The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book by Don Miguel Ruiz, is a book about letting go of false identification. It’s about realizing that the life we’re living is nothing more than a dream — a dream that we have full control over but often fail to take action and do something with.

Don Ruiz, a Toltec nagual guide, uses the wisdom of his ancestors to help us understand how each and every one of us has the power within ourselves to take control of life and experience the happiness we all possess within ourselves. Don explains how to rewire our belief system so that we can create a new world for ourselves — a new perspective of the world around us and of ourselves.

In the first chapter, Domestication and the Dream of the Planet, Don sets the stage for the book and explains how the world we’re living in is nothing more than a dream world that we’ve been domesticated to believe is real and unchangeable. In the book, an “agreement” is a rule that we hold as absolute truth. We have thousands of agreements in life, from the agreement that these words are English, to the agreement that gravity pulls things down.

Don presents us with four agreements that he says will change our lives if we adopt them. Each of the four agreements presented reinforce the previous. The four agreements are:

Be impeccable with your word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or 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 other 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-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.

The first agreement is about the extreme importance and power of our word (and of our thoughts) and why our words need to be of the highest standards. Next, Don explains that we should not take things personally because we are in full control; the actions, words, or thoughts of others should not have any affect on us. The third agreement, to not make assumptions, is about avoiding the mistake of making truth from non-truth. And the last agreement is about doing our best at all times and never putting ourselves down.

The last two chapters of the book discuss how to let go of fear and doubt and adopt these teachings. He discusses various techniques that the ancient Toltec’s used and how other cultures around the world still follow similar teachings as were taught by the Toltec.

All of the advice Don gives is very practical and useful. It’s not a religious book that you follow word-for-word to enlightenment but rather something to stimulate and kickstart your own journey to self-discovery. Here’s my favorite quote from the book:

“Action is about living fully. Inaction is the way that we deny life.”

The book was a short read (138 pages) and absolutely worthwhile. It helps give you a different perspective of life and teaches you how to tackle big challenges as if they were the smallest, easiest challenges you will ever face. He even touches on why we should celebrate death and how it can teach us to enjoy life.

If you’re interested in more, check out Toltec Spirit and The Four Agreements YouTube video.

I just finished reading one of his free eBooks, 279 Days to Overnight Success, where he writes about how he created a career in social media for himself in less than a year.

Since I’m starting to develop my personal brand, start a career in social media, and become a digital nomad, such information is absurdly useful and interesting to me. I strongly believe in learning from the experiences of others and I am immensely grateful that Chris has shared such valuable information free of charge. (Thanks Chris!)

While reading the book, I compiled a collection of quotes and sentences that stood out the most for me so that I may share them here with you. If you’re getting into blogging, or even if you’ve been blogging for quite some time, 279 Days to Overnight Success is definitely worth checking out! (I mean come’on, it’s free!)

The Basics [of starting a new blog]

• Start with the best design you possibly can.
• Spend at least three months creating initial content before hitting the publish button.
• Decide on a clear publishing schedule.

Create a Compelling Story and Build Flagship Content

“Remember, there is no ‘everyone’ — you want to attract the right people, and part of that process involves gently steering the wrong ones away.”

“I spent several weeks writing a 29-page manifesto called a brief guide to World Domination. It defines the way I see the world, what I’m trying to accomplish, and how like-minded people can be part of it.”

Prioritize Writing and Marketing over everything else

“Unless you set aside dedicated time to produce your art, the art will not get made. There are some times when making the art is fun, but other times it’s not — so if you want to build something sustain- able, you have to find a way to keep making art during the not-so-fun times.”

“No matter what else was going on, the three essays would go up. A few of them were uploaded at 11:55 P.M. from a bad Wi-Fi connection in a random South asian guesthouse, but the principle was ‘no matter what,’ they are not going to be late.”

“I know if I missed a day and nothing happened, then it would be much easier to miss another day. Pretty soon I wouldn’t have much of a schedule, and then I’d have less motivation. It’s a downward spiral that I want to avoid, so I keep the schedule sacred.”

Answer the “Reason Why” and “What’s in it for Me?” Questions

“If someone doesn’t know you, why should they care about what you have to say? Facing down this question can be humbling, but it’s also crucial to your success. you have to plan to answer the “reason why” as soon as possible. What’s in it for the followers?”

Be Bigger Than I Really Am

“I didn’t think of myself as an up-and-coming writer; I thought of myself as one of the establishment. I decided, well, I haven’t been doing this blogging thing very long, but I’ve been successful at a lot of other things in life. Most people haven’t visited 100 countries or been self-employed their entire life, so surely I have something to bring to the conversation.”

