This is part two of a six part blog series. In this series, I'm exploring Don Miguel Ruiz's famous work "The Four Agreements" of which he added one more in a later book "The Fifth Agreement".  If you would like a summary of all the agreements, have a read of this blog.

In this blog, I'm diving deeper into the first agreement and its application to Conscious Leadership: Be Impeccable With Your Word.

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Some background first!

The four agreements (of which Don Miguel then added a fifth later on), are in Don's words "offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love."  They are concerned mainly with the agreements that you make with yourself. 

Therefore each agreement takes you deeper into integrity with yourself, which is an essential attribute for any Conscious Leader who is genuinely interested in creating positive change in the world.

So let's dive in.

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The first of the agreements, Be Impeccable With Your Word, lays the foundation for all other proceeding agreements:

Agreement Two: Don't Take Anything Personally.

Agreement Three: Don't Make Assumptions.

Agreement Four: Always Do Your Best.

Agreement Five: Be Sceptical, But Learn To Listen.

"Be Impeccable With Your Word", what does that mean exactly?

Impeccability refers to perfection, flawlessness, faultlessness, incorruptibility, guiltlessness, truthfulness... But how do we do that with our words?

To arrive to a place of impeccability with your word, you can consider the following:

• Keep Your Promises - Don't make a promise you can't keep, and always keep a promise you make.

• Act in Integrity With Your Word- That is, what you say, follow through on, even if you are only speaking to yourself! Your words and your actions match each other.

• Be Authentic - Communicate truthfully and honestly. Without lies, exaggeration or embellishment.

• Be Mindful and Careful With Your Words - Words are powerful, they can create chaos and they can create peace. Choose your words carefully.

Words are powerful, they can create chaos and they can create peace. Choose your words carefully.

This last point get's to the crux of the matter: Your words are powerful. They are power. How you speak to yourself, internally and externally - dictates how you experience AND influence the world.

How you speak to yourself, internally and externally - dictates how you experience AND influence the world.

So to speak impeccably, is not just for yourself, but for others. Your words CREATE and SHAPE worlds - whether that is your own personal experience of the world or the experience of the world that you share with others.

There is also a reason that Don Miguel Ruiz, put this as the first agreement.

In many traditions, "the word" was first and the world was the result.

In hindu traditions the word that created the world was "Ohm/Aum/Om", in christian traditions "the word of God" created the world (again the word, your word, WORDS are powerful).

This aligns with modern day science's that say that the universe as we know it, was probably created and organised by sound (See article by NASA here).

In modern spirituality, many practices nod to the truth of words having creative power, with the use of affirmations, mantras (not really modern, but very ancient!) and practices to "speak your desire into existence".

Whether you believe any of this or not, it doesn't matter. But know this:

Your word IS powerful. It creates worlds.

As a Conscious Leader, it is your responsibility to use your words to create the kind of world you want

And as a Conscious Leader, it is your responsibility to use your words to create the kind of world you want - one of peace, harmony, joy and positive contribution - starting within your realm of influence, which starts with you first!

So for your own reflection here are a few questions for you to answer:

• Where is it easy to be impeccable with my word and where is it harder? In what situations, with whom and in what parts of my life?
• In the workplace, where do I see areas of improvement in terms of this agreement? What are the actions that I can do to be more impeccable with my word?
• How do you think the application of this agreement in your leadership role would change your influence and impact?
• On a scale of 1-10 how important do you think this agreement is in developing yourself as a leader?
• What resources and support do you need to personally embody this agreement?

Comment below with your answers! I'd love to hear what you have to say!

As was the intention of Don Miguel's work, these agreements first are to be applied to oneself, before applying to the outside world. I agree with this approach - I believe that to truly be in integrity, you must first be the embodiment of that which you want to create. This doesn't mean that you have to be perfect to start, it just means that you have to be doing the work, honestly. 

I don't believe that we ever get to the end of our spiritual and personal development, so instead of thinking perfection is the aim, think of your development as a journey of which you are fully committed to doing. Not only for yourself, but for the grand vision of changing this world for the better!

Once you've got a handle on agreement one it's time to work on agreement two which is Don't Take Things Personally.

Remember that each of these agreements are works in progress, with deepening layers as you become more adept and aware. So in your exploration and development, remember that you aren't going backwards if you find yourself working on the same agreement (again!).  You've just found another layer!

Here for your constant evolution,

Arohanui,

Nik Chung

Ps. I LOVE that you are a Conscious Leader! Want more personalised help to reach your leadership goals? Send me a private message on LinkedIn or email me on nicola@nikchung.com and let's chat!