The second agreement: Don’t take anything personally
What would be your reaction if a stranger walked up to you on the street and called you stupid and unintelligent? You could choose to take their words seriously, or simply ignore them and go your way.
⚡️Your reaction determines whether the word affects your life or not.
If you don’t believe what they say, it shows you’re strong and self-confident, but if you go back home weeping or you looked them in the eyes right there and said “how did you know?” It says something about your personal agreement, and the venom in those words will find a way to affect your life negatively.
You must understand that people speak out of the wells of their belief system. Nothing people say is really about you. It’s about them and their personal beliefs.
Don’t take anything anyone says personally. This is why you need to know and affirm who you are. If you know how strong and intelligent you are, it doesn’t matter if it’s a psychologist who called you stupid. This also applies when people praise you. If someone calls you a great public speaker, it’s not because of you, but because of the effect your words had on him.
You could speak to the same audience, and in the end, someone will call you a great orator, while another will regret ever sitting under you. None of those remarks are because of you. It’s simply those people expressing themselves.
Even the opinions your mind gives about you are not necessarily true, because your mind has an ability to talk to itself based on the information it has been receiving.
⚡️You only need to trust yourself to make responsible choices.
As you make a habit of not taking anything personally, you won’t need to place your trust in what others do or say.