Prison! My 8,344th Day is the accompanying audiobook to Earning Freedom: Conquering a 45-Year Prison Term. In Earning Freedom, Michael shows people how to sustain a high level of energy and discipline while traversing multiple decades in prison. In Prison! My 8,344th Day, listeners learn the strategies to get through a single 24-hour day.

Modeled after the great A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Michael offers listeners insight into a deliberate, disciplined strategy. He used it to prepare for a successful journey through prison and beyond. Michael began serving his sentence in a high-security federal penitentiary when he was 23 years old. Listeners will learn how a deliberate path led to his earning a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, becoming an author, and building an extensive support network while preparing for success.

He calls his strategy the "Straight-A Guide". It’s a values-based, goal-oriented approach to making decisions and adjusting through the challenge of confinement. Those steps are methodical. They begin with defining success and setting clear goals. Michael tells us that he intended to emerge from prison with his dignity intact and with opportunities to prosper. By defining success in such a way, he could set clear goals to pursue along the way.

As shown in Prison! My 8,344th Day, the prison jobs he pursued, the books he read, and the friends he chose put him on a pathway for success. Others in prison can pursue a similar path of defining success and setting goals. Then, they can move forward with the right attitude and aspirations. They can take action steps and hold themselves accountable. They can stay aware of opportunities and celebrate every achievement. Then, they can live with gratitude, appreciating the blessings that have come their way.