The Ten Commandments of the Personal Legend (F2)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is the story of a young Spanish shepherd named Santiago who goes on a prolonged journey to fulfill his Personal Legend, one's spiritual destiny or purpose. During his journey, Santiago learns numerous life lessons. While Santiago learned many of the lessons from the words of others, he learned most of them through his experiences and by observing nature and human behavior. Below is the Ten Commandments of the Personal Legend, a compilation of the top ten most important life lessons that resonated with me. 

The Ten Commandments of the Personal Legend

I - Trust the Impossible

"They (children) are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend" (Coelho 24).

If someone has the confidence to believe in the impossible, the impossible will become their reality.

II - Be Your Own Employer

After Santiago's meeting with the gypsy ended, he feels disappointing. The gypsy had failed to motivate him and convince him that following his dream, discovering the treasure in Egypt, is a feasible idea. While reading his book, a man named Melchizedek, who claims to be the king of Salem, sparks a conversation. During their conversation, Melchizedek tells Santiago that if he wants to learn more about his Personal Legend and the hidden treasure, he needs to pay him one-tenth of his flock. As a counter, Santiago proposes that he give Melchizedek one-tenth of his treasure after he discovers it. Santiago had already agreed to give the gypsy one-tenth of his treasure. Knowing that if he accepts the offer, Santiago would only be receiving eighty percent of his own treasure, Melchizedek warns, "If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work towards getting it" (Coelho 27). If Santiago keeps making deals to give away percentages of the treasure that he aims to find, sooner or later, he will not be keeping any of the treasure himself. He will be finding treasure for other people, not himself. Santiago is motivated to fulfill his Personal Legend because doing so would provide him with riches. If he will not get to keep any of the riches that he finds, he will have no desire to pursue the Personal Legend.

One will never be motivated to work for others.

III - Aim to Satisfy Yourself, Not Others

Santiago's family wanted him to become a priest which would make him a sense of pride for the family. However, "One afternoon, on a visit to his family, he had summoned up the courage to tell his father that he didn't want to become a priest. That he wanted to travel" (Coelho 11).

Those who always aim to please will never, themselves, be pleased.

IV - Ask, Believe, Receive

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it" (Coelho 24)

Where there is a true desire, there will always be a solution.

V - Find Purpose Beyond Your Personal Legend

While living in Tangier, Santiago befriends a crystal merchant who had given up on his Personal Legend of doing the Hajj to Mecca. When Santiago questions the merchant's decision, he responds, "Because it's the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. That's what helps me face these days that are all the same, those mute crystals on the shelves, and lunch and dinner at the same horrible cafe. I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living" (Coelho 57). 

Your Personal Legend is not the destination. It's merely an adventure along the way.

VI - Only Worry About What You Can Control

While Santiago is on a caravan from Tangier to the Al Fayoum Oasis, he spends a lot of time talking to the camel driver who travels beside him. One night, while sitting a fire, the camel driver begins to tell Santiago about his life before becoming a camel driver. The driver used to live in El Cairum, where his family supported themselves with their own orchard. They always grew enough food to feed themselves and the driver had envisioned himself living like that for his entire life. Then, one day, a strong earthquake caused the Nile river to overflow, destroying his house, orchard, and everything else he owned. Instead of being angered or saddened by the event, however, the driver had a completely different outlook. He told Santiago that "We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world are written by the same hand" (Coelho 78). Although the event was devastating, the driver chooses to not dwell on it. He knows that it is beyond his control, therefore becoming upset over it is a waste of effort. This idea ties into the concept of "everything happens for a purpose." While the earthquake ruined everything that the driver had, it led him towards a life centered around helping others rather than just supporting himself. Now, he spends his days guiding others through the desert, helping them achieve their Personal Legends. 

The universe can only work once you begin to rest.

VII - Use Your Struggles to Appreciate Your Triumphs

"He always enjoyed seeing the happiness that the travelers experienced when, after weeks of yellow sand and blue sky, they first saw the green of the date palms. Maybe G-d created the desert so that man could appreciate the date trees" (Coelho 89).

It was the best of times, because of the worst of times. 

VIII - Never Choose Between Your Lover and Your Dreams

"You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love." (Coelho 124).

If your love and your destiny cannot coexist, then you chose one of them wrong. The thing is, only one of them was chosen. 

IX - You Can Never Be Too Careful

"Everything that happens once will never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time" (Coelho 160).

It won't happen again... until it does. 

X - Never Ignore an Omen

After traveling for nearly a year, Santiago finally arrives at the pyramids. Destined to find the treasure, he begins digging holes in the sand. Not long after he began to dig, a group of men approaches him. The men ask Santiago what he is doing, and he tells them about his dream. The men force Santiago to continue digging, but when he cannot find any treasure, they beat and rob him. Before parting, one of the men tells Santiago, "Two years ago, right here on this spot, I had a recurrent dream, too. I dreamed that I should travel to the fields of Spain and look for a ruined church where shepherds and their sheep slept... and I was told that, if I dug at the roots of the sycamore, I would find a hidden treasure." And then he tells Santiago, "But I'm not so stupid as to cross an entire desert just because of a recurrent dream" (Coelho 167-168). This makes Santiago begin to laugh, his heart bursting with joy because it is at this moment that he knows where the true treasure is. The treasure is back in Andalusia under the tree that he sleeps at the base of. He realizes that the robber had been given the exact same Personal Legend as him, just with the location flipped. What differentiates Santiago from the Robber, however, is that Santiago pursued his dream, following his Personal Legend half-way across the world, even though it led him right back to his starting location. Although the robber had been given the same omen as Santiago, the recurrent dream, he decided that the journey was not worth his time and dismissed it. As a result of their different decisions, Santiago went back home, found the treasure under his tree, and became wealthy, but the robber went on living his life and did not amass any riches. In addition, Santiago's interaction with the robber served as an omen itself. It is unlikely that Santiago would have found the treasure in Egypt, but because of the robber telling him about his own dream, Santiago was able to find the treasure elsewhere, fulfilling his Personal Legend regardless.

How can one expect to make it to their destination if they ignore the directions?