Do you remember the exact moment you first became interested

in personal development? I certainly do. It happened in January 1991

while I was sitting in a jail cell. I'd just been arrested for felony grand

theft. This wasn't my first run-in with the law, so I knew was in trouble.

I was 19 years old.

I began stealing shortly after moving to Berkeley, California, during my first semester at UC Berkeley. I didn't steal for money or to

build a reputation-I stole for the thrill. I was addicted to the surge

of adrenaline. The compulsion to steal was so strong that shoplifting

was part of my routine, nothing more than my daily espresso. Usually I

didn't care what I stole; it was the act of stealing that seduced me. On

a typical outing, I'd lift a dozen candy bars and then drop them off in

a public place, figuring that other people would eat them. I didn't eat

the candy because I didn't think it was healthy.

As I sat in jail for several days that January with nothing to do but

wallow in my own stupidity, the reality of my situation came crashing

down upon me. In high school I'd been a straight-A honors student,

president of the math club, and captain of the Academic Decathlon

team. My future as a computer-science major looked unbelievably

bright, but somehow I'd torn it to shreds. Now I was expecting to

spend the next year or two behind bars.