Book Summary

Who Moved My Cheese is a short, light-hearted story about the different ways we respond to changes in life and with help of these skills we can achieve happiness and success. – by best-selling author, Dr. Spencer Johnson in 1998.

Summary of who moved my cheese

Finding cheese:

In who moved my cheese book, there are four characters: two mice sniff and scurry and two little people hem and haw. They all live in mazes and they run in the corridors of the maze in search of cheese. They were running in the corridors of the maze all day in search of cheese. One day they found a cheese station named station-c where they found a big heap of cheese. 

Sniff and Scurry were very happy they eat their cheese daily and keep inspecting the cheese. They were constantly smelling it and inspecting it. On the other hand, after finding the cheese Hem and Haw were very happy.

 

They were relaxed as they found a very big heap of cheese. They thought it is a reward for their hard work. They started enjoying their cheese and the luxury of having a big heap, they were relaxed.

 

One day, when sniff and scurry came to station c for their cheese and they found that there was no cheese left in the station. They were aware of it as they were inspecting their cheese daily. They know that one day this is going to happen.

 

 So without wasting much time sniff and scurry went on to find new cheese in the corridors of the maze. When hem and haw came there and they saw no cheese and they were sad and angry. They thought someone took their cheese. They could not believe that their cheese has been lost. 

 

Detect the Change Early

 

Sniff and scurry were regularly inspecting their cheese and were noticing small changes that are happening. On the other hand hem and haw were not able to notice the small changes. So when the cheese was gone they were more shocked and sad.

 

While in search of new cheese sniff and scurry were running in corridors of the maze in hope of getting cheese and after some hard work, they found their cheese at station-N. While hem and haw were stuck at Station-C. 

They were going to station-c daily in hope that someday someone will put their cheese back. They could not believe that the cheese which they found with their hard work was gone. Hem and haw start blaming each other for the loss of the cheese. Hem was not ready to leave his comfort zone.

 

No supply of cheese could stay forever. Change is always bound to happen. So be ready to adapt to the change. As change could be good instead of fooling yourself that everything will stay the same forever, be ready for change.

 

Journey for New Cheese

 

After Some days Haw decided to leave the Station -c and start searching for new cheese while Hem was not ready to leave the station-c. Hem asked Haw not to leave Station-C and wait for the cheese to come back. 

 

But Haw has decided after staying there for some time and waiting that nothing is going to change so he decided to move on to find new cheese.

 

On his way to finding the new cheese, Haw has fears in mind but soon he finds some pieces of cheese which gave him some strength to move on in his journey. Haw was mad at himself for not leaving the station-c earlier as he had wasted a lot of time over there. 

 

Whenever haw loses the confidence to find cheese, he always thinks about what he would have done if he was not feared and moved on in his journey to find new cheese.

 

With a few pieces of cheese, haw returned to cheese station-c where the Hem was present. Haw told Hem they could find new cheese and he should come with him but the Hem was not ready to leave with haw as he was stuck in his comfort zone and not ready to leave. 

 

Hem said that he didn’t think he could find cheese like his own. After trying haw left the station-c to continue his journey.

 

What would you do if you were not Afraid

 

On his way to find new cheese haw faces many hurdles as he loses his confidence and willpower. Sometimes he decides to go back to station-c but he realises what he could have done if he was not scared of leaving his comfort zone.

 

Haw moved further in the maze and found a cheese station but the cheese station was empty. But Haw did not lose hope he found some little pieces of cheese and moved further to find cheese.

 

Soon after a few more hurdles Haw also found the station-N with an abundance of cheese. Sniff and Scurry were already present. Their tummies were fat as they had been enjoying cheese for many days. Now Haw has conquered his fear and thought of failure.

 

At this point, haw thought he should go back to his friend hem to tell him about the cheese station-n. but again he thought that he had tried already which went in vain. He realises that Hem has to find his way. 

 

Haw now started enjoying cheese on station-N but he is also keeping in mind inspecting his cheese. He goes out in the maze and is always looking for new cheese. This time haw is more conscious about his cheese and always ready to adapt to the change.

 

Haw also wrote quotes for his friend hem.

 

Keep moving with cheese & keep enjoying your cheese.

 

Lessons from who moved my cheese

1. Detect the change early.
2. Don’t resist the change
3. Take quick action
4. Adopt change with time.

 

Conclusion:

 

Don’t fear changes and don’t ignore changes. Adopt yourself according to the changes and start enjoying the changes. Don’t take things guaranteed that they will stay forever as it is, so always have a check on things around you and whenever there is a need to change yourself according to the situation, be ready for change. Do change yourself for good. Nothing will change until you can change yourself for good. 

