James Stockdale was an American navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam in 1965.

After spending seven years in a POW camp, tortured and confined in a concrete block in leg irons, his realization was the greatest tool for making people do the wrong thing is “shame”.

Shame creates guilt, which erodes willpower and leads you to do more things that you feel ashamed of, and the cycle continues.

To be an entrepreneur (that doesn’t go to jail), always do the right thing. To do the right thing, you must keep your conscience clean.

Don’t do anything that will make you feel shame.

If you slip every now and then, it’s cool, don’t panic.

Confess to your closest friends, people who’s opinion you respect.

It will remove the guilt and free your willpower to resists falling into further traps.

Do the right thing, always.