Jeff Krantz is a member of the Ministry’s White Collar Support Group that meets every Monday evening on Zoom. Jeff is also a member of the ministry’s planning team. Read Part One of Jeff’s post HERE.
No one seemed enthusiastic to have me receive a custodial sentence. The prosecution put up a half hearted, pro forma argument for why they believed justice would be served in my spending at least a minimum of time within a low security federal prison. In the end they raised no objection to my receiving a sentence of probation. The prosecution had what it most needed, a successful conviction, a dramatic press release and the advancement of careers and reputations of the participants in my case.
The most jarring aspect following my walk as a conditionally free man from the Hartford courthouse was the immediate switch that came after my sentencing. It was a curious moment where I went from being the focus of ongoing, intense scrutiny on the part of the government and the subject of near continuous urgency on the part of my legal representation; to becoming a closed case with a bit of cleanup to follow along. Everyone moved onto the next pressing item on their agendas. I was on my own to sort out the aftermath.
Strange as it might seem and as much as bringing the matter to a swift resolution was at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts while the ordeal lasted; I was suddenly left with a distinct emptiness in my sense of purpose. The removal of the three year fight to prevail in battle; the adapting of strategic imperatives and formulating tactical responses to each move on the part of the government had now abated into a sudden and despairing sense of my being at loose ends.
In conjunction with the sudden and distressing winding up of the three year fight for survival was the surprising way in which those outside of my wife and children saw my sentence as an outcome that seemingly would have no lasting implications upon my future. The Judge at my sentencing was the first to voice this perception. Having seen the PSR, the pile of letters of support from friends, prominent community and business leaders and a detailed view of my personal finances at the time of my sentencing, he stated confidently from the bench that I was “going to do just fine”.
He may have overstated the case.
No one, no place, no where, tells you to prepare for your supervised release. Everyone who knows the drill has thoughts about how one should prepare for prison and how one can transition back to community and family after incarceration. No one as far as I know has thoughts about how you should prepare if you get to walk.
White Collar Support Group™ 400th Meeting Video Reflection, Lynn Springer. Start Here.
400th Meeting, Online on Zoom, Monday, Feb. 19th, 7 pm ET, 6 pm CT, 5 pm MT, 4 pm PT. Open to those directly justice impacted only. Please join us for the reunion and feel free to share with clients, colleagues, friends, family members or anyone in need.
White Collar Week Tuesday Speaker Series: Mike Morawski, Multi-Family Real Estate Investment Expert on Zoom, Feb. 13, 2024, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT.
We were honored to have Mike Morawski as the February speaker in our White Collar Support Group Tuesday Speaker Series.
Is there business life after white collar criminal justice issues. You bet! Mike took us through how he was able to restart his hugely success real estate investment business after his difficult journey.
Mike, is a 30+ year real estate investment veteran. He has controlled over $405,000,000 in real estate transactions. Mike is an entrepreneur, author, real estate trainer, public speaker, personal coach and the Chief Investment officer of Resilience Equity a multifamily hedge fund.
With a strong, personal resilience, and deep desire to help others live an extraordinary life, he has coached hundreds of real estate investors to fulfill their dreams.
Mike’s, background began as a general contractor in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago with $5 mm in annual revenue he sold his company. He entered the real estate industry as a sales agent, building a team and selling over $20 mm per year in production. In 2005 Mike started a private equity firm, raising $18 mm in private equity, and acquired $60 mm in multifamily apartments 4,000 units in five different US markets.
Today Mike’s passion is giving his knowledge and wisdom away to others for their gain. Mike is the host of the Insider Secrets Podcast and the co-host of Multifamily Unplugged Podcast. He has built a training and coaching platform for real estate investors and industry professionals. His core principle is to teach his clients how to create “short term cash flow and long-term wealth.”
Mike shares his story of success, loss and redemption to help others find hope and inspiration. One single focus of Mike’s personal journey is to others see that their past does not dictate their future.
Gregg J is a member of the Ministry’s White Collar Support Group that meets every Monday evening on Zoom.
In August 2021, I pleaded guilty to wire fraud & was sentenced to 27 months in Federal prison.
Naturally, I was concerned about where I would be assigned to serve my sentence; I wanted to be close to home in Minneapolis, MN and assigned to a camp. Through my attorney I requested the camp in Duluth, MN. And while the judge does not control the final designation (the BOP does), the judge’s recommendation does carry some weight.
On September 10, 2021, my probation officer contacted me with good new. I was assigned to the camp in Duluth, MN. I felt some relief; Duluth is 150 miles north of Minneapolis, so visiting for my family would not be a hardship. Being assigned to a camp was also good news as folks I talked to through the While Collar Support Group said the camp was my best option.
I was thrown a big curve ball 2 weeks prior to my report date.
My PO contacted me to say that I would not be going to Duluth because of my medical condition (I had a pacemaker implant). It was frustrating this issue had not come up sooner. Here I was ready to report to Duluth and suddenly, the fact I have a pacemaker is going to impact where I would serve my time. For a week, I didn’t know where I would be reporting to and that created significant anxiety! Duluth is a Level 2 BOP medical facility, because of my pacemaker implant, the BOP determined I needed a Level 3 care facility.
Within a few days I was told by my PO I was designated to FMC Rochester, in Rochester, MN. This was a relief; Rochester is closer to my home than Duluth! Unfortunately, Rochester is not a camp, it is a medical facility, one of six in the BOP system. As my attorney said, Rochester has walls, fences, and razor wire. The camp in Duluth, as goes for all Camps, does not. I was fortunate to connect with someone who served their time at Rochester and was assured the facility was as good as any in the BOP (which isn’t saying much).
I reported to FMC Rochester on September 29, 2021, during the height of COVID. I was placed in isolation (with another guy) until I was able to present proof of having had my COVID shot. It was odd they didn’t check that prior to my reporting or inform me to bring proof with me. Within 8 days I was given the OK to enter the normal population.
During my time in Rochester, I did receive excellent care for my pacemaker, which was provided by the Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic is recognized as one of the leading health care facilities in the world. Many world leaders, politicians, entertainers, and other well recognized people have traveled to Mayo Clinic for treatment.
I have had my pacemaker since 2002 and have experienced zero issues. It did help me feel better, more stamina and less dizziness. One of the issues with a pacemaker is the battery needs to be checked quarterly. In Rochester, a tech from The Mayo Clinic would come to the BOP facility and perform the battery check. It was exactly like the process I had on the outside!
On my 2nd pace check in March 2022, the Tech noted that the battery life was rapidly deteriorating and would soon need replacement. On the outside, I had it replaced once and my doctor recommended replacement when the battery reached 6 months of life. BOP policy however dictates that the battery life must reach zero before they will replace it.
I was told by a doctor in the BOP my pacemaker had a 90-day reserve built into it. My doctor on the outside never told me this. This was unsettling. Would the BOP really gamble with my life to squeak a few more months from my pacemaker, when they knew the battery was about to expire?
The Cares Act added more uncertainty to my situation. I became eligible for home confinement under the Act in April 2022, but because my pacemaker battery needed to be replaced, I was put on a “medical hold”. When an inmate has a medical hold, they cannot be transferred or released until the medical hold is resolved.
It was a Catch-22. I wouldn’t be released to Home Confinement until I had my pacemaker battery replaced, and I couldn’t have my battery replaced until my current battery life registered zero.
Almost 2 months later, on June 2, I was taken to the Mayo Clinic and my pacemaker battery was finally replaced. I had a retired guard with me throughout the process (I guess so I wouldn’t try to escape, even though I was set to be released in 2 weeks)!
The BOP doesn’t tell you ahead of time when outside medical procedures will be performed. If you are lucky, you may find out the night before, or in the early morning, when they post the days “call outs”. I couldn’t tell my family when the procedure would take place and I couldn’t have any family or friends present at the Mayo Clinic. Although it’s a straightforward procedure, it would have been comforting to have family or friends there for me.
The after-care process was much less complicated. I believe the BOP, once they knew I was being released, paid less attention to my medical situation. On June 22, 2022, 3 weeks after my battery replacement, and 9 months since I had reported to FMC Rochester, I was released to home confinement..
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify at or on your favorite podcast platform.
There is little doubt that Nike’s tag line, Just Do It, has been an incredible success. There is hardly a person in any corner of the world that doesn’t recognize it, identify it with Nike, and relate it to a healthy, athletic lifestyle of hard work, sweat and dedication to better themselves.
For a few years, our ministry and White Collar Support Group™ have used the tag line, We Can Help. Similar to Nike, our branding has been an overwhelming success – reaching out to people and families navigating the white collar criminal justice system and offering them a safe space where they can move from the isolation that destroys us, into the solution of community. Where they could be welcome with no judgment, get accurate information about their criminal justice journey, find sanctuary to share, learn, network and make important relationships, laugh at ourselves a little, and grow together to find new lives of dignity, joy and success. All freely offered by our volunteers.
