How to overcome your white collar crime conviction

Overcome your white collar crime conviction

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: it will be easier to overcome your white collar crime conviction if you have a shorter federal prison sentence. If you have yet to be sentenced, click here to get started.

Learning how to overcome my white collar crime conviction remains one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. One never fully overcomes, but with work and a plan we can get closer. Frankly, I have found the journey to be a lot of fun. With setbacks comes the opportunity to bounce bank, to see what you are made of. If you are to overcome your conviction the first rule is welcoming the test. If you cannot find joy in the test or struggle, you will fail to work on days you may not want to. Succeeding is not so much about motivation. It is about values: what do you value most? If you can prioritize what you are after you may be more likely to work on days you would rather do something else.

Another crucial step in the rebuilding process is learning from the right people.

Just because someone says they can help you does not mean they can actually help you. It probably makes sense to learn from those who have accomplished what you hope to accomplish or achieve. Further, confirm there is data and a well honed process that confirms their accomplishments. Without that data how do you really know if they were successful?

The third and final step I will address in this blog deals with pain. We all face pain in life. I feel pain each day when I wake at 4am to wake. I feel pain four days a week when I run at 5am. I feel pain when I return money to a white collar defendant who is not truly committed to obtaining the best outcome at sentencing or in federal prison. They talk about it, but talk without follow through is useless.

The pain I feel from waking early, running or holding a federal prison consulting client accountable is measurably better than the alternative. The alternative would be the status quo: sleeping in, rationalizing I am too tired to exercise and if someone wants to pay me, I should take the money–even if they do not want to do the work.

How does this help you?

You must access how much pain you are willing to accept–if you wish to overcome your white collar crime conviction.

Yes, it may be painful to speak openly about your criminal conviction–but you must if you wish to overcome.

Yes, it may be difficult to work all day in federal prison to build a new record–but you must if you wish to overcome.

Yes, it may be difficult to work a job that is beneath your skillset before or after federal prison–but you must if you wish to overcome your white collar crime conviction.

I know that waking early makes me feel great. I felt the same way in federal prison. Running early makes me feel like a man of discipline. Holding a federal prison consulting client accountable makes me feel like a man of integrity.

So to close, if you wish to overcome your conviction choose pain over status quo. Learn from those who have done it. If that is our team, great. If you think someone else is better equipped, great. Just get to work if you wish to overcome your white collar crime conviction.

Best,
Justin Paperny