The Four Agreements Summary
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Quick Summary: Published in 1997, “The Four Agreements Summary: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” is a modern Toltec spiritual classic by Don Miguel Ruiz. It encourages personal freedom, by posting four tenets: being impeccable with your words, taking nothing personally, making no assumptions, and always doing your best.
If you had to name four self-betrayals that you usually do to yourself, which will they be?
- Speaking too much, believing too little
- Hiding behind masks
- Designing false realities
- Delivering half of everything: half smiling, half caring, half creating, half working…
With this book called the four agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz invites you to think and live at the opposite of all these. Our “The Four Agreements Summary” is waiting to provide more info about it.
Don’t miss this! You are only 4 agreements away from personal freedom.
Don Miguel Ruiz, the author of the four agreements is a well-known author that dedicated his work to the ancient Toltec Masters, trying to improve life according to these beliefs. This international bestselling author has also written books like The Mastery of Love, Prayers, and Beyond Fear.
PERSONAL FREEDOM / WHAT ARE THE THE FOUR AGREEMENTS
The most important agreements are the ones you made with yourself.
“The Four Agreements Summary”
Sometimes it can be an innocuous lollipop moment, and sometimes it can be the death of a loved one.
In the case of Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz, a Mexican author born on August 27, 1952, it was a near-fatal car accident.
Born into a large family in rural Mexico – he was the youngest of 13 children! – Miguel didn’t have a great life for most of his childhood, scarred by poverty and numerous obstacles.
His parents, healers, and practitioners of ancient Toltec wisdom and traditions offered him everything they could, and he learned a lot of them even as a child.
With their help and the help of his siblings, he fought through all of the hardships and managed to become a neurosurgeon, just like one of his older brothers.
And for a few years, he practiced medicine with him in Tijuana, thinking that he had found the goal and object of his life.
And then the accident occurred.
Don Miguel Ruiz saw his life passed before his eyes and realized that it was not the life he was supposed to be living.
So, left both his promising medical career and Tijuana and went back to his mother to learn more about the “essential truth about life and humanity.”
His mother passed on him the ancestral teachings of the Toltecs, and Don Miguel Ruiz soon realized that, through her words, he had already embarked on his journey to awareness.
But it was not enough.
So, he apprenticed himself to a shaman and spent many years studying and absorbing the secrets of the ancients. And his initial vision rapidly “evolved into a deep understanding of the physical universe and the virtual world of the mind.”
Since he had a scientific background, don Miguel became conscious of the fact that he was one of the very few people on the planet capable of merging the wisdom of the Toltecs with modern physics and biology.
So, he did just that – and launched The Four Agreements which remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over 8 years.
Don Miguel Ruiz identifies the source of sorrow in life and suggests 4 agreements for a better life and self-improvement. All those four agreements are based on Aztec wisdom as a source of positive ideas and good lifestyle tips.
It is a wonderful book on self-improvement that reveals the ancient Aztec wisdom of Toltec explained in simple four agreements. It establishes great ways to change our lives, great ideas with an important impact on our lifestyle. Following the four agreements, we can bring rapid positive changes in our life. It is a wonderful opportunity and a great challenge as well.
Our lives can turn from sad to happy and the author guides us in order to gain the wanted freedom.
What are the four agreements?
- Be impeccable with your word
- Don’t take anything personally
- Don’t make assumptions
- Always do your best
Human perception is in a good connection with attention. In our dream, we pay attention to different aspects of life. Also, another psychological act is repetition. This is used as a way to retain and learn things. In a relationship, we seem to need the ongoing attention of the ones we connect to.
We seem to need more and more attention from the ones we love. So we usually do things that draw attention to us.
The Four Agreements Summary is written to explain how and why God made us intelligent. (This is the easiest truth we are ready to admit).
Our intelligence is well reflected in our language, our capacity to speak and express opinions and beliefs. The most common definition of language is this one: a code, a list of signs convention, that helps us understand each other.
Beyond this obvious benefit, the language has also its positive and negative aspects, most often being a spontaneous expression of our spirit.
Each person has an Inner judge, that’s for sure. And this inner judge makes us feel guilty every time we do a mistake. In addition, the Victim is part of us that becomes aware of the guilt and punishment.
The individuals are in a continuous struggle to be perfect. But, let’s be honest. Is perfection even possible? With all our efforts, it is unlikely to fit or to be able to make perfection part of our lives. The guilt, the fear comes from the fact that we don’t succeed in being good enough for the people we love.
Disappointment makes us feel bad. This is how domestication teaches us to try to be better.