And we knew that the key to this move was to be the first call, the point of entry, for people who have white collar criminal justice issues and lead them to the promised land on the other side of their legal issues. Before they made the mistakes that we all made. Before they ran through their precious resources that they desperately needed and need to navigate these shark-infested waters. To be the first call.
This was a revelation that things had changed, and we had to change along with them. We’d grown up, we have more experience than anybody, and we are now universally recognized as the leading authority in this sector. The world, and Google, recognize us as owning the term “White Collar Support Group™”. Of course they do. We are the first, the longest running, the biggest and the most helpful. And in order to be of service to our community, and consistent with our mission to reach out to others like us suffering in silence, we felt compelled to move from the passive voice of the branding of We Can Help, to one that is stronger, more powerful, and more authoritative.
We knew we needed to stand up, be bold, and be proud of all we’ve accomplished together. To take important positions, to advocate for them, and to dedicate ourselves even more to changing the world. And we wanted to just do it in conjuncture with our 400th White Collar Support Group™ meeting that we will host on Feb. 19, 2024 (Please join us).
I was psyched. We all were.
So, while lunching a few days ago at a new Asian Fusion restaurant here in West Palm Beach, I was explaining this concept to Lynn (for those of you who don’t know, Lynn Springer is my wife, partner, and co-founder of our ministry) and I could hardly control myself. My arms were waiving, the Pad Thai was flying everywhere. Lynn listened attentively (as she is wont to do) and then confidently, knowingly leaned forward (as she is wont to do) and told me she had it! She had our new tag line and branding.
Start Here™.
That was it! Start Here™. Hard stop. It was such a powerful statement. In two words it encapsulated everything we stood for, everything we wanted, everything we needed, everything we worked our butts off to achieve over the past eight years. And in the spirit of less is more, boiling it down to two words was masterful. A stroke of genius. Start Here™ was it!
We finished up our lunch, drove quickly home, and I got on the phones. We have it, we have it! And every single group member I spoke with agreed. Start Here™ was perfect.
So, my dear friends and Fellow Travelers, there you have it. Start Here™ is our new tag line and branding. Start Here™ is us. Start Here™ is what we believe in. Start Here™ is our big, bold statement of how we aspire to be of highest, best use to our white collar community. And Start Here™ is our vision for a bright, successful future for us all.
And, to get to this future full of hope and promise, all we have to do is one simple, but critical, thing: Start Here™.
*PS, thank you Lynn, thank you Nike and thank you to all of you for eight wonderful years.
Drew Chapin and Brent Cassity are members of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Zoom on Monday evenings.
In this episode, host Brent Cassity interviews Drew Chapin, a tech entrepreneur who faced legal troubles and imprisonment. Drew shares his journey from childhood to becoming a tech CEO and the challenges he faced in the startup world. He discusses the pressure to succeed, fundraising struggles, and the ethical dilemmas he encountered. Drew also opens up about his arrest, the plea deal he took, and the waiting period before reporting to prison. The episode highlights the emotional and mental toll of facing legal consequences and the uncertainty of the criminal justice system. In this conversation, Drew Chapin shares his experience of going to prison and his journey of rebuilding his life after release. He discusses the disorientation and nervous system reaction upon arriving at the prison and the support he received from fellow inmates. Drew emphasizes the importance of setting goals and finding ways to cope with hard days in prison. He also talks about the challenges of the halfway house and the need for more thoughtful and intentional decision-making. Drew’s biggest takeaway is the importance of being mindful and acknowledging the interconnectedness of all individuals.
In this insightful episode of The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast, host Darren Wurz sits down with Jeff Grant, a remarkable figure in the legal field who has turned his tumultuous journey into a beacon of hope for others.
Beyond his personal struggles in the past- a past riddled with opioid addiction, financial turmoil, and professional misconduct, Jeff shares how he was able to launch a renewed law practice that’s not only thriving but helping individuals navigate the daunting waters of white-collar prosecution.
Jeff’s story is not just a testament to personal resilience; it’s an incredibly relevant narrative for law firm owners on structuring a business that aligns with their values and the modern world’s demands.
Jeff Grant is on a mission. After a hiatus from practicing law, Jeff has founded the law firm of GrantLaw, PLLC, is once again in private practice in New York City and is committed to using his legal expertise and life experience to benefit others.
