Prison Professors' Website Updates

February 19, 2026; Thursday

Deliberate Steps

Last week, I had the privilege of sitting in a regional office of the Bureau of Prisons with five other formerly incarcerated men. The Deputy Director of the agency invited us, asking us to participate in a meeting with the wardens of every high-security federal prison in the nation.

We were not there as representatives of the agency. Instead, he asked that we share our stories and offer insights into our experiences. He thought the other wardens may want to use our stories and message to contribute to the agency’s mission of improving the culture of confinement.

Few people will understand the significance of that innovative leadership. From where I stood, it represented a meaningful step forward. While I served my term, the agency did not put any emphasis in listening to people who had once served time.

Under the new administration, which I admire, each warden acknowledged the value of hearing directly from people who had served long sentences. That is a function of leadership. Since that meeting, I’ve remained in contact with many of the wardens. They’ve extended warm invitations for the other men and me to visit their institutions.

For that progress, I am grateful. I thank God for opening doors that I never could have opened on my own. When I was in a cell decades ago, I could not have imagined sitting at a table with leaders of the very system that once confined me. Yet here we are.

Building Before the Visit

The most encouraging development I want to share is that we’re making it possible for anyone to participate in our free programs at any time. No one has to wait for me to make a visit to a prison to participate in the Prison Professors programming.

Several wardens have already offered to introduce Prison Professors’ resources inside their facilities before I visit. That head start will make future presentations more engaging. It will also give people an opportunity to begin documenting their growth immediately.

Change begins with leadership, and I’m grateful for the leadership I saw while on my tour to prisons last week.

While on the East Coast, I visited prisons to make two presentations in Virginia and five in New Jersey. Between those institutions, I estimate I spoke with approximately 1,000 people serving time in federal prison.

I told them what I always say:

• Define success.
• Set clear goals.
• Create a plan.
• Execute daily.
• Document progress.

Our nonprofit will continue to distribute free, self-directed resources people can use to work toward better outcomes. I invite each participant to become an ambassador for the message, showing his commitment to preparing for success upon release. It’s a pathway to improving the culture of confinement. The harder we work on ourselves, the more likely others will notice.

Federal Correctional Institution at Fairton

After my presentation at FCI Fairton, I had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Acting Warden Martinez. In my experience, people who serve in acting roles often go on to become permanent wardens. Leadership shows in how a person listens and responds.

I appreciated Warden Martinez’s openness and his support for programs that encourage self-improvement. During our conversation, he asked if I was familiar with Earl Nightingale.

I was not.

He seemed surprised. He told me about a message Nightingale delivered in 1956 known as The Strangest Secret. The following morning, he sent me a link to the recording. Anyone can find the link on YouTube.

What I heard in Mr. Nightingale’s 30-minute audio clip astonished me.

The Strangest Secret

In 1956, Earl Nightingale recorded a talk for sales agents at the Combined Insurance Company of America. The message later became the first spoken-word recording to earn a Gold Record.

His central thesis was simple:

We become what we think about.

He explained that most people drift through life without defining what they want. They measure time by circumstance rather than intention. But those who succeed do something different:

• They define their destination.
• They fix their minds on that destination.
• They take consistent action aligned with that vision.

When I listened to that recording, I felt inspired. I also felt gratitude. More than 50 years before I wrote the Straight-A Guide in prison, Nightingale was teaching the same foundational lesson: define success and set clear goals.

Parallel Paths

The first two modules of the Straight-A Guide suggested that people:

1. Define success.
2. Set clear goals that align with that definition.

Those who read or listen to Nightingale’s message will find identical instructions. I did not know his work when I began writing in my cell. I did not have access to YouTube, podcasts, or business seminars while I served my sentence. I had books to read, a yellow pad, a pen, and time.

I have always said that I cannot take credit for what I produce. I learned from many masters. I learned from leaders. And I believe that God guided my thoughts during those 9,500 days. When I began writing about defining success and setting goals, I was simply trying to survive with dignity. I was asking:

• “What must I do today to prepare for a better tomorrow?”

Listening to Nightingale reminded me that timeless truths surface in different generations, through different voices.

I am grateful to Warden Martinez for introducing me to this literature. His leadership extends beyond policy. It reaches into the realm of ideas, encouraging people in prison to think differently about their future.

Sowing Seeds

No one can change the past.

But any of us can begin sowing seeds today for a better future.

• That was true in 1956 when Nightingale delivered his message.
• It was true during my decades in prison.
• It was true during Biblical times.
• It is true for the 1,000 people I spoke with last week.

And it is true for every person who wakes up this morning inside a federal prison.

If you are serving time, do not wait for calendar pages to turn. Start by creating strategic plans:

• Define success.
• Set goals.
• Act deliberately.
• Document your progress.

God willing, doors will open. Progress begins the moment you decide to think intentionally about the life you want to build.

Last week’s meeting with the Bureau of Prisons did not happen by accident. It happened because thousands of people inside are documenting their growth, building profiles, writing journals, and proving through measurable effort that they are preparing for higher levels of liberty. That is the culture shift we are working toward.

I am grateful to Warden Martinez and others for opening opportunities for me to contribute, even in a small way by sharing lessons that I learned.

February 18, 2026: Wednesday

Investing $50,000+ in AI

A member of our board, Bill McGlashan sent me a copy of Matt Shumer’s essay, “Something Big is Happening.” The article makes a compelling argument that artificial intelligence is advancing faster than most people realize. He compared this moment to early 2020, when warnings about COVID sounded exaggerated to many—until the world shut down.

Whether his timeline proves perfectly accurate isn’t the point.

The point is this: the world is changing rapidly.