“It’s important to remember that an internet link is essentially an endorsement. I got a decent amount of traffic from the NYT link, but more importantly, I was able to say that the Times had effectively endorsed my site.”

Build Long-Lasting Relationships

“I spent the summer and fall of 2007 actively reading a number of blogs that I identified with. My purpose in doing this was to get comfortable with the kinds of conversation taking place, and observe first-hand how people had successfully grown their blogs.”

What Went Wrong (Mistakes and Setbacks)

“I derive too much emotional validation from the daily state of my network. When lots of people are subscribing, the comments are up, and the links are rolling in, I feel great. When the numbers are down, I feel bad. I haven’t found a way to solve this yet…”

The cold, hard truth about Adsense

“I’m sorry to break it to you. I know that some people will disagree, but here is the cold, hard truth: Adsense ads suck. They are unbelievable in the truest sense of the word.”

“First, do you believe in and endorse the solutions that the companies advertising on your site are offering your customers? Second, do you want to send your hard-earned visitors away from your site?”

“You must understand that unless your site is highly sophisticated, many of the visitors who regularly visit are not as savvy as you are about The Google. They see links from you and think, ‘Oh, here’s a link from Bob Blogger’s site. I trust Bob, so this ad for overseas prescriptions must be legitimate.”

“That’s the bad news. Unless you can answer yes to the question of ‘Do you really think these ads are helping your visitors?’ you now have to deal with the problem of cognitive dissonance. From my own experience screwing up my life at different times, I can confidently tell you that believing one thing and doing another does not result in an optimal feeling.”

Understanding What Followers Want

“Remember, people follow other people to be informed, entertained, and inspired. Generally, your content must clearly address at least one of these needs.”

Scaling Up

“You can let a lot of things go and still be successful, but you can’t outsource the reason why people came to you in the first place. It’s not easy to gain someone’s trust, and the trust your followers give you should be kept sacred above all.”

The Vampire Chronicles

“Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni calls these kinds of people ‘energy-sucking vampires,’ and I think that’s an accurate description. Instead of contributing value, vampires attempt to take life away from others.”

“…my friends have confirmed to me that pretty much anyone who develops an online following ends up with their share of detractors. You can be writing about how to plant flowers for world peace, and once your site becomes popular, the vampires will find you.”

Hard Work (and Working for Free)

“In addition to working hard, you have to be willing to work for free for an unknown period of time.”

“Working for free may be insane in the outside world, but with most small businesses it is actually quite normal. A branded space in social media is effectively a small business, so think about that before you jump in.”

Links are the Currency of the Internet

“I couldn’t figure out who first said that, but it is absolutely true. No one will give you links without you earning them. To earn them, you’ll need to do something remarkable. When you receive inbound links, it’s like getting paid. This may be literal if you have ads or products, but even if not, you are being rewarded with new readers.”

More importantly, get out there and be awesome!

“If you have something to say, go and say it. Keep working. Be awesome.”

“Keep rocking the universe, and ignore anyone who tells you it’s impossible.”

If you like lots of gore and zombies chasing innocent people around, then you probably won’t like this movie. However, if you have somewhat of an imagination (enough imagination to enjoy science fiction) and like to be kept guessing, then you’ll probably agree that this movie is awesome. (Fair warning: Everyone else watching it with me thought it was the stupidest thing they’ve ever seen.)

You can check out the trailer on Hulu.com.

There are three phases in BUD/S. The first phase consists of lots of physical training: pushups, situps, pullups, daily four mile timed runs, boat drills (both in the ocean and carrying the boat around on the land), and log PT where students spend hours doing exercises together while holding telephone-pole-sized logs to help build teamwork. The first phase concludes with Hell Week, which tends to see the highest number of DORs. It’s five days of non-stop training with less than four hours of sleep (total).

The second phase is dive phase, where students must become extremely comfortable in the water. Students are expected to be able to swim for long periods of time with their hands and feet tied together. They learn deep diving techniques, with and without scuba tanks. They also attend classes to learn about the physics of diving. There are open ocean swims, with and without fins, and as with the timed runs, there are timed 2 mile+ swims. As in the first phase, there is also continuous PT mixed in with the diving instruction. Daily run distances are increased and maximum allowed times are decreased.

