The Four Agreements, is a Toltec Wisdom book written by Don Miguel Ruiz.
The book is described by Deepak Chopra as a roadmap to enlightenment and freedom. I recommend this book to anyone who is genuinely interested in personal development and seeking freedom, happiness and love in their lives. I would go as far as to suggest it be added to the national curriculum, along with a number of inspirational books I can mention, thus creating an essential reading list for school children. I reason I mention the book in this blog because many of the teachings in it reflect the foundation on which A Positive Start CIC (APS CIC) was founded.
On deciding the what kind of Interest Company we wanted to be and the kind of services we intended to deliver, my colleagues and I created a Code of Conduct that we refer to as Our Agreements.
Creating a Code of Conduct for life is a great exercise if you struggle with boundaries in relationships.
Each of our agreements is accompanied by a Quote to remind us of what is important to us and why. For example, our first agreement relates to Truth and Integrity;
‘We always Say what we mean and we mean what we say’,
In a world where people-pleasing is rife and so many are easily offended, truth and integrity sit at the top of our list of Agreements.
The people we support and the services we provide are built on mutual trust.
Trust can be an issue for many people we support, a lack of trust of self, others and the world in general is a trauma response. Recognizing what is ‘truth’ and what is not ‘Truth’ is becoming increasingly difficult in this era of Persona, and yet Without truth there can be no trust and without trust we do not feel safe.
(Heads up! Check out the Trauma Informed TRUST blog to follow)
Our agreement is a commitment to Truth and Integrity; We must say what we mean, in a direct, honest, compassionate and tactful way.
We agree Never to take on work or chase contracts just for the money, or because of a sense of obligation.
We agree that everything we do and say must always came from a place of truth, integrity and compassion.
We agree never to start sentences with ‘Sorry’, unless we genuinely mean we are sorry and intend to change our behaviour.
We agree to question our intentions before we respond or react. We agree to reflect on and Accept our failing – knowing that we will never get everything right – we agree to always try our best to live by these agreements.
Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements are;
BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORDS
DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY
DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
You can pick up a copy of The Four Agreements quite cheaply – its well worth a look.
Email info@apositivestart.org.uk or visit our contact page and request a Creating a Code Exercise sheet!
To be continued!