The following thirty-week sentence completion program, from Dr. Branden’s recent book “Taking Responsibility: Self-Reliance and the Accountable Life,” is designed to help you take more responsibility in all areas of your life.
Weeks 1-4
Week 1
- Self-responsibility to me means…
- Independence to me means…
- Thinking for myself means…
- Trusting my own mind means…
Week 2
- If I operate five percent more self-responsibly today…
- If I think for myself today…
- If I bring five percent more awareness to my deepest needs and wants…
- If I bring five percent more awareness to what I truly think and feel…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 3
- If I am more straightforward about what I think and feel today…
- If I operate five percent more self-assertively today…
- If I treat my wants and needs with more respect today…
- If I express myself calmly and with dignity today…
- If I want to translate these ideas into action…
Week 4
- If I pay more attention to my inner signals today…
- If I am more truthful in my dealings with people today…
- If I am five percent more self-accepting today…
- If I am self-accepting even when I make mistakes…
- If these ideas start working in my subconscious mind…
Week 5
- If I disown what I am thinking and feeling…
- If I place other people’s thoughts above my own…
- When I look at what I do to impress people…
- If I fake who I am to make myself “likable”…
- I am beginning to suspect…
Week 6
- If I am more accepting of my feelings today…
- If I deny and disown my feelings…
- If I am more accepting of my thoughts…
- If I deny and disown my thoughts…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 7
- If I am more accepting of my fears…
- If I deny and disown my fears…
- If I were more accepting of my pain…
- If I deny and disown my pain…
- Right now it seems obvious that…
Week 8
- If I am more accepting of my desire to be liked…
- If I deny and disown my desire to be liked…
- If I learn to manage my desire for approval…
- If I can acknowledge my desire for approval without being controlled by it…
- If I want to translate these ideas into action…
Week 9
- If I am more accepting of my deepest self…
- If I deny and disown my deepest self…
- If I am more accepting of my intelligence…
- If I deny and disown my intelligence…
- If I allow myself to understand what I am writing…
Week 10
- Self-responsibility means…
- If I am more accepting of my thoughts and feelings, whether or not anyone shares them…
- If I deny and disown thoughts and feelings others do not share…
- If I betray my thoughts and feelings in action…
- If I honor my thoughts and feelings in action…
- I am beginning to suspect…
Week 11
- If I imagine being more self-responsible…
- If I imagine being more independent…
- If I imagine looking at things through my own eyes…
- If I take five percent more responsibility for the ideas I live by…
- If these ideas start working in my subconscious mind…
Week 12
- If I honor my judgment today…
- Sometimes I keep myself passive when I…
- Sometimes I make myself helpless when I…
- If I pretend to be less than I am…
- If I allow myself to absorb what I am writing…
Week 13
- If I bring five percent more integrity into my relationships…
- If I take five percent more responsibility for my choice of companions…
- If I take five percent more responsibility for my personal happiness…
- If I take five percent more responsibility for the level of my self-esteem…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 14
- If I lived five percent more authentically today…
- If I treat my thoughts and feelings with respect today…
- If I experiment with being more self-assertive today…
- If I am willing to see what I see and know what I know…
- If I fully face the meaning of what I am writing…
Week 15
- If I hold myself accountable for my promises and commitments…
- If I stop all excuse-making and alibiing…
- If I refuse to surrender to helplessness…
- If I were willing to say “yes” when I want to say “yes” and “no” when I want to say “no”…
- I am beginning to suspect…
Week 16
- If I were willing to let people see who I am…
- If I took more responsibility for delivering on my commitments…
- If I operate five percent more self-responsibly at work…
- If I operate five percent more self-responsibly in my relationships…
- If I choose to translate these ideas into action…
Week 17
- If I stay connected with what I truly think and feel…
- If I take more responsibility for fulfilling my wants…
- If I refuse to blame anyone…
- If I make my happiness a conscious goal…
- Right now it seems clear…
Week 18
- If I look people in the eyes and tell the truth today…
- If I refuse to be ruled by fear of disapproval…
- If I refuse to hide who I am…
- If I am simple, honest, and straightforward today…
- If I allow what I am writing to fully penetrate…
Week 19
- If I bring five percent more integrity to my relationships…
- If I remain loyal to the values I believe are right…
- If I refuse to live by values I do not respect…
- If I treat my self-respect as a high priority…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 20
- If I accept responsibility for my life and well-being…
- If I accept responsibility for my choices and decisions…
- If I accept responsibility for my actions…
- If I accept responsibility for how I deal with people…
- If I choose to translate these ideas into action…
Week 21
- If I want to grow in independence, I will need to…
- If I want to grow in self-esteem, I will need to…
- If I want to be more authentic, I will need to…
- If I want to outgrow dependency, I will need to…
- If I am willing to experiment with these ideas in action…
Week 22
- If I look at things through my own eyes today…
- If I am willing to see what I see and know what I know…
- If I am truthful today, even if it’s difficult…
- I grow in self-respect when I…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 23
- If I operate five percent more self-responsibly today…
- If I operate five percent more self-assertively today…
- If I operate five percent more authentically today…
- If I operate five percent more honestly today…
- Right now it seems clear that…
Week 24
- As I grow in self-responsibility…
- As I grow in independence…
- As I learn to say what I truly think and feel…
- As I learn to look at things through my own eyes…
- If these ideas start working in my subconscious mind…
Week 25
- Sometimes when I am afraid of self-responsibility I…
- Sometimes when I am afraid of independence I…
- If I want to outgrow any fear I have of self-responsibility…
- If I want to outgrow any fear I have of independence…
- I am beginning to suspect…
Week 26
- One of the things I’ve been learning through this program is…
- As I notice when I am being self-responsible and when I am not fully…
- As I notice when I am being authentic and when I am not fully…
- As I notice how I feel when I am honest…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 27
- I feel most proud of myself when I…
- I feel least proud of myself when I…
- If I give myself credit for my willingness to struggle…
- If I give myself credit for my dedication to personal growth…
- If I allow myself to understand what I am writing…
Week 28
- As I learn to translate what I am learning into action…
- As I continue the struggle, even when it’s difficult…
- If I choose to persevere, no matter how long it takes…
- One of the ways I am changing is…
- I am beginning to suspect…
Week 29
- As my understanding of self-responsibility deepens…
- As my understanding of independence deepens…
- As I learn to be more authentic when dealing with people…
- As everything I am learning takes root in my subconscious mind…
- I am becoming aware…
Week 30
- As I learn to operate at a higher level of self-responsibility…
- As I learn to operate at a higher level of independence…
- As I learn to pay more attention to what I truly think and feel…
- As I learn to treat myself with more respect…
- As I go on translating these learnings into action…
The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (MP3) 
Taking Responsibility 
The Psychology of Self-Esteem 