Journal of today’s activities:
A popular saying teaches that the harder we work, the luckier we become. People who live in accordance with this principal inspire me. I am blessed to have numerous mentors who guide me, and they all have achieved extraordinary levels of professional success. Casual observers who hear about or observe wealth that my friends created frequently talk about how lucky they are. I know differently. The people from whom I learn worked exceptionally hard, always strategizing and anticipating the opportunity costs associated with every decision they made. By living a deliberate life, always focusing on success as they defined success, repeated good fortune came into their life. Some of my friends’ business transactions resulted in their earning more during a six-month span than most people earn during an entire lifetime. My friends succeed because they anticipate challenges and opportunities. Then they consider the costs associated with each choice. Their assessment leads to decisiveness. Then they commit wholeheartedly, moving aggressively to convert visions into reality. They own their decisions, both the good and the bad. I learn from them by asking questions. The responses they give help to guide decisions that I’m making as I navigate the coming seasons.
As I’m typing this entry I’m on a Jet Blue flight to Los Angeles. This trip will put me face-to-face with many individuals from whom I intend to learn. Some work in Hollywood, others work in business. One friend of mine built an extraordinary business. Initially I approached him with a request that he support the work that our team does to improve the outcome of our nation’s criminal justice system. He recognized the value of our Straight-A Guide, suggesting that I should modify the message for a corporate audience. We’re now contemplating the investment we’d have to make to modify our program, replacing the emphasis on prison and the formerly incarcerated with an emphasis on pursuing excellence.
In reality, pursuing a corporate market would expand our opportunities in significant ways. But it would not come without costs. My passion has been to work toward improving the outcomes of our nation’s criminal justice system. It’s a colossal problem that influences the life of every American citizen. Yet to succeed in this quest to improve upon the greatest social injustice of our time, our organization needs to generate additional financial resources. We need funding to sustain us through the long bottleneck that separates us from the sales cycle to the payment of purchase orders. Pursuing the corporate market may be a solution, but I also recognize the risk of being distracted from the mission.
I’m contemplating the strategy that I must follow moving forward. If I work harder, perhaps I’ll become fortunate in finding the solutions we need.
- Days since my release from 26 years in federal prison: 238
- Miles run today: 0
- Miles run this week: 16.8
- Miles run this month: 46.43
- Miles run in 2014: 782.42
- Miles I need to run to reach my 2,400-mile running goal for 2014:
- Number of miles I’m ahead of schedule or behind schedule: 145.12
- Today’s Weight: 168