In addition to the book and audiobook, an eBook, a four-color illustrated book, a card game, and an online course are also available. [1] One downside of the book is that some of the chords are too extreme, and if you take them literally, they can cause additional problems in your life if taken without a proverbial grain of salt. However, with a little balance and a sense of openness, these chords can each be transformative and relieve stress. Here is a statement on each of the four agreements. The book was originally published in 1997 by Amber-Allen Publishing in California. The book has been translated into 46 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Spanish. [11] An illustrated edition was then published by the same company in 2010 to celebrate the book`s 15th anniversary. [12] Although the chords are sometimes oversimplified, this is still a great little book with heavy ideas. Focusing on one of these agreements can greatly improve your life and reduce stress. Focusing on all four can really change many people`s lives. If followed in a general and non-fanatical way, these suggestions can help you reduce a large amount of stress by helping you avoid thought and behavior patterns that cause frustration, blame, hurt feelings, and other negative emotions.
The fourth agreement allows readers to get a better overview of the progress made in achieving their life goals. This agreement includes the integration of the first three chords into everyday life and also the exhaustion of one`s own potential. [8] It is a question of doing one`s best individually, which is different from the different situations and circumstances that the individual may encounter. By making a pact with these four key agreements, an individual is able to significantly influence the level of happiness they feel in their life, regardless of external circumstances. [6] Things to watch out for: This is good advice to help you become less reactive, defensive, and retaliatory, but keep it in balance. Although everyone has their biases and there is no true objectivity, by never taking anything personally, you can really limit your ability to see your own negative patterns and biased thoughts and work to develop healthier patterns and lucid thinking. As Mr. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled says, « The problem of distinguishing between who we are and what we are not responsible for in this life is one of the greatest problems of human existence. » Ruiz, DM. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. San Rafael: Amber Allen Verlag; 1997. What it entails: This concept deals with understanding how the behavior of others is just a reflection of them.
When someone gives us feedback about our behavior or about us as human beings, it`s important to remember that no opinion is truly objective. We all have our prejudices, our filters through which we look at the world. For this reason, we should not consider someone else`s view of ourselves or our actions to be completely correct. When someone says something about us, they are really saying something about themselves and how they see the world. Ashley Rao, of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, wrote, « No matter where we end up in the spiritual spectrum — from skeptics to believers, and across religious beliefs — applying Ruiz`s teachings offers opportunities for transformation on our path through grief. » [13] Rachel Thompson of HuffPost says the book is « an extremely useful book that can be put into practice on a daily basis to cope with criticism of any kind. » What it means: By this, Ruiz means doing your best at all times so as not to regret it. Some days, your best isn`t as good as other days, and that`s okay. As long as you make an honest effort in life, you will have nothing to be ashamed of and you will not fight for a less than remarkable achievement in retrospect. Not making assumptions is a good suggestion, but it should be mitigated by inner wisdom and common sense. While it`s good to be conscientious about how you use your words, it can be difficult to fully follow this agreement.
However, it is a great goal to achieve and a good direction to achieve. The second agreement provides readers with a way to cope with the hurtful treatment they may experience in life. He advocates the importance of having a strong sense of self and not having to rely on the opinions of others to be satisfied and satisfied with their self-image. This agreement also allows readers to understand the idea that each individual has a unique worldview that changes their own perceptions, and that a person`s actions and beliefs are a projection of their own personal reality. [1] Ruiz believes that anger, jealousy, envy, and even sadness can diminish or dissolve once an individual stops taking things personally. [8] Things to watch out for: Taking this advice to the extreme can cause you to ignore your intuition about people or common sense about someone`s behavior that hurts you personally. It can also open you up to manipulation if you practice believing someone`s explanation for negative behavior instead of judging the behavior yourself. An example of this in action might be, for example, not believing that you are being scammed if your partner exhibits erratic behavior and the classic signs of infidelity, but he or she vehemently denies any wrongdoing. Ruiz explains that while this agreement is the most important, it is the most difficult to respect. [7] For this agreement, Ruiz first analyzes the word « impeccable. » .