How to Survive a Death Sentence

I happen to know a guy who survived a death sentence. Literally, a living hell.

Jesse had been going through a bad patch in life, and got caught up in addiction, and the lifestyle of dealing drugs...

In Asia. Bangkok, Thailand.

For the uninitiated, dealing drugs is bad, but in Asia? Getting caught, in most Southeast countries can mean being executed.

Well, this guy was no angel, so when they put him in jail, he found himself on death row. This is where most of those sad stories end.

But not this one…

Jesse said: “After landing in a dirty cell with 50 people and just ONE TOILET, I was shocked to see where I’d taken my life.”

The dirty cell and rough prison life quickly woke him from his self-destructive pattern.

As weeks turned into months, he thought about how he’d thrown his life away, and decided to make some serious changes, despite the fearsome outlook on his life expectancy.

He began working out.

Running.

Lifting.

Quit smoking cigarettes.

Quit dealing...

Added reading.

Learning.

Teaching…

Jesse said, “the pivotal change came when I read a quote from Bo Lozoff’s book “We’re All Doing Time.” It said:

“Don’t serve time, make the time serve you!”

And so he did…

--->Rather than feel sorry for himself, he recognized his mistakes. Learned from them. Corrected course, and re-invented himself.

Over the next five years, and in some of the most infamous prisons in Asia, Jesse worked hard to master speaking the Thai language.

Reading the funky, 66 letter alphabet…

Talking to everyone he could, failing and failing to succeed.

And, eventually he began writing a monthly letter, Shawshank Redemption style, to the consulate. After five years of this, he eventually persuaded his Embassy to ship him back to America!

(By then, he’d gotten the death sentence reduced to a life sentence.)

Today, he’s released, and making a good living helping businesses with… you guessed it, WRITING.

How did Jesse find the strength to get up each day and put in the long hours to work as hard as he did?

His answer was profound:

“My Dad wrote me a letter right after I was sentenced. It said a lot, but the thing that stuck with me was this:

‘Jesse, you eat an elephant the same way you eat an apple… one bite at a time!’

Reading my Dad’s words, I looked around and realized a lot of guys in prison simply lay down and wait for death. To most, the task is simply overwhelming. I figured, I’m still breathing, so there’s still hope!”

--->So, what’s your big, ugly task that might look like too much work to even begin?

Are you procrastinating, or letting fear get the better of you?

What small steps can you take today, like just one or two bites of your “elephant?”

--->Remember, most people overestimate what they can do in one year, but VASTLY underestimate what they can accomplish in five or ten!

Jesse wrote his way out of a life sentence, in a foreign language he learned in prison… what can YOU do, if you just start today?