by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills When we are born, there are no words in our mind, but we have a brain and we have eyes, and our brain captures images that come from light. We start perceiving light and the......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills We are born with the right to be happy and to enjoy life. We are not here to suffer; we are here to create and have fun. Whoever wants to suffer is welcome to suffer, but we don’t......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Today, Creator of the Universe, we ask that you help us to accept ourselves just the way we are, without judgment. Help us to accept our mind the way it is, with all our emotions, our hopes and......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Before you learn to speak, your brain is like a perfect computer, but without a program. Once you learn a language, the program is introduced to you, mainly through your parents, as well as other people around you.......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Love and respect are what we should teach our children, but the only way to teach them love and respect is to love and respect ourselves. There is no other way. We can only give what we have,......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Many people come to me and say, “Gosh, I want someone who loves me. I want the right man or the right woman to come into my life.” Who is the right man or the right woman? It’s......
by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills I invite you to participate in a new dream for humanity, one in which all of us can live in harmony, truth, and love. In this dream, people of all religions and all philosophies are......
by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills For thousands of years, humans have tried to understand the universe, nature, and mainly human nature. It’s amazing to observe humans in action all around the world, in all the different places and cultures that......
Question: I am doing my best not to take anything personally. I understand that it’s not about me, but when people criticize me or say something hurtful, I still feel really awful. What am I doing wrong? Don Miguel’s Answer: There is nothing you are......
Question: Does being impeccable mean that you always tell the truth, even when it hurts someone’s feelings? How can I be impeccable without hurting others? Don Miguel’s Answer: Well, you are also impeccable when you don’t put your nose where nobody wants it. You don’t......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Think of a problem in your life that has caused you to worry or suffer. Then imagine that you can view your life through the lens of a magical camera. When you zoom in, you see and feel......
My whole life I have struggled with feelings of inadequacy, particularly when around people in positions of authority or those whose intelligence I feel far exceeds my own. How can I make a lasting change in this area?...
Question: I want to be impeccable with my word, but I’m constantly drawn back into negativity. How is it possible to let this behavior go and stay true to what I want to become? Don Miguel’s Answer: The simple answer is that we need to......
Question: How do you interact with someone who takes everything personally while remaining true to yourself? Don Miguel’s Answer: If someone takes things personally it’s not our problem. It’s not up to us to impose this agreement on anybody else. All humans are artists, and......
Question: How do I stop taking things personally? My feelings get hurt easily when I feel I am being harshly criticized or teased by my co-workers. Don Miguel’s Answer: The way we stop taking things personally is by practice. But we also need to understand......
Question: How do I develop the discipline to apply The Four Agreements? Don Miguel’s Answer: We develop the discipline by practicing. Just practice the agreements and “always do your best,” which is the fourth agreement. Practice makes the master. Of course, it won’t be easy......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills The first and most important of The Four Agreements is be impeccable with your word. The word is your power of creation, and that power can be used in more than one direction. One direction is impeccability, where......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Forgiveness is an act of self-love. You must forgive those who hurt you, even if what they did to you is unforgivable in your mind. You will forgive them not because they deserve to be forgiven, but because......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills The fourth agreement — Always Do Your Best — is the one that allows the other three agreements to become deeply ingrained habits. Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less. But keep in......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills When you are ready to change your life, when you are ready to change your agreements, the most important thing is awareness. You cannot change your agreements if you aren’t aware of what you like and what you......
by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills Are you aware that almost everything you tell yourself is an assumption? Humans have a powerful imagination, very powerful, and there are so many ideas and stories that we can imagine. We listen to the......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Imagine a perfect relationship. You are always intensely happy with your partner because you live with the perfect woman or man for you. How would you describe your life with this person? Well, the way you relate with......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Every human being has a personal dream of life, and that dream is completely different from anyone else’s dream. We dream according to all the beliefs that we have, and we modify our dream according to the way......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills For many of us, it is easy to give, but very difficult to receive. Yet gratitude for what we receive is one of the noblest gestures of humankind. The best way to show our gratitude is to receive......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Imagine that today is your wedding day, the beginning of a new life for you. You are getting married, and the expectation of joy and happiness is in your heart. Imagine that you are the bride, God is......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills The first agreement is the most important one and also the most difficult one to honor. It is so important that with just this first agreement you will be able to transcend to the level of existence I......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills I was born into an ancient wisdom tradition known as Toltec. My grandfather was an old nagual (shaman), and I worked hard all my youth to earn his respect. As a teenager, I wanted to impress him with......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills When you were born, a whole society of storytellers taught you how to be human. First they told you what you are — a boy or a girl — then they told you who you should or shouldn’t......
by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills Have you ever noticed that we are all messengers? Every one of us uses the word to form our opinions, to express our point of view. We are constantly using the word to deliver and......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Before you learned to speak, you loved with no effort, you forgave with no effort. It was natural to love; it was natural to forgive. But then you learned how to behave from other people who didn’t love,......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Many times there are things in our lives that we don’t like, that we want to change, but we make the same mistakes, the same choices, expecting that the result will be different. Well, it will not be......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills This practice idea will help you to become aware of the agreements you’ve made with yourself, and to recover the awareness of your authentic self. The objective is to become aware of any agreements that limit the expression......
by don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills Thousands of years ago the Toltec created three masteries to guide us out of suffering and return us to our true nature, which is happiness, freedom, and love. The Toltec encouraged us to see ourselves with truth, and......
by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills The fifth agreement is be skeptical, but learn to listen. Be skeptical because most of what you hear isn’t true. You know that humans speak with symbols and that symbols are only the truth because......
by don Miguel Ruiz, don Jose Ruiz, and Janet Mills Respect is a beautiful word, and it’s one of the most important symbols that we can understand. Imagine that you never heard the word before, and let’s make it up and agree on the meaning,......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Think of a recent event in your life that caused you emotional pain. Then imagine this event from a “distant” perspective; that is, try to detach yourself emotionally from the actions–reactions that were part of this event. Imagine......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Many years ago, after finishing a cycle of teaching with my apprentices, we created the first Circle of Fire ceremony. The ceremony was for those who had recovered their will, their faith, and their love. All the people......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Everything that exists is a manifestation of one being, and it manifests through messengers. The word “angel” means messenger, and messengers deliver the will of the one being. The supreme messenger is light. Light is alive, and it......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills You are here to be happy, to live your life, and to express what you are. You were created to perceive the beauty of creation and to live your life in love. But if you cannot find the......
by don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills When you are one, two, or three years old, you cannot see yourself. The only way to see yourself is to look at your image in a mirror, and other people act as that mirror, which means they......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Imagine that you have a magical kitchen in your home. In that magical kitchen, you can have any food you want from any place in the world in any quantity. You never worry about what to eat; whatever......
by don Miguel Ruiz with Janet Mills Today you can take a great step toward a return to love by healing your relationship with yourself. Love for yourself is the key to loving others. When your relationship with yourself is based on love and respect,......
by Rachel Perlmutter Oftentimes, television, cinema, and sports figures are judged by others for incidents publicized in the media. Those viewing this information only get what is fed to them, not the whole story. Celebrities cannot achieve and go on to maintain such high levels......
By Therese Borchard Don’t take anything personally. That’s the second agreement of Don Miguel Ruiz’s classic, “The Four Agreements.” I need a reminder today. So I open his book to that chapter and read: Whatever happens around you, don’t take it personally. Nothing other people do......
by Betsey McGuire As a high school counselor with a caseload of around 550 students, I assist students with all kinds of issues. Along with the more routine responsibilities of helping kids choose classes, consider post-secondary options, and improve grades, a big part of my......
by Leo Van Warmerdam When I first started sharing The Four Agreements in group sessions within the recovery field, people in the groups would invariably ask me, “Are you in recovery, or are you a ‘normie’?” The first time I heard the word “normie,” I......
by Leo Van Warmerdam The basis of the 12 Step Program is to bring about a “vital spiritual experience.” The Four Agreements and the teachings of don Miguel Ruiz offer a complimentary method and point of view that are also designed to bring about a......
by Michael Bridges Zoë, my nine-year-old daughter, and I were recently walking down a hotel hallway. Two girls about her age were walking a few steps ahead of us. The girls were leaning in close to each other, talking and laughing as they made their......
