Today, our team made a significant breakthrough in developing PrisonProfessors.org, the new website that reflects our nonprofit’s expanded direction. This platform will feature daily information and tools to help people—especially those in crisis—grow stronger in self-directed ways. We want to show others how to restore confidence, pursue meaningful goals, and ultimately rise to a higher potential—whether that means earning more income or finding deeper fulfillment.
Why This Work Matters
After serving 26 years in prison, I know firsthand how crucial it is to adopt a growth mindset. While incarcerated, I studied leaders from many walks of life and learned invaluable lessons on personal development. These lessons shaped what I call the CEO Mindset: the ability to identify problems, engineer solutions, and execute a plan until achieving the desired result.
Distinctions of the CEO Mindset
Too many people focus exclusively on the process. It may not align well with the result. Then, they can make excuses, which leads to a victim mindset:
- I did everything I was supposed to do, so it’s not my fault.
- I followed the rules, and no one noticed.
- There aren’t any opportunities for me to advance.
- If it weren’t for [some external factor], I’d be better off.
- I wish I were as lucky as [someone else].
These excuses ignore a core truth: a process is only valuable if it leads to the result you’ve defined. The CEO Mindset trains you to focus on results first, then build processes to get there.
CEO Mindset in Action
By reading books on leaders, and interacting with leaders, I identified several steps that helped me—and can help anyone—achieve better results:
- Define Success
If you don’t know where you’re going, it won’t matter which path you choose. A person who wants success identifies a destination and draws a straight line to get there. In the famous book, The Wizard of Oz, the Cheshire Cat told us that if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. I found wisdom in such a phrase, and anyone else can apply that wisdom to their life. Always ask about the result you’re after, and focus on it exclusively, being ruthless in your personal accountability to get the result. - Create a Plan
Plans function like blueprints. If you were to build a skyscraper, you’d start with a feasibility study, then detailed architectural drawings that include every step—even the size of screws for the ninth-floor walls. Planning translates vision into tangible steps. - Prioritize
Identify the right order for each step in your plan. Some tasks happen simultaneously. Others must happen sequentially. Like any savvy entrepreneur, you weigh cost, resources, and projected outcomes—always keeping your focus on the end result. - Accountability
Accountability metrics ensure your daily progress aligns with your original goals. They help you measure growth, pivot when needed, and confirm you’re on track for the result you initially defined. - Execute
Execution involves staying engaged with every step. You don’t need to do everything yourself. Rather, orchestrate the moving parts so that your team works toward the same goal. When each person executes effectively, the collective effort leads to success, as defined by the intended result. No one celebrates the process. We celebrate the result.
Universal Lessons
These steps aren’t just for those in the justice system. Anyone who feels stuck can use this same strategy that leaders taught me. Anyone can benefit from these lessons. In an earlier article, I wrote about lessons I learned from Jean-Jeaque Rousseau. He wrote:
- “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”
Being open to learning lessons from leaders helped me to liberate myself–even while I served 26 years in prison. Anyone who lives with chains of self-doubt, or a victim mentality, may face a personal crisis that could feel like a personal prison. They may not know how to break free. Throughout history, people have broken free from real prisons, and we can learn timeless lessons from them.
For example:
- People are not confined to concentration camps like Buchenwald, but that does not mean they cannot learn lessons from Viktor Frankl.
- People may not be confined to the injustices of Apartheid governments, but that does not mean they cannot learn lessons from Nelson Mandela.
- People may not be fighting against Colonial Rule in India, but that does not mean they cannot learn lessons from Mahatma Gandhi.
- People may not be born into slavery, but that does not mean they cannot learn lessons from Frederick Douglass.
Each of these figures proves that transformative change often starts from within. By studying their lives, I learned how to liberate myself mentally, despite being locked in a solitary cell on my way to a 45-year sentence.
Breakthrough:
During a call with our development team today, we clarified that PrisonProfessors.org isn’t limited to people with justice-system involvement. Instead, it’s a platform for anyone who feels confined—whether by external forces, personal beliefs, or life circumstances. When individuals learn how to harness the CEO Mindset, they can break free from their chains.
Our goal is to deliver daily information and resources that inspires, educates, and empowers people to reach their highest potential. By applying these strategies—defining success, creating a plan, prioritizing effectively, holding ourselves accountable, and executing relentlessly—we can all create more fulfilling lives.
While I was on a call today with my development team, the web and branding designer asked if I wanted the main audience of our new website to be people who were related to the prison system. I responded that I did not. I wanted to reach people who seemed to live in chains. They were in a problem, potentially a prison of their own making. If they’re open to learning from leaders, as I did, they could break free from their chains, restore confidence, and start making incremental, measurable progress toward the result they want.
We made breakthroughs in communicating this message to our web development team today and I am more optimistic than ever that we will get the result–making an impact on the lives of millions.
Self-Directed Learning Question: After considering a challenge you currently face, architect a multi-step plan that, if followed, would accelerate your path to the result you want. For further instruction, consider our Straight-A Guide.
