Reframe Your Blame: How to be Personally Accountable. Jay Fiset. Calgary, AB, Canada: Personal Best Publications, 2007. 232 pp.

In the world of personal development the concepts each practitioner talks about are very similar across the board. I would say the concepts are exactly the same, but it is how each practitioner speaks about these concepts which differs. So with everybody talking about the same things it is not surprising to find that there are certain words which appear in almost every practitioners vocabulary. One of these words is Accountable or Accountability.

Accountability is a concept with which I have struggled principally because no one I spoke to, or whose books I read, could ‘accurately’ define this term. One definition of Accountability I have seen used is ‘Stop blaming. Stop justifying. Stop complaining…Accept accountability’. When I read this I thought, “Is that it? Is that the fullest and most complete definition of Accountability?” Stop Blaming, Complaining and Justifying. Well, this definition does not work for me. I’m not saying that this definition is wrong, but I don’t find it to be accurate enough or complete enough. I need more.

My first concern is that this definition is at odds with the ‘Law of Attraction’. If you are unfamiliar with the Law of Attraction there are many books on the topic (I will review one of these at another time), however the basic Definition of the Law Attraction is that whatever you focus on is what you will get more of. So if one focuses on feeling contentment then you will get more contentment or if you focus on your financial abundance then you will attract more financial abundance into your life. The other piece of the Law of Attraction is that it doesn’t understand the words Don’t, Not, and No. With a phrase that starts with a negation you are actually focusing on that which you say you don’t want. If you don’t believe me then try this; “Don’t think about a BLUE house”. Now if you are honest I will guarantee that you just pictured in your mind a Blue House. It is important to understand this piece of the Law Of Attraction, because the definition that we are using is as follows : ‘Stop blaming. Stop justifying. Stop complaining…Accept accountability’. So we are actually focused on blaming, justifying and complaining. We are focused on all those things that which would lead us to non-accountability. So if we ignore all of the negative phrasing we are left with ‘Accept Accountability’ and we still don’t have a definition.

My second concern is around the ‘completeness’ of the definition. If you were to attend a weekend workshop this is about the size of the definition you get on Accountability. Short, Sweet and it assumes that you probably already know what accountability is anyway (which begs the question then why mention it at all since we are all on the same page). Many Personal Development practitioners only spend about 3 minutes out of 48 hours on this, and yet you are expected to be accountable.

My third concern with this definition is the results of it. You may, or may not be aware, but you will have a hard time making real, lasting changes in your life if you are not accountable. Accountability is a cornerstone in making the life you would want. So I want more on Accountability. I want to understand it and I want to know how to apply it in my daily life.

Jay Fiset did something that I feel needed to be done. Rather than just 8 words he spent 200 pages on really defining this term. This book thoroughly defines exactly what it is to be accountable and different levels of accountability. Thats right Accountability is not an On/Off switch, but a dimmer.

With many personal development books which I have read I found them to be didactic or instructional. The author will often speak about their point, use a story or anecdote to illustrate their point and re state the point. Having instructed you on the concept you are expected to now apply this your self. This approach can be very useful for getting through information, teaching it, and I have always benefited from these type of books.

Where Reframe Your Blame differs from many other books I have read is the ‘practical’ approach it takes. From the get-go this book brings its message to the individual reader by having the reader bring forward their own story or experience and writing them down in the book. It is a text/workbook. Fiset shares with the reader his own experiences as he asks you to share your own experiences and learn from them, and through working with your own life see how you could apply accountability to your experience and make the integration of a new practice easier.

From the liner notes on the back of the book Fiset puts it this way,

Every personal development book tells you that you can’t change your life until you become accountable, but none of them specifically tell you how. Instead they supply stirring axioms like ‘If its to be, Its up to me,’ ‘I create my own reality,’ and ‘Stop blaming and complaining.’ All these statements are true, but now you are going to learn HOW TO DO IT

I found this book to be an interesting read and personally challenging as I worked my way through it to learn more thoroughly what it is to be accountable and how I would apply accountability in my daily life. Well written, easy to understand and full of invaluable information. I would recommend it to any one who wants to know how to practice accountability in their own lives and position themselves to create the lives they would like.

Walk-in-Peace,
Warrior Jevon