that the harder a person works on himself, the more opportunities can open. By the time Josh was 16, he had accumulated ten felonies. He went to federal prison as a young man. While inside, he made a choice to learn from leaders around him. They taught him to focus on what he could become rather than letting his past define his future.

I have had opportunities to participate in several presentations with Josh, and I admire the way he speaks about his faith in Christ. While incarcerated, that faith led to a turning point in his development of the right attitude. Instead of dwelling on the fact that he had a difficult youth, or that his family was living in poverty while he served his sentence, he made a commitment to change. He worked toward personal development and an extraordinary work ethic. Rather than simply waiting for calendar pages to turn, he invested energy to learn from the people around him and from the books he read. From bankers who were serving time, he learned about credit. From investors, he learned about real estate and stocks.

Those lessons, together with the right attitude, helped him overcome the complications and collateral consequences of a criminal conviction. During the first decade after his release, he went from poverty to founding an enormously successful business. He created jobs for people who, like him, had come out of prison. His attitude helped him become a millionaire investor. With wealth, he developed new skills, such as earning licenses to fly both airplanes and helicopters, and he eventually became an owner of both.

What inspired me most is that instead of choosing a life of leisure, he chose a life of service, accepting a position of leadership within one of the most troubled agencies in the U.S. government, the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Josh's life story validates a lesson I learned from many leaders: the harder a person works on himself, the more opportunities may open. Start by defining success, set goals, and then demonstrate commitment with the right attitude. Without the right attitude, the effort collapses before it compounds.

Attitude Becomes Visible Over Time

The right attitude should show up in:

• the way a person writes,

• the way he reflects on setbacks,

• the books he chooses to read,

• the way he updates his release plan,

• the consistency of his journal entries,

• and the seriousness with which he develops his biography and profile.

A person may claim to have the right attitude. The record should show whether that claim is true.

If a person's journals are filled only with complaint, blame, or passivity, the writing reveals something about attitude.

If the journals show discipline, reflection, honesty, and effort, they reveal something else.

If the biography shows denial, others will see it.

If the biography shows accountability and growth, others will see that as well.

Over time, attitude becomes visible in conduct and in the written record. Our attitude can also influence the opportunities that open for us.

Attitude and the Profile

The profile is one of the best tools a person can use to show the right attitude.

By developing a profile over time, a person shows that he is intrinsically motivated. He is not waiting for a program to do the work for him. He is carving his own path.

His biography can show that he has reflected on how earlier decisions led to the current predicament.

His journals can show how he responds to setbacks, frustrations, and daily stress.

The books he chooses to read show a commitment to self-directed learning.

A release plan can show how he intends to carry disciplined thinking into future challenges, including through a continuous SWOT analysis.

All of those records can show whether the person's attitude aligns with the way he says he defines success.

That is why I encourage readers to ask:

• What does my written record reveal about my attitude?

• Do my journals show discipline or complaint?

• Does my writing reflect bitterness, or does it reflect a commitment to growth?

Attitude Protects the Future

The right attitude does more than help a person feel better today. It protects the future he is trying to build.

The criminal justice system tests patience. It tests discipline. It tests whether a person can continue doing meaningful work when recognition is delayed. A weak attitude may cause him to abandon the plan as soon as results come slowly. A strong attitude helps him keep building.

That is why attitude matters at every stage:

• before sentencing,

• before surrender,

• during confinement,

• and while preparing for release.

Circumstances change. The need for the right attitude does not.

Self-Directed Questions

1. How do I usually respond to adversity?

2. In what ways is my attitude helping or harming my future?

3. What patterns of complaint, passivity, or bitterness should I confront honestly?

4. What would disciplined attitude look like in the stage of life I am in now?

5. What lessons from faith, from books, or from leaders have helped me build a stronger attitude?

6. What does my written record reveal about the way I respond to setbacks and pressure?

7. How can I show, through my conduct and my profile, that I am making a 100 percent commitment to success?

The right attitude is not a mood. It is not a slogan. It is the disciplined decision to keep adjusting, building, and preparing in ways that align with the future you say you want to create.