ContentsIntroduction"WhenI'mworkingonaproblem,Ineverthinkaboutbeauty.Ithinkonlyhowtosolvetheproblem.ButwhenIhavefinished,ifthesolutionisnotbeautiful,Iknowitiswrong."—R.BUCKMINSTERFULLER1•Doyouremembertheexactmomentyoufirstbecameinterestedinpersonaldevelopment?Icertainlydo.IthappenedinJanuary1991whileIwassittinginajailcell.I'djustbeenarrestedforfelonygrandtheft.Thiswasn'tmyfirstrun-inwiththelaw,soIknewwasintrouble.Iwas19yearsold.IbeganstealingshortlyaftermovingtoBerkeley,California,dur-ingmyfirstsemesteratUCBerkeley.Ididn'tstealformoneyortobuildareputation—Istoleforthethrill.Iwasaddictedtothesurgeofadrenaline.Thecompulsiontostealwassostrongthatshopliftingwaspartofmyroutine,nothingmorethanmydailyespresso.UsuallyIdidn'tcarewhatIstole;itwastheactofstealingthatseducedme.Onatypicalouting,I'dliftadozencandybarsandthendropthemoffinapublicplace,figuringthatotherpeoplewouldeatthem.Ididn'teatthecandybecauseIdidn'tthinkitwashealthy.AsIsatinjailforseveraldaysthatJanuarywithnothingtodobutwallowinmyownstupidity,therealityofmysituationcamecrashingdownuponme.InhighschoolI'dbeenastraight-Ahonorsstudent,presidentofthemathclub,andcaptainoftheAcademicDecathlonteam.Myfutureasacomputer-sciencemajorlookedunbelievablybright,butsomehowI'dtornittoshreds.NowIwasexpectingtospendthenextyearortwobehindbars.ixPERSONALDEVELOPMENTFORSMARTPEOPLEUponreturningtomystudioapartmentafterthreedaysinjail,IreceivedaletterfromUCBerkeleyinformingmeinnouncertaintermsthatI'dbeenexpelled.Apparentlyschoolsdothatsortofthingwhenyoudon'tbothershowinguptoclassesandyourgradepointaveragestartswithadecimalpoint.Inthatmoment,IrealizedIhadtwobasicoptionsforhowtodealwithmysituation:growuporgiveup.Duringthenextfewmonthswhilewaitingformycourtdate,Iwasinatotalfunk.MostdaysIsleptuntilwellpastnoon.Iburiedmy-selfinvideogames,sometimesfor18hoursatatime.(We'retalkingsingle-playerNintendogameshere,notmassivemultiplayeronlinegames.)It'shardtofeelmotivatedwhenyou'reexpectingtogotojailforawhile.EventuallyIsecuredalawyerandmetwithhimathisofficetodiscussmysituation.BeforeIcouldopenmymouth,heblurtedout,"Steve,I'vereviewedyourcase,andsincethisisyourfirstoffense,I'mprettysurewecangetitreducedtopettytheft.Ifwepleadnocontest,you'llgetoffwithalesserconvictionandendupwithsomecommunityservice.I'mongreattermswiththedistrictattorney,soI'msurehe'llgoforit.Istronglyadviseagainstgoingtotrial,astheevidenceagainstyouisoverwhelming,seeingasyouwerecaughtred-handed."Immediatelymythoughtsbegantorace.Firstoffense?Ishede-luded?Whydoeshethinkthisismyfirstoffense?Doesn'theknowaboutmypriors?Ifhethinksthisisafirstoffense,willtherestofthecourtthinkso,too?ShouldIcorrecthimonthisseriousoversight?Whiletryingtodecidehowtorespond,Iheardavoiceinthebackofmymind:Keepyourdamnedmouthshut!Irealizedthatspeakingupnowmightbackfireonmelater,buttherewasaslimchanceitcould"frontfire,"too.IfiguredthattheworstcasewasthatI'dhaveanangrylawyersomewheredowntheroad,butthebestcasewastoogoodtopassup.Grandtheftisafelony;pettytheftisonlyamisde-meanor.IdecidedIhadtoriskit.Takingriskswasanall-too-familiarpastime.Severalweekslaterwewenttocourt,andIwasanervouswreck.Myplanwastokeepmymouthshutasmuchaspossibleandonlysaytheabsoluteminimum.Outsidethecourtroom,IreviewedtheXIntroductionposteddocumentsaboutmycase.Noneofmypriorswerelisted.Wasithumanorcomputererror?Eitherway,itwasonehugemistakeinmyfavor.Sur...
VIP
