The Four Agreements

Recommended by a Reddit thread on how to be at peace with yourself.

A short book, a bit too philosophical and religious for my taste. I skipped most of the Toltec religion section, heaven and hell, and other metaphors I was not interested in. Fortunately the book is short.

Notes

The takeaways are the four key points of the agreements you make with yourself:

• Be impeccable with your word: a nice angle on how others perceive you. If you say something hurtful, you harm yourself because others will react accordingly. If you say it to yourself, you also harm yourself. Solution: do not say negative things and say only what you truly think.
• Don’t take anything personally: if a stranger on the street comes up and says you are ugly, why should you care? It is just their view in their very personal world. We are actors, directors, and producers of our own film, and others act and think only for themselves. Remember this, we each live in a different reality.
• Don’t make assumptions: be careful making assumptions when the reality in other people’s film may be very distorted. Instead, ask questions and investigate, as much as
• Always do your best. It will not be easy to follow these agreements, but if you at least give your best each time, little by little it will become easier.

Overall, a simple and very philosophical booklet, not recommended.