Lexington, KY - There are numerous books on using the power of our minds through positive thinking and creative imagination to influence our lives and work. There are an equal number of books on growing a business into a profitable and meaningful enterprise.
In The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom and Live an Extraordinary Life, authors John Assaraf and Murray Smith offer a revolutionary and profoundly thoughtful integration of both topics. This book is a remarkable and mesmerizing account of the relationship between mindset and success in business.
The authors summarize the premise of the book with the physics law known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. It teaches that when you change the way you look at something, the thing you look at changes in response. While Heisenberg was alluding to subatomic particles, The Answer suggests this to be equally true of your life and business.
If you look at your business differently, whether you work within an organization or own your own business, you can change how it will look, the authors say. Your life will change in the same way your business does, according to how you look at it.
This is a book about drawing up a plan for your life and your business, taking ownership of both and being accountable. The authors contend that a business must be built from the inside, by creating a picture "of utter clarity and certainty." It must also be built by driving revenues, and that means getting out of your head and taking action.
Author John Assaraf was one of the teachers in the 2006 movie and book The Secret, helped to fame by the endorsement of Oprah Winfrey. The Secret introduced millions to the concept of the Law of Attraction, the idea "that by focusing our thoughts, we can actually attract those things we want most from life."
When asked how to do this, Assaraf and his co-author wrote The Answer. While it is based on a wide variety of sources, the authors also draw on their background in developing 17 multimillion-dollar businesses in the past 20 years.
The search for how to build a better business led the authors on a search for how the world works. While that may sound complicated, the explanations offered are outlined in ways that are clear and understandable.
They cite examples from sources that range from Galileo to Einstein. They explore how the brain works, and how beliefs and habits are formed. Particularly interesting is a section on how quantum physics can help you build your business.
The Answer also draws numerous examples from businesses. While some of the ideas cited are well known, the authors present them in ways that breathe new life into them. For example, goal setting is important; however without establishing a larger purpose in which to context those goals, they have little meaning. The authors also insist "goals in business come down to numbers." If you want to grow a business, you must have a clear set of numbers, they insist.
This is not simply a book about creating inspiration or motivation. The authors are practical in their insistence to apply action: "Because if all you do is sit around and visualize, the men in the overalls with the big trucks will come and take away your furniture."
The authors take the reader through a trademarked "Neural Reconditioning Process." This process includes six steps for creating a new vision around your business and reinforcing that vision on a daily basis. It's a worthwhile series of exercises, particularly for anyone considering starting a new business.
Once this process is established, the more traditional business development is undertaken. These include determining your ideal customer, innovating your business and focusing your efforts.
The Answer is a unique approach to success. It demonstrates the steps you need to take to train your mind to focus on success. Then, it applies that focus to business practice. It's a well-written, smart synthesis of how to develop your mind and your business.