Prison Professors' Website Updates

January 16, 2026: Friday

BOP Advocacy

I continue to feel energized by the work we’re doing to advocate for meaningful reform within the federal prison system.

Long before I concluded my sentence, I began thinking deeply about why so many people struggle after release. By my fourth or fifth year in prison, I was already writing for publication, trying to explain what I was seeing around me. People didn’t return to prison because they lacked intelligence or potential. Most struggled because they never resolved problems with substance abuse or alcoholism, which led to destructive decisions and unhealthy relationships. Others failed to overcome economic instability, leaving them vulnerable to the same pressures that brought them into the system in the first place.

Those observations shaped decades of advocacy. I’ve consistently argued that the system should incentivize excellence. People need a clear definition of success and a deliberate plan to reach it. When individuals pursue discipline, accountability, and measurable progress, the system should recognize and reward that effort.

I am a big believer in incentivizing the pursuit of excellence. We’ve all made bad decisions. But we all can work toward reconciliation. Society is better off when people work toward earning freedom through merit–at least from my perspective.

That’s why I’m grateful for the direction of current leadership within the Bureau of Prisons. The message resonates with them because it’s rooted in lived experience. The Deputy Director once served time himself. He faced real hardship after release, yet applied the lessons he learned in prison to rebuild his life, start a business, and succeed. After selling that business, he chose to dedicate his work to improving prison systems so others could follow a similar path. I admire that story because it reinforces what I’ve believed for years:

• preparation changes outcomes.

Prison Professors has been fortunate to contribute to that vision. In 2025 alone, I visited more than 30 federal prison locations across the country, making presentations in prisons from California to New York, Minnesota to Florida.

As a result of those visits, more than 5,000 people are now participating in our programs. They are engaged in self-directed learning programs, and they are memorializing their journey through profiles they build and publish with us.

East Coast Travels

Looking ahead, in mid February, I’m preparing to share what I’ve learned during a 90-minute presentation at a conference for wardens of federal prisons. I’ll provide a live demonstration of our website, answer questions, and explain how the leaderboards we’re building can serve as a practical decision-making filter. The data shows who is consistently working to build a record that may advance them as a candidate for a lower security level.

While on the East Coast, I’ll also visit additional institutions to present directly to people in custody. My hope is that these visits will encourage even more participation. All of our programs are offered at no cost. Access should never be a barrier to preparation. I am scheduled to present at:

1. FCI Ft. Dix, New Jersey, East Side
2. FCI Ft. Dix, New Jersey, West Side
3. FCI Ft. Dix, New Jersey, Camp
4. FCI Fairton, New Jersey, Medium
5. FCI Fairton, New Jersey, Camp
6. FCI Petersburg, Virginia, Medium
7. FCI Petersburg, Virginia, Low
8. FCI Petersburg, Virginia, Camp

At the core of this work is a simple belief: people in prison play a central role in determining their outcomes. When individuals understand that their daily decisions, habits, and documented effort shape how they’re perceived, they begin to reclaim agency over their future. I’m grateful for every opportunity to help reinforce that message and to build systems that reward people who commit to earning their freedom.

We’re continuously making updates to our website to further these efforts.

January 15, 2026: Thursday

Today is my birthday. I am 62 years old. My wife and I are celebrating our birthday together, in a quiet way, that isn’t much different from the way we celebrate the blessings we have every day. During the first 10 years of our marriage, we only saw each other in prison visiting rooms. So every day we have together is a good day. I’m busy working on developing our programs, building better relationships with the BOP with hopes of influencing policy. I just booked my next trip, which will take me to a meeting at the Mid-Atlantic Region, in Maryland. While on the East Coast, I’ll make presentations in a few prisons.

Application 

The Straight-A Guide began as a way for me to survive and grow through a 45-year federal prison sentence. I built the framework while living inside confinement, stripped of freedom, opportunity, and control over nearly every aspect of my daily life. At the time, my crisis was clear.

• I had made reckless decisions in my youth.
• I broke the law.
• A federal indictment followed, and I received a sentence that would keep me incarcerated for decades.

The Straight-A Guide helped me engineer a pathway out of that crisis and into a better life.

What I did not anticipate when I first began writing the framework was how useful it would remain after my obligation to the Bureau of Prisons concluded in August of 2013. Although my circumstances changed dramatically, the framework did not. I continue to rely on the same principles today to guide decisions in business, advocacy, finances, health, and personal growth.

That continuity is the reason for this lesson on Application.

A Framework, Not a Prison-Specific Solution

Although I developed the Straight-A Guide during incarceration, it is not a prison-only strategy. It is a decision-making framework that applies to any period of challenge, transition, or ambition.

As human beings, we all face crises at some point. Those crises take different forms:

• Career stagnation or job loss
• Financial instability
• Health or fitness struggles
• Substance abuse or destructive habits
• Relationship breakdowns
• Identity loss during transition or reinvention

The source of the crisis may differ, but the solution always begins the same way: by reclaiming agency and applying a structured approach to decision-making.

