The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

The wisdom in this book has completely transformed my life, more than anything thing else I've ever read or meditated on. This is not hyperbole. The Four Agreements showed up in my suggested titles, as I've purchased books on Buddhism and meditation. It was relatively inexpensive so I thought, "why not?"Once I began the chapter on the First Agreement, I found myself resting my eyes on phrases, sentences, and truths that just stood out from the page with child-like simplicity and tremendous depth. As I started to unpack what I was learning, I cried some good tears. This happened over and over, like the wounds in my soul were beginning to heal. They were healing through my active attention and I learned how to speak to myself without being judgmental. I thought I already knew how to do this through meditation and therapy, but this book uncovers something for me that I just can't explain.I don't want to give away too much of this book, because the way everything is explained is so brilliant and builds in layers. The way it is told is important. You can feel the kind and loving intent within every word. This book is very easy to read and understand; you really don't need advanced philosophy to move mountains of the mind.I feel like Don Miguel Ruiz is right next to me, gently and lovingly help me to see the real beauty in me, the real beauty in the universe and how we are all connected. It has the same force of an elder looking you in the eyes and telling you truths that come from years and years of contemplation, experience and wisdom. The best part is that I'm learning how to be me, really me. I'm learning how to love me, not things *about* me, but the real me way down inside that doesn't have to puff up or put up guards. I'm learning to be vulnerable and relate to others with far less fear and self-doubt. What a gift. What a treasure.

Reading The Four Agreements was a real reset for my mindset. It’s a short, simple book, but it hit deep. Each agreement—Be impeccable with your word, Don’t take anything personally, Don’t make assumptions, and Always do your best—sounds obvious at first, but when you sit with them, they challenge the way you react to almost everything.What really stuck with me was how freeing it felt to stop personalizing other people’s behavior. The language is spiritual and gentle, but the message is powerful: most of our stress comes from stories we tell ourselves. This book helped me quiet those stories.It’s not preachy, and you can read it in a day or two, but the impact lasts way longer. I still go back and re-read sections when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stuck in my head. If you’re into self-awareness, healing, or just want a new way to approach life—this is a must-read.

I am very late to Don Miguel Ruiz's THE FOUR AGREEMENTS phenomena. I knew about the book from all the talk shows and online buzz. This is a quick read, but a meaningful one. The four agreements are basic: Be impeccable with your word, don't take things personally, don't assume, and do your best. What I found with these agreements and what you should get out them when you accomplish each one is that these agreements are for you and not anyone else. As a matter of fact, you should do these agreements to make yourself happy and not to please anyone else. This is a great message for all.This is a keeper book that I will reread when I need a boost.#CillasBookManiacs

This book was great. The book offers a new perspective on life and how to best live it not only for surface reasons but a playbook on how to permanently change the way you see things and react to things. I’ll be trying to apply the agreements but it will be hard. Great read.

What can we do to improve ourselves as humans? There are thousands of recipes for self- improvement and no end to the number of books written on the subject. One book that is simpler and easier to understand that others is The Four Agreements, a philosophical/self- help book that aims to make you a better person.Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, this book outlines four broad, simple goals that will help each one of us gain more freedom over our lives and improve as people. The four truths are: Being impeccable with your word; not taking things personally; not making assumptions; and always doing your best. The first one, about being true/impeccable to your words, forms the groundwork for the other truths.This book’s greatest strength is its simplicity. It doesn’t get bogged down in philosophical lingo and this fact makes it a good choice for those who appreciate philosophy, but who get tired of philosophical books that require a bachelor’s degree and access to a dictionary to understand. The book is a quick read and the way it is written, anyone can directly grasp its key points.The Four Agreements and its advice are things that have been said in one form or another by other philosophy books and/or self- help books. The message can get a little repetitive as you read, but I didn’t mind because I feel like this is the type of general advice that needs to be drilled into your head. The more you hear it, the more it will hopefully ring true and the more likely you will be to take action.I read this book in a single sitting, while I was on an airplane flying home from vacation. I agreed with and liked what I read and immediately started to think about my own life and how well I am living up to these four agreements. I would rate myself around eighty; meaning, I feel that I am following these words of wisdom about 80 percent of the time. There is still room for improvement, but I feel like I am ahead of most people.If I had any issue with this book, it is that it does tend to speak in absolutist terms more than I would prefer. It seems to think that everyone is going to be better off and see improvement if they follow this advice, no exceptions. This, of course, is not the case. Will most humans improve their lives and freedom if they follow what this book says? Yes, absolutely. But there will always be exceptions to the rule.Self- improvement is a huge industry and books like The Four Agreements are useful for those who want to live a better, happier, more fulfilling life and need general guidance to reach their goals. This book is about as straightforward as you can get and the ease of reading and no- nonsense approach is just what humanity needs to work out our problems and be all we can be.