GrantLaw, PLLC, is a new type of law firm providing private general counsel services to clients facing, who have previously faced, or who could possibly be facing white collar prosecutions and/or regulatory proceedings, and their companies and families. In this role, Jeff and his team assist clients in making critical and timely business and family decisions, and in executing on them, so that they have the best chance to come out the other side with lives of purpose, meaning and success.
He also provides a broad range of legal services, all in a highly attentive, personalized manner. These include private general counsel, white collar crisis management, strategy and team building, services to family-owned and closely-held businesses, and support to special situation and pro bono clients. He practices in New York and on authorized Federal matters, and works with local co-counsel and criminal defense counsel to represent clients throughout country.
For more than 20 years, Jeff served as managing attorney of a 20+ employee law firm headquartered in New York City and then Westchester County, New York. The firm’s practice areas included representing family-owned and closely-held businesses and their owners, business and real estate transactions, trusts and estates, and litigation. Jeff also served as outside general counsel to large family-owned real estate equities and management and brokerage organizations.
Jeff is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, and in the Federal District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Guiding people forward in their lives
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost 14 months in Federal prison (2006–07) for a white collar crime he committed in 2001, Jeff started his own reentry. He earned a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, majoring in Social Ethics. After graduating, Jeff was called to serve at an inner city church in Bridgeport, CT as Associate Minister and Director of Prison Ministries. He then co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. (Greenwich, CT), the world’s first ministry devoted to serving the white collar justice community. On August 10, 2023, Jeff celebrated 21 years of sobriety.
An ordained minister, Jeff has more than three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 20+ years), plus executive and religious leadership. He works frequently with people prosecuted for white collar crimes (and their families) who want to emerge from isolation and join a supportive community. In this role he helps them navigate their journey through the criminal justice system to new, ethical, productive, joyful lives on the other side of their issues.
Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” Jeff regularly uses his experience and background to guide people forward in their lives, relationships, careers, and business opportunities — and help them avoid making the kinds of decisions that resulted in loss, suffering, and shame.
Service and more service
A verified Psychology Today professional, he also serves on the ministry team at St. Joseph Mission Church (Cliffside Park, NJ) and as Chaplain to the Woodbury Fire Department (Woodbury, CT).
From 2016–2019, Jeff served as Executive Director of Family ReEntry, Inc. (Bridgeport, CT), a 100+ person criminal justice organization with offices and programs in eight Connecticut cities. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white collar crime to be appointed Executive Director of a major criminal justice nonprofit.
Jeff has served on numerous criminal justice-related Boards. They include the Legal Action Center (New York, NY), Co-Chair, American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Reentry & Collateral Consequences Committee, (Washington, DC), American Bar Association Lawyers Assistance Programs Advisory Commission (Chicago, IL) , Co-Chair, Mayor’s Advisory Council on Reentry Affairs (Bridgeport, CT), Family ReEntry (Bridgeport, CT), Community Partners in Action (formerly the Connecticut Prison Association, Hartford, CT), and Healing Communities Network (New York, NY). He has also served on the Advisory Boards of Creative Projects Group (Los Angeles, CA) and Reentry Survivors (Bridgeport, CT).
Recognition and more recognition
Jeff was twice selected a Nantucket Project Scholar (2012, 2014) and was recognized by JustLeadershipUSA as one of 15 Inaugural National Leaders in Criminal Justice (2015). He was selected a Keepers of the Commons Fellow (2017) and a Keepers of the Commons Senior Fellow (2018). Jeff has been the recipient of the Elizabeth Bush Award for Volunteerism (2011), received the Bridgeport Reentry Collaborative Advocate of the Year Award (2013, 2014, 2015), and was selected the Bridgeport Reentry Collaborative Professional of the Year (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). He has also been recognized by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (2017) and by the Connecticut NAACP (2017), and was selected a 2019 Collegeville Institute Writing Fellow.
A Professional Member of the National Speakers Association, Jeff is an in-demand keynote speaker, panelist, moderator, and guest preacher. Speaking venues include Main Stage Presenter at The Nantucket Project (Nantucket, MA), American Bar Association Criminal Justice Conference (Washington, DC), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Webinar (December 2022), the Greenwich Leadership Forum (Greenwich, CT), the Corrections Ministries and Chaplains Association (CMCA) Correctional Ministry Summit (Wheaton College, IL and Philadelphia, PA), Delaware Trust Conference (Wilmington, DE), Salons at Stowe — Harriet Beecher Stowe Center (Hartford, CT), Community Health Network of Connecticut Social Determinants of Health Summit (Wallingford, CT), The Neighborhood Project (Greenwich, CT), U.S. Small Business Administration Conference (Fairfield, CT), Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (NY, NY), Yale Divinity School (New Haven, CT).
