When someone learns they’re the target of a government investigation, panic often follows. The questions flood in: What do I do? What happens to my family? Will I go to prison? Who can I trust?
These aren’t just throw away questions. They’re are big questions worth answering!
And this is where Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen becomes more than a self-help book. For someone in a white-collar crisis (or any crisis!), this book offers a mindset framework—one that helps you slow down, detach from mental noise, and make clear-eyed decisions. Not from fear. Not from ego. But from awareness.
I wish I had read it when I was under investigation. I might have responded to the FBI differently. I might have spoken more honestly to my lawyer. I certainly would have handled stress and shame with more composure.
The Premise
Nguyen’s message is simple: You are not your thoughts. And if you believe every thought you have—especially in a crisis—you will suffer, react badly, and make your situation worse.
In a government investigation, you will face aggressive prosecutors, skeptical lawyers, and a mountain of uncertainty. You cannot afford to let fear dominate your actions. Nguyen explains that most suffering doesn’t come from the external event itself, but from how we interpret that event. Thoughts spin. Panic rises. The mind becomes a courtroom with no judge—just accusation after accusation.
He offers a different approach, as Montaigne shared: observe your thoughts. Don’t resist them. Don’t obey them. Just see them.
This practice of observation is not passive. It’s how you prepare.
How It Applies to a Government Investigation
Our team has worked with thousands of people at every stage of a white-collar case. In the early stages, most spiral.
They read one bad article and assume federal prison is over or the pathway back to success is closed up for good.
They talk to one lawyer who’s too busy to explain the guidelines and assume they’ll get the worst case scenario.
They embrace the “there is nothing I can do to help myself,” mantra. Too many are defeated before the game really starts.
This is exactly what Nguyen means when he says we suffer by believing our thoughts.
He doesn’t promise peace through denial. He offers clarity through separation. You learn to say: “I’m having a thought that everything is falling apart,” instead of “Everything is falling apart.”
That’s a small distinction. But it’s the difference between someone who can write a personal narrative that influences a judge—and someone who hides until sentencing and blames their lawyer.
Three Principles to Apply Immediately
1. Not Every Thought Deserves Action
The first chapter that resonated with me was Nguyen’s discussion about thinking versus thoughts. Thoughts happen. Thinking is when we cling to them and run them over, again and again.
If you’re facing a government investigation, you’ll be flooded with thoughts: call this person, hide that email, delete your LinkedIn, lie to your lawyer, drink. They’ll feel urgent and compelling.
You must develop the skill to wait. To breathe. To say: “That’s just a thought. I don’t have to act on it.”
This delay—between thought and action—is how people avoid obstruction charges, reduce their prison sentence, or build a mitigation strategy that earns the respect of cynical stakeholders.
2. Desperate Action Is the Enemy of Credibility
Nguyen distinguishes between desperate action and inspired action. Desperate action is fear-driven. It tries to control outcomes and often makes the situation worse.
That’s exactly what I did when I tried to shift blame, minimize my role, and mislead my own defense lawyer. It cost me time. It cost me credibility.
Inspired action—Nguyen’s term—comes from clarity, not chaos. In the context of a government case, that might mean:
- Choosing to self-report before indictment
- Writing your personal narrative while the investigation is ongoing
- Mitigating now—even if you haven’t been charged
- Telling your children the truth before the media does
These aren’t easy steps. But they are clear. And when done with awareness, they come from strength, not desperation.
3. Peace Is Not Passive
One of the book’s deeper insights is that peace doesn’t mean avoidance. Peace is the result of understanding the mind, not ignoring problems.
I’ve seen people meditate daily and still lie to their lawyers. I’ve seen others lose sleep, drink too much, and lash out at family because they won’t talk about the case.
Nguyen explains that real peace requires engagement—not escape. That means facing uncomfortable truths without allowing your thoughts to hijack your behavior.
In prison, I met a man who served 12 years for wire fraud. His biggest regret wasn’t the crime. It was the year he wasted pretending it wasn’t happening. He lost trust with his wife and children because he wouldn’t talk about it.
“Don’t believe everything you think” could have saved him time, pain, and relationships.
What This Book Doesn’t Offer (But Why That’s a Strength)
You won’t find legal tips, sentencing guidelines, or policy arguments in this book. That’s not its purpose.
This book is your mental due diligence. Just as you would research a defense attorney, you must audit the thoughts running through your head—especially under federal scrutiny. If you don’t, your decisions will reflect fear instead of strategy. They will cost you liberty.
And once you go to prison. (if you go), the same principles apply. If you don’t observe your thoughts, prison will feel like a miserable experience. If you do, it becomes training. You learn to choose your responses, and you build the type of record that judges—and halfway house case managers—notice.
If you are in the government’s crosshairs, this book won’t save you. But it will help you save yourself. Not from prison. From panic. From poor decisions. From mental suffering that leads to worse outcomes.
The first thing I tell people who call me after they’ve been indicted is: “Slow down.” The second thing? “Start documenting your story.”
To do either well, you have to stop believing everything you think.
That’s why this Don’t Believe Everything You Think matters.
If you’re serious about getting through this process with dignity, credibility, and strategy, read it. Then read it again. Then ask yourself: Which thoughts am I believing that are keeping me stuck?
Because the moment you stop believing everything you think—you start preparing with discipline. And preparation, not panic, is what earns leniency.
Justin Paperny
