How satisfied are you with your life?
Do you feel you have accomplished your dreams, reached your goals and you are exactly where you want to be in life?
Is everything on track? Or, are there areas where improvements could be made?
What is stopping you from reaching your potential and living a full and satisfying life?
The Four Agreements. Written by Don Miguel Ruiz, this book, based on ancient Toltec wisdom from Mexico and the Maya offers a simple but profoundly effective toolkit for living life in a way that helps you “elevate your life.” The four agreements are as follows:
- Don’t take anything personally
- Don’t make assumptions
- Be impeccable with your word
- Always do your best
Don’t take anything personally. Understanding deeply that this life is not personal, is a powerful tool that removes many hindrances and blocks from achieving your best life. It’s never about you!
The way Don Miguel explains it, is that each one of us has our own perspective on life, based on our personal histories and experiences. Because of this, whatever someone thinks about you is simply a result of his or her own individual worldview. It is ultimately never about you but is a reflection of their own understandings based on their life experiences and beliefs.
Don’t make assumptions. Don Miguel Ruiz states that using this one agreement alone can change your life for the better. When we make assumptions, without asking questions to get to the truth, we can keep our lives and ourselves small and limited.
If we combine this agreement with not taking things personally, we know that we are not responsible for another’s reactions to our actions, and, we can check in with another person to discover their truth, rather than just assuming that we already know the answers. This can help improve relationships, communications, and all-round satisfaction and contentment.
Be impeccable with your word. Try not to gossip about others, nor about yourself. Speak the truth. In this way, you can avoid conflict and contribute towards harmony and peace. Your life will be one of integrity.
Always do your best. This agreement is another big game changer, even when used solo. Do you already do your best on a consistent basis? Or are you someone who tends to do things half-heartedly? Do you procrastinate and try to avoid tasks? How does your approach to life affect the outcome, do you think?
What would happen if you genuinely applied yourself to doing your best on a consistent basis? Think about successful athletes or entrepreneurs? How do you think they succeeded? Do you think they had a half-hearted approach to life? Or were they intent on achieving excellence in everything they did? How would doing your best help you to elevate your life?
Simple rules for living. By following these simple, yet profoundly effective, rules for living a good life, you can reach for and attain much more than you ever imagined possible! By learning not to take anything personally, you are automatically liberated to act in a manner more in alignment with your true self and your dreams and aspirations, because you are no longer fettered by the fear of what others might think or say about you.
By checking in and questioning things, you can avoid jumping to false conclusions, which can happen as a result of making assumptions. This questioning approach can result in improved and more harmonious relationships.
Being impeccable with your word results in you having a smoother ride, as there will be nothing to come back at you in a negative way.
Finally, by doing your best at every turn you can elevate your life and reach beyond what you thought you could accomplish!