LESSON: When committed to overcoming extreme adversity, once the tide begins to turn, we can, literally, feel momentum building in our favor. Just as a PGA golfer feels his swing suddenly hit the right groove, and week after week he surprises the field with multiple victories, we must take advantage of this break in the storm. We see sun rays streaming through the storm clouds, and we must redouble our efforts and begin to change our angle of attack from just merely surviving to, possibly, winning and thriving!
The below lesson is an excerpt from my recently released Amazon #1 Best Seller, When Not If: A CEO's Guide to Overcoming Adversity, Forbes Books, 2024.
With my pro se legal suit victory in New Jersey Federal Court against the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and my subsequent transfer to FCI Beckley, a minimum-security facility for male inmates in West Virginia, I now had more opportunities to improve myself by helping others as I helped myself.
I was assigned to the adjacent satellite camp, the least restrictive facilities in the federal prison system. Picture army barracks with half-walls separating you and your cellie from everyone else, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and no perimeter fencing. Although a few of my fellow inmates were convicted of white-collar offenses, the vast majority were guilty of nonviolent drug offenses. All residents, like me, had less than ten years left to serve on their sentences.
In the law library, I wrote a great number of compassionate release submissions. Federal law permits sentence reductions and early releases for certain dying, incapacitated, and elderly prisoners. I was amazed at how many harmless fathers and grandfathers the government kept locked away from helping with their families and adding to the economy – a really dumb move on our part.
Getting a compassionate release is nearly impossible, even if you are dying of cancer. The process starts with an inmate, or someone acting on his behalf, making a request in writing to the warden. The Bureau of Prisons states it recognizes a number of grounds for compassionate release, including age, medical conditions, and family circumstances. Most submissions for compassionate release generally include a release plan detailing where the inmate will live and how his needs, including medical needs, will be met. It was discouraging that every one of these submissions, close to 100, were summarily rejected.
I set myself up in the law library as a resource for other inmates. Beyond legal motions, I helped write and type resumes. I wrote employment cover letters for soon-to-be released inmates. I taught interview techniques courses to give us all a fighting chance to overcome the felon check-the-box stigma.
I built a twenty-five-week course titled Building Special Companies. The goal was to introduce basic elements of entrepreneurship, including concepts of business structure, financing, hiring, talent management, and leadership. It was an opportunity for me to share the secrets and strategies that enabled me to build MICG Investment Management into a billion-dollar investment firm before it all came crashing down.
I was humbled by the strong attendance and participation the course generated
This positive energy, which I could feel repairing my soul, even gave me the motivation to write another book I had dreamed of writing. I had been incredibly fortunate in my life to have so many brilliant mentors: my father, my coaches, and my military and business leaders who took me under their wings. I wanted to convey these great lessons and life theories to all the people never fortunate to have these opportunities.
So, with my favorite No. 2 pencil and manual typewriter I was able to create Just One More: The Wisdom of Bob Vukovich, which Ash Press would later publish (Just One More: The Wisdom of Bob Vukovich: Martinovich, Mr Jeffrey A: 9781790554850: Amazon.com: Books) .
These projects gave my mind a small break from the intense focus and anger. I could now see sun rays streaming through the storm clouds, and I redoubled my efforts and changed the angle of attack from just merely surviving to, possibly, winning and thriving!
Have a great week!
Order Amazon #1 Best Seller When Not If (Hardback, Kindle, Audio): https://www.amazon.com/When-Not-If-Overcoming-Adversity/dp/B0CKWTYSFF/r and on Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/B0D2LQ6QNC and Chirp When Not If by John Kador & Jeff Martinovich - Audiobook (chirpbooks.com).
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