The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book by Miguel Ruiz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A good reminder to step out of our self-focused lives and be tolerant of others. The only thing we can control is ourselves, and the four principles of this book are great guides to putting things into practice and perspective. Written with a new age philosophy, some suggestions may stretch conventional thinking. However, the underlying principles are universal, and everyone can benefit from the reminders.



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The 4 Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz

"1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
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.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret."

There's No Such Thing As "Business" Ethics

There's No Such Thing As "Business" Ethics: There's Only One Rule For Making Decisions by John C. Maxwell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Quick read - good thing to think about in terms of the decisions you make as your 'work self' and your 'home self'. In reality, these should have the same response. The point was a bit overdone, but it had lots of real-life examples to present as examples. Some of the stories and reference are becoming dated, and will become inconsequential because they are replaced by newer scandals. The summary of action points were drawn out, nothing catchy to keep in mind, but I did pull out some useful points - the 5 "P's" - that can lead to unethical actions: Pressure, Pleasure, Power, Pride, and Priorities. There were also good references to C.S. Lewis, which could lead to more reading. Not a waste, but not first priority.



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The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett




A great story that makes you think. I thought it ended abruptly, but that's a sign of a good book - one where I don't want to say goodbye to the characters.



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