January 2012 Values and Goals
As I did last year, I’m listing my value categories in alphabetical order, and I’m defining the goals that I will reach during the month of January 2012.
Discipline:
Discipline remains important to me as a value category. Through my commitment to discipline, I empower myself. Rather than allowing the federal prison system to define what I can or cannot do as I continue my preparations for a law-abiding and contributing life upon release, I define myself through my actions. During the month of January, I pledge to wake and begin my work before 3:30 every morning of the money. I will exercise every day of the month. I will read through a portion of the Bible every day of the month. I will make measurable progress toward documenting my journey every day of the month with the recordings I make on my website. During the month of January, I will finish writing a solid first draft of a new manuscript that I’ve been working on.
Fitness:
It is extremely important for me to maintain a high level of physical fitness. I turn 48 years old in January and I want to walk out of federal prison in excellent physical shape. To that end, I will do at least 10,000 pushups during the month and I intend to run more than 260 miles. The mileage isn’t as long as I ran last year during January, but that is because I intend to sacrifice some of my exercise time so that I can devote a significant portion of my time to writing as I prepare for my release.
Godliness:
Each day during the month of January, I will thank God for the enormous blessings that come my way. Despite my lengthy term of imprisonment, I have felt God walking beside me continuously throughout the journey. Even to this day, I feel God’s presence in my life and routinely throughout each day I thank God for my blessings. Before sleeping every night of the month, I will read a section of the New Testament and say a prayer of thanks. I will finish reading the Book of Luke and begin reading through the gospel of John in January.
Industriousness:
As a prisoner, I cannot allow the institution to interfere with my responsibility to prepare for a meaningful, contributing life upon release. During the month of January, I will finish writing a manuscript that I’ve been working on. The work that I’m doing will contribute to the career that I intend to build upon release. It is a career that will help more people understand the American criminal justice system, people in prison, and strategies for growing through confinement. As a further testament toward my commitment to the value category of industriousness, I will document my daily journey through prison on my week-at-a-glance. Once I finish writing the manuscript, I will resume more regular contributions to my blog, too.
Integrity:
I strive to live transparently, ensuring that everything I say, everything I do, and everything I think remains in harmony. Through my actions, I pledge to live this message. With my commitment, I hope to inspire men around me, showing them that by tapping into an inner will and resourcefulness, anyone can triumph over adversity. I will live this message to the best of my ability through every day in January, and every day of my life.
Marriage:
My commitment to Carole remains as strong as ever. Every day during the month of January I intend to prove worthy of her love by working toward the life we will build together in measurable ways. Through my values-based, goal-oriented adjustment through prison, I aspire to show her my commitment to emerge from prison as the best man I possibly can be. She has served a significant portion of my prison term alongside me, and she deserves to all the love that I’m capable of giving. I intend to live up to those responsibilities through all of my work and in a daily renewal of my pledge to show how much I respect and appreciate her as my wife.
Support Network:
I’m blessed to have support from scores of people who have come into my life since my prison term began, back in 1987. Despite my not knowing those people before hand, they have worked alongside me through various stages of my prison journey. Every day during the month of January, I pledge to prove worthy of their support by avoiding problems in prison. That means I sleep and wake early, and it means that I climb through each day of the month in a disciplined manner, always conscious of how my words and actions reflect upon the people who have a vested interest in my success upon release.
Through the seven value categories that I identify above, I define my role as a man and crush expectations of what it means to be a long-term federal prisoner.
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