The third phase is the demolitions and tactics. The training is conducted mostly on land and includes land navigation, mission planning, plenty of shooting, and learning and becoming familiar with various weapons. But things don’t get easier in third phase. Run distances are increased again. Daily PT continues. Things never get easier for the SEALs, only more difficult. “The only easy day was yesterday” is what the SEALs like to say. They’re constantly striving for perfection, both physically and mentally, and improving their skills.

BUD/S training lasts six months. For the few who manage to graduate, another six months of vigorous and more specialized training is required to earn their Trident (which officially makes them Navy SEALs). After that, they’re assigned to a platoon and there’s another block of even more advanced training called SEAL Tactical Training (STT). When all is done, a SEAL will have been training for eighteen to twenty-four months before having a chance to be deployed.

During the past few months the SEALs have been an enormous source of motivation for my own physical fitness goals. This is the first book I’ve read cover-to-cover this year, and it was so good that I will no doubt read it several more times. What appeals to me the most about the SEALs is that they’re all about pushing past mental roadblocks and striving for perfection. They’re all about understanding the real physical limitations of the human body and conditioning it to the extreme. Several books on Navy SEAL fitness and nutrition are very detailed and describe with scientific precision how to train the human body. One such book is The U.S. Navy SEAL Guide to Fitness and Nutrition.

One of my goals for 2009 was to read one book every month. I’m already reading two others, and I hope to have a total of four books finished by the end of this month. For every book I finish reading, I’ll write a post like this one.

I’ve dropped my Blackberry dozens and dozens of times onto concrete, brick, pavement, and even into puddles. Every time it drops, I can’t help but wonder if my luck has finally run out and I’ll find the device broken beyond repair — but it always seems to survive. The worst that ever happens is I get a “SIM Card Error” message on the screen, which always goes away when I remove the battery and reseat the SIM card.

Yesterday my BlackBerry took one more step towards total destruction: the screen cracked when the phone fell off my bed onto the concrete basement floor. But the damn thing still works! I’m sure I’ll have to be a lot more careful about getting water on the screen though, since any water inside would surely ruin it.

My experience with several different BlackBerry models has proven to me that they are built very well. Ruggedness in any product is a huge factor for me, as I always seem to get things dirty, drop them unexpectedly, or otherwise torture the hell out of them.

I’ve added snippets from each post to give you an idea what each one is about. If there are other posts you thought should be on this list, I’d love to hear about them!

Why I’m a Vegetarian
01/10

Read more…

Actually, sometime during the year (around April) I started keeping a vegan diet (no dairy or any product that comes from an animal). Starting 2008, I will be sticking to a 100% vegan diet.

My Naked Body and Money
02/20

At the end of the day, I don’t take any money with me to bed. I don’t go to sleep with my car, computer, food, auto gas, or for that matter my house. I sleep in my house, but might I might as well be sleeping in a cardboard box. When I wake up, I wake up with nothing but the skin on my bones. I need a safe shelter to sleep in, yes, but even shelter is a lifestyle item we’ve grown accustomed to having.

Read more…

The Impersonalization of Blogs
02/27

How can someone be personal on a blog when the information is bound to be made public? That would make the personal information public information — so whats the point? If you want to create a blog, go ahead. Just don’t expect to express yourself, especially your personal self, without letting everyone know about it.

Read more…

The Ice Gods are Angry
03/08

Then at 5:20pm, I get another call — this time from the first floor tenant at my Bowers St property. He says water is pouring out from his kitchen and bathroom ceiling. My stomach drops as I recall the last time this happen and the damage cost me $16k to repair. I told the tenant over the phone, how to turn off the water main, so the water would stop coming out of the broken pipe. After driving through rush hour traffic, I finally arrived around 6:30pm.

Read more…

Note: There were many others posts about leaky pipes throughout the year, but this post seemed to sum up the experience quite well.

The Echo of an Alternative Path
03/27

So, do I like the path my life has taken thus far? I won’t say that I don’t like it, but I can’t help but wonder and imagine how things could be different right now. Would I be in Baghdad, Iraq instead of Cambridge, Massachusetts? Would I be sleeping in a tent in the middle of the desert with gun shots echoing in the distance, instead of dealing with leaky water pipes and worrying about waking up late for work in the morning? Would I be driving a humvee, praying I don’t hit an IED, instead of trying to find a parking spot close to my apartment?

Read more…

Completed 16.6% of my Life
04/12

The human mind is a very powerful thing — so powerful in fact that I believe we assist nature in making us old by reminding ourselves of our age. We have this preconceived idea of how old we’re expected to live — how many people truly believe, and I mean as much as they believe they will die without air, that they will live to 150 years old?

