Impeccable Agreements

“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 the ones we make with ourselves.” – Don Miguel Ruiz

Many years ago I read Don Miguel Ruiz’s little book “The Four Agreements” where he reveals where self-limiting beliefs come from that rob us of the joy in our lives. If you haven’t read this book, let me share what The Four Agreements are:

• Be Impeccable With Your Word
• Don’t Take Anything Personally
• Don’t Make Assumptions
• Always Do Your Best

Over the years I felt that I had embraced the lessons and incorporated them into my life…I always put my best foot forward, reminded myself that jumping to conclusions was an exercise fraught with danger and that what others do and say comes from their issues and situation at that time in place, not because of me.

Yet when it comes to the very first Agreement “Be Impeccable With Your Word”, this past year I have let myself down. I have so much work to do – sheesh!

I have come to realise this week how important it is to keep your agreements with YOURSELF from an energetic perspective.

So let me explain what I mean.

Imagine for a moment that you catch a glimpse of yourself, full length in the mirror, and something inside you gasps because you didn’t realise how much weight you have put on recently. You’ve been avoiding looking in the mirror (particularly those nasty full length mirrors) and you’re shocked to see the reality in focus. You suck in your belly, clench your bottom cheeks together, stand on tippy-toe, push your breasts out and raise your chin in the air in the hopes that the extra 10kg that is on your frame will magically disappear.

Realising that, while this posture adjustment does make you look a little slimmer, it is unsustainable (mainly because you need to breathe), you slump back down and look at yourself squarely in the mirror and say “That’s it, I’m going for a walk/run/jog in the morning!”

Right then and there you have made an Agreement.

Yep, you gave yourself your word that you would get out of bed in the morning, strap on your jogging shoes and head out the door.

You set the alarm an extra hour early with the intention to get up in the morning and then head off to sleep. You awake with a start to the alarm (your body isn’t used to this early time yet) look out the window to see it (insert rain/hail/sun/wind/fog/whatever here) and in that split second you make a decision that will have consequences either way.

1. a) Jump out of bed and put your walking gear on and head out the door - the consequences of this action will include:

   1. • you have more energy because you were impeccable with your agreement
      • you will have higher self-esteem and trust in yourself
      • you will be more productive and confident

b) Hit the snooze button and fall back on your pillow vowing to do it tomorrow – and the consequences of this action include:

• You have less energy because you broke your agreement with yourself
• You will have lower self-esteem and trust in accomplishing your goals
• You will procrastinate more and have less confidence in yourself

Sound familiar?

And here’s the kicker…if you choose option (b) more often than not it can have a detrimental effect on you achieving your goals in life.

We must be impeccable with ourselves in order to be impeccable with others.
Trust comes from within.

There is a deep level of respect that is earned internally and externally when you are impeccable with your agreements.

In the past I signed up for a new mentoring program – one that required a bit of $$ to join that was not readily available in my business account but was in my personal savings. In the past I had no problems with dipping into my savings to invest in myself but rarely have I repaid my savings account back for these investments.

Now there is an energy that comes when you have some pain that is motivating you – for me, I get pain from seeing my savings go down rather than up. That pain will ensure that I take action with my investment, so I’m coming into the program with the right energy…to get results!

But I have also got this agreement with myself to repay the loan from my savings account. In the past I have broken this agreement many times giving me a sense of failure – bad energy indeed. So to ensure that I get the most from this new mentoring program that I have invested into AND I keep my agreement with myself, I set up a monthly repayment schedule on my internet banking.

While it might take me a few more months to repay (I’m expecting it to be shorter than longer), I am excited about honouring my agreement. I have no doubt that the energy I have created in being impeccable with my agreement will bring abundance into my life.

Share your thoughts on this post in the comments below…do you have any tips on keeping your agreements with yourself?