In part 1 of this 2-part video, we learn about the ”domestication” of man and how all the rules and values of our family and society are imposed on us by a system of punishment and reward. As young children, our true nature is to love and be happy, to explore and enjoy life; we are absolutely authentic. But then we learn to be what others think we ”should” be, and because it`s not acceptable for us to be who we are, we start pretending to be what we aren`t. When we are teenagers, we have learned to judge ourselves, to punish ourselves and to reward ourselves according to agreements we have never chosen. The Four Accords help us break self-limiting agreements and replace them with agreements that bring us freedom, happiness and love. If you like the job or task you do, you will do your best without trying. Your work will feel effortless and you will do much better. This final chord will help you increase the power of the other chords while freeing you from the old patterns. The four agreements show us that there is another way. By freeing ourselves from social structures and expectations, we can make new deals for ourselves. The Four Accords were published© in 1997 and have sold approximately 9 million copies. It has been on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly a decade.

Everything we do is based on agreements we have made – agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are those we make with ourselves. ”We live in a fog that is not even real,” Ruiz continues. ”This fog is a dream, your personal dream of life – what you believe, all the ideas you have about who you are, all the agreements you have made with others, with yourself and even with God. Your whole mind is a fog that the Toltecs called mitote. If you practice life according to these four agreements, you will have made the decision to create your own sanctuary from heaven on earth, and so your life will slowly change for the better. You will feel alive again, freed from energy and strength. And most importantly, you will find the emotional, mental and physical freedom to be your truest self and express yourself completely as you please. This is because as children we did not have the opportunity to choose our beliefs, we simply accepted the information that was passed on to us by our families, schools and societies. And no matter if the ideas, values, and beliefs were right or wrong, every time we heard and believed an opinion, we internalized it as an agreement, and that agreement was part of our belief system. Then we used these agreements to forge our own identity. Why not try breaking one of the hundreds or thousands of chords you have right now? Maybe you`re thinking you`re not good at painting – take out the watercolors and have fun creating something. By following the step-by-step process, you can gradually change things for the better.

According to Don Miguel Ruiz, everything we do is based on agreements we have made – agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are those we make with ourselves. In these agreements, we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible. A single agreement is not such a problem, but we have many agreements that stem from fear, deplete our energy and reduce our self-esteem. As discussed above, all the agreements we have in our heads are based on beliefs that we have consciously and unconsciously accepted. Together, they form our vision of the world. What others say, what they do, and the opinions they share match the agreements they have in their own minds, meaning that nothing others do or say is because of you – it`s because of them. In these agreements, you have told yourself who you are, how you feel, what you believe and how to behave.

And in an effort to be accepted by everyone around you, you have created this image of what perfection is, based on the beliefs of others. ”The Four Chords” not only gave me the four chords with which I made small positive changes in my life, but the book also helped me understand the process of ”domestication” and how that ”domestication” shaped my belief systems. To remove this fog from your mind, this mitote, so that you can start thinking clearly and create a new belief system within you, a system that gives you the freedom to measure yourself against who you want to be, and not someone else`s version of yourself, ruiz offers four new chords that you can form and experience by: Although the chords are sometimes oversimplified, this is still a great little book with heavy ideas. Focusing on one of these agreements can greatly improve your life and reduce stress. Focusing on all four can really change many people`s lives. If followed in a general and non-fanatical way, these suggestions can help you reduce a large amount of stress by helping you avoid thought and behavior patterns that cause frustration, blame, hurt feelings, and other negative emotions. .