Today was a tough day in the financial markets, with my stocks and Bitcoin dropping by more than $160,000. It’s part of the journey, and it reminds me of the importance of the tools I developed during my time in prison. The decades I spent behind bars taught me how to stay focused and resilient when things don’t go as planned. When we develop the right tools—like a compass to guide us—we can keep moving forward toward the goals we set.
One of the tools that helped me most was creating accountability logs. They became my anchor, a way to block out the negativity that surrounded me during my incarceration. In prison, negativity was constant, from staff members who told me I shouldn’t worry about life outside to policies that obstructed my access to learning opportunities. The culture of confinement made it easy to lose hope.
But despite these challenges, I found guidance through the lessons of great leaders, including Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor whose book Man’s Search for Meaning helped me develop a stronger mindset. Frankl’s teachings about overcoming suffering and adopting a forward-looking perspective shaped how I approached my own struggles.
Key insights from Viktor Frankl:
- Choice of Attitude: Frankl taught that while we can’t always control our circumstances, we can choose how we respond to them. He wrote, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” This idea empowered me to shift from blaming external conditions to taking responsibility for my own mindset.
- Finding Meaning in Suffering: Frankl showed that the way we interpret suffering makes all the difference. If we can find meaning in our struggles, we transform them into opportunities for growth. He said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
- Responsibility for Our Life: Frankl emphasized that personal responsibility is key to freedom. Rather than focusing on what life owes us, we should focus on what we can contribute. He stated, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.”
- Living for a Purpose: Frankl argued that having a purpose—whether it’s a cause, loved ones, or a goal—gives us the strength to endure hardships. He famously said, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live can bear almost any ‘how.'”
- Focus on the Future: Frankl encouraged adopting a forward-looking mindset, imagining yourself overcoming challenges and achieving your goals. This perspective helped me shift from feeling like a victim to seeing endless possibilities for my future.
Applying Frankl’s principles, I learned to transcend a victim mindset, turning challenges into stepping stones toward a meaningful life. This strategy got me through 9,500 days in prison and continues to guide me in my post-incarceration life, where I now focus on building a life of purpose and relevance.
Journals became one of my key tools for maintaining that focus. By setting clear goals and breaking them into manageable parts, I could track my progress and stay motivated, even during tough times. Today, I still use accountability logs to keep my goals in sight—whether it’s tracking my fitness or managing my finances.
Self-Directed Learning Question:
How can you use the principles of choice, responsibility, and purpose to transform a current struggle into an opportunity for growth? What tools or habits can you implement to stay focused and move toward your goals?