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Best quotes from who moved my cheese

• “Having Cheese Makes You Happy””

• “The more important your cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it.”

• “If you do not change, you can become extinct.”

• “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

• “Smell the cheese often so you know when it’s getting old.”

• “Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese.”

• “When you stop being afraid, you feel good!”

• “Imagining yourself enjoying your new cheese leads you to it.”

• “The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.”

• “It is safer to search in the maze than remain in a cheeseless situation.”

• “The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.”

• “Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese.”

• “When you change what you believe, you change what you do.”

• “When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese, you change course.”

• “Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.”

• “The fastest way to change is to laugh at your own folly – then you can let go and quickly move on.”

• “A change imposed is a change opposed.”

 

What is the four agreements about and what are the four agreements in summary?

 

Do you want to unlock your full potential and overcome the negative patterns in your life then this four agreement book summary by Don Miguel Ruiz is for you. 

 

Don Miguel Ruiz wrote the four agreements book in 1997. This book has been a best seller for 8 years in New York and the lives of many people have changed. 

 

This book is highly influential and is a practical guide to personal freedom written by Don Miguel Ruiz. 

 

• Be impeccable with your words.

 

The four agreements summary describes the words as more powerful than we realize. They are the building blocks of labels, concepts, and beliefs. Therefore, we must be cautious before using words as we could potentially create new, harmful illusions. The easiest way to do this is to get into the habit of only saying what you mean and meaning only what you say. If in doubt, say nothing. 

 

Language is a form of creative power; it is the way we make our intentions known.  We exemplify who we are using words, and they have the power to create beauty but also to destroy it. Being impeccable means taking responsibility for one’s words and deeds but not judging or blaming oneself. 

 

Using the power of your words with truth and self-love will help you to overcome negative thoughts. Positive thinking will help to create ideas in the mind, change reality and change opinion.

 

For example, There was a smart and good-natured lady. One day she became tired of work and had a headache. On that day her daughter was very happy, she was singing loudly. Her mother scolded her by saying that her voice is terrible and asked her to stop singing. 

 

These words change her daughter’s life. She started thinking that her voice was not good. She stopped singing forever and got scared to talk to others because of the thought that her voice was not good enough.

 

The first lesson we learned from this book summary is that we should always speak positive words and have love in your words for others and for yourself too, and never gossip or say bad words.

 

• Don’t take anything personally

 

 Don Miguel suggests that we don’t seek out information from others, as their views are never actually relevant. Instead, focus on accepting and improving yourself. 

 

Sometimes people take others’ words personally then they agree with those words. If we take anything personally then we have an agreement with these words. Personal importance is a trap that every single thing is connected with us but in reality, it is not.

 

Because what folks say and how people behave with us are not connected. It only depends on our beliefs, emotions, and opinions. If someone is happy then the opinion of the person is great about you or when the person is sad or angry then his opinion changes. 

 

So always remember who you are. When we believe in ourselves then nobody affects us however everyone is different and has different perspectives.

 

4 agreements summary guides that if you take anything personally means you agree on bad opinions, you take the poison from that person which makes you feel bad or get angry. And by doing this you make them feel good.

 

• Don’t make assumptions

 

Don Miguel recommends asking questions and maintaining clear communication with others. This transparent communication prevents assumptions from taking hold.

 

Don’t assume anybody asks questions because most of the time when someone avoids us creating misunderstandings based on assumptions. Assumptions are a trap because we believe facts that our minds create. We tend to see and hear only what we want to.

 

 For example, In a relationship, each party can make assumptions about the other without clear communication. When the relationship falls apart, the two are shocked by each other’s reality. Thus, relationships are more likely to succeed if the people in the relationship accept one another and have similar values.

 

Communication is key to resolving misunderstandings. Ask questions if you want to clarify things. It is the only way we overcome the assumptions.

 

Have the courage to ask questions, and always speak as clearly as possible. Don’t assume anything about anyone. Explain clearly and don’t give others an opportunity to assume.

 

1. Always do your best 

 

Don Miguel suggests that we should work hard because it makes us happy rather than external motivation. 

 

We learn from our childhood that we have to do our best. But remember one thing our best depends on the situation.

 

For example; in the morning we are active and our best is different and in the evening when our energy level is different or our best is different. But we have to do our best for ourselves. With hardwork  no need to blame yourself. 

