The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

As good as the advice in this book is, it's hard to consider it groundbreaking. Part of that could be due to the prominence of these ideas in culture today. The 4 agreements are quite simple:

1. Be your word (treat agreements as unbreakable)
2. Don't take anything personally (it's not about you)
3. Don't make assumptions (expectations without an agreement are assumptions)
4. Always do your best

This is a short take on these ideas and why with just these 4 rules you can live a happier, more productive, more fulfilled life. In my past job, we did quite a number of personal development/self-help talks and exercises. The idea of agreements/expectations was a big one, so those two on this list felt directly out of that. “Don't take anything personally” reminds me of stoicism, and “always do your best” is good advice for a 1st grader on up.

While not revolutionary, these are good reminders and inspiration for sure.

Lot of problematic things about this book.

Second audiolivre dans la foulée, un peu moins intéressant que le premier, mais qui apporte quand même quelques enseignements intéressants et permet d'apprendre à se détacher et à voir les choses avec plus de distances et l'esprit apaisé. J'ai eu un peu de mal avec le fatras religieux, mais au delà de cela, les enseignements (même s'ils restent relativement simplistes et un peu bisounours) sont intéressants et méritent d'être creusés et approfondis au jour le jour de façon à vivre plus paisiblement.

A nice book with a great message and ideas but it???s overwritten and over explained.

This was better the second time around! I added a star. :)

I read this book as part of an online book club and now want my own copy. Everyone needs to read this book. This book is so good as it highlights how you are your own responsibility and not to takes things personally, etc. it's short but I had to re-read and soak it in because the words were so wise.

As good as the advice in this book is, it's hard to consider it groundbreaking. Part of that could be due to the prominence of these ideas in culture today. The 4 agreements are quite simple:

1. Be your word (treat agreements as unbreakable)
2. Don't take anything personally (it's not about you)
3. Don't make assumptions (expectations without an agreement are assumptions)
4. Always do your best

This is a short take on these ideas and why with just these 4 rules you can live a happier, more productive, more fulfilled life. In my past job, we did quite a number of personal development/self-help talks and exercises. The idea of agreements/expectations was a big one, so those two on this list felt directly out of that. “Don't take anything personally” reminds me of stoicism, and “always do your best” is good advice for a 1st grader on up.

While not revolutionary, these are good reminders and inspiration for sure.

Potentially life changing. He puts into words thoughts and ideas I've been cultivating for some years now.

lots of really great insights/reminders, particularly when it comes to overcoming how we are conditioned by our own upbringings. the four agreements are a good place to start to build a new foundation, move in the right direction.

The four agreements themselves are definitely worth applying to one's everyday life. They are the real reason for reading this book. However, I feel that the author makes his examples of the four agreements applied in real life somewhat oversimplified. His writing style is also a little stilted and rigid (even a little woo-woo, and I am not new to books of that nature).

4.3*

A fantastic book that I'm going to be re-reading but also applying the concepts learned from it in my own life. My next task after reading this is to re-examine my life and ensure that I'm in unity with the four agreements outlined in this book.

Speedread the book, and it's incredible what a time waste it still was.

Great read! Very well-written, concise, and catchy. I wish it was part of the mandatory school reads! :)

I like the 4 agreements and I enjoyed thinking about them over the last few days and probably will for a good long time. There's a lot of freeing wisdom in them.

But.

The front bookflap was enough for me. It was the TLDR and I wish I stuck to that. So succinct and somehow more practical and relatable. While I greatly enjoyed the lessons and got a lot of value out of it, I hated reading the book. All the talk about smoke and mirrors and stars and poison and curses and dreams made me feel like I showed up at the wrong party. Super uncomfortable, not relatable, and didn't feel true. I'm reminded why I never read this when gifted to me 7 years ago. This says more about me than the book, I know (see? I read it!)

But the flap? That's good stuff.

An interesting read, however hard it will be to follow the advice. Another book to make me more mindful of how I live, and to take more care with how I speak to myself, and how I put myself into the world.

Peaceful book, love it

I would say that the “approach life like a child” part isn't my cup of tea

I'm totally behind the message and the four agreements itself, but I'm also behind all 2-star reviews. This could have been told in 1/4 of the words, with a lot less dreamy, black magic white magic voodoo talk.

Go watch an explanatory video or podcast instead.

Miguel Ruiz's “The Four Agreements” is a concise yet deeply impactful guide to personal freedom and happiness. I found the four core messages both logical and profoundly useful, with the first two agreements—“Be impeccable with your word” and “Don't take anything personally”—resonating strongly with me. They reminded me of Buddhist teachings on “right speech” and the concept of “non-self,” adding a spiritual depth to their practical wisdom. The other two agreements—“Don't make assumptions” and “Always do your best”—are equally insightful and easy to apply to everyday life. The book's brevity makes it a quick read, but its messages linger long after. I read most of it on the first evening, unable to put it down. A must-read for anyone seeking clarity and transformation in their life.

If I could only choose one book for all of humanity to read, this would be it. Simple. Powerful. Life changing.

if you feel compelled to read this, either at someone's suggestion or because, like me, you're on a tour of self-help books, then do yourself the favojr of reading the inside of the book jacket. all the ideas, none of the horrid verbiage.

Easy easy read. A reminder of simple things that everybody should already know. Most of the book is decent, then it gets a little too spiritual for my taste, but overall good suggestions that might resonate with some people more than others.

Really good reminders - Really effective once personally. Some smaller stuff I don't agree with ig

I was introduced to this book out of a recommendation and decided to listen to this one as an audiobook. Ruiz's methodology and the “Four Agreements” themselves are definitely something I agree with for the most part. What I got the most out of this book is the idea of believing and trusting in oneself, not caring about what others think and to live in the present and drop the weight of the past and future. I'm very happy I chose the audiobook version because I'm not sure I could sit through reading this one from start to finish. The writing is too oversimplified and repetitive for me to read a full book on, while even the audiobook was tough to listen to due to the narrator's slowed down approach as if the reader is 5 years old. Despite this, I appreciate the themes and what the author is ultimately getting at towards the reader. A little bit too new agey for me, yes, but if you can take something positive out of this book, such as living to your best and living in the moment while dropping all the weight of self doubt, then that's the only accomplishment you need from this book.