Be Impeccable with Your Word

Avoid speaking against yourself.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I’ve recently started reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The first of those agreements is, Be impeccable with your word. To be impeccable is to be without sin. When Ruiz writes about being without sin, he doesn’t mean being without sin from a religious or moral perspective. What he means is to not sin against yourself.

To be impeccable with your word is to not speak against yourself. This shows up in so many ways. One way is to avoid negative self-talk. The other day, I heard someone call themself stupid for a mistake they made. I’m not in the habit of calling myself stupid, but I’m sure I’ve said some version of that to myself when I’ve made mistakes.

Another way to be impeccable with your word is to avoid speaking negatively towards another person. This was the one that resonated. When we speak negatively towards others, say in an argument or disagreement, that person usually responds with negativity or animosity towards us. That negativity is something we facilitated in our actions toward them, which is essentially us sinning against ourselves through another person.

After learning about this first agreement, I can’t help but think about my words more intentionally. Even the words I say towards our cat. What are your thoughts on this first agreement?