For people in prison, that reality presents a unique danger.

• People going to federal prison will not have internet access.
• They cannot experiment with AI tools.
• They cannot test new platforms or build digital businesses from federal prison.

While the outside world is integrating AI into finance, law, marketing, education, and medicine, people inside risk falling further behind. It won’t be because they lack intelligence, but because they lack access.

That gap can become discouraging. For those who choose to prepare, the changes can also become motivating.

The Real Danger Is Apathy.

When I served 9,500 days in federal prison, the internet didn’t exist as it does today. The world changed dramatically while I was confined. I read about how the internet led markets to evolve and industries to disappear. Rather than ignore those changes, I prepared by learning as much as I possibly could. Even though I could not use the internet, I could learn more about the language and how others were using the new technology to disrupt jobs and open opportunities.

By learning, I put myself on a faster trajectory for success when I got out.

When a person stops thinking about the future, the days blend together. That mindset destroys hope and advances prospects for failure. In our courses, I frequently write about five potential outcomes that await people who go to prison. They either:

1. Struggle with unemployment,
2. Face challenges with under employment,
3. Suffer from homelessness,
4. Encounter more problems with the law, or
5. Succeed upon release.

At Prison Professors, we create self-directed courses that people can use to prepare for success.

Shumer’s Essay

Shumer’s warning is not just about AI replacing jobs. He writes about how change is accelerating. Industries that once evolved over decades now shift in months. Skills that were once stable for a generation will become obsolete in a few years. For someone serving a 5-, 10-, or 20-year sentence, that reality is sobering.

You may return to:

• A workforce dominated by AI tools
• Automated decision systems
• Fewer entry-level knowledge jobs
• Greater emphasis on adaptability and digital fluency

If you wait until release to prepare, you will already be behind. Fortunately, preparation does not require internet access. It requires intention and a deliberate mindset.

The Strategy I Used Inside

While serving my sentence, I developed a framework that later became the Straight-A Guide. I began with a simple but powerful step:

1. Define Success

What would success mean for me when I got out? Specifically.

• Who did I want to become?
• What kind of life did I want to build?
• What reputation did I want to carry?

2. Set Clear Goals

Once I defined success, I set measurable goals aligned with that definition.

• Earn academic credentials
• Develop writing ability
• Build a body of work
• Establish a documented record of discipline and growth

Every goal had a purpose. Every goal prepared me for the world I expected to encounter upon release.

3. Make a 100% Commitment

To show that I had the right attitude, I had to make a 100% commitment to success. My daily actions had to align with long-term objectives:

• Read extensively
• Write every day
• Build relationships with mentors
• Document progress

By writing about the progress regularly, I built a coalition of support. That strategy accelerated my prospects for success while in prison, and also upon release.

To help people learn more about Artificial Intelligence, and to help them develop pathways to succeed, I expect to invest more than $50,000 over the coming months to build an AI platform. It will help me learn more, and by learning, I’ll be able to teach more. We all have to learn a new language. People in prison cannot use AI tools, but they can:

• Learn what machine learning means
• Understand automation trends
• Become familiar with the power of agents and skills
• Study digital finance
• Read about entrepreneurship
• Analyze how industries are restructuring

What Prison Professors Is Doing

We are building:

• Self-directed courses
• Vocabulary development modules
• Writing exercises
• Profile-building platforms
• Release planning tools

We want people inside to develop:

• Awareness
• Discipline
• Documentation
• Strategic thinking

When someone builds a biography, writes journals, completes book reports, and crafts a release plan, they are not simply passing time. Matt Shumer’s essay is a warning about acceleration. For people going into prison, it should be a call to action.

February 17, 2026: Tuesday

Growing Advocacy

As our user base grows closer to 6,000 people, the volume of requests for books and resources continues to grow as well. That growth is encouraging. It shows that people want resources for self-directed learning. It shows that people want to prepare. It shows that people are taking intentional steps to build better futures.

But growth also creates pressure.

Each request requires time. We review the request. We verify the address. We place the order. We track the shipment. We confirm delivery. Last week’s trip alone generated requests for nearly 300 books to the prisons I visited: Petersburg / Ft. Dix / Fairton. We are ordering those books today. One by one.

Building Systems Instead of Reacting

While I was with BOP leadership, I requested authorization to send the first book in our series directly to staff members in federal prisons across the nation. That way, if a person wants to begin building a profile or working through our self-directed programs, that person can go to a designated staff member and receive the book.

If the person wants to continue in the program, they can reach out directly to our team.

That structure creates order.

Instead of reacting to every individual request in isolation, we create a system that serves many people at once.

We are doing the best we can to accommodate as many people as possible. But we must build responsibly.

By the end of this year, I anticipate that the Bureau of Prisons will begin distributing tablets. When that happens, we intend to load all our books and courses onto those tablets. That step will allow us to reach thousands of people without mailing physical copies one at a time.

Until then, we continue building step by step.

The Step-by-Step Approach

The incremental approach is one that carried me through 9,500 days in prison.

Each day, I sowed seeds.

• I did not control the system.
• I did not control the timeline.
• I did control my effort.

I focused on small, consistent actions that would compound over time.

That discipline works in prison. It works in business. It works in advocacy.

Sowing Seeds Today

Every member of our community faces the same decision.

• Will you react to circumstances, or will you build intentionally?
• Will you say yes to distractions, or will you protect your focus?
• Will you sow seeds today that lead to the outcome you want tomorrow?

Growth requires discipline. Discipline sometimes requires saying no.

We will continue building, step by step, with the goal of serving more people effectively.

I hope each member of our community continues to sow seeds that lead to their desired outcomes.

Build and build.