 

Salary is the reason if someone works for salary and does not enjoy their work field then they are always waiting for weekends for fun. Find the job you will enjoy.

 

We should always do our best regardless of the situations because that is what winners do. Don’t  take action just to get rewards. People don’t enjoy what they do and because of that they are not able to do their best.

 

Doing your best will give you a lot of opportunities that will make you successful.

 

Conclusion

 

What are the four agreements we have learned that we should always watch our words and always be positive with our worlds? 

 

Second thing which we learned is that we should not take anything personally by doing this we are only hurting ourselves. 

 

Third thing which we learn from the four agreements book summary that never make assumptions about someone else without clarifying with them personally. 

 

This only makes us negative about the person.the fourth thing we learned from always do things which you like or enjoy to do by doing this practise we can easily get success in life and make most of it.

 

Key Takeaways from the Book

 

FAQ

 

• Who is the author of book ?

Don Miguel Ruiz is a renowned spiritual teacher and internationally bestselling author of the” The Four Agreements”.

 

• What is the year of Publish?

 This book was published in 1997 by Amber-Allen Publishing.

 

• Give Summary in one sentence?

The Four Agreements draws on the long tradition of the Toltecs, an ancient, indigenous people of Mexico, to show you that we have been domesticated from childhood, how these internal, guiding rules hurt us and what we can do to break and replace them with a new set of agreements with ourselves.

 

• What is the key Idea of book?

The Four Agreements replace conflict, drama, and needless emotional suffering with happiness, personal freedom, love, and respect for one’s “self” and all life.

 

If you are in search of living a happy and long life then this is the book you should read and if you don’t have that much time to read the whole book, then this short summary will help you find the method of a happy and long life. 

Ikigai is a book written by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles. This book gives an idea about living a long and happy life and what are the main life habits which are adopted by people of Okinawan Japan.

 

Reason to read the Ikigai book:

 

One should develop life habits that can help someone achieve his purpose in life. With the help of this book, you will get to know about your ikigai, which means what is the purpose of your life. Everyone should follow the rule: make something a passion in your life so that you never get bored of that and never retire yourself, always do something whether in the form of some hobby. These things will make you happy and help you to live a long life.

 

What is Ikigai?

 

Ikigai is a Japanese word and ikigai stands for the meaning of life. As ‘Iki’ in Japanese means ‘life,’ and ‘gai’ describes value or worth. Ikigai is a life living method adopted by the people of Okinawan, Japan. With the help of ikigai, one can lead a very happy and long life.

 

10 Rules of ikigai:

 

Stay Active Don’t retire:

 

Everyone should stay active in life whatever their age may be. Daily, the person should wake up with more energy to do more work or follow his/her daily routine. People of Okinawa do not retire even at the age of 90 years. 

People in very old age do their own work which is the main reason for their health and happiness. They do whatever they like, whether it is gardening, working in the field, etc. these things make them happy and healthy.

 

Take it Slow:

 

Everybody should follow this, you don’t need to hurry in each and everything. Take life easy and go slow on life as there is a saying ‘Walk slowly and you’ll go far.’ So be easy on life and follow your routine even at a slow pace it will get you very good results.

When we try to move fast and we want to grab each and everything. We get trapped into a circle where we get more stress and less happiness. Even though we are not happy at our work. That is why we can’t lead a happy and healthy life.

 

 

Don’t fill your stomach:

 

The diet of Okinawa people is also very simple. They eat very small meals which include fruits, vegetables, fish, lean meat, tofu, etc. they rarely eat sugar, when they eat sugar it’s mostly cane sugar. Their average daily intake of calories is also less than most Americans. They eat less salt than the rest of Japan.

 

Surround yourself with good friends:

 

Friendship is a relationship that is very close to humans. Friends are those who stick with you even in the hardest time of your life. So people of Okinawa also give full respect to friendship. As the island is very small most of the people know each other. 

 

So there is a strong bond between people and each other. As a result, Okinawans people have a lot of value for maintaining good relationships with their friends. This can be seen in the way they interact every day.

 

Get in shape for your next birthday:

 

The people of Okinawa who are above 80 or 90 years old are also active. They do their routine work. They don’t rest or watch tv at home. People here walk a lot. In Okinawa, there are no gyms. People do their routine work. Some take part in dance and martial arts, others do gardening, etc.

Routine access to sunshine and exercise people are more healthy and active. They don’t retire at any age. With help of this technique, people on this tiny island stay fit and in shape always.

