Oven of Dreams /  by Alexander Lyadov

 

What kind of oven bakes such astonishing dreams almost every night?

Bright characters, wild motion, sudden turns in the plot. And the hidden meaning scattered through them like gems at the ocean's floor, waiting for their time.

On one hand, dreams are made by someone—anyone—but not me. Someone hauls the wood, lights the fire, kneads the dough, and watches the crust turn golden. I only manage to catch the pies as they fly out, hot from the heat.

On the other hand, dreams belong only to me, and only my body can extract and digest the “nutritional value” hidden inside. For someone else, they are nonsense. For me, they are a stream of insight.

Dreams have much in common with creativity. The same double nature of “me-not me,” “mine-not mine.” The same independence of the Process from our will.

Yet beyond the gate, someone's expecting us to contribute. Our effort, our thought, our questions, our patience, our attention. And above all, our readiness to catch the falling fruit in our hands.

True co-creation—even if in the Work we're the junior hand.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Your Unpredictable Impact /  by Alexander Lyadov

Unknown artist

 

Once you start believing you are separate from the world, itch to patch its cracks. You, of course, are fine. The real problem is the world and the people in it.

It’s hard to notice how we ourselves add to the chaos around us. And there is so much foolishness, bad intent, and disorder everywhere you look that it seems impossible to defeat it alone. Or is it?

The Belgian physical chemist and Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine studied systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium. His key insight? A tiny fluctuation can push a disordered system to a new level of order in an instant.

Crystallization, chemical oscillations, animal swarms, the shadow economy, and human society — all of them are dynamic structures living between chaos and order. Like a whirlpool or a spinning vortex.

The human mind struggles to imagine any nonlinear process. So what can we say about the impact of one word or one action on the whole society? Especially when that society stands in the eye of the storm?

And what if you — without knowing it — turn out to be that small mustard seed that grows into a great tree and gives shelter to the birds of heaven?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

The Corporate Cry /  by Alexander Lyadov

The Godfather Part III, 1990

In the third part of The Godfather, Cardinal Lamberto says to Michael Corleone: “When the mind suffers, the body cries out.” Michael is the head of a mighty mafia clan, yet he looks weak and sick.

The cardinal’s wisdom applies to the corporate body too. A healthy body grows on its own. A sick one demands your fix.

A company does not scream with words, but through symptoms:

  • slow making and execution of key decisions,

  • demotivated staff, intrigue, and cynicism,

  • constant conflict between departments,

  • falling revenue, margins, and net profit,

  • avoiding responsibility by everyone,

  • growing administrative overhead,

  • dependence on a single client,

  • wild bets with zero yield,

  • endless firefighting,

  • no new products,

  • a power vacuum and such.

Most leaders treat isolated symptoms. That is wasted effort and money. The cardinal points to a better direction — gaze up.

What is the mind of a company? First of all, it is the founder.

As the business grows, the founder improves the quality of his decisions through others: the executive team, advisors, and the board.

The suffering of the corporate mind is just as easy to recognize:

  • fights and conflicts between co-founders, investors,

  • no one has a long-term vision for the company (or for himself),

  • pipe dreams of "systems business" and ditching the ops grind

  • paralysis between hunger for change and fear of losing it all,

  • lots of meetings and decks about strategy, but no clarity,

  • micromanagement and shareholders’ pet projects,

  • owners blaming the CEO for every possible sin,

  • no idea of where to find leaps in growth,

  • disorientation, lack of focus, loss of meaning, and so on.

Heal the founder's mind—the business heals itself.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Strategic Dilemma /  by Alexander Lyadov

What matters more — fixing weaknesses or growing strengths? The scale can be anything: a nation, a company, or a person.

You can read a mountain of strategy books and still find no clear answer — only more arguments for both sides. I didn’t grasp it when listening to successful CEOs or sitting in lectures at Chicago Booth. The revelation entered me through… jiu-jitsu.

Suppose you have a chronic knee injury, or you keep getting choked from the back. How does your style change?

You become conservative. You wait. You rely on old moves. The price of a mistake is high. You just want to survive — it’s no time for play. Aggression, spontaneity, and creativity disappear.

Nothing changes until you patch the “hole in the hull.” But the point isn’t chasing 550-pound squats. Nor do you need a reputation as “the Champion-Strangler.”