Even though you have to give up old habits, the new improved life will prove you that it’s worth the effort.
And just like that, we go back to the key concept of Don Miguel Ruiz’s book: The 4 Agreements :
#1 – Be Impeccable With Your Word
Keep your integrity when using words. Try to be true in what you say without compromising. You shouldn’t agree with ideas that are against gossiping. The words should be used to spread the love.
Because “impeccable” means “faultless,” “immaculate,” “perfect,” and “above reproach.” It means saying the things you really want to say, and, yet, never saying anything which is not love and truth.
Because words have energy, and because their energy – whether good or bad – will eventually come flooding back to you, to make you smile or haunt you.
The best part: it’s your choice!
#2 – Don’t Take Anything Personally
Gain immunity over other people’s opinions about you. You shouldn’t consider, agree or be influenced by other people’s comments or gossips about you. Paying attention to what others say about you will make you a victim, so stop the needless suffering.
When someone wants to impose his or her worldview on someone else, he/she is actually trying to rewrite someone else’s story unknowingly.
This is the birthplace of all the misunderstandings and quarrels of the world.
It doesn’t mean that if two people don’t agree with each other that only one of them is right. It usually means nothing more than that their stories are incompatible.
But what should you do in these kinds of cases?
Easy!
Just – apologize and forgive.
That doesn’t mean that you’ve made something wrong.
It only means that you value your friendships more than your ego.
And that’s a great thing!
#3 – Don’t Make Assumptions
In order to clarify situations, to bring light to conflicts, you should have the courage to ask questions and also express your thoughts. Communication is key to avoiding misunderstanding or assuming things.
“You should never ASSUME. Because when you ASSUME, you make an ASS, of U, and ME!”
And Don Miguel says that he’s got a point!
Just stop trying to read other people’s minds!
Because the chances are you’re doing it wrong and making life worse for everyone – especially yourself.
#4 – Always Do Your Best
Doing your best depends entirely on you. It will not always be the same. For example, you can be sick, that will probably make you give less, but the author’s advice is to do your best no matter the situation.
Doing your best will improve your life and help others.
Your best changes from moment to moment; your best is different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Simply do your best under any circumstance to avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
The author considers the fourth agreement by far the most important
The true love that we yearn so much for can be gained if we accept the others the way they are. We have to stop wearing masks and pretend to be something else:
Real love is accepting other people the way they are without trying to change them.
Don Miguel Ruiz compares the ones that want to adopt these useful tips like spiritual warriors or become one of the seven wonders, in order to gain their freedom. We must fight against old emotional habits in order to gain our personal freedom.
Generally speaking the meeting with the free Spirit brings bliss. Myths, religions, spiritual acts, Way, Truth, imagination and dream all lead to cultural ecstasy.
These theories can become a healthy practice in our real lives, as the title suggests.
Key Lessons from “The Four Agreements”
1. Give it all you got
2. Don’t hesitate to make a move
3. Be authentic, no matter what
Give it all you got
Truly, it’s hard to go on your own. The crowd is designed to suck the individuality and produce collectiveness.
Nevertheless, even this spell can be broken, just trust your instincts and move parallelly with your vision.
Don’t hesitate to make a move
Sometimes, we lack the strength to endure a painful loss. Over the years some of us have developed an inferior approach, which leads to a lack of inventiveness.
Don’t greave, there’s always good in every situation, you just have to find it.
Be authentic, no matter what
This lesson is pretty straightforward. If you imitate others and fail to follow your inner urges, you’ll just add to the averageness.
Stick to your agenda, trust in your beliefs, and hope for a big victory.
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“The Four Agreements Quotes”
Whatever happens to you, don't take it personally... Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of them. Click To Tweet I will no longer allow anyone to manipulate my mind and control my life in the name of love. Click To Tweet Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art. Click To Tweet Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. Click To Tweet Also, go inside and listen to your body, because your body will never lie to you. Your mind will play tricks, but the way you feel in your heart, in your guts, is the truth. Click To Tweet
Final Notes
Toltec wisdom is very actual and useful for modern society. It is not all about knowing the theory but experiencing them might change your lives. You can learn how to be impeccable with our words keeping your integrity.
Not taking things personally might save you from a lot of suffering. Not making assumptions might make you honest with yourself and the others.
Finally doing your best is the way to keep far from frustrations and judgment. Being a spiritual warrior is one more thing we learn and we can practice. The comparison shows us that giving up old emotional habits is not always easy and that it needs will and determination.
The book brings out ancient teachings very useful for our modern society and we can learn and apply these theories in order to gain our personal freedom.
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
