By all accounts, Brian Maddox might be reframing his career and the rest of his life. The 29-year-old certified public accountant has written a book that has nothing to do with balancing your books and everything to do with developing yourself into a more interesting and attractive romantic partner.
Think of The Reframe as a guidebook into turning yourself into a hot commodity on the dating scene. It’s aimed at men under 40.
“I started writing The Reframe standing from my own internal struggles to find a relationship. I’ve been dating people for a long time. I’m only 29. I’ve been in long-term relationships. They all seem to fizzle out for one reason or another. After another failed long-term relationship … I was pretty much left with a house that was completely empty. It was probably a metaphor for my life: there was nothing going on it,” he said.
“I just started to clam down: work, home, video games. After a while, I started getting extremely bored. I remember walking down the Sturgeon River valley just hoping to run into someone because I was so lonely. It was at that point that I decided to take action.”
It was there that he started doing research and compiling notes on what it takes to survive in the relationship jungle. He made notes from his interactions with women – his many interactions with women.
“I went on a lot of dates, like shotgun approach dates,” he laughed.
He kept a journal of what happened on the date, what went right, what went sideways, his frustrations, and constructive ways forward.
“I started getting happy from it but it wasn’t from the date itself. It was because I was actually doing something about being lonely. I started linking these interactions together in common themes to try to organize what was happening.”
The way he organized it all is almost as much as a do-it-yourself guide for any or all aspects of your life. He boils it down to three pillars: social, health, and wealth. Yes, he does suggest that you work out and take some care about your personal finances, but The Reframe starts off by getting the reader to take an extensive look at his social habits and social life.
There, he offers some ideas that he even admits in the book’s introduction is filled with “the most convoluted, interesting, and unorthodox ideas.”
One of those ideas is billed as the Law of State Transference, which is meant to help determine how your interactions are likely to play out. In the book, he describes that the law means that whatever emotion you are feeling will be transferred to those around you. He then goes on to describe the role that momentum plays. Much of it sounds like a beginner’s lesson in physics but Maddox swears by what he’s written. He’s in a new relationship to prove it.
Maddox will be launching The Reframe with a book signing set to take place at Chapters in Old Strathcona on Saturday. It runs from noon to 4 p.m. on the second floor. The store is located at 10504 Whyte Ave. The book costs $10 at the event. It is also available at The Bookstore on Perron. The Amazon Kindle version will be free to download between July 13 and 17.
