The Four Agreements

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.

I loved the ideas in this book, the execution not as much. It was a very easy and fast read and I would recommend it to anyone, but at the same time the author says things that make me think ?????what. I found that the author made huge generalizations/conclusions that were not as universal as the four agreements themselves. An example to get my point across (not a spoiler):

“...with impeccability of the word, there would be no wars, no violence, no misunderstandings. All human problems would be resolved if we could just have good, clear communication”

Interesting because earlier he uses Hitler for an example. I am pretty sure that wanting to expand his empire and exterminate the Jews was not just based on miscommunication or misunderstanding.

Anyway, like any other self help concept out there, you have to apply these agreements to your own life in an individual way. Read the book with a grain of salt, of course, but I think that everyone could benefit from trying to better the world and themselves.

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.