That is what the Straight-A Guide provides.

How I Continue to Apply the Straight-A Guide Today

After release, I used the same ten principles to build businesses. I defined success for each stage, set clear goals, chose an attitude that emphasized discipline over entitlement, aspired to contribute beyond myself, and took consistent action. I built accountability systems, remained aware of changing conditions, showed my work authentically, celebrated incremental achievements, and practiced appreciation along the way.

I used the Straight-A Guide to pursue reforms that I hoped would open opportunities for people in prison to earn higher levels of liberty through merit. That work required patience, credibility, coalition-building, and resilience. The framework helped me stay grounded when progress was slow and resistance was real.

I continue to apply the same principles to guide financial decisions, fitness goals, and long-term planning. The context changes. The framework does not.

Applying the Straight-A Guide to Different Areas of Life

The Straight-A Guide works because it is adaptable. You do not apply it once and move on. You apply it repeatedly, adjusting definitions and goals as your life evolves.

Here are examples of how the framework applies across different domains:

Career or Business

• Define success for your current stage.
• Set measurable goals tied to skill development or value creation.
• Take consistent action that builds credibility.
• Document progress so others can see your growth.

Health and Fitness

• Define what success looks like now, not eventually.
• Set realistic goals that fit your environment.
• Build routines that compound over time.
• Track effort, not just outcomes.

Recovery and Personal Discipline

• Define success as stability and progress, not perfection.
• Use accountability tools to measure behavior.
• Stay aware of triggers and risks.
• Practice appreciation for progress, even when setbacks occur.

Advocacy and Contribution

• Define success as service and impact.
• Aspire to contribute beyond your own interests.
• Build coalitions and remain authentic.
• Celebrate incremental wins that move the mission forward.

In every case, the same principles apply. Only the definitions change.

Credit for These Ideas

I cannot take credit for inventing the Straight-A Guide. I observed people who were far more accomplished, disciplined, and thoughtful than I was. I studied how they made decisions, how they responded to adversity, and how they structured their lives around values and goals.

By observing them, I learned. By learning, I adapted those lessons to the context of my own life. Over time, I organized those observations into a framework that helped me navigate confinement and later freedom.

Anyone can do the same.

You do not need my background. You do not need to be serving multiple decades in prison. You do not need to face an extreme crisis. If you want to prepare for higher levels of success, the Straight-A Guide can help you structure your thinking, your decisions, and your actions.

The Straight-A Guide as a Living Tool

The Straight-A Guide is not a checklist you complete once. Use the guide as a tool you return to whenever circumstances change. Each time you revisit it, you redefine success, adjust goals, and recalibrate action.

That is how progress compounds.

The framework helped me move from crisis to preparation, from preparation to opportunity, and from opportunity to contribution. It continues to guide my decisions today.

It can do the same for anyone willing to apply it deliberately.

Self-Directed Learning Exercise

Complete the following exercise in writing:

1. Identify one area of your life where you are currently facing a challenge or transition.
2. Define success for that area in one clear sentence.
3. Write one goal you can pursue over the next 30 to 90 days that supports that definition.
4. Identify one daily or weekly action you will take consistently.
5. Decide how you will track and document progress.

At the end of the period, ask yourself:

• Did I apply the framework consistently?
• What evidence shows progress?
• What adjustment will I make next?

Application turns principles into results. Results create confidence. Confidence opens new possibilities.

January 14, 2026: Wednesday

Today’s mail brought new equipment that I’m going to use in our home studio. We’re preparing for the fourth quarter of this year, when the Bureau of Prisons will introduce tablets for all people in federal prison. In anticipation of that development, I have invested to purchase more cameras, lighting equipment, audio equipment. We’ll be able to provide our program at no charge to the agency, and thanks to the relationships I’m developing, we’ll be able to reach all people in federal prison–helping them sow seeds for a brighter future.

Appreciation

In the previous lessons of this course, I explained how defining success gives direction, setting goals creates structure, choosing the right attitude sustains effort, aspiration keeps us moving forward, action turns intention into results, accountability measures progress, awareness helps us adapt, authenticity builds trust, and achievement compounds over time.

Appreciation sustains us, and keeps us moving in the right direction toward success. We should pass along the lessons we learn, sharing them with others in our community so that they, too, can build higher levels of liberty and fulfillment.

When we fail to show appreciation for the blessings that come into our life, success becomes fragile. Achievements feel empty. Progress loses meaning. Appreciation anchors us. It reminds us why the work matters and helps us endure setbacks without losing perspective.

Appreciation Is a Discipline, Not a Mood

On August 12, 2013, I concluded my obligation to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. From age 23 to 49, I lived as federal prisoner number 16377-004. Despite decades in confinement, I always felt grateful for opportunities that came my way.

