For Our Second Book Discussion of the Summer, We Wanted to Try Something That Was More

For our second book discussion of the summer, we wanted to try something that was more reflective and focused on personal development. Join us on Friday, July 11 as we reflect and explore the fascinating concepts of The Four Agreements with a terrific guest facilitator, Jack Needham – The Zebra Hunter. The session will be from 8-9:30am at Leadership Ventures, 303 N Alabama. There is a $5 charge for refreshments and handouts. RSVP [email protected]

The Four Agreements By Don Miquel Ruiz

Don Miguel Ruiz is known as a nagual, or shaman, of the Toltec tradition. The Toltecs were an ancient group of scientists and artists that was formed to explore and preserve the practices and spiritual knowledge of the ancient ones. It is not a religion, but a way of life that embraces spirit and honors all the spiritual masters who have taught on the earth.

According to Ruiz, we have been domesticated since the moment of our birth to understand and accept all that surrounds us and embodies us. He calls the beliefs borne of this process of domestication, Agreements. He goes on to explain that the overwhelming majority of these agreements are detrimental to us and to our journey towards spiritual transcendence. Acknowledgment and acceptance of this idea sets the stage for the transformation that we must undertake by switching out those harmful agreements for the following four beneficial agreements:

 Be impeccable with your word  Don't take anything personally  Don't make assumptions  Always do your best

While these simple concepts might be rather obvious to some, for many they can be wonderful reminders of the importance of stopping, taking a step back, and reevaluating habits and priorities. To embrace and live each of the Four Agreements is to find yourself experiencing personal freedom--possibly as never before.

From the cover of the book:

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Four Agreements offers a wealth of useful guidelines for living your dream, but the job of implementing them and breaking free of the old agreements is where the real work lies. This book has the potential to change your life - if you'll let it. But it takes a willingness to dedicate yourself to the principles Ruiz espouses.

(Sources: www.JanetBoyer.com; http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/18/2235162.php and our facilitator for July Fridays2.0 - Jack Needham )

Reflections from Jack Needham, our facilitator for Fridays2.0, July 11

Implementing The Four Agreements into daily life sometimes is challenging because of the river of unconscious we live in daily. In other words, our daily chores, demands, and activities cloud our ability to be aware enough in the moment to choose to not take something personally, make assumptions, or be impeccable with your word.

Ironically, doing your best is the agreement we live daily because once your reality becomes your past, you can no longer argue with what is. You can argue of course, however you will always lose the argument.

Whatever you practice shows up in your life. If you practice anger, it shows up, if you practice judgment, it shows up. If you practice not taking things personally, it will eventually show up! So how do we practice these agreements?

Many organizations and individuals that have read the book have been able to step out of the river of unconscious, where the current is strong, long enough to choose their thoughts about a person, place, and or a condition.

With this new awareness, their conscious choice allows them to pause, take a breath, and choose again beginning to override their self defeating behaviors. When practiced on a regular basis consciously and constantly, the new practice of conscious choice starts to show up quickly and individuals start choosing to stay conscious, which results in more peace, less stress, and an increase in trust with themselves and others.

Jack Needham About our facilitator:

Jack Needham, The Zebra Hunter!, has been training and coaching individuals in the art of self-awareness and personal growth for more than 25 years. As a Master Certified Coaching Clinic Facilitator, Jack is a leader in the industry in introducing and developing coaching cultures within organizations to transform the way businesses develop their employees into leaders, resulting in increased morale and more effective business solutions.

Jack is an ordained minister, a published author, and a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He is a member of the International Association of Coaches (IAC) and the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD). As a Certified Life Coach© and Self-Talk© trainer, Jack utilizes his motivational psychology skills to guide individuals in finding inspiration, creativity, and energy inside themselves to live the life they were truly meant to live.

He is presently writing his second book Stop Fixing, Start Leading® that will be a valuable tool to help develop managers into masterful leaders.