The Four Agreements of Life - by Don Miguel Ruiz.

This book serves how the Toltec concepts and ideas can help us realise our full potential as well-balanced and happy people, and how to remove the weight of other people's expectations of us. The Four Agreement shows that we all have been taught so many strict lessons in life since childhood, which we make ourselves live by as adults. The Four Agreement is based on the indigenous people of Mexico who preceded the Aztecs and wisdom of the Toltecs. Ruize draws excellence from teaching and combines these with modern insights to provide a guideline to freedom and wisdom based on four moral pillars. Those four agreements are - 1.Be impeccable with your words, 2. Don't take anything personally, 3. Don't make assumptions, 4. Always do your best. These four agreements are described elaborately in the book. But as these four agreements seem simple and logical, committing to them takes strong will and patience.

 1. Be impeccable with your words :- The first agreement may seem short and simple but according to don Miguel Ruiz, however, also the most difficult to adhere to. "Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” — don Miguel Ruiz. Think about your words before you say them. Ruiz connects those words to your own happiness, advising you to choose wisely—and to choose positivity.

2. Don't take anything personally :- The second agreement leads on from the first, “Be impeccable with your word” and teaches how to respond when faced with someone who is not following the first agreement. It helps guide you on how to react when a person uses their words to you.The second agreement says six valuable points, those are - Reflection of self, Personal importance, knowing yourself, Accepting the agreements, Finding freedom, Burden of responsibility. The entire world and each and every person is under huge stress and people are scared and anxious. So much is strange and we don’t have the freedom we are used to.When it gets overwhelming it can be easy to think the world is against you, but the world is not against you, and any person that may seem they are is probably acting out of their own fear. 

3. Don't make assumptions :- This agreement is another most valuable agreement among the four according to Ruiz sir. We should not assume that others know what we think or what we want, and vice versa. We should communicate our needs and our feelings clearly, and we should ask questions instead of jumping to conclusions when thinking about the behaviours of others. Assumptions can play a destructive role in our lives, because they are misleading. We make them out of our own experiences, but mostly, out of what we think are our shortcomings. The core values about this agreement are - Don’t Make Assumptions, Speak your mind, Question more assume less. 

4. Always do your best :- According to the author of the book Don Miguel Ruiz argues that the most important agreements in life are those we make with ourselves, and so, the fourth and last agreement is a means of helping you adhere to the preceding three. The core message of the fourth agreement is not to be the best but do your best. Though your best may not be the same from one day to another. He cautions against overworking yourself; if you push yourself past your best, you will wind up overworked and unable to give your all. Therefore, the key to this agreement is in acknowledging where you are at mentally each day, and working within those limits. Accepting that you are working hard for being the best day by day is not only a path to finding inner peace, but to stopping those persistent critical inner voices.