 

Smile:

 

Okinawa is a remote island and most residents of Okinawa can’t get basic goods and services. Even after this, the people of Okinawa are cheerful. They believe being happy is the secret to a long life. This attitude makes them relax and helps them to make new friends. As there are no bars in Okinawa. 

 

Smiling does more than tell other people you’re happy. Smiling lowers your heart rate and reduces blood pressure while relaxing your body. A study from University College London found that cheerful people are 35 percent more likely to live longer. 

 

Reconnect with nature:

 

To live a happy life one should have ikigai. People in Okinawa give more importance to gardening. They grow their vegetables and fruits. They get together at local markets and meet each other there. Which keeps them busy, happy, and active.

 

The people of Okinawa love nature and are surrounded by lush greenery. Now in today’s world people are behind materialistic things they can’t even understand the value of nature. Nature gives inner happiness and even studies show that people surrounded by greenery have fewer chances of cancer and respiratory diseases.

 

Give Thanks:

 

The people of Okinawa give thanks for even the smallest things. They thank nature for providing air and water. They thank their ancestors and even they thank god for giving a good harvest in the form of a festival in which they have a tug of war.

 

Apart from increasing happiness, gratitude also improves your physical health. Reduces stress level. Stress is associated with many diseases. You can be thankful for what you have, it can be health, goods you own, and your family. When we are thankful we genuinely feel great.

 

Live the moment:

 

Japanese people are known for their absorption in their tasks. The people of Okinawa are also working in flow even if they are working in their garden they work in flow with full attention to the details of their work. 

If we apply the flow rule in our life it will be much easier to do our tasks. As everyone should pay full attention to their work. For example, if you are climbing a mountain and you are not in the flow and not paying attention. Then only a single wrong move of the foot can cause you to lose your life. That is why living in the moment is compulsory.

 

Follow your ikigai:

 

Everyone should follow ikigai to make life fruitful. To live a long and happy life one should have a motive for waking up and doing a daily routine. This will make their life happier and more meaningful.

 

Conclusion:

 

Ikigai is a way of leading life. Which everyone should adopt in his life. First of all, everyone should find their ikigai and follow your ikigai. Which will help you to find the meaning of your life. 

With a life that has meaning, you will not get tired of the work you do, you will enjoy it more every day. Which can lead you to live a very happy and healthy life.

The monk who sold his ferrari is a fabulous book with some of the life fundamentals that anyone can apply in their life. In his book he had discussed seven life lessons. So without wasting any time let’s dive into the video and see what this book has for us that can be learned.

 

Julien Life Story

 

So the story begins with a very successful lawyer named Julien, he had everything in life that one can dream of achieving: a beautiful wife, mansion, even a private jet and not to mention a red color ferrari.

 

All these things seemed to be not enough for him, as he always needed more and more, more money, more fame. All these lead him to a point where he was working for almost 17-18 hours a day.

 

Even after earning millions he was not happy, he was always in stress that work took with it, his wife left him as he was not spending any time with his family. And at the age of 50 he looked like an 80 year old man.

 

All this does not stop here, one day he was fighting a case in the courtroom and all of sudden he received a heart attack and immediately he was taken to the hospital. Where the doctor said something unexpected that had changed his whole life for a good or bad.

 

Doctor said that “ Julien you have been taking a lot of stress and all that leads you to a point that you have to choose one think out of two. Your Life or Your Work and leave his life with all he had earned till now.”

 

For all now he has been winning all his cases in his life and today when it’s time to come to the case of his own life he seems to be losing it.

 

That was the time when he took the most bold step and he sold all his possessions , his mansion and his loved one red ferrari. Took a journey to know the real meaning of life, this journey takes him to the mysterious land of India in the Himalayas. Where Indian monks reside. Here is the name of the book: a monk who sold his ferrari. 

 

After many years he came back to one of his friend john back and the friend was amazed to look at julien as he was completely changed, he looked younger, lost weight and was peaceful like a monk. And to his surprise John asked julien how you had been changed so  much.

 

Julien starts to tell john that in the search of real meaning of life he went to India, where he met the monks which were not ordinary as they possesses the high level of wisdom and was capable of making anyone extraordinary and from his sources he came to learn that they even live for more than 100 year happily with a spirit of a young man. 

 

After searching for months he finally met one of the monks and upon listening to his whole story he decided to take him to their secret village.

 

There he learned the seven principles of life in the form of a story and started sharing the story with John as the monk took a promise not to keep his knowledge to himself.

 

Story Narrated by Monk

 

Imagine you are in a beautiful garden with different kind of flowers and birds all around you in a lap of nature, you tend to enjoy the every movement you spend their, then you realize that there’s a lighthouse in the middle of the garden and from that lighthouse a sumo-wrestler comes out and start to walks.

