January 12, 2026: Monday

While setting up the new home studio, I’m learning a great deal about the importance of workflow. Later this week I’m expecting to receive resources that will help us produce daily content. It’s all part of a commitment to provide resources every day to people in prison. Later this year, all people in federal prison will receive a tablet. Those tablets will include programming from Prison Professors, and it’s important that I spend this time setting up so that we can produce content at scale. I’m glad to have help from others on our team.

Authenticity

In the earlier lessons of this course, I offered insight into how defining success gives direction. It’s a necessary start if we want to reach our highest potential. We’ve got to become masters at setting goals, because goals help us create structure. If we develop a strong mindset, we can live each day with the right attitude. We measure the right attitude with our 100% commitment to success. When times get tough, we can rely upon our aspiration. It’s the clear vision of what we’re working toward, which helps us stay disciplined even when the path forward is difficult. By acting daily, consistent with our plans, we turn intentions into results. Our accountability tools help us measure progress. And by staying aware of all that’s going on around us, we empower ourselves to adapt as necessary when conditions change.

All of that work, however, must be visible.

Authenticity is what allows others to trust the journey we’re on.

Without authenticity, effort looks performative. Goals appear hollow. Accountability feels staged.

Authenticity is the discipline of showing your work so others can see not only where you’re going, but how you’re getting there.

Authenticity Means Showing the Process

When I think about authenticity, I remember my eighth-grade algebra class with Ms. Voss. She never accepted homework that showed only final answers. She wanted to see the steps.

Her rule applies to life.

If you want people to trust your outcomes, you must be willing to show the process that produced them. Being authentic doesn’t equate to being perfect. Instead, it means that we’re transparent, or that we’re willing to show that we’re intentional about every decision we make. We should be able to look back, reflect on how our earlier decisions influenced what we’ve become, and that we’re becoming.

Regardless of what bad decisions we’ve made in the past, we can always work toward making things better.

Think of authenticity like scaffolding around a building. When construction is underway, the scaffolding makes the work visible. Once the building stands, the scaffolding will come down. Yet without that scaffolding, no one would believe the structure could safely rise.

Early Lessons From My Father

I learned this lesson long before prison by watching my father, Julio. He fled Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power, escaping to South Florida without speaking English. Through discipline and persistence, he learned how to speak English, moved to California, met my mother, and together they gave life to my sisters and me.

In Seattle, my parents built a small electrical contracting business from nothing. My father wired homes, then expanded into public-works projects, installing streetlights and traffic signals for the state and municipalities in the Seattle area.

My father didn’t talk about hard work. He demonstrated it. Every circuit had to work. Every light had to turn on. His credibility came from results produced through visible effort.

As a teenager, I didn’t fully appreciate the value of hard work, and connecting the dots to how work led to results. I searched for shortcuts, avoiding work whenever possible. I didn’t anticipate the results that would follow, nor did I want them.

When Shortcuts Replace Authenticity

By 21, I was selling cocaine, chasing the illusion of easy money. Authorities arrested me when I was 23, and a federal judge sentenced me to serve 45 years in federal prison.

Ironically, it was in prison that I learned the true meaning of authenticity. There were no shortcuts through a decades-long sentence. I could not change the past, and wishing for a different outcome would not move me forward. If I wanted a different future, I had to plan deliberately and execute consistently—day after day, as weeks turned into months, months into years, and years into decades. Any attempt to avoid the work would eventually collapse the very plans I was trying to build.

The structure of prison forced me to confront the consequences of avoiding work. If I wanted to develop, to have a better life, I had to be authentic in my pursuit of excellence.

Lessons From a Stoic Emperor

I read many books to help me understand what it would mean to pursue excellence. One leader, Marcus Aurelius, wrote a book, Meditations, that shaped how I thought about authenticity and discipline.

Several principles stood out:

• Control what you can
  Focus on your character, actions, and intentions. From his book, I learned to accept the futility of dwelling on outcomes that were beyond my ability to control.
• Live by principles, not convenience
  Authenticity requires consistency, even when no one is watching.
• Embrace discomfort
  Growth demands effort. Avoiding discomfort leads to stagnation.
• Recognize shared humanity
  Authentic living includes service, contribution, and responsibility to others.

Aurelius reminded me that integrity is revealed in repetition, not declarations.

Authenticity After Prison

After release, I did not follow my father into electrical work, but I adopted the same standard of craftsmanship.

To be authentic, I had to be transparent about my journey. I documented my progress:

• Journals written in prison
• Release plans and goals
• Daily blogs and fitness logs
• Financial tracking and project updates

This documentation became part of the Straight-A Guide. It allowed others to evaluate my work the same way Ms. Voss evaluated algebra problems. Anyone could examine the steps I took and assess whether I was worthy of a second look.

Authenticity builds trust because it leaves an evidence trail.

A Practical Framework for Authentic Living

Over time, I distilled authenticity into a repeatable process:

1. Envision a clear goal
2. Prioritize actions that create momentum
3. Build tools, tactics, and resources
4. Stay flexible and adjust when conditions change
5. Measure progress with accountability metrics
6. Cultivate mentors and peer support
7. Execute daily—and show your work

Authenticity requires daily practice.

I learned from people who demonstrated results openly and invited scrutiny. They taught me how to live as if I were the CEO of my life. From them, I learned the importance of defining success clearly, setting goals deliberately, choosing the right attitude, acting with discipline, holding myself accountable, and showing my work so others could see the progress I was making.

Authenticity Is the Long Game

Authenticity compounds like interest. It grows quietly, steadily, and reliably. Over time, it attracts opportunity, trust, and collaboration.

People may doubt your words. They cannot dispute consistent evidence.

Self-Directed Learning Exercise

Complete the following exercise in writing:

1. Identify one area of your life where others cannot yet see your process.
   This may relate to education, health, finances, relationships, or preparation for release.
2. Choose one way to document your effort this week.
   Examples include a journal entry, log, checklist, or progress report.
3. Decide who should be able to see this work.
   This might be a mentor, family member, or your future self.

At the end of the week, ask yourself:

• Did I show my work consistently?
• What did the evidence reveal?
• What will I refine next week?

Authenticity requires us to be verifiable, not impressive.