You just need hygiene — heal the knee and learn to escape the back control with confidence. Hard tasks, but doable ones. They may take six months; “champion level” might take ten years — if you’re lucky.

Fix your weak spots by moving them from "red" to "neutral".

Now you can focus on developing your Tokui Waza (得意技) — a judo term with many echoes:

  • Signature move.

  • Crown jewel.

  • Superpower.

  • Ace in the hole.

  • Knight's gambit.

  • Secret weapon.

  • Competitive advantage.

  • Unique selling proposition.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

As I Am /  by Alexander Lyadov

A strange kind of courage — to speak your naked truth. To the listener—or from afar—it looks bold. But for you it feels almost physical — like a yawn, a laugh, or a gag reflex. Tension before and during it, relief after.

I first met this “urge” at the peak of a DMT journey. When I felt at my worst, an angel appeared from the dark. One woman in the group was leaving in the morning — she skipped the brew and simply stayed with us. In truth — with me.

Turns out, I needed someone to whom I could confess who I really was. In her presence, I spoke aloud the things I always feared to admit to myself. As I spoke, I felt lighter. The moment I stopped, the darkness swallowed me again.

By morning I was almost relieved she left. It seemed that someone else — not me — had turned himself inside out that night. That kind of exposure felt wild for an introvert — the person everyone, including myself, believed me to be.

Later, through psilocybin and MDMA, I studied this phenomenon. Gradually it stopped scaring me. Altered states birthed no stranger—no, the true me.

Now I could open up with a psychotherapist — without any elixir. Then, little by little, I started opening elsewhere too.

Telling the truth about yourself is always frightening. And not everyone can handle it. But when you find the right people, something precious emerges — a flow of sincerity, spontaneity, warmth.

That state is so entrancing that courage arises on its own.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Natural Change /  by Alexander Lyadov

The paradox of real change is that it goes unseen.

You just do now what always felt out of reach.

"And why did I fear it, shrink from it, stall so long?" you rub your neck.

Your old way of thinking and acting now looks ridiculous, wild, foreign.

But sometimes change "happens"—but never lands in your life.

Once, I decided to bungee jump. At the top, I froze. I waited. The instructors got tired and pushed me: “Three, two, one—go!” Sure, I jumped, but the transition never became mine.

After a miserable night, I returned to fix the mistake. This time I told the instructors: “I will stand there as long as I need. And I will jump only when I choose.”

The second jump was conscious—and truly mine.

I felt like I stepped through a portal and came out the other side as Someone Else. A third jump would have been unnecessary. I already knew something vital about myself-in-the-jump.

I saw the same dynamic in small groups and large companies. People worked hard, money was spent, boxes checked. But when change was forced against the will, it dissolved into nothing.

A leader’s job is to create conditions where the collective hunger for growth steps into the unknown by choice. He doesn’t believe everyone wants that? The company is doomed to stagnate.

The one who is patient and trusts the human spirit will be rewarded a hundredfold.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Live, Don't Explain /  by Alexander Lyadov

Moto Gymkhana Competition, October 5, 2014

Long ago I got into motorcycles. Later, I wrote down the insights in an article: “Why I Bought and Sold a Motorcycle: A Story of Studying One Fear.”

Recently, a vivid moment came back to me. I had been training on the track for two years, but still couldn’t decide if riding was truly mine or not. One experience changed everything:

“I clearly recall one training session when I was practicing the figure eight — a maneuver required to pass the licensing exam. The point was to follow the line of two linked circles, each six meters wide. You had to stay alert, focused, and in control of your attention and the bike — playing with throttle, clutch, and brake, constantly shifting angles, with the risk of slipping and falling at any moment. It feels like walking a tightrope or balancing on a razor’s edge. From the outside, the drill looks monotonous and tiring. Yet right there I suddenly felt a rising wave of tangible, undeniable pleasure — from the very act of riding. I understood the true source of my hidden pull toward motorcycles — for years my body had been anticipating this exact kind of joy, one that is hard to experience any other way. Everything suddenly made sense. It was time to buy my own bike.”

Do you see? An outside observer would have noticed nothing. He would never believe that inside a dull routine an insight was born that changed everything for me. Two years of doubt, and then crystal clarity.

