The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life (A Guide to Business Success) Paperback – September 29, 2009

There are many books out there that promise insights so powerful that they will change your life. The Answer is a book that not only promises that, but also delivers on it. As the book itself states, this is not merely `pop psychology' - it is something much more. This is an unofficial follow-up book to the wildly popular DVD `The Secret'. John Assaraf, one of the participants in `The Secret' - you will remember him as the likable vision board guy - co-wrote this book, and he applies his strategies for manifesting his own visions to this book. It is a welcome follow-up - though I enjoyed and was inspired by The Secret, I found its substance a bit lacking at times, especially when it told you that `thoughts become things' and showed a kid wishing for a bike, then one magically appearing. That seemed too simplistic and silly; there is much more to it, of course. The Answer tells you how to actually go about successfully manifesting your carefully thought out visions in very detailed terms through a multi-pronged approach.I definitely recommend The Answer if you are truly ready to make quantum leaps in your life and in your business. You will need to put in your own effort, daily effort in fact, to truly effect positive, lasting change in your life. This is not just something you can read and reflect on, that will magically improve your circumstances through osmosis. That's actually the great thing about it, we all intuitively know that to create the life we seek, we can't just read a book or watch a DVD and have it happen for us, we will need to work for it, and apply our solid, consistent efforts to gain the best possible result - it's not about working harder, it's about working smarter. The Answer imparts utterly fascinating and important knowledge about quantum physics and neuroscience, and shows you how to tap into these powerful things to bring about the vision you have for you life. Using that knowledge, you will then need to closely examine your goals and break them down into useful, measurable, quantifiable elements. The book will help you clear up any gray areas that might have existed and overcome any roadblocks, real or imagined, conscious or not, and get you to the point of three very important things - crystal clear clarity about what you are aiming to achieve, laser-sighted focus and sustained, well-placed effort.The strategies in The Answer can be applied to absolutely any business or creative endeavor - you do the work to personalize the techniques to suit your business, life and goals. No one knows your aspirations like you do, after all. It doesn't just provide simplistic and rehashed `motivation-speak' that we have all heard a thousand times, it gives you concrete techniques and deep, proven knowledge to back up what it's teaching. I encourage anyone who needs some inspiration in their lives, and/or to kick things up a notch in their business or creative activities to read The Answer, do all of the exercises, and make the changes it recommends in your life. To me, intuitively, it makes a lot of sense. I am implementing these things myself. There is also a line near the end of the book that I found especially meaningful, and in my opinion, is really at the heart of the passions we pursue:"The real purpose of building your dream business is to express and support the person you are in the process of becoming."Indeed.Rai Aren, co-author of the adventure novel Secret of the Sands

As a self-help author myself, I read over 100 books a year on success, happiness, and making money. I have taught Financial Stress Reduction Workshops for the past 18 years, and I am intimately familiar with the problems business owners encounter while trying to create and build their businesses from scratch. It takes a lot to impress me these days, but I have to say this new book by John Assaraf is one of the best I've ever read. A featured teacher in "The Secret", he and his co-author Murray Smith have built 17 multimillion-dollar companies in the last 20 years. They know "The Secret" of making money in your business, and their new book gives you not just "The Answer" but many answers to the questions business people have in their minds, number one of which is "How am I going to make money in my business?"They outline the quantum physics in a way that is completely understandable (did you know that Hungarian author and philosopher of science Ervin Laszlo calls the field that underlies and connects all things the "A-Field" in homage to the Akashic Records?), and I loved this description of the building blocks of our physical reality: "...once you look deep within the heart of atoms, these `indivisible particles' are not at all like the neat little miniature solar systems of billiard balls everyone had expected, but were something far messier: They were something like tiny packets of possibility." Your atoms are made of possibility! But they are completely practical in their exhortation to apply the Law of Action as well as the Law of Attraction: "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." How true! And it made me chuckle at the same time.The book illustrates the work you need to do to become successful, training your mind to focus on success and organizing your business to produce the money, security, happiness, and leisure time that everyone desires. How to create a revenue plan, design a sales process map, understand the three conditions of the Law of Compensation, demographics and psychographics, and more are outlined in step-by-step, easy to follow instructions.This is a book I will re-read again and again - it will be a constant resource guide on my desk from now on!Chellie Campbell, authorZero to Zillionaire and The Wealthy Spirit: Daily Affirmations for Financial Stress Reduction

This is an exceptionally good book. I have read many of the classic self help books which mostly offer the same proven formula for success. This book goes beyond Think and Grow Rich and other classics by examining why people often fail to reach their goals even when they follow all of the advice and instructions provided in the Classic Books. In brief, "The Answer" examines the role of the subconscious mind in keeping you exactly where you are, even when you think you want to move forward and lose weight or achieve financial success, you follow all of the instructions and yet a year later you are still fat, and poor. You ask yourself why you have failed to reach your goals but you can not figure it out.This book will help you to understand how your subconscious mind may be undermining your efforts and will give you advice on how to over come your failings. I actually came upon this book from an email where John Assaraf was promoting his entire program for $497.00. Rather than order it, I decided to read one of his books to see if it made sense. I would recommend Assaraf's free promotional video (90 minutes long) where he goes into greater detail about his theories and how to overcome the awesome power of your subconscious mind to keep you exactly where you are in the rut you may have always been in. I am still debating whether to spend the $497.00 for his full program. I think I will order another one of his books and read it before I decide to spend all that money. I am beginning to believe it may be worth the investment, but am not yet committed to the expenditure .