Hi my name is Taylor Evans and I am on the team with Prison Professors.
Have you ever heard the famous expression; you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with?
This expression holds a lot of validity to it and is even applicable whenever you are incarcerated in prison.
Michael and Justin share in this video the messages that most prisoners share with each other, then Michael talks about the messages you should be listening to and applying to your stay in prison to get the most out of the experience.
Prison is filled with people coming from all walks of life and different backgrounds. People have different philosophies and values, but there is one thing most prisoners have in common; prison is the last place they want to be spending time.
You will run into and deal with a lot of pessimistic demoralized people who believe your ultimate goal in prison is to forget about the outside world and get through your time.
Reread that last sentence and ask yourself, was that your attitude when attending school or playing sports, is that the attitude you take when you are at the office? If you are reading this article my guess is that you are an ambitious person who thrives off accomplishing goals and achieving difficult feats.
We encourage you to apply the philosophy of you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with to your stay in prison. Align yourself with people who share similar goals and values as you do.
Justin shares how his experience in prison did a complete 180 after being introduced to Michael and learning about Michael’s ambitious approach to conquering his stay in prison. Justin shifted his attitude and perspective from someone who was defeated and focused on how messed up the system was to an attitude for gratitude. He shares how he was a licensed real estate agent and ran a hedge fund, to how grateful he was for answering phones in his halfway house as his first job after incarceration.
Our brains are programmed for people to enjoy complacency and comfort. It is much easier for people to join the prison peanut gallery and complain about the guards, the food, or how unfair your circumstances are.
We believe it is much more beneficial for you to challenge yourself and jump into contrary action and to surround yourself with people who want to be productive and who are preparing for their lives after prison.
Our minds are a powerful tool so have the self-awareness in understanding what content you take in, who you solicit advice from, and who you surround yourself with. Always ask yourself does this book align with my personal values, does this person share similar goals to me, etc. We encourage you to surround yourself with winners so you can be productive and prepare yourself for life on the other side of your prison sentence.Michael and Justin discuss the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people and taking advice from those who have ambition and understand that there is life after prison.