But that is the point — personal experience must be lived, not explained.

No matter how someone compares your life, its felt sense is unique. Another person may understand you, accept you, or even love you. Or he may try with all his might to copy your every move.

But even a second of your being is inaccessible to him — just as his is to you.

That is the freedom of living your own true life. You may abandon it yourself, but, thank God, no one can take it from you by force.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Meaning Later /  by Alexander Lyadov

It’s amazing how real life echoes dreams.

For example, when I write down a dream I just had, I usually have no idea what it means. In the middle of the night, I want to sleep, not recall the plot and details. I mumble, “This is absurd, nonsense.”

Yet when I look at my messy notes during the day, I’m amazed: “Wow! The subconscious is pointing again to what matters to me.” Now I’m glad I didn’t agree in the night that the dream was stupid, empty, or worthless.

But we live just like that—getting our lives only after the fact!

It’s not about routine, but about turning points and defining moments. No matter how much we think, or how carefully we weigh pros and cons, the fog of uncertainty keeps us from predicting the future.

While we’re in it, we do what we cannot help but do. Just like in a dream, we don’t question the unfolding story. Only sometimes do we suddenly snap awake: “What was that just now? Why did I do that?”

Hidden truths in those breaks unfold over years — when the passions have settled, and we can look at everything without resentment or ecstasy. It’s easier to notice a pattern if a therapist helps.

Takeaway: Even if we don’t understand it, meaning still moves us.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Crash or Luck? /  by Alexander Lyadov

“Is it a crash or luck?” — most of the time you can’t tell in the moment. Try recalling how your view of a big event in your life shifted—on that day, then a year later, and after a couple of decades.

Take my case. I remember interviewing in 2007 at the top venture fund in Eastern Europe. I was deep into tech startups then and was eager to work with the best.

A partner there asked: “What interests you more — technology or people?” I answered honestly: “People, of course. It’s the founder and the team who make the impossible possible.”

Later I saw the fund's bosses thought differently. Naturally, I was upset: “Hey, was it so hard to lie? I missed a rare chance to enter an industry that a) fascinated me and b) was on the rise.”

No one—not that interviewer, not me—could guess I'd land as partner and co-founder of a fund six months later. One with fifty million dollars under its wing.

Woody Allen put it well: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” People usually interpret this line negatively, yet the future can be a cornucopia, not a black hole.

Even after, my take on those turns flipped from plus to minus and back. In the end, I felt grateful for what that experience gave me.

The same happens in psychotherapy: our feelings about childhood’s defining moments change. Sweet memories hide bitterness, even poison. And terrible events may hold buried gold.

Takeaway? Don’t rush to grieve what’s happening now. Time will tell.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Reading Deeper /  by Alexander Lyadov

Do you love reading books? Since childhood, reading has held something sacred for me. I won't shy from saying books shaped me into the man I am.

Alas, lately I hit a strange wall in reading. I picked up a tough philosophy book, but my mind couldn't plunge deep. It felt stuck with just a mask and snorkel.

I got scared for real: “Where's my scuba gear and bathyscaphe?”

I thought it over. The culprit? That flood of bite-sized tales on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter/X—hell, everywhere. Without noticing, my mind switched to cotton candy, cola, and popcorn.

I had to summon will and grit. These past days, I carve out four to six hours for hard books that grip me tight. No distractions. Oh, and I slash the "sugar."

Thankfully, the skill of deep diving is returning. I grasp the author's thread easier now. The body holds it all—how to breathe, swim, read. But mastery needs practice.

The battle for your attention is fierce and very real. On that side stand hundreds of PhDs in neurobiology, anthropology, and psychology, fertilized with billions in investment. On this side — you alone.

But no. We have each other, like nodes in a cosmic web.

But no. We have each other.
Like nodes in Indra’s cosmic net.
Like words in the ongoing Book of Genesis.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Logician vs. Intuit? /  by Alexander Lyadov

"I'm the logician, you're the intuit," my business partner used to say. We truly were different in everything: how we made decisions, how fast we acted, how we treated people, even how we dressed.

