From Ancient Toltec Wisdom: The Four Agreements that will change your life
Don Miguel Ruiz is a Mexican author of Toltec spiritualist texts. His teachings are based on the Ancient Toltec wisdom of achieving happiness. His most famous book, The Four Agreements, advocates personal freedom from the beliefs and the agreements that we’ve made with ourselves, and how these have created limitation in our lives.
The idea is that, over time, the impact of other people’s opinions have become a very strong force in the habits we’ve created in our lives. During this process, we’ve made “agreements” in our minds of who and what we should be. As time passed, we learned to live our lives based on these agreements. Therefore, it turns out that the choices we make now are driven by the opinions of others from the past, rather than the ones we would have chosen on our own. Don Miguel Ruiz, in his book, provides us with four principles to practice in order to break through the limitations created by others so that we can build happier and more successful lives for ourselves.
Agreement 1: be impeccable with your word
This relates to the power of your subconscious mind and how internal thinking affects your outer experiences. Always speak with love and integrity (about others and about yourself). Use the power of your word to be positive and avoid using negative words. There will be positive outcomes in your life as a result.
Agreement 2: don’t take anything personally
What others say and do is a projection of their own lives, and that is none of your business. Be immune to the opinions of others and avoid needless suffering. Difficult, I know. There are morons everywhere.
Agreement 3: don’t make assumptions
This may be harder to grasp if you are a Mathematician (get it? The whole x and y thing? No? Okay). Avoid misunderstanding by communicating properly. Find courage to express yourself and ask questions. This is huge.
Agreement 4: always do your best
Avoid self-judgement, self-sabotage (proving your limiting beliefs), and regret. These bring on dis-ease. By always doing your best, you will stay healthy.
When you decide to change your life and adopt the Four Agreements, you are challenging the beliefs you’ve learned and the habits you’ve practiced since your childhood. This will not happen overnight, but absorb these agreements into your thoughts and be patient. Win the war over the beliefs in your mind. Practice these four agreements and watch your life change.
