John Assaraf’s In
Search Of Entrepreneur Heroes Interview
Ralph Zuranski: What is your
definition of heroism?
John Assaraf: I think heroism is
when somebody really goes above and beyond the call of
duty and does something outstanding for either
themselves or somebody else.
John Assaraf: Somebody that really
just gets out of their own ways and is just infallible
in their pursuit to make someone else’s life a
masterpiece. Somebody who really gives up themselves to
others. Not just firefighters but anybody who really
steps up and makes a difference in humanity is a hero
for me.
Ralph Zuranski: Did you ever create
a secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with
life’s difficulties?
John Assaraf: No I have never had a
secret hero in my mind but I have kept a lot of mentors
in my mind that are heroes. Gandhi, Jesus, Moses,
Martin Luther King they were all secret heroes in my
mind because they stood for what they wanted, what they
believed in.
John Assaraf: They had the
conviction and belief in themselves what matter what
anybody said and they were going to pursue that belief
and that love in their heart.
John Assaraf: Those are guys that
really set examples for me not to believe what other
people think about me. To pursue what I believe and
follow my heart.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your
perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?
John Assaraf: My perspective is that
there is a lack of it. There are a lot of people who
pretend to have moral ethics and they talk from both
sides of their mouth.
John Assaraf: There is a Greek word
that is called “Praxis” and that means the integration
of your beliefs with your behavior.
John Assaraf: That to me is where
your moral ethics come from, where your values come from
and I think there is a lack of it. It is not a matter
of being right or wrong.
John Assaraf: I think it is time
that people say here is what I stand for, here’s what my
values are, here’s what my beliefs are and just start
doing things that way from now on and stick to it.
Ralph Zuranski: What principles are
you willing to sacrifice your life for?
John Assaraf: Freedom. Absolute
freedom for myself, for my country, freedom some someone
harming my children.
John Assaraf: Absolutely.
Ralph Zuranski: When was the lowest
point in your life and how did you change your life path
to one of victory over all obstacles?
John Assaraf: One of the lowest
points in my life was when I was diagnosed and combated
with severe ulcerative colitis which is severe ulcers in
you colon that bleed.
John Assaraf: I was twenty one years
old and I thought, “here I am my health is at risk, my
life is going to go down hill from here and I really had
to have a look in the mirror to see what the cause was
of that and the cause of that was me.
John Assaraf: I was putting too much
stress on my body and not living a healthy life style, I
wasn’t taking care of myself. I was able to turn that
around by having a belief in myself and trusting God and
then doing what it took to get healthy again.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have a dream
or vision that sets the course of your life?
John Assaraf: Number one is my
children, to make sure that I am the best father
possible for them. The next one is that whenever my
dream is over, my time is out and I come out of this
bodysuit is to make sure that I have done the best
possible, that I have given to myself and humanity, that
I have contributed and I am leaving this place in a
better place then when I found it and I have contributed
to peoples lives and I have loved as much as I can.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you take a
positive view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?
John Assaraf: Absolutely.
John Assaraf: One of my core beliefs
is that everything happens for a reason and some things
just aren’t to my taste. All the things that happen in
my life are divinely inspired and they happen for a
purpose.
John Assaraf: Sometimes we forget
that the top of the wave, the top of the crest is always
the bottom, there is no inside without an outside, and
there is no up without a down.
John Assaraf: Your life can not be
all about stuff that you love or even like. Your life
is going to be about ups and downs and that is just part
of the journey.
John Assaraf: We go through these
metamorphous just like a caterpillar does before
becoming a butterfly and the middle of that
metamorphosis it always feels uncomfortable.
John Assaraf: It always feels icky
and sticky and just terrible but that is part of how we
grow, that is part of how nature works and we are part
of nature. I think everything in my life I am thankful
for.
John Assaraf: Some things aren’t to
my taste and I wish they wouldn’t have happened but they
have been some of the best experiences to learn and grow
from so I am grateful for every moment.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have the
courage to pursue new ideas?
John Assaraf: It takes a lot of
courage. I think people are afraid of either failing or
succeeding. It takes courage to feel the fear and feel
the risk.
