The Four Agreements

Several years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a book called, "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. It's about overcoming personal limitations and creating happiness for yourself. When I first read it I really enjoyed it and I've always tried to apply it in my life, usually to limited success. 

I started reading it again about a week ago and I was pleased to see how it applied to my kung fu. The four agreements are:

1) Be Impecccable With Your Word - Speak with integrity and don't use your words to speak against others or yourself. This is good advice in general but I think that most people (especially myself) say a lot of things to themselves that they would never say to someone else. Things like, "I can't do this", I'm not good enough", etc. I've told myself these things many times since I joined SRKF and I've held myself back as a result.

2) Don't Take Anything Personally - What others say and do is a result of their reality and has nothing to do with you. People (myself again) always seem to worry about what others think of them and this results in inaction. I experience this all the time. I concern myself with the opinion of others and this makes me hesitant to train outside because someone might see me and judge my lack of skill. But are they really judging me anyway? If they are, that's a reflection of them and not me. 

3) Don't Make Assumptions - Ask questions and communicate with others (and yourself) to avoid misunderstandings. I have made assumptions every day of my life and most of them have probably been incorrect. Again, this creates a negative self-fulfilling prophecy. I assume I can't do something so I don't even try. I assume I'm going to get hurt so I don't push myself. 

4) Always Do Your Best - This is pretty self-explanatory but one of the author's points is that "your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick." For someone that is working through injuries, this one really hits home. If I always do the best I can, regardless of injuries, I'm still going to make progress. And putting in 100% effort is a great habit to develop.

After reading this book again, I've decided to revisit it on regular basis. The four agreements are simple but they have far-reaching applications in all facets of my life. 

Cory Smid