Visionary Business

An Entrepreneur's Guide to Success

Marc Allen

• Publisher: New World Library
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9781577316626
• eBook ISBN: 9781577318484
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

A powerful book presenting the 12 keys of business success and the 25 principles and practices of visionary businessThis transformative book has helped people all over the world to not only envision and create success but also build a truly visionary business: one that supports its employees, the community, and the environment.We meet Marc Allen's mentor Bernie, an unforgettable character who teaches Marc the ways of ethical and socially responsible business. Together they turn Marc's fledgling attempts at business into a thriving corporate success, founded on diverse principles of positive psychology, Eastern and Western spirituality, market savvy, and simple kindness.Marc finds that it's all too easy to fall prey to anxieties and negative beliefs when you set out to create your own business, especially if you are learning the details as you go. Fortunately, Bernie shows Marc the most important thing of all: how to transform his thinking and change his old beliefs. This essential inner work is one of the great keys Bernie gives Marc. Step by step, Marc learns everything necessary to create the business of his dreams.

KEY ELEVEN

Consider the spiritual and mystical
side of business:
Practice your own form of effective magic.

I WAS STILL STRUGGLING with a company in its infant stage with a somewhat clueless staff (including myself), and I was an exasperated and impatient parent at times. When I look back on it, there were deeper reasons for my frustration than purely financial ones. On a deep level — on what Bernie would describe as a core belief level — I had my doubts and fears about everything I was doing. I doubted myself. I even doubted the worthiness of building a business in the first place. Some part of me believed that if I succeeded in business, I would lose my soul in some way. I’d become consumed by materialism, and forget my creativity, my friends and family, and my higher purpose in it all.

I had insistent doubts about my ability to do what needed to be done, and insistent fears about the direction my life would take if it turned out I was somehow able to build a successful business. Perhaps Bernie was aware of my thoughts; perhaps he had gone through a similar stage when he was young. I wanted to ask him, but when I was with him, the question just never came up.

In light of all this, our next meeting was remarkable.

SEVERAL WEEKS PASSED before I heard from Bernie again. Then he called on a Friday afternoon and said, “Look, there’s a full moon on Monday. Why don’t you come out to my place in time for the sunset and moonrise?”

We watched the sunset from his living room and then went out by his pool to watch an almost unbelievably large, brilliant orange harvest moon rise slowly over the shadowy trees. The lights were on in Lucia’s studio; she was apparently painting.

“On nights like this, I love to sit in the hot tub,” Bernie said. “Want to join me?”

It seemed like a good idea. The night was cool; the tub was hot. We had to get in slowly. Bernie’s body was lean and supple. It was quite a surprise to see him in such good shape.

“Ahh . . .” Bernie said. He took several seconds to say the word. He exhaled deeply, several times, and faced the rising moon. He looked much younger than his years. His eyes were large and clear.

“This kind of night, this full moon, is very special,” he said. He spoke quietly but intensely.

“I’ve given you everything you need to understand the mechanics of successful business. How it works. It’s not all that complicated; anyone can do it. Anyone. Even you. Don’t worry.

“If you can remember even just a little bit of what I’ve said, and apply it, you’ll be successful. Because all it involves is remembering to stop and take a long-term view of things occasionally. Look at the big picture every once in a while. Make sure that picture includes moving steadily toward your dreams.”

He was quiet for a long moment.

“We live in an exciting time. It used to be that science and religion were polar opposites. They seemed to have two completely different methods: religion and metaphysics were intuitive, based on faith; science was rational. God! They were even violently opposed to each other over and over throughout history.

“But in the twentieth century, science and metaphysics merged. Physicists discovered what the metaphysical types had believed for centuries: It is only our crude sense of sight that makes it appear as if we are totally different individuals — as Einstein put it, our separateness is an ‘optical illusion.’ We are in reality all one, in one quantum field, eternally interconnected in one vast ocean of atoms. And those atoms are composed of empty space, yet filled with whirling forces of energy and information. Buddhists have been chanting for thousands of years: ‘Form is emptiness; emptiness is form.’ Physicists have discovered this is true.”