John Assaraf: It takes courage to
look like an idiot possibly and fall and fail but that’s
what it takes to learn to succeed so you have to be
willing to practice or rehearse to work your risk
muscle.
John Assaraf: Practice to look
stupid, practice to look like you are not good enough or
smart enough where you couldn’t do things right and get
over it anyway. The truth of the matter is we are all
going to feel that way.
John Assaraf: I don’t care whether
you are me or Michael Jordan, it makes no difference we
are all going to feel that way but it is what we do
about what we feel that isn’t comfortable that separates
the people who do really well verses the people who just
meek out existence.
Ralph Zuranski: Did you believe your
dreams would eventually become reality?
John Assaraf: Absolutely.
John Assaraf: I absolutely learned,
lets see I am forty-three now and when I was nineteen I
started studying the mind and the brain and perception
of behavior.
John Assaraf: And I started studying
successful people a lot of successful people and the
first thing they told me, I can remember this
twenty-five years ago, you first have to believe it in
here before you see it out here.
John Assaraf: What happens is when
you start to believe it in here your brain starts to
believe it out here in our physical world so you have to
understand it is a reverse of what we have been taught.
“When I see it I will believe it”.
John Assaraf: The truth is you have
to believe it first, that is an absolute peal for
whoever is listening to this and you better understand
what that means. I totally believe that I everything I
choose, everything I set my dreams out to achieve I will
achieve.
Ralph Zuranski: How were you able to
overcome your doubts and fears?
John Assaraf: First we have to
understand what doubts and fears are, how anxiety and
doubts and fears come about. They are a psychic
disease.
John Assaraf: When the brain isn’t
working properly and we don’t understand how to
calibrate the brain for optimal performance we are going
to feel these doubts, fears and anxieties and most
people when this happens they don’t understand why and
they let that paralyze them.
John Assaraf: The people that do
understand how the brain works and how the chemicals are
released in the brain when they feel uncomfortable,
uncertain or doubtful they do it anyway. They overcome
the biological and neurological releases by
understanding what’s causing them and moving forward
anyway.
Ralph Zuranski: Who helped give you
the willpower to change things in you life for the
better?
John Assaraf: The first is God,
having the Creator in my life, having the spiritual
connection to the divine intelligence that created me.
John Assaraf: I have had phenomenal
support from my family, my sweetheart Maria and today
being the dad of two spectacular boys, Keenan and Noah,
looking at them gives me so much inspiration and so much
desire to do the best I can do and to overcome anything
that comes my way.
John Assaraf: So absolutely.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you readily
forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you?
John Assaraf: I think forgiveness is
absolutely mandatory. When you don’t forgive the only
person you are hurting is yourself because you are still
harboring the anger and the mental anguish.
John Assaraf: I think forgiveness is
a release of emotions, a release to say “No I let go”.
I think it is critical for our mental health being and
our physical health being and I think it is critical for
our universal being as well to forgive each other.
John Assaraf: I don’t know of
anybody including me that has not made errors in
judgment, that hasn’t done things I shouldn’t do, that
hasn’t lied, that hasn’t done things I am not proud of
but I hope I am forgiven.
John Assaraf: And I will continue to
make mistakes and hope to be forgiven so I have to treat
people the same way I want to be treated. I am human
and so are you and we are on this journey together and
we both have to go on our way and say “You know what?
John Assaraf: We are going to screw
up, so what, let’s move on.”
Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience
service to others as a source of joy?
John Assaraf: Absolute joy.
John Assaraf: What I do today is
really helping people in maximizing their income and to
live the lives they want to live. I effect they’re
families, I effect their beliefs about themselves and it
gives me so much joy
John Assaraf: It validates who I am
and it validates the work that I do. I drive a lot of
joy from being able to help others and helping put them
on the path that they want.
Ralph Zuranski: What place does the
power of prayer have in your life?
John Assaraf: I pray everyday, all
the time. Prayer is when you are actually experiencing
a conversation with divine intelligence.
John Assaraf: Don’t look at prayer
as me asking God to give me something, like some type of
cosmic bell captain, look at prayer as my communication
with the quantum intelligence, the divine intelligence
that we have out there and that is how things are
manifested.
