Excerpt from The Answer


Conclusion: The Path

As we saw in our exploration of the brain, there is a part of us that loves growth because it seeks fuller expression, and there is another part of us that fights to maintain homeostasis. The aspect that seeks growth is our spiritual side. It is our larger “I,” the part of us that seeks to reconnect with our origins in the quantum sea of pure consciousness. Then there is the organism, represented by the lower functions of our nonconscious brain, which seeks stasis in support of self-preservation. There is a natural and constant tension between these two aspects of ourselves, almost a tug of war. Yet this game is no contest: it has a predetermined outcome.

The truth is, stasis is an illusion. We’re born, we live, we grow, and we die; like fireworks arcing through the night sky, life arises and shines through the trajectory of our years before winking out and falling to the ground from which we arose. Shakespeare’s character Prospero puts it beautifully: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little lives are rounded with a sleep” (The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1). Our passing is inevitable, and we are here on this tiny planet for such a short time. The organism’s heroic effort to keep us in homeostasis is understandable, but we know from the start that any homeostasis is temporary, just as no life is permanent. Energy has but one constant attribute: change. We are always growing or declining; there is no real status quo, only a temporary sense of respite from the waves of change.

In Walden, Thoreau wrote, “The majority of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” a poetic way of saying that when most people feel this tug of war, they simply let go of the rope and settle into self-preservation and acquiescence to mediocrity. But not you. You are a seeker of the exceptional, in pursuit of a life of financial freedom and personal fulfillment made available through an extraordinary business. You are one of those who seize the reins of change and hold on, determined to create a life of greatness, meaning, and impact. Your path is to feel that tug of war between change and stasis, growth and preservation, new horizons and the safety of the “average”—and allow it to pull you into the headlong pursuit of an ever-fuller expression of yourself and your vision. For our lives may be temporary, but our visions are eternal.

That’s what your dream business is all about.

We close The Answer with a question:

How will you spend your life?

When you think about the expression, “spend your life,” you’ll come to a sobering realization: your life is something that you actually do spend every day, just as surely as if you were pulling out your wallet and peeling off hours like dollar bills as payment for each day’s experiences and memories.

Every day, you are trading away the moments of your life for whatever it is you are creating and experiencing during those moments. What do you want to trade your life for? What is worth that trade? You get to choose; in fact, you have to. With every breath you take, you are already choosing what it is you’re getting in exchange for the moments you spend: the people you’re spending time with, the activities you’re engaged in, the thoughts you’re having, and the experiences you’re allowing to happen.

If you have chosen to spend that precious life in the pursuit of success in business, then don’t let yourself settle for “good.” Make that business a perfect expression of your values and purpose, the perfect expression of you. Make it the business of your dreams—and then make those dreams come true. Devote yourself to the pursuit of the exceptional.

You have at your disposal the most mind-boggling tools and resources imaginable. You have the zero-point field, the quantum ocean of infinite information, intelligence and knowledge. You have the unstoppable and invariable power of universal law—the laws of Attraction, Gestation, Action, and Compensation.

You have the most powerful electromagnetic tuning device in the universe: the human brain, with its virtually unlimited capacity to tap, process, and articulate the infinite wisdom of the quantum universe. And you now also have the tools you need to create the thoughts, beliefs, and habits of mind to use that brain to create anything you desire.

You have the key steps it takes to envision your dream business, populate it with ideal customers, articulate its essential value and unique selling proposition, and communicate that value with compelling messages through channels and media that will reach the people for whom they are ideally intended.

And you have the keys to creating the ideal support community to help you every step of the way, helping you meet the needs you know you have as well as the needs that still lie beyond the reach of your conscious brain. You know how big thinkers think, and you have all the tools you need to give voice and expression to your own big thoughts.

You have The Answer. Now, go use it! And as you do, let us know how you’re doing. We’ll be right there with you.

(Excerpted from The Answer, by John Assaraf and Murray Smith, Atria 2008.)