When he said, Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, he chanted the words.

“Some people call it the New Age!” He chuckled. “It’s a fine term, but there’s nothing new in the new age. The Bhagavad Gita was written over five thousand years ago! It’s straight from the source, and the source of so many other teachings.

“These teachings have been available throughout history, and reinvented every generation — though we haven’t done a very good job of practicing the teachings of the Gita, and Jesus, and Buddha, and Muhammad, and all the other great teachers and prophets.

“James Allen wrote As You Think in 1904. It’s all in that book. Everything. Israel Regardie wrote The Art of True Healing in the 1930s. It’s filled with powerful creative meditations; it’s Western magic in a nutshell. The so-called New Age philosophy is the Perennial Philosophy that Aldous Huxley described — it’s as old as humankind.

“For myself, I’ve boiled its essence down to something that’s very simple. That’s the way it has to be, for me — simple and clear — to have an impact on my life.”

He sat in silence for a moment, gazing at the moon, before he continued.

“There are many paths up the mountain. And every one of us is absolutely unique and finds what we need to find in our own way, on our own terms, and in our own words. We each make our own absolutely unique contribution to the vast, ever-growing archives of the Perennial Philosophy — or the New Age or spiritual quest or higher consciousness or the human potential movement or the 12-step programs or whatever else you want to call it.

“My parents were Jewish. But I didn’t see, didn’t really understand, the wisdom in my own tradition when I was young. I studied the vast wisdom traditions of India as a young man, and I found guidance and answers.

“I learned about dharma — the teachings, the laws of the universe, and the importance for each of us to discover our higher purpose in life, our mission, and to fulfill that purpose.

“I learned about karma — all of us are rewarded with the fruits of our thoughts and actions, whether they’re good or bad. The good person encounters goodness and success; the misguided person who doesn’t understand karma encounters pain and failure. Each of us creates our own experience of the world; we have no one else to blame for our failures. At some point, we realize that every moment of our lives has been absolutely perfect. Every moment has its use, its teaching for us.

“I went to India when I was young. . . .” He smiled at the memory. “I met a teacher who told me my mind was way too active. He tied a string to my wrist and tied the other end to a turtle, and told me to stay with that turtle for three days. And I did it. I have never been the same since.” He laughed heartily.

“I learned about meditation in India: the importance of learning to quiet the mind. Once our mind begins to quiet, our intuitive mind starts speaking to us, in a still, small voice. Actually, it’s been speaking to us all the time, but we just never heard it, because it was drowned out by the constant chatter in our heads. Meditation shows us how to listen within.

“I learned to do yoga. That’s why I’m in such good shape. That and my fruit juice — I drink lots of fruit juice, morning and evening. And I do a bit of yoga nearly every day, even if it’s just a Sun Salutation or two.

“My yoga teacher told me to close my eyes when doing yoga, and ‘see God.’ She said it so simply, so plainly, and I’ve never forgotten it.

“Then I came back to this country and looked to the Christian tradition, and found answers and guidance there, too, of course. Christ taught about karma when he said, ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’ And St. Paul had taught about moderation — ‘the Golden Mean’ — just as Buddha had taught about taking the middle road, the path between all extremes, the path of moderation in everything.

“I read the Bible. The words of Christ are still brilliant today. It’s sad to me that so many people proclaiming to be Christian somehow manage to ignore so many of the words of Christ. How can you call yourself a Christian and still want to carry firearms or build atom bombs or enforce the death penalty? What would Christ’s reaction be to those people? ‘Peter, put away your sword — if you live by the sword, by the sword you die.’ You can’t say it much clearer than that.

“So many institutions have risen, churches and governments, that proclaim to be Christian, but have forgotten the words of their founder!”

He quoted easily from memory:

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, and persecute you....Turn the other cheek....

“Judge not, lest you be judged....He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone....

