Book Byte #194 "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills

A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. A Toltec Wisdom Book

📣 Curious Quotes from the Author

“The Four Agreements
1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Don’t make assumptions.
4. Always do your best. ”

“If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you. If that person doesn't walk away, you will surely endure many years of suffering with him or her. Walking away may hurt for a while, but your heart will eventually heal. Then you can choose what you really want. You will find that you don't need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.”

“Whatever happens around you, don't take it personally... Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.”

“If others tell us something we make assumptions, and if they don't tell us something we make assumptions to fulfill our need to know and to replace the need to communicate. Even if we hear something and we don't understand we make assumptions about what it means and then believe the assumptions. We make all sorts of assumptions because we don't have the courage to ask questions.”

“I will no longer allow anyone to manipulate my mind and control my life in the name of love.”

“God is life. God is life in action. The best way to say, "I love you, God," is to live your life doing your best. The best way to say, "Thank you, God," is by letting go of the past and living in the present moment, right here and now. Whatever life takes away from you, let it go. When you surrender and let go of the past, you allow yourself to be fully alive in the moment. Letting go of the past means you can enjoy the dream that is happening right now.”

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.”

“There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.”

“If you live in a past dream, you don't enjoy what is happening right now because you will always wish it to be different than it is. There is no time to miss anyone or anything because you are alive. Not enjoying what is happening right now is living in the past and being only half alive. This leads to self pity, suffering and tears.”

“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.”

“But it is not what I am saying that is hurting you; it is that you have wounds that I touch by what I have said. You are hurting yourself. There is no way I can take this personally.”

“You can have many great ideas in your head, but what makes the difference is the action. Without action upon an idea, there will be no manifestation, no results, and no reward”

“Wherever you go you will find people lying to you, and as your awareness grows, you will notice that you also lie to yourself. Do not expect people to tell you the truth because they also lie to themselves. You have to trust yourself and choose to believe or not to believe what someone says to you.”

📚 Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea

Society forces us to follow its norms from the minute we are born, keeping us from discovering who we really are. But by substituting the Four Agreements from old Toltec knowledge for these deeply established norms, one can overcome them and become free.

Begin violating your agreements

Thousands, if not hundreds, of agreements govern the lives of most individuals. Now take a moment and break one of them. Perhaps you tell yourself that you are not a good singer. Just sing your heart out and see someone cheering you on to breach this agreement. You can destroy all of your agreements and replace them with new ones that liberate you by going through this process.

🤝Collaborative Insight for Techies

The world wants equalization. At least that’s they shout the most about. Their actions however do not show that. Everyone is greedy, everyone is always looking out for themselves more than other people. We look out for friends and family a bit more, but the #1 person in our life is ourselves. Pay attention to my cause, please give me what I desire for a salary, please help me make more friends.

There is one big flaw in that line of thinking, when you only think about yourself, you end up not feeling fulfilled. You look for fulfillment in getting your way and you wonder way the heck you haven’t gotten it yet. It’s because the resource of caring becomes infinite as you give your light to others, like how lighting someone else’s candle never diminishes your flame. But if all you ever do is keep your own candle to yourself, it will eventually die alone once the wick runs out. Don’t die with your music still inside you.

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Try out the "Think and Grow Rich Challenge" by Russell Brunson and Learn more about the First Self Help Author Napoleon Hill

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