Jeff has also spoken at many universities, colleges, and religious institutions across the country. For information or to book Jeff to speak, guest preach, or for a panel or other presentation, please see his e-speakers profile here.
Magazines, radio, television, podcasts, books
Jeff has authored, been the subject of, or been prominently mentioned in many national and regional publications. They include The New Yorker (Aug. 2021), Entrepreneur (Sept. 2021 & Apr. 2020), Bloomberg Law (Oct. 2021), Wells Street with CNBC’s Jane Wells (Oct. 2021), Reuters (May 2021), American Bar Association Criminal Justice Magazine (Spring 2021), Business Insider (July 2021), Forbes (July 2020), Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct. 2020), Vanity Fair (Aug. 2019), Greenwich Magazine (Mar. 2018), Law360, Inc., Medium, The Huffington Post, Absolute Return/HedgeFund Intelligence, Institutional Investor, CFO Dive, New York Magazine, Real Men Real Faith Magazine (cover story), Fairfield County Business Journal, Nonprofit Quarterly, Reentry Central, The Vision (the newspaper of the United Methodist Church NY Conference), Weston Magazine Group, Weston Forum, Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, New Haven Independent, Inner City News, Connecticut Post, Greenwich Sentinel, Greenwich Time, Greenwich Free Press, The Hour and others. Jeff authored a chapter in the book, Suicide and Its Impact on the Criminal Justice System (2021), served on the Editorial Board of the book The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration has Hijacked the American Dream (2014), and was prominently mentioned/quoted in the books Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury (2021), Trusted White Collar Offenders: Global Case Studies of Crime Convenience (2021) and the Teal Book of Wisdom (2022).
He has been featured or interviewed on many radio shows, televisions segments and podcasts. They include the Rich Roll Podcast (# 644 November 2021, #440 May 2019), The Confessional with Nadia Bolz-Weber (May 2021), The Sydcast (October 2021), Newsy (October 2021), Business Talk with Jim Campbell (June 2021), Tha Yard Hangout (June 2021), the Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR (October 2019), The Same 24 Hours podcast with Meredith Atwood (March 2020), the Fraud Stories podcast (September 2020), the Taxgirl Podcast (July 2020), Landmark Recovery Radio (November 2020), Clara CFO podcast with Hanna Smolinski (January 2021), and Founders Focus podcast with Scott Case (April 2021), among others.
Jeff is also editor of the important, widely-read website and blog prisonist.org, for which he authors, edits, and curates content around national and international criminal justice advocacy/ministry issues. He also co-hosts the Criminal Justice Insider podcast, hosts the White Collar Week podcast, and leads a weekly online confidential White Collar Support Group (the first in the country). The group, which has had more than 650 participants, held its 350th weekly online meeting in March 2023.
Jeff Krantz is a member of the Ministry’s White Collar Support Group that meets every Monday evening on Zoom.
It will be on the short list of things your mind will immediately focus on once the federal prosecutors inform you that they intend to charge you. “How do I stay out of prison?” Deferred prosecution having been removed from the table; probation now becomes the golden ticket.
At this point, if they haven’t informed you already, your lawyer will update you on the federal government’s ever-present prosecution success rate of 99%. You are likely to plead out. Everyone knows it. The government knows, your lawyer knows. If you haven’t come to it yet, you will. Nearly no one fights. I didn’t fight.
My case was as likely winnable as any you would encounter. I was charged with one count felony conspiracy to sell counterfeit electronic components. The government acknowledged that the entirety of their case was based on the testimony of ONE individual, who himself had taken a plea and was claiming that I was his co-conspirator. After three years of an intensive investigation no other evidence was produced to support the government’s case. If I had chosen to go to trial their case would likely fall to pieces upon cross examination.
Once I made my decision to enter a plea agreement it was incumbent upon me to prep for my plea hearing and sentencing, and to explain to family and friends why there was no point in fighting. That by going to court, and even with the possibility of winning, the result would likely have a prospectively more damaging outcome than to plea. The continuation of a heated investigation by the government would decimate my still somewhat intact finances along with any prospect of saving our family business (a reasonable probability that drove most of my decisions).