“A new law I give unto you: Love one another, as I have loved you.

“Ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you....The Kingdom of Heaven is within.”

We both gazed at the silent full moon for a while. Then Bernie went on.

“I looked at the traditions of indigenous peoples all over the world as well, and found guidance and answers. They all believe in the sacredness of life, the sacredness of the earth. Our earth is our Mother — she has literally provided us the materials for our bodies — so we need to respect and cherish her.

“They all believe in worlds beyond this world of ours. ‘There is no death,’ Chief Joseph said, ‘Only a change of worlds.’

“They believe the dead have power, and need to be honored and respected. We need to live in a way that our ancestors would be proud of, because the spirits of our ancestors are still with us, still part of us. Just as Christians believe you can feel the spirit of Christ living in your heart, so indigenous people feel the spirits of their ancestors, living and breathing through them.

“I’ve studied Western mysticism, too, and found answers and inspiration. I learned that real magic exists. I learned simple magical rituals for health, problem solving, prosperity, love....As long as you understand karma, magic is a powerful tool that can work for you.

“And that led me right back to Judaism, because much of Western magic is based on it. And I finally found answers and inspiration within my own roots, right back where I started.

“One of the best ways to express all these various teachings in the simplest and clearest way — and this may or may not surprise you — is from the 12-step programs, originally from Alcoholics Anonymous. God help and bless all the alcoholics out there! The twelve steps are brilliant.

“The third step says, I made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God, as I understand God. That leads right to the eleventh step, I sought through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God as I understand God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will and the power to carry it out.

“That’s it, in a nutshell — at least for me: Just keep turning it over to God, asking to do God’s will. That’s a simple solution. Whenever you have a problem, turn it over to God — whatever you believe God or a higher power or the creative force of the universe to be.

“Whenever you have a question, ask it, and then listen within for the answer. Ask, and you shall receive.”

THERE WAS A QUIET PAUSE, as we gazed at the moon in silence. The water was warm and satisfying. I felt no need to say anything. Bernie finally broke the silence.

“So, one of the most important things we can do is reflect on what we believe God to be. What is God in our lives? What do we really believe? What makes sense for us? What is reasonable, for each of us, given our unique background and culture and beliefs? It’s good to think about this, and come up with something — because that conception of God can provide us with all the answers and guidance and inspiration we need to create the life we dream of creating.

“Everyone has some conception of a higher power — even if they call themselves atheists they still have some idea of, some name for, the forces that created this universe. As I’ve said to many people many times before, if you don’t believe in a higher power, go make a blade of grass. Or a cricket. Or a galaxy. Some power created those things — how do you describe that power? Chemistry? Then that’s your higher power. Atomic energy? Then that’s your description of what I choose...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Key One: Imagine your ideal scene.
• Key Two: Write your business plan as a simple, clear visualization.
• Key Three: Discover your higher purpose.
• Key Four: See the benefits within adversity, the opportunities in your problems, and keep picturing success.
• Key Five: Plan your work and work your plan; the employee handbook, benefits, and profit sharing.
• Key Six: Avoid management by crisis; make a clear annual goal.
• Key Seven: Give abundantly and reap the rewards.
• Key Eight: “Love change, learn to dance, and leave J.Edgar Hoover behind.”
• Key Nine: Reflect on the events that have shaped your life and discover the core beliefs you have created for yourself because of those events.
• Key Ten: Evolve through the three stages of a business: infancy, adolescence, adulthood.
• Key Eleven: Consider the spiritual and mystical side of business: Practice your own form of effective magic.
• Key Twelve: Do what you love to do, and you‘ll create a visionary business, in your own absolutely unique way.
• Epilogue: The ultimate purpose of visionary business is to transform the world by doing what you love to do.
• Afterword To The Revised Edition: Develop the three essentials of success, in an easy and relaxed manner, a healthy and positive way.
• Summary: Twenty-five Principles and Practices of Visionary Business
• Acknowledgments
• Suggested Reading
• About the Author