Living in gratitude did not minimize the hardship of a lengthy sentence. It strengthened me, giving me a different perspective. Rather than perceiving the sentence my judge imposed as an injustice, I considered it part of the journey. My job would be to take what I was given, seize opportunities, and create a pathway to earn freedom, at the soonest possible time.

This lesson on “Appreciation,” the final lesson of the Straight-A Guide, does not suggest that circumstances are better than they are. Rather, we should recognize what remains possible, even in the worst conditions. Like ballast in a ship, appreciation stabilizes us when external forces threaten to capsize our progress. The Straight-A Guide concludes with this lesson on appreciation because more opportunities open when we live in gratitude. It restores confidence. People are more inclined to support progress than grievance, or those who live with a victim mentality. If we develop a stronger mindset, people want to support our progress along the way.

Finding Gratitude in Confinement

After my arrest, a judge denied bail. Given that we were at the start of the war on drugs, authorities locked me in solitary confinement, where I spent my first year. I had never been incarcerated before. I did not know what to expect. After sentencing, authorities transferred me to a high-security penitentiary, where 40-foot walls surrounded the entire prison.

The environment felt ominous. Yet I appreciated the small things that I didn’t previously have while in solitary:

• I could walk outside.
• I could look up and see a blue sky.
• I could breathe fresh air.

I appreciated the increased liberty.

The books I read while in solitary helped me imagine a brighter future. I felt grateful that I could begin implementing a plan. The plan gave me confidence that, in time, it would lead to more success once I got out, after 26 years inside.

Appreciation, I learned, is like sunlight through prison bars. It does not remove the bars, but it reminds us that the world still exists beyond them.

Gratitude on the Journey

Looking back, I can identify many blessings that sustained me through confinement:

• My family stood by me consistently.
• Reading the Bible gave me hope that redemption was possible.
• Socrates taught me how to think differently.
• Frederick Douglass showed me that learning to communicate could lead to meaningful contribution, even in captivity.
• Mentors entered my life and pushed me to work harder.
• Universities gave me opportunities to earn academic credentials.
• My support network expanded, reconnecting me to the broader society.
• Publishing opportunities allowed me to contribute value beyond prison walls.
• I married inside a prison visiting room, bringing love and stability into my life.
• Opportunities to earn and manage resources helped me feel productive and responsible.

Those experiences made it easier to endure hardship. I came to accept that crises are part of life. Appreciation helped me remain grounded and prepared for whatever came next.

Appreciation Expands Opportunity

Gratitude does more than improve attitude. It influences outcomes. When we live in gratitude, and remain appreciative of the blessings in our lives, we:

• Attract support rather than sympathy.
• Build resilience instead of resentment.
• Remain open to opportunity instead of trapped in grievance.

Appreciation keeps us oriented toward growth. It is the emotional equivalent of compounding interest. The small acknowledgments, repeated daily, accumulate into perspective, strength, and opportunity.

A Contemporary Example of Appreciation Under Pressure

I’ve seen this principle at work in others as well. Consider the story of Ross Ulbricht.

Authorities arrested Ross on October 1, 2013, only months after I completed my sentence. He had created a website known as Silk Road. Prosecutors charged him with operating a Continuing Criminal Enterprise. It was the same statute under which I was convicted. A jury found him guilty, and a federal judge sentenced him to serve a double life sentence, plus 40 years.

Ross was in his late twenties when he received that sentence.

Despite the severity of the term, Ross did not surrender to bitterness. He remained grateful for support. His mother and fiancée built a platform to advocate for him, and his resilience inspired more than 600,000 people to support his clemency petition.

On January 22, 2025, President Donald Trump granted Ross Ulbricht a full pardon.

Some people call that luck. I believe it reflects something deeper. Ross lived with appreciation even when the system treated him harshly. That mindset sustained hope, attracted allies, and kept opportunity alive long enough for justice to arrive.

Appreciation Completes the Straight-A Guide

Appreciation does not mean settling. It means acknowledging progress while continuing to strive. When we live in gratitude and appreciate the blessings in our life:

• Success remains grounded.
• Failure becomes instructive.
• Effort feels meaningful, even when results are delayed.

Appreciation closes the loop. It allows us to live with humility after achievement and resilience after loss.

Self-Directed Learning Exercise

Complete the following exercise in writing:

1. Identify three things you can genuinely appreciate in your current circumstances.
   These may relate to people, opportunities, abilities, or access to learning.
2. Explain how appreciation influences your motivation and outlook.
   What does gratitude allow you to endure or pursue more effectively?
3. Write one way you will practice appreciation daily for the next week.
   This could be journaling, reflection, or expressing gratitude to someone who supports you.

At the end of the week, ask yourself:

• Did appreciation improve my resilience?
• Did it influence how others responded to me?
• What opportunities became more visible as a result?

Appreciation does not end the journey. It gives the journey meaning.