All of this is by design. The prosecution seeks victories, regardless of whether it is for justifiable cause, political pressures, pure careerism, or a mix of all three. There is no other instance in life, in business, in relationships, or in any organizational entity that entails decision making, where the margin of error is nil. As I experienced it, in our US criminal justice system, regardless of fact, and or contingency, one party is always right, and it has the power to ensure that it always is.
Almost everyone pleads out. There is nothing else to be done.
Once you have reached a plea agreement with the prosecution you will know the sentencing guideline that you will be subject to. I was looking at a maximum of twenty-four months. The conditions surrounding my case made it unlikely that I would receive a sentence for the maximum. I was also informed by my lawyers that depending upon the judge, the stance of the prosecution and the perspective of the PO writing my PSR, that I stood a reasonable chance of receiving a non-custodial sentence. Probation.
As it happened, everything aligned and I was sentenced to three years’ probation, 100 hours of community service and a restitution and fine amounting to just over half a million dollars.
It was as good an outcome as I could have hoped for. I wish that it had been otherwise.
Craig Stanland is a member of the Ministry’s White Collar Support Group that meets every Monday evening on Zoom.
“Out of massive suffering emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Khalil Gibran
When I was arrested, my life was over.
When I pleaded guilty, my life was over.
When I was barred from my career, my life was over.
When the gavel came down, punctuating my prison sentence, my life was over.
When my ex-wife told me she was leaving me inside the prison visiting room, my life was over.
So many moments when I believed my life was over. I believed it with the same conviction when I say my eyes are brown.
The moments were sad, terrifying, filled with shame, and certainly life-altering, but as the author Cheri Huber wrote,
“Nothing has ever happened to us that we haven’t survived.”
Each one of those moments, with their sadness, fear, and shame, knocked me on my ass, but as Mickey told Rocky,
“I didn’t hear no bell!” Life will knock us down; it’s an inevitable component of our shared human experience.
Sometimes, the knocks are minor, and sometimes, they’re life-altering, so much so that life becomes neatly divided into before the knock and after the knock.
The life-altering knocks can define our lives, but this is critical; how they define our lives is our choice.
It’s easy to allow “what” knocked us down to define our lives.
When we allow what happened to define our lives, we relinquish agency to the event; we remain in the burnt ashes of what was, wishing and demanding the impossible, that the past is anything other than it is.
Our lives become frozen in time, and we hold onto our fear, anger, shame, and sadness, watching helplessly as they dominate our lives and evolve into victimhood, bitterness, and regret.
The “what” defines us and our lives.
Or we make one of the most challenging, terrifying, and empowering choices we’ll ever make.
We choose to define our lives not by what happened but by how we respond.
What do we choose to do while on the ground with our faces in the dirt?
How do we pick ourselves up?
And perhaps most importantly, how do we take the first step out of what was and into the unknown of what could be?
The first step on my journey was practicing acceptance; no amount of wishing or demanding will alter the past.
When we accept the past, we cultivate the room required to create a new future. We’re no longer prisoners of the past, living diminishing lives under the constrictive nature of the past.
Acceptance is the gateway to personal freedom and expansiveness.
With our newfound freedom and expansiveness, we find the room to dig and explore, seeking the lesson and the gift inside our adversity.
We use these moments to better understand ourselves, what truly matters to us, and what we hope to create.
We cultivate the willingness to receive the gift of perspective that awaits us when we make it through the other side of adversity.
From here, we can truly change the trajectory of our lives by giving meaning to the suffering and serving something more significant than ourselves.
We do this by alchemizing what we’ve learned and sharing it with the world so it can reach someone, somewhere, who feels how we once felt.
Lost, alone, afraid, uncertain, feeling broken, uncomfortable in their own skin, desperately wanting to be anywhere other than where they are, but with no idea how to take their first step.
When we connect deeply with ourselves through acceptance and self-inquiry, we create a new future for ourselves.
When we share how we created our new future with others, we give them the opportunity to create a new future for themselves.
Our greatest adversities do not have to be the end; they can, in fact, be our greatest teachers and our greatest beginnings.
It’s our choice.
Craig Stanland is a Reinvention Architect & Mindset Coach, TEDx & Keynote Speaker, and the Best-Selling Author of “Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison.” He specializes in working with high-achievers who’ve chased success, money, and status in their 1st half, only to find a success-sized hole in their lives. He helps them unleash their full potential, break free from autopilot, draft a new life blueprint, and connect with their Life’s Mission so they can live extraordinary lives with purpose, meaning, and fulfillment.
