The Four Agreements – My Thoughts

Posted by Jon on Feb 23, 2013 in Review | 0 comments

One of the goals I set myself at the end of January was to read a book on personal development every month, and just to make sure I keep up with it I thought I’d share my own review each month too…so here’s my first one of 2013 (woohoo!).

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is an easy read (about 138 pages) but packs a powerful message inside.

From the beginning it is quite intense – I was reading the introduction, ‘The Smokey Mirror’, on the bus and it blew my mind – below is a picture of a page in this chapter.

I re-read this quite a few times to really embed and understand this message. To me, I feel it meant we are all connected – humans, animals, stars. We are all made of the same thing and therefore what we do to others, we are doing to ourselves and the same goes for what we see in others is just a reflection of what we see in ourselves.

This book is based on ancient Toltec wisdom and the overall concept covered is that we have agreements with ourselves in regards to the way we think and act in life. However, these agreements are not our own but been passed on from those around us while growing up and from societies ‘opinions’ (aka ‘domestication’). The agreements that we grow up with tend to be harmful to ourselves and keep us trapped in this world instead of being truly free.

The Four Agreements that lead to personal freedom are then given in each chapter, they are:

Be Impeccable with Your Word
Don’t Take Anything Personally
Don’t Make Assumptions
Always Do You Best

They are each explained fully in their own chapters with examples to make them easier to understand. The final few chapters after the agreements describe different methods of breaking our old agreements and implementing the new agreements so that we can live a truly free life, where we are not punishing ourselves about the past and no longer conforming to the ‘norm’ of society.

On a personal note I could relate a lot to the second and third agreements as these are automatic everyday responses. I feel The Four Agreements are a great straightforward guideline for living life, although breaking old agreements and implementing these new ones are not an easy task…I, myself, will do my best 🙂

To read this book yourself you can check it out here:

The Four Agreements Book

Jon

Founder and Blogger of Good Thoughts About Life (GTAL), based in Manchester (UK). Passionate about personal growth and the universal laws. Check out the "About Jon" page for his story.