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Finding the Synergy Between Control and Chaos
05/20

Mistakes are limits. They are dead end roads. When you discover a dead end road you don’t park your car and wait for the road to suddenly lead somewhere interesting. You turn around and find another route! Life teaches us lessons. We have the choice to learn from those lessons and use them to make more educated decisions, or to forget the lesson and make our journey that more difficult.

Read more…

Less is More
05/28

My solution to this is to live life expecting nothing. Without expectation there will be no disappointment. Attachment creates waste and drains life. Ownership creates unnecessary work. Expect less. Own less. Attach to less. My Dad has always said “Less is more”. I’ve never understood this more fully than I do now.

Read more…

Thea & Meera’s Wedding
06/01

My sister Meera was married today, to Thea Bou. It was a long day, with three different traditional weddings all rolled into one: A Vedic wedding, a Khmer wedding, and the standard American wedding.

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Repetitive Immobility is Killing Me!
07/11

I crave the outdoors and yet I spend my days in the office, my evenings in a basement apartment with very little natural light and no ability to see the sky, and my weekends working inside on my rental properties or driving in the car. When I’m indoors I feel compelled to be sitting at my computer, whether for work or entertainment, because I refuse to hook up a television.

Read more…

Dirty Air
07/18

I can’t help but wonder how much of an effect living in the city has on a persons health. I spent the majority of the first 14 years of my life in a rural area with a lot more trees than houses, the following 10 years in a semi-rural area with more houses than trees, and the past 7 months in the city, where there are more dogs than there are trees!

Read more…

Man vs Wild and Survivorman
08/08

Entertainment is about risk and excitement, which is why Man vs Wild is more popular. Survivorman is more realistic, but who watches TV for realistic things? Anyone who believes a reality show, no matter what kind, is entirely unscripted really needs to get their head out of the dark area its in.

Read more…

I’m still adjusting… but is that bad?
08/09

Yesterday while I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, I realized that after having such a positive experience living in a “normal” apartment, I probably won’t want to go back to living in a basement or attic ever again. When that thought came to me, I suddenly realized why the rich never feel rich. Once you become accustomed to a certain lifestyle, its difficult to revert to anything less. I can already catch myself wishing I had a two bedroom apartment with more space and rooms that receive more sunlight throughout the day (my apartment only gets a little sunlight before 9am)!

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The amazing thing is, I’m moving into a two bedroom apartment starting January 1st, 2008!

Labor Day Weekend
09/04

Another major thing that happened early this past weekend was my firm decision about what I’m going to do with my properties. I’ve decided I will get rid of all of my properties, even if that means going bankrupt. I simply feel the time and energy I will spend maintaining even one property is not worth it. I would much rather have the freedom and clarity of mind that goes with knowing I don’t owe hundreds of thousands of dollars on a property while still being responsible for maintaining it. Owning a property will greatly restrict my options for travel and the financial freedom to do what I want with my life.

Read more…

This post was added here because it marks my decision to sell all of my rental properties.

Learning not to become discouraged
09/21

When we are in the competitive mind we often forget those we are competing with are directly responsible for our success, and not realizing this greatly inhibits our quality of life. Selfishness is the opposite of gratitude and to be discouraged about doing something is to be selfish and therefore ungrateful.

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How I started programming
10/01

I learned about programming when I was 12, three years after I began building computers. I asked my Dad one day (at the time he was working at Digital as a technical writer) how the games and programs on the computer were created. He didn’t know a whole lot about programming, but he knew of the BASIC programming language and told me I should get a book and learn it.

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Rejecting Limitations
10/10

Don’t accept your limitations, reject them. Treat every limitation like the rung on a ladder — if you don’t pull yourself above each one, you’re never going to get anywhere!

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Believe in Possibility
11/08

Believing we have limits, and doubting the possibility of that which we cannot even imagine, greatly limits the extent to what we can accomplish. After all, believing something is possible is the first step in making it a reality. Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean, Thomas Edison created the light bulb, and the Wright Brothers successfully proved manned flight was possible, by having strong belief in their possibility.

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Time is Relative
12/11

What if we could stage a giant experiment on human civilization in which we gradually slowed, over say a period of a hundred years, the mechanical timing of all clocks to a point where 1 second actually took 2 seconds to pass? Would we suddenly start living longer? (As far as we would know, we’d be living to 80 – 100 years, but in reality it would be 160 – 200 years!)

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