In our otherness lay a massive spark. It shone brightest when we pitched prospects to a new face — an investor, a lender, or an entrepreneur,

Our blended views created a future in the listeners’ minds — a future they couldn’t refuse. And many didn’t. Sealed doors opened. Opportunities and money flowed in.

Sadly, one day that charismatic drive began to fade. Why?

The reason for the fall was the same as the reason for the rise — our difference. More precisely, the unreadiness to embrace the other's oddness. My partner valued everything logical, linear, systematic, and obvious. And he grew suspicious of things that were real, yet unseen.

More and more often, we argued and clashed when we discussed:

  • new trends just beginning to form,

  • innovative projects in the early stage,

  • catastrophic risks that could not yet be calculated.

  • faint signals of malicious intent from a counterparty,

  • unconventional solutions that promised exponential growth,

The main problem wasn’t my partner — it was me. Time and again, the logician trumped the intuit, because the latter did not trust his own gut. To "Where's the proof?" I couldn't snap: "It ain't time for that yet."

As a result, we fell into traps more often, and rare opportunities slipped away. My gut knew, but I couldn't prove it to him. Gripes and grudges snowballed.

Years after we parted ways, we met again for coffee. His questions showed he grasped his view's edge and hungered to see through my eyes.

Eventually, our run together proved gold for both. Not right away, but each of us learned his lesson. A world of paradoxes opened slightly to him. And I am learning how to rely on the Emptiness that gives birth to Everything.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Share the Void /  by Alexander Lyadov

Every time, I dread that today is the day when I have no ideas for the newsletter. I must endure the fog of nothing, and in the end, light breaks through.

But sometimes, no matter how long I wait or scan the horizon, all I see is a bare, lifeless steppe. Wind stirs the grass blades. Time stands still.

I recall S.N. Goenka's word from a Vipassana retreat in India. When you meditate ten hours a day, thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations bubble up. Often ugly ones.

The goal: watch it all steady, unmoved. Sooner or later, every wave fades and dies. If the pain became unbearable, you could change your posture. What mattered was equanimity — if you fought the pain, equanimity was lost.

So if no ideas hit today, no need to panic, let alone beat yourself up. Ride the void out. The experience itself is important.

And why not try to describe it? The right words help you feel what’s happening more deeply. Even a private journal has value. But the effect is stronger when someone reads it. Sure, someone you trust with your odd thoughts.

Thankfully, I have you. Our connection began long ago, so I’m ready to share even emptiness with you, not just my usual overflow.

Why bare it? I’m curious to observe my own stupor and the far-from-guaranteed breakthrough. It’s easier to do that in your presence.

AI analyzed my essays and gave me its verdict about the main theme:

“You’re not writing about transformation — you’re performing it.”

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

The Scarcity Trick /  by Alexander Lyadov

Our main struggle is both right in front of us and almost invisible.

The opponent's aim: to convince you that inside you there is a lack, a gap, a hole.

For example, an investor says: “I’m making a generous offer, but I have many other projects — you need to decide now.”

Almost every guru and influencer promises: “Look at my bright, full life. Want the same? Do what I do!”

Or fresh from Black Friday: “Today is the last day — 35% off all ___ sets. Hurry and buy at ___.com”

Seconds ago, your life felt just fine. Now temptation gnaws: "Loser, don't miss the jackpot!"

Look closely — every day you’re bombarded by hundreds of such messages. Their left finger pokes the wound, their right points to the "cure."

You can get angry at the trick, or you can say: “Huh, this is just a game of tag.” Players lunge hard to tag each other, shake the "curse" off themselves and pass it on.

Then a real interest appears — keep anyone from tagging you.

The instant pity, self-doubt, or scolding stirs, look around: “So, whose poison have I already carelessly licked?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

The Cost of Saving /  by Alexander Lyadov

There are two ways to help someone.

The first is to force a saving solution — fast and efficient. Crash, fire, heart attack, fall under ice. Every second counts. The spot calls for guts and even rudeness, right?

Yes, but only if the person is unconscious or a child. Both of them will later thank the saver. Maybe.

But what if adults in full awareness are the ones suffering? Force your help on them, do it often — and it will destroy them. The rescuer’s motive, kind or cruel, doesn’t matter. The result is the same.

But what if grown folks suffer wide awake? Force help on them, do it often—this will kill them. Savior's motive, kind or cruel, doesn’t matter. The end is the same.