 

Now the sumo wrestler is just wearing underwear that too which is made of really thin wires, he starts to move here and there in the garden and finds a golden stopwatch lying in the garden, he tries to pick the watch up but to his faith he slips and goes unconscious on the ground.

 

After some movements he begins to get his senses back probably because of the smells of the roses and realizes that there is a path of diamonds where he might get all his happiness, he might be seeking and starts to walk on that path and disappears.

 

Just like you guys julien was also at first really confused as is this some kind of joke, as he did not understand anything and asked the monk,what does this story really means and the monk smiles and starts to explain the hidden meaning inside the story.

 

First Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

The first principle is related to the garden, here a garden simply symbolizes our brain, just like in any garden if you put good seeds and take proper care of them you get good fruits, grass and if you plant bad seeds, put garbage in the garden you might end up getting the exact opposite.

 

The same way you can think of our brain, our subconscious mind as a garden and our conscious mind as a gardner.

 

If you put good thoughts like kindness, love, Education you end up getting positivity, motivation and inspiration and if you consistently feed your brain with the negative thoughts you will end up with a life that you planned for. As someone said that “Empty mind is place where devil resides”

 

Second Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

Second Principle is related to the lighthouse, just like the lighthouse shows direction to the sailor, the exact same way our goals and our purpose give direction to our life.

 

 You cannot reach a destination without knowing exactly what you want to achieve, you will face a lot of difficulties in order to achieve your goal but if you keep working in the right directions consistently, sooner or later you will reach your goals.

 

There are five steps that Robin sharma shares in his book the monk who sold his ferrari to achieve our purpose:-

 

1. Visualize the outcome
2. Put a bit of pressure on yourself
3. Create a timeline
4. Do it for 21 days to make it a habit
5. Enjoy the process

 

Third Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

This principle is related to the Sumo wrestler, do you remember it from the monk story, a sumo wrestler who is wearing just underwear made of thin wires as he teaches us the kaizen.

 

As sumo wrestlers have to be very consistent and work very hard so that they can achieve that huge physique.

Kaizen means continuous learning and improvement, In this you tend to focus on a small thing and keep on improving as you go and these small improvements can bring great results.

 

Fourth Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

Fourth Principle is related to the underwear that the wrestler is wearing as this represents the self control and discipline, Our boundaries in which we all live. Just like sumo wrestlers  do not wear any clothes but still manage to cover them with that underwear, Imagine if they don’t wear that, hard to imagine right.

 

Now our self control and discipline is made up of the small things that we do in our daily life, such as waking up early, reading a book, we might think that these are small things but together they create some massive impact. As these things would not give you an instant result but in the long run you will thank yourself.

 

Fifth Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

FIfth principle is related to the golden watch and this is a symbol of time. We all have a limited time to live this life and we cannot waste it, No matter how rich or poor you are you cannot buy time, you just got 24 hours and you have to do everything in those 24 hours.

 

The difference that you will get is in the way you utilize these 24 hours. This will decide your future, whether you are going to be rich or poor. The problem with most of us is procrastination, by the time you are done building a white house in your dream someone might be working to make it a reality.

 

Now that does not mean you should work like a donkey, enjoy your life but try to manage the 24 hours credited to your account every day.

 

So use your time wisely, don’t waste it on things that matter least to you, plan your day, a night before and work on it.

 

Sixth Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

Sixth Principle is related to the fragment roses that bring the sumo back to consciousness, these represent empathy, selflessness, kindness toward others, and social cause.

 

‘The one who sell roses are left with a beautiful fragrance in their own hands too”

 

The satisfaction that you achieve upon helping others cannot be achieved with the money. Go out and help other people to achieve everything that you want to achieve for yourself without any self interest.

 

Seventh Principle from the Book The Monk Who Sold his ferrari 

 

Seventh principle is related to the path of the diamond that represents the small movement of happiness that we come across while leaving our life and these movements are always in the present. Neither in the past nor in future.

 

We always keep thinking about the future and regret the past and forget that our present becomes our past and decide futures.

 

Essence of story.

 

The essence of the whole story tells us the harsh reality of today’s life, how we all have become so busy collecting the materialistic things that we think will make us happy but really forget these seven incredible life lessons that Robin Sharma tries to teach us Just like Julien we all have something in our life like his Ferrari which we need to leave in order to grow and learn more.

 

I hope that you like our small efforts to help you become better and if so please leave a comment and share with the friends too.