Wes Watson is an ex-convict that’s taking over the internet by storm with his no-nonsense approach to life advice.

Wes Watson’s criminal life started after he began smoking weed at the young age of 12-13 years old. At the age of 14, he decided he was tired of spending all his money on cannabis, pushing him to start selling the herb. Later on, he started moving up the criminal ladder, going from a mere quarter ounce worth $140 street-value to selling hundreds of pounds.

He’s from Oceanside California, where they shot the highly acclaimed crime show the Animal Kingdom.

The first car he bought was a Chevy Z71 Silverado that cost him approximately $50,000. This was quite a big deal for him, considering he came from a lower-middle-class household with parents that were living cheque-to-cheque.

Then he upgrades in under a year to a Cadillac Escalade, costing approximately $100,000, double the price of his previous vehicle. Wes Watson was making up to $20,000 to $40,000 per week which is approximately 1-2 million annually, but he was blowing money as fast as it was coming in.

Wes Watson appeared to be living it up for a few years which came to an abrupt halt. He ended up getting arrested on assault, weapons and home invasion charges. Resulting in a 9-year sentence in the California federal penitentiary. Wes Watson says, “When lots of money is involved, violence is involved, that’s just how crime works”.

Today we’ll be discussing Wes Watson’s advice on achieving life success/growth, and what he learned from being in the grueling prison system, which he shares in his interview with Nervous Rex.

1.) Regret is a Powerful Tool | 1:05

“What I always told people is that regret is your guideline” -Wes Watson

Wes Watson explains how people’s approach to success should be innate. Finding your life’s direction is just as important as identifying misdirection with your actions. He coined the term “conscious congruency” which means the only way to lead the life you want, is through keeping your conscience in check per say.

Perhaps the power of regret correlates to why relapse is an important part of the drug addiction rehabilitation process. Did you know that according to a JAMA study 40-60 percent of recovering drug addicts relapse? Rehab councilors say the regret that stems from relapse should be seen as part of the process, instead of meaning you failed.

2.) Pay Attention to Where Your Validation Comes From | 11:35

“100%, what I’ve learned about validating myself with material possessions and money is, whatever you validate yourself within your heart is what others will want from you” -Wes Watson

There’s a common stereotype among males claiming most women to be gold-diggers and only attracted to people with money. The irony is how much a large number of men desire wealth and aspire to maintain the image of a wealthy individual. Blaming another person for being attracted to arguably the most useful resource in the world after flaunting it is unfair to them and yourself.



If you validate yourself on your sense of humor and telling funny jokes/stories all the time, that’s what people are going to expect from you. Moreover, if you meet a friend that you find extremely smart and sociable, you’re naturally going to expect them to behave that way as well. Relationships are built under covert contracts that involve some sort of give ‘n’ take. Some contracts are healthy while others aren’t E.g.

You give your co-worker rides to work, expecting him to pay gas money

You take your partner out on a date, in hopes to get sex

You agree to go to their favorite restaurant, so next time around you’ll both go to yours.

3.) Make Decisions Based off your Life Purpose | 26:48

“Purpose over pleasure” -Wes Watson

When previously questioned about dealing with being disrespected in prison, Wes Watson explained how he was morally and culturally obligated to ‘fire off’ on anybody that disrespected him. In the California prison system, any transgression against you is seen as disrespectful towards your gang/race. Thus, forcing him to retaliate physically after being disrespected, especially when done verbally in public.

That’s why his transition is so remarkable when he speaks on his life demeanor later on into the podcast episode. Simon Cowell asks how Wes Watson would react to somebody provoking him to fight, and he uses the ‘purpose over pleasure’ mantra to encourage him to check his temporary emotions in the heat of the moment. Since acting on anger won’t benefit him in the long-term. Wes Watson claims to begin regulating his daily thoughts right when he wakes up to help maintain his strong sense of discipline.

In addition, having a true-life purpose accompanies a plethora of health benefits. Science writer Lydia Denworth speaks on the benefits of a true-life purpose, her body of research has found that the feeling that one’s life has meaning is associated with a host of positive health outcomes.

Here are some benefits of finding a Life Purpose

4.) Self-Esteem is Earned and Comes From Action | 35:15

“I hate when people say you can just love yourself, that’s f***** bull****, You have to earn that shit like everybody else” | 35:15 -Wes Watson

Wes Watson’s demeanor has a captivating combination of humility and unapologetic stoicism in his approach to life advice. He is a result-oriented individual. While this may seem brutal at first, viewers later begin to realize that many life problems related to mental illness(i.e. low self-esteem, anxiety, depression) are due to life circumstances.

Wes Watson suggests that self-esteem is earned through actions like many things worth having in life. One of his examples is hitting the gym to take care of his appearance by hitting the gym to help improve his physique. Your self-esteem can be improved by other daily habits and rituals. If you’re interested in that you should checkout Barry Mcdonagh’s Panic Away program. He gives you daily habits, to improve your anxiety, and also has activities and workbooks you can do whenever you feel like it. This makes it easier to work at your own pace, while also being procrastination proof.

I urge those listening to the interview to understand Wes Watson has an intense world-view, considering how accusatory it may be. However, is there any research to back his philosophy?

Whelp, McGill University assistant psychology professor Lauren Hunman claims humans tend to treat attractive people better and associate more positive qualities with them.

Now let’s focus more on our internal feelings. Psychologist Nathaniel Branden describes self-esteem as having positive effects on cognitive thinking, emotional behavior, and positive values/goals. This also ties heavily into the purpose over pleasure section under the previous heading. A rule of thumb is to think about who you look up to. Then use that as a guideline for the qualities that make you personally feel better about yourself.

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