Violence contradicts freedom, and that means the will and choice to live.

An adult stripped of freedom turns into a child, an animal, a machine. Such devolution is unbearable torture, especially when wrapped in words of love.

The second way of helping leans on a person’s freedom. You have to see the uniqueness of the individual-in-his-situation. Sometimes it’s right to offer options, and sometimes it’s wiser to shut your own mouth.

It’s clear that the second way is far harder. Instead of a standard “victim type,” you face the eyes of a Person. Instead of a ready-made template — an emergent solution, something that appears between you.

If the second way feels close to you, congratulations. There are very few like you.

Guardians of others' freedom and your own.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Beauty Wants Sharing /  by Alexander Lyadov

 

You stumble upon something truly valuable. Do you share it with everyone?

Or is your first thought: “I’d better keep this for myself”?

A diamond, a business opportunity, a loophole in the system — clear as day. No one gives away money, fame, privilege, or power for nothing.

Yet some treasures you can't hoard. Their magic is that sharing makes them grow.

Take beauty in all its forms:

  • a word,

  • an idea,

  • a gesture,

  • a moment,

  • a glance,

  • an act,

  • music,

  • nature,

  • art.

What a joy it is to see beauty reflected in someone else’s eyes.

Trophies — a victory, a prize, a gold medal — have their time and place too. A game gets dull when everyone wins by default.

But if the prize is all there is? Violence multiplies.

Shared goodness does the opposite — it strengthens harmony in society and inspires people to feel together, exchange, and create.

And shared goodness comes in many forms:

Truth, love, wisdom, forgiveness, gratitude, joy…

What’s the balance in your life — more “share” or “keep”?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

False Dilemma /  by Alexander Lyadov

"The victim always dreams of swapping places with the persecutor," my therapist once dropped that gem. If the chance comes, the wounded one unleashes a cruelty that shocks him and everyone.

First lesson: in deals, don't squeeze a business partner dry if fate hands you a royal flush. He will swallow the loss in the game. But humiliation? He will start plotting revenge. Why would you need that?

Far better to dodge the victim spot yourself. Sooner or later, you'll unleash your worst—hate, hypocrisy, cunning, heartlessness—anything to make him the fallen one.

Sadly, the temptation is strong, because the victim gains secret power. Someone else is always responsible for his situation. And he? He is entitled to demand and do absolutely everything.

The victim rises above any law, turning... into God.

In myths, this is called hubris. In religion — pride. In psychology — the dark triad: psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. No happiness here, just schadenfreude — joy from another’s pain.

Brr… Not the best perspective — a willing slide into a personal hell.

The way out sits right where the way in did—I own what happens to me. Sure, the world is full of malice, incompetence, indifference, and bad luck.

But the best call is to step out of the victim–villain trap. What say you?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Unlock Other You /  by Alexander Lyadov

“If you can say ‘I can’t,’ it means you can do more,” smiles the sports rehab coach to his client who’s ready to raise a white flag.

Pulling the band toward my chest, I realize: “Huh, he’s right.”

My rehab coach told me: “This is the last back exercise. Do as many as you can — 150, 200, or 300.” No one is watching me. And I’m tired.

At first I thought: “200 max.” Then: “Fine, another 100.” Next: “Round to 400.” Finally: “Make it 500.” I bet in a contest, I'd push past 1,000.

We have no idea where our limits are.

Why? Because the word “our” is misleading. We keep saying “my body,” “my mind,” “my soul,” though it’s clear we didn’t create any of this — we simply received it one day as a gift from someone or something.

We remember the past, we sense the present, even plot what we chase tomorrow. But honestly, how often in life have we stunned ourselves: “Wow! I didn’t expect I could do that.”

And right then, it's clear: inside you lurks a stranger—the Other You.

He is more than real, yet unseen by all. SSo for you (let alone the crowd), the pull runs strong to peg yourself as just the fixed shape, set in stone long ago.

For example:

  • “I can’t…”

  • “I'm zero at...”

  • “Who am I to...”

  • “No way for me...”

  • “I’m too impatient”

  • “Oh, I’m so trusting”

  • “I’m not as brave as…”

  • “I always react this way”

  • “That's not my strength,”

  • “Too late for me to change”

  • “That's not for folks like me”

  • “With my nature, impossible...”