John Assaraf: When we pray with our
hearts and our souls I think we are being heard.
John Assaraf: Absolutely.
John Assaraf: What I think is
critically important is that there are lots of studies
on how prayer effects people that are ill, lots of
studies, and I know in my life my prayers have been
answered.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you maintain your
sense of humor in the face of serious problems?
John Assaraf: In the face of serious
problems I think it’s a hard to be serious but if you
look beyond the problem and understand that for every
problem there has to be a solution of equal magnitude.
John Assaraf: So, I don’t know if
humor has a place for it but being light hearted does
and not to take it too seriously.
John Assaraf: Think of death for
example, that could be a very traumatic experience but
death is but one event in a person’s lifetime.
John Assaraf: There is a multitude
of things that happen in between life and death so what
is more critical?
John Assaraf: If you have your
health and the ability to do what you love to do then I
think we are all blessed and so keeping a light heart is
really important.
Ralph Zuranski: Who are the HEROES
in your life?
John Assaraf: The heroes in my life
right now are my kids and Maria, my fiancée, my family
and as I mentioned this amazing Creation that we have.
John Assaraf: I don’t have
individuals that are heroes per say but I will suggest
that teachers are heroes for me, our firefighters are
heroes for me, our police departments are heroes for me
and our leaders are heroes for me.
John Assaraf: People who are serving
us, serving our country, serving other people these
people are heroes. People that are really doing the
best they can to serve one another are heroes to me.
Ralph Zuranski: Why are HEROES so
important in the lives of young people?
John Assaraf: I think heroes are
important in the lives of kids because it shows a child
what to become, it shows a child what’s possible; it
shows a child not just by theory but by active example.
John Assaraf: It’s easy to talk
about what you’re going to do but your actions speak
words. There is a study called mirror neurons in the
brain and the thing that mirror neurons do is they
actually mirror what they see and that’s how children
learn.
John Assaraf: Children have a ton of
mirror neurons when they are babies and kids and they
mimic what they see and so heroes are important because
we are watching these heroes make a difference in these
peoples lives and sacrificing their lives in some cases
and I think it is really important to know that it is
not just about us but about the community.
John Assaraf: Humanity is a
community, I don’t care if your black, your white, your
Christian, your Jewish, your Muslim. We are all one
community and heroes really make us see what’s possible
at any given time.
Ralph Zuranski: How do people become
heroes?
John Assaraf: You don’t become a
hero by choosing to become a hero. You become a hero by
becoming an example, by being an example for what’s
possible, for being an example for one person.
John Assaraf: Your child, your
friend your neighbor, somebody looks up and says “You
know what? I am going to move my life towards that type
of goodness, doing that type of goodness, being that
type of goodness and kindness. I think that is how
someone becomes a hero.
Ralph Zuranski: How does it feel to
be recognized as an Internet HERO?
John Assaraf: I don’t look at myself
as a hero I look at myself as just another person who’s
on the path. I have got a light in front of me shining
and I have got other people in front of me with their
light shinning for me, I have got people behind me with
their light shinning for me.
John Assaraf: I don’t look at myself
as a hero, I look at myself as somebody who has taken
life with a lot of fun and I take it very seriously, I
know it s a very short journey and so I want to grow, I
want to develop, I want to be as good as I can be so I
can share what all my talents and gifts allow me to
share with other individuals to make their lives better.
John Assaraf: And by that I mean
living healthy, balanced lives with the income that they
want so they can live the lifestyle that they want. So
if that constitutes as a hero then I thank you and I
accept. I feel like a normal guy who is on the path of
life like everybody else.
Ralph Zuranski: How are you making
the world a better place?
John Assaraf: I am loving a lot. I
am just loving and loving and loving. A lot of people
around me really see a love in me and a love in
themselves.
John Assaraf: I think that if we
look at what created us, the divine intelligence that
created every one of us all He can see is that beauty
and love and care so if we could just show people how
spectacular they are and how much potential they have.
John Assaraf: And that they don’t
need anything else other than just to dig inside
themselves and say “You know what?
John Assaraf: I am a genius, I am
brilliant, I am outstanding and I can achieve whatever I
choose to achieve with a … given by my Creator.” That
is how I am helping people.
John Assaraf: I am helping people
maybe scrape off some of the old stuff that has been put
upon us that has taken us from being genius’s to not
feeling great about ourselves by having doubts, fears
and anxieties.
John Assaraf: To having no self
esteem to feeling wonderful about yourself doing what
you love to do and making the money that you want to be
making. That is my contribution to humanity.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have any good
solutions to the problems facing society, especially
racism, child and spousal abuse and violence among young
people?
John Assaraf: We could talk on that
for quite a while. The advice I have on that is only
going to be through education that we have changed up.
John Assaraf: If you think about a
child that is born and how it’s born, if it has racism
in his genes, every child that is raised up to hit or
beat someone up with anger and resentments.
John Assaraf: We don’t have that for
the most part it is learned behavior and so the first
part is we have to understand why people are behaving
the way they are. Behavior is a result so we have to
understand that before there is a result something is
going on in here in the brain.
John Assaraf: That’s why I have
studied for so long is I have been looking at the
results in my life and other peoples lives and I have
found the behaviors aren’t really what’s responsible for
the results it is the thoughts that occur before the
behaviors.
John Assaraf: We can help educate
the individuals who are doing the things they shouldn’t
be doing in my opinion by understanding that there is a
way to achieve their goals and desires whether it’s
communication skills so they stop hitting and using
their anger as oppose to their intelligence.
John Assaraf: Racism is nothing more
than ignorance, we are in the dessert together at one
time in our lives, we got segregated by peoples beliefs
of what was true of what we have to have and don’t have
to have so for me it is all about education.
John Assaraf: It is about
reeducating ourselves with the skills and module that we
have today as oppose to going back six hundred years
when superstition rules our religions. I think there is
a lot more information, we have grown as a species, our
brain is evolving and we are much smarter than we use to
be so for me it is a function of really educating people
from kindergarten on and parents who have kids.
John Assaraf: If you had three
wishes for your life and the world, that would instantly
come true, what would they be?
John Assaraf: That my life mattered,
that I remain healthy and that I have the power to
continue what I am doing with love and compassion and
kindness.
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think
about the “In Search Of Heroes” Program and its impact
on youth, parents and business people?
John Assaraf: It is about time
someone takes them serious and does something for the
youth. We have got to start with our younger children.
John Assaraf: See, you and I get to
change our mind, with our children we have to help them
make up their mind and so when we can give them the
information no matter what backgrounds they come from,
no matter how much schooling they have had, no matter
what kind of errors they have made in the past, no
matter what kind of hurt they have got in their hearts
or in their minds.
John Assaraf: They can overcome them
and they can do something worthwhile and meaningful,
caring and spectacular starting with their life right
now.
Ralph Zuranski: What are the things
parents can do that will help their children realize
they too can be HEROES and make a positive impact on the
lives of others?
John Assaraf: The number one thing
in my opinion parents can do is be the way you would
like your child to be. Don’t tell them one thing and do
something different. Be congruent with what you would
like them to be by showing them how to be that way.
John Assaraf: Again, we are going to
learn more by what we see than by what we hear. Our
actions speak so loudly that we don’t have to say a
word.. Words only account for about seven percent of our
communication.
John Assaraf: If you can show your
child what its like to be charming and giving, show your
child what love is really all about and show your child
unconditional love, show your child caring and
compassion and understanding the nonjudgmental and that
is what your child will become.
John Assaraf: They won’t become
anything but that.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your parting
thought?
John Assaraf: It is all about love.
It is all about caring. We are all in this game
together, we are all connected. You may not be able to
see it with your eyes but if you go to the Quantum
Universe, some of the physics of nature, we are all
connected.
John Assaraf: There is nothing that
separates us except our belief that we are separate and
so everything I do that is good in the world you benefit
from you benefit from and everything I do that is not
good in the world you lose from, and visa versa.
John Assaraf: We all need to be
compassionate and know that its is a game for all of us
to win, we have to be on the same page and raise our
level of awareness of what’s possible and the awareness
of how powerful we are and how good we need to be to
each other.
