Miguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements are simple:
- Be Impeccable With Your Word.
- Don’t Take Anything Personally.
- Don’t Make Assumptions.
- Always Do Your Best.
Identity – another simple word that has complex implications on how we live out our lives. Reflecting on my hours long effort last night to send out that list to just 10 people because I made a promise, I recognise that success in the things that truly matter to me have come by because of living up to my word. There are times, more often that I admit, that I don’t live up to my word for reasons beyond my control. Yet I am trusted. By my peers, my family, my friends.
For what it’s worth, I don’t quite know the reason for this meandering post. Many conversations in the last few days have made me wonder about – and be grateful for – the trust that others have reposed in me. My daughter writes about her struggle to find her identity, and I tell her often that I still am searching for mine. I think it’s okay: we start by focusing on who we wish to become, as James Clear so well puts it in “Identity based habits”
I’m going to read through my journals over the next few days and assess the anecdotes against Ruiz’s four agreements. I’m sure there’s much that’s revealing.