  • “What can I do, I’m an introvert”

  • “Creativity? That’s definitely not me”

The Other You just chuckles: “Hold on. I’m about to surprise you.”

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

The Symbolic Act /  by Alexander Lyadov

In symbol-drama work, you draw the experience you lived through. Many people complain that they “can’t draw,” and because of that they don’t want to try. I understand them well.

The gap feels too big between what you long to bring to life and what actually appears on the paper. Inside, we believe that accuracy, completeness, and beauty matter.

Luckily, that’s not true — the symbolism is of utmost importance.

A symbol is an image with a metaphorical meaning that unites form and content, says Wikipedia. Unlike a sign, a symbol does not point directly to the object it represents.

Because every symbol is abstract, people react to it differently, depending on what they have lived through before. Sometimes they see much more in a drawing than you expected.

Draw a horse like a child or like Velázquez — people will still recognize it and will tell you what resonates in them. If needed, they will “finish” your picture on their own. For one it will be a workhorse, for another — a mustang, and for a third — a chess knight.

And your own attitude toward the drawing will also change. For example, in the moment of creating it, the imperfect tree or the roughly painted door irritates me. A day later, I nod: "Came out right."

My mind silently completes the tree and finishes painting the door.

What if the same thing happens in other parts of life? At least when it comes to starting something. Neatness and perfection are secondary — precious is the very Act, and the kick from it.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Protect What's Human /  by Alexander Lyadov

Have you noticed the stream of “new” music on YouTube? A flashy cover in the style of the genre, convincing keywords—hard not to click.

And often the track is beautiful. There’s only one problem: you can’t tell whose album it is. Somewhere deep in the comments, the channel owner admits under pressure: “Well yes, it’s AI.”

You might think: if the product is good, who cares? We invite AI into our work and life more and more.

There’s no issue when the machine handles routine. Trouble brews when it fakes the human hand. AI didn’t create anything new. It fed on the heritage made by people before it.

A clear “Made by AI” label is needed, but the question is much larger.

Erasing the line between human and machine is unacceptable. Ambiguity breeds confusion, conflict, madness—and in the end, death. Or at least, not life.

Think this is an exaggeration? Follow the thread to the end.

Imagine one day everything around you, and everyone you meet, is artificially generated. Instead of people—bots. Instead of nature—Photoshop. Instead of touch—impulses through electrodes in your brain.

No nausea yet? I’m already queasy.

No wonder ancient people feared any kind of double. Blurring differences between people multiplied the risks of misunderstanding, disputes, violent flare-ups—and could doom the whole tribe.

We brushed off the experience of our ancestors and now multiply doubles and lies. Social media, like mirrors, create billions of reflections, each more similar to the last. Why be surprised by the rise in mental illness, isolation, unrest, and war?

Creativity, love, humor, nostalgia, empathy, self-reflection, morality belong to humans (and in early form, to animals). Handing this to a machine—even playfully, even “just pretending”—means betraying the best in us.

In the end, I hope we set the boundaries: where AI harms and where it helps.

For now I have a simple filter: “Track dropped five days ago? Shoo!”

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.

Aim Emerges Within /  by Alexander Lyadov

 

A hunter never thinks of drawing the bowstring as wasted effort.

He knows he must also find time to calm his breath.

Even more important is choosing a target that pulls him in.

That’s how a shot begins—with desire.

The easiest path is to copy someone else’s desire: “I want what Joe has.” That’s how we all learned as children: to value whatever the important people pointed at.

But with age, you grow tired of renting other people’s desires. They give you drive, yes—but never fill the emptiness afterward.

Then comes the grand question: “What do I truly want?”

It is beautiful and terrifying at once. Beautiful—because it speaks straight to your real self. Terrifying—because no force, no willpower can produce the answer.

Just as with drawing a bowstring, you must set aside time. It will feel “unproductive” and “pointless.” Your core task is to listen to yourself — deeply.

Namely, to that unknown part of you that kept silent until now.

She has always wanted to say and do infinitely much.

She only needs to know if you are ready to play the Game for real.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials ​here​. Ready? ​Book your Catalyst session​.