Taking Responsibility: Self-Reliance and the Accountable Life

The author focuses on how people can take responsibility for their lives. It’s a book that many people might have reactions to because of how much it focuses on individualism, but I think the underlying practice is sound. I appreciated the sentence stem practice as well as the overall focus on how to take responsibility in different areas of one’s life. I have been applying it to my life and have felt more confidence as a result.

There has been a huge rise in a lack of responsibility and accountability which has impacted our society. My ex m-i-l used to brag about how proud she was because she taught her kids to "Never take responsibility, ALWAYS blame the other person!" Which is why she's my ex m-i-l!!! Therapists talked about the rise in narcissism/co-dependence during the 70's due to social changes have greatly impacted today's adult children of narcissitic/co-dependent parents. This book is IMPORTANT! I wish it was required reading for all and especially for teachers and parents!!!

This is a very important book for your personal belief system. I wish I could have read it in college. It gives a beautiful framework around which to build a personal philophy which is also going to render guidance in other areas. Most of Dr Brandens books have uncompleted sentence stems which the reader finishes five a day , for five days.. this will raise the readers self esteem to the highest measurable in about eight weeks.I tried for twenty years to raise my self esteem and never raised it one point. It is e difficult . But these sentence completions make it simple. You can measure before and after from the test in Dr David Burns' Feeling Good book. You can get it used from Amazon. So I have been very low and very high in Self Esteem, High is uphoric in comparison.

The author embraces free will as the dominant element in human character. He slights nature in the "nature-nurture" debate that continues to move from absolute nurture toward nature as each new genetically linked "behavior" is discovered.An undue emphasis on nurture can underlie dangerous social arguments across the political spectrum. The Soviets created the biologist Lysenko to debunk the Darwinism that differed with the idea that human behavior could be molded to fit a utopian society; the American right wing sees the downtrodden as examples only of moral weakness, not as likely victims of fetal malnourishment through multiple generations.The issue with Branden's position is that it doesn't call upon the reader to examine the inborn component of human behavior. This is not to say that genes should excuse one from taking responsibility for one's actions. Nevertheless, a treatise on self-help should alert the reader to the possibility that pharmacological treatment may be in order. With the preceding arguments in mind, Branden's writing does underscore the power and importance of "free will" and of believing in free will.

This book really hits home with me. Do the stuff you need to do to make you happy. It's that simple. Re-frame your mind to think about your past in a positive way without ignoring your experience. It may just not be a great idea to use it as an excuse to not move forward.This book is concise and has plenty of examples. There are no complicated concepts to understand. Just simple self responsibility.

All of us have tried something and failed. The question then is, "How did this happen?" The answers are sometimes complex, but one central feature under each person's control is whether he or she can claim some amount of responsibility for their thinking, feeling, and behaving.Self-responsibility and accountability are the heart of Branden's self-help book, especially the notion that each person is accountable for choices, decisions, actions, beliefs, values, management of time, choice of companions, and one's own happiness. At some level, this self-help book is a refreshing reality-based tonic.Branden also talks about self-responsibility in organizations, which I found helpful. Less helpful, however, is his condemnation of welfare, because he does not take into account the lack of responsibility in the people who made the welfare system so "good." Also, he does not take into account the realistic difficulties that people in poverty have, nor the success stories of families who have emerged from poverty. In this sense, he presages O'Reilly. He would have been more consistent by talking about the destruction of responsibility by drugs and alcohol.This is a short read. I hope you enjoy it.

In this brilliant tome, Nathaniel Branden makes a definitive statement on leading the joyful life of personal responsibility and reality-orientation...and the alternative where individuals "unconsciously" ignore the fruits of their own actions. Branden uproots this rejection of responsibility from every corner where it hides, from your choice of values to your choice of companions. He applies this vision of responsibility to romantic love (where using others for your fulfillment often becomes sport), organizations (where avoiding blame becomes the goal), and government (where entitlements have replaced rights). Branden also includes do-it-yourself exercises (I can attest to their effectiveness) to help readers explore their own deep-rooted attitudes towards their own role in the world. An essential read that communicates the true demands of the free and sovereign life.

This is likely the best self help book ever written...if you apply it. The reason people don't think so is likely because the message of self-reliance, and taking responsibility for one's actions, one's thoughts, one's relationships, work, and life are now forgotten topics. Unfortunately, these topics are no longer popular and have gone by the way side to more fluffy, feel good self help books. If you want to really make a positive change in life,and quit making excuses read this book.

Warning - this is not the original printing of this book, it is a poor quality photocopied version printed by Amazon print-on-demand.

What a brilliant book! It helped me immensely with my issues of passivity and dependence on other people. It taught me how to build up my self-esteem, become more responsible and independent. The sentence completions exercises at the end of the book are crucial in this process. I recommend all Dr Branden's books. They are all extremely helpful but especially: ''The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem'', ''Honoring the Self'', ''How to Raise Your Self-Esteem'' and ''Breaking Free''. I'm so grateful for this book and for Nathaniel Branden's insight.

We all need to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions.