Speak Over It /  by Alexander Lyadov

Too often, people create their own trap:

“I’ll be able to talk about this when I stop being afraid.”

To the Mind, it all seems logical. First the ability, then the result.

Alas, the order is reversed here. Life is paradoxical, after all.

A psychotherapist might encourage a client:

“That’s okay. Just speak right over the fear.”

Or the anxiety, pain, anger, resentment, even the very impossibility of speaking.

When you hear it for the first time, the suggestion seems absurd.

But if you trust the psychotherapist, you reluctantly try...

...and you’re amazed, probably like an eaglet on ​its first flight​!:

“It’s so hard, but I can do it! I’m flying, though I don’t understand how.”

Doubt, anger, resentment, or fear hasn’t gone anywhere.

The obstacle has lost its power to be an obstacle to you.

You glide over it like a freerider over fresh powder.

In that moment you are free.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

What Isn’t There Yet /  by Alexander Lyadov

Unknown artist

Do dreams have anything to do with your everyday life?

Does psychedelic reality exist, or is it nonsense?

In a Symboldrama, are you fooling around, or are you being who you really are?

Is an audience with a king in active imagination real or not?

Does a vague bodily sensation in Focusing have meaning?

Is playing in the theater just clowning around or does it change your whole life?

What do these examples have in common?

You devote time, attention, and energy to something that doesn’t exist.

“Detachment from reality,” “random hallucinations,” “pointless games.”

Most people prefer to deal with something tangible, time-tested, and guaranteed to produce a solid result.

But then they all complain about stagnation, boredom, and routine in life, a lack of opportunities, going nowhere, losing meaning, and so on.

“Novelty, I suffer without your gifts, but I don’t want to be friends with you.”

That’s their life position, if you translate the behavior into words.

You think business is somehow different? If only.

No one values what doesn’t exist yet... except founders.

Only they know the secret: everything explicit was once implicit.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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 Music in Us /  by Alexander Lyadov

There are two opposite things. Both are unbearable.

The first is when a machine pretends to be human. Say, a call from a call-center bot. Or when AI writes, “I felt that...”

The other is when a human acts like an automaton. An operator reciting a memorized script. A bureaucrat looking at a form instead of into your eyes.

Perhaps the second is more repulsive. A machine has no choice. It follows orders. But a human can either be human or not.

Put on a mask, switch off your feelings, rationalize why. Voilà!

Though I should add that sometimes “robot” mode is the result of childhood or adolescent trauma. The only way to save a delicate Stradivarius is to hide it in a sturdy wooden case.

Then words are exchanged, but unfortunately, there is no living connection.

In any case, when you hear empty words, don’t give up.

Sometimes, all it takes is your belief that the wood is only a shell. You can politely knock. Or call out. And who knows, the door might open.

A customs officer, a saleswoman, and a security guard are people too. They’re just buried under an avalanche of requirements, procedures, and forms.

Many of them have lost hope that anyone needs them as a person.

Make a joke, acknowledge how they feel, hear the meaning behind the form.

Even if only for a moment, thanks to you, a violin, a pipe, or a tambourine will come alive.

Even for a moment, you can help the violin, pipe, or tambourine play.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Lost With Gold /  by Alexander Lyadov

Familiar with that dissatisfaction with the present — in yourself or in others?

If you achieve something, you immediately devalue it. And what you’ve long had, you view with disappointment: “Ah, it’s all wrong, nothing’s right.”

This attitude is usually framed as something positive. As if insatiability were the best motivator, in the spirit of “citius, altius, fortius.”

A bad rationalization. You’ll go through your entire life with a sour face.

But what if this dissatisfaction is the result of disorientation?

Imagine you got lost in the mountains. Something happened. You wake up, look around, and recognize nothing at all.

Will the fresh water of a stream delight you? Sure, a little, at first. The silence of nature? No. A majestic mountain panorama? Hardly.

Suppose you even discover a giant gold nugget. So what? What good is wealth if you have no idea how to get out of here?

Every wonderful discovery and experience will be poisoned by uncertainty until you have at least some clue where home is.

Now let’s change your fate. You suddenly find a map: “Huh, civilization is close! In a couple of days, I’ll be sitting in a café drinking a flat white.”

And suddenly the poison has turned into nectar. You feel love for everything around you: the mountains, the sky, and the sun. And yes, don’t forget the gold nugget!

Reality has remained exactly as it was. Only your perception of it has changed. And radically: now it’s a plus; before, it was a minus.

If nothing you touch in your business satisfies you, perhaps that’s a clue: you’ve long since strayed from your path.

Time to remember where your home is and update the map.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Drama on Loop /  by Alexander Lyadov

Inspired by the art of Keith Haring

 

Fighting an opponent, you start the bout from a neutral stance.

Suppose you execute a throw, and now he’s on the bottom and you’re on top. To score points, you need to hold the new position for 3 seconds. If your opponent manages to escape, all your work goes down the drain.

And it doesn’t matter how perfectly you timed the moment, how skillfully you executed the technique, or how brutally your opponent crashed onto the mat.

The desired state was within reach, but you failed to lock it in. You’re back at point “0.” Less energy left, and you’re morally drained.

You execute another throw: your opponent goes down, but... immediately gets back up. The scenario repeats again and again. The question is: how’s your endurance? If it’s poor, he may end up winning.

The same thing happens in business all the time.

The team pours titanic effort into launching a new product or saving a crisis project. Yet everyone feels uneasy: “Something’s off.”

Of course. Even though in the moment everyone is right to give their all, intuition already knows: “We’ve lived this drama many times before.”

Unfortunately, every time after a win or a failure the team has to save yet another project or hunt for a breakthrough.

Valuable insights, experience, and knowledge were right there, within reach. Unfortunately, there was no one to capture these gifts, and no time to do it.

Nothing kills the drive like work without meaning. For a worthy cause people will tear themselves apart. But when crisis — and the pathos that follows — become the norm, everyone gets it: “This is manipulation or bullshit.”

The first to leave will be the people whose contribution decides everything. They always have more options. What’s left are those whose personal life is also Groundhog Day.

The irony is that, on the surface, there will be plenty of activity. Rushing, scrambling, hustling. But don’t let the changing scenery fool you. The exhausting pattern will keep replaying again and again.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” said someone unknown.

To change history, you need to pause and become aware of it.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

What’s Your Wallpaper? /  by Alexander Lyadov

Want to see the evolution of your personality?

Find the wallpapers you’ve used on your phone over the years and line them up.

More precisely, the lock screen wallpapers you see many times a day.

My hypothesis: they reflect your current state. But with room to grow. With an eye toward the future. Who you are and who you want to become.

If it were something harmful or false, you couldn’t tolerate that frequency of contact. You can only look for long at reality as it is.

Studying your current state would soon become boring. Your true potential is another matter: it is inexhaustible and therefore hypnotic.

As if Current You and Future You are looking each other in the eyes.

For example, for many years my lock screen was “The Little Buddha’s Smile.” I took this photo while learning Vipassana meditation in India.

Then came eleven ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru, after which the childlike smile disappeared. In its place appeared the stern and focused “Eagle’s Gaze.”

A year ago, after a session of symbol drama, I drew a picture called “Cosmic Horn of Abundance.” It took the baton from the Eagle.

Each transition symbolized a transformation inside me. I could not describe it in words. I did not even think about it. I “just” changed the photo.

Thirteen years connect these three iconic images. Looking back, I have to admit:

“Yes, each time it marked the beginning of a new stage in my life.”

Unhurried and unexpected in form, yet unstoppable in essence.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Raise the Sail /  by Alexander Lyadov

Look at a sail.

It resists the wind.

It seems the sail is trying with its whole “body” to stop the wind.

In a storm, the load can reach 240 kg per square meter. And the wind can be an order of magnitude more brutal. Their forces are incomparable.

The key is that the boat isn’t standing still, clinging to the bottom with its anchor. While resisting the wind, it moves in the same direction. And sometimes it even tacks at a sharp angle to it.

Someone might say, “Well, yes, that’s what you raise a sail for!” Of course, but imagine the first time someone realized:

“Oh, I can actually be on the same side as this frightening Force!”

Until then, the wind had only gotten in man’s way and threatened to destroy him. But now the “conflict” with the wind remains, yet it serves a purpose: it speeds him up.

“Before,” the man suffered. “After,” he shouts with delight.

The force of nature has changed its sign from “−” to “+.” Why?

Man’s perception changed. Instead of conflict, there is contact. The tension remains, but it is a necessary condition of their “partnership.”

When something starts to annoy you badly, stop and think:

“There’s a hidden benefit here. I just don’t see it yet. What is it?”

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Invent Yourself /  by Alexander Lyadov

My anti-trap device

 

A predator sees the world differently from its prey.

In a client brief, a Financier sees risk, while a Copywriter sees opportunity.

In psychotherapy, you learn to notice: “Right now, it’s the manager in me speaking.”

Identity determines perspective.

A business stumbles when its founder gets confused: “Who am I?”

The old identity has become too tight. But there’s no new one yet. Or there is no proper name. Sometimes, deep down, there’s a taboo against wearing that “crown.”

I remember how much it shook me when, ten years ago, I was trying to figure out: “Who am I now?” By then, I had already been a CEO, co-founder, financial advisor, investor, etc.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a name for what I was doing next. All the existing options described my strange approach only partially. I didn’t just want to work at the intersection of many fields. I had to.

Without that, I couldn’t fully engage. My brain was melting.

One day it hit me: “Screw it! Then I’ll have to invent a name.”

That’s how business therapist was born.

At first, I was embarrassed by it. Some people I knew would raise an eyebrow. But the more often I said it, the faster I got used to it. Now it’s: “What else could it be?”

A strange name reflects a strange approach by a strange person.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Accepting the otherness within myself allowed me to help others do the same.

Quite a few clients have been pleasantly surprised by the discovery:

“Oh! So that’s who I am...”

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Practice Letting Go /  by Alexander Lyadov

My anti-trap device

It’s only natural to train your grip when you grapple.

Especially since research shows an inverse correlation between grip strength and all-cause mortality. Not because strong hands save you, but because they’re an indicator: you move, lift weights, eat well, and take care of yourself.

The most accessible training tool is a simple bucket of rice. There’s enough resistance to “kill” your forearms and fingers. Plus, plunging your hands into loose grains is a kind of massage.

The only mistake is limiting yourself to the gripping motion. Yes, in everyday life our hands mostly grab things, hold them, and pull. However, overuse leads to injuries: spasms, strains, tears.

Inhale implies exhale, nutrition — hunger, wakefulness — sleep. In other words, for Y to perform its function, you need -Y.

So, besides gripping the rice, you need to practice letting go. You plunge your spear-shaped fingers into the bucket and spread them like a fan. You’ll be surprised how weak the antagonist muscles are.

I love the metaphor of the ​little monkey​ that keeps herself in the trap. She sticks her little hand into a jar, grabs the rice, and her fist gets stuck. Even when the hunters are close, she cannot let go of what is dear to her.

Perhaps consciously practicing “letting go” of the rice quietly teaches the psyche: “See, there’s nothing scary about it. It even feels good. So let go more, and let go more often. To live!”

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Weaving a Pattern /  by Alexander Lyadov

When separating from our parents, the goal is autonomy.

Firm defense of boundaries is also important for preserving the “I.”

The Self generates the Ego, but being absorbed by the Self is dangerous.

All this is true, but one should not push this intention all the way.

Otherwise, you may feel suspended in empty space.

Like an astronaut in space when his safety tether snaps.

Remaining oneself does not mean being cut off from the world and people.

Mature independence helps reveal the commonality with everyone.

Thus a Stream could acknowledge its kinship with the Ocean and the Rain.

Differences are obvious, while what we share is usually hidden.

As implicit as it is critical to life.

We are like multicolored threads. A pattern is being woven with us.

By whom?

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Perfect Evil /  by Alexander Lyadov

Unknown artist's collage based on photo by Ansel Adams

What should the ideal evil look like toward you?

Make you suffer in every form without pause.

Where do you land the most effective blow?

Right at the point where your true desire, meaning, and interest are born.

Without them you instantly drop into a maddening emptiness.

In despair you start grabbing at literally anything.

Other people’s desires will tempt you with the fullness you crave.

But no matter what you achieve that way, the emptiness inside will swallow everything.

Recognition, wealth, or mastery will satisfy you for only a moment.

You cannot stop this race, yet you also cannot keep running it.

And still, in this form the evil remains imperfect.

Your authenticity will keep knocking and calling you.

The real class move is to make you yourself cut the cord to what animates you.

But how?

Simple—plant one thought in your head:

“Besides what I see, understand, and measure, there is nothing more.”

Reasonable, right?

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Deal With Zero /  by Alexander Lyadov

“My ability is to deal with zero.”

The words came from a client of mine, the sole founder and CEO of a business.

By zero, she means the stage where nothing has been touched yet.

Show a hundred, a thousand, or better yet, a billion, and a line will form of people eager to realize the obvious potential of your business.

Your inbox will be flooded with résumés from Harvard graduates, star CEOs, investment bankers, Big Three consultants, and Big Four auditors.

They all know exactly what your business urgently needs to do, or else “all is lost.”

But if you're at the early stage of a product or a business, rest assured — no one will come knocking. Except maybe someone just like you.

Holding the uncertainty of emptiness is both a gift and a skill. It’s hard to say which matters more. I’ve seen all kinds of people among entrepreneurs. One thing they had in common was a tolerance for zero.

In practical terms, it means investing effort, time, and money into something that swallows them up without giving you the feedback you desperately want. Not for days or hours, but for weeks, months, years. You keep digging around in the “dirt” seemingly for nothing.

Everyone tells you so, sympathetically — and your inner critic is first in line. On one side, the anvil of emptiness. On the other, the hammer of society.

And you're caught between them. Working on your "crazy" idea.

Why?

"I believe in it deeply," the founder explains. "If I said I would do it, I'll find a way. There's a faster path somewhere. It exists — I just can't see it yet. And it turns up."

Zero has already given birth to one. Once you've lived through that, you believe.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

A Drop of Her /  by Alexander Lyadov

A man could never accept a woman if...

...there weren’t a drop of femininity within him, like the dot of Yin within Yang.

The reverse is also true: masculinity exists in every woman.

In fact, personal maturity is about accepting otherness within yourself.

At first, it frightens many people. It’s just too strange.

Fortunately, Carl Jung introduced the concepts of Anima and Animus. And once something has a name, it is no longer frightening, and you can work with it.

The opposite persistently appears in dreams. For example, my Anima has taken the form of a young woman, an old woman, a sheep, and a she-bear. Behind the dramatic plots, I could sense a desire for contact and integration.

Now, looking back across hundreds of dreams, I can clearly see how intelligently my relationship with my Anima developed. Cautiously at first, and then with an ever-expanding space for freedom, trust, and co-creation.

After all, when polarities come together, the synthesis is most fruitful.

This gives hope that harmony may one day be found.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Attitude First /  by Alexander Lyadov

Relationships begin with attitude.

A strange phrase came out of nowhere early this morning.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships.

When on the other side stands a person, an animal, nature, God.

Your attitude toward a potential connection is like Velcro.

If there’s a loop on that side, a hook is expected from you. And vice versa.

For example, curiosity, trust, and openness to the other’s otherness.

In short, you need what your future connection implies.

Sounds strange, right? What does not yet exist already implies something.

And something very specific, otherwise there can be no fastening.

You simply walk past each other, brushing shoulders.

And then complain about loneliness. That your people are nowhere to be found.

Your attitude blocked the desired connection.

Maybe it was scary to take off the armor and become vulnerable.

In the daily whirl, no time to pause and look someone in the face.

Or anxiety ate the resource and anything anomalous became unbearable.

The exclamation mark of your attitude did not bend into a hook.

Hmm, so opportunities invisibly rub against you everywhere.

All it takes is metanoia (ancient Greek: μετάνοια) — a change of mind.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

An Offer You Can't Refuse /  by Alexander Lyadov

When I still knew nothing about rituals, I was already doing them. Every five years, for instance, I felt compelled to leave the world for a time.

It would arrive as a sudden inner call — a pull. An offer you can't refuse.

As if after a long calm, the wind of travel filled my sails again. Only one question became relevant: where?

In my youth, I took off to work at the "edge of the world." Then hundreds of hours of meditation outside Delhi and in the Himalayas. Then psychedelic ceremonies in the jungles of Peru.

But what for?

Without knowing it, I was trying to pull myself out of the ordinary. And then land somewhere I could meet an unknown version of myself.

That kind of meeting becomes more likely the less familiar the world around you is. Strangers, wild conditions, a new practice, unusual places.

Every habit breaks: thoughts, sensations, desires, sleep, food...

And then, perhaps, a Crack opens. A Hole. A Portal.

What matters isn't what you call It — it's the result of the experience lived.

I came back not as a different person, but as a slightly more authentically myself. That's how it felt inside, regardless of how I appeared on the outside.

Looking back, I'm deeply grateful for this ritual. To whom? To the pull inside that called me. To myself, for trusting it and answering.

And by the way — through the end of August, the newsletter will be on an "In-between" pause.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

That Rare State /  by Alexander Lyadov

How often do you notice a state of Fullness within yourself?

A sense of inner resources, contentment, balance, clarity, and peace.

For me, it happens after a nap, a meditation session, creative work, or a particularly good session with a client — or after a workout.

The list is longer, but there's no habit of noticing or valuing that kind of experience.

Of course, this wonderful state eventually fades. I notice I'm missing something — slightly, then more acutely, and finally desperately.

Lack multiplies irritation, despair, violence, haste, and fuss.

These manifestations are impossible to ignore — they sting and bite.

Objectively, my life is the same in a state of Lack and Fullness.

Only my perception of all these facts changes. And radically so.

Because I relate differently to everything: the situation, myself, others, the world.

It turns out that my attitude isn't determined by what my eyes see.

There is something Implicit with the power to transform perception.

And there are special moments when we can come into contact with this Implicit.

There is no need to give It a name. Words are beside the point here.

Simply start noticing where, when, and how you experienced Fullness.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Test Your Freedom /  by Alexander Lyadov

Unknown photographer

What is the purpose of fasting in religious practice?

The popular perception: it's the rule, so you follow it.

A few simple restrictions that deprive you of pleasure and comfort.

It's a centuries-old sacred tradition, after all. Fine, you can endure it.

But there is another way to look at it:

Fasting is a chance to test yourself: “How dependent or free am I?”

It's not obvious while you're eating and thinking, “Well, I could live without X.”

But then comes the challenge — "2 weeks without X. Clock starts now."

And that's when you discover how much power “just” food has over you.

You go without it, and suddenly your mood turns sour, a headache kicks in, anger flares up out of nowhere. It feels as if you've ripped off a patch and exposed a permanent hole, leaving your naked body open to the freezing cold.

You desperately want to cover that stupid hole with anything at all.

You may find that going without, say, meat and dairy is easy. But giving up perfectly legitimate coffee (it's not even on the forbidden list) makes your life significantly worse.

It has nothing to do with tradition. It's about individual attachment.

Someone has surely thought, “Hey, careful! Coffee is sacred!”

Exactly! Symbolically and physiologically, coffee is now a god.

Three or four times a day, it demands ritual worship.

Refuse to comply and it punishes you with body aches and headaches.

That said, there's no need to demonize the bright (ha) image of coffee.

The issue isn't the product itself, but your intense Desire for it.

Desire grows out of a deficit. No, not a caffeine deficit, but a deficit of whatever coffee helps you achieve: more energy, better focus, and so on.

I can't tolerate this "lack" in myself, so I rush to drown it in coffee. I don't have the bandwidth to think about the actual causes of apathy, despondency, or scattered attention. And so the years can quietly pass in the rush to relieve the symptoms.

Fasting offers a temporary pause in the automatism — a chance to ask:

“What do I actually want? What am I genuinely missing?”

The emptiness of the pause is unpleasant, but at least it leaves room for Novelty.

Out of nowhere come new thoughts, ideas, hopes, alternatives.

The degrees of your freedom multiply before your eyes.

The fast is over. A different person has returned to the world.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Let the Body Breathe /  by Alexander Lyadov

Pay attention to your breathing.

Inhales and exhales happen on their own.

The Body adapts as needed, whether you're running or waiting in line.

What can the Mind do? Observe, describe, break the process into stages...

It can speed it up, slow it down, or even stop it.

But not for long. Without oxygen, the brain will soon shut down the Mind itself.

Suppose the Mind created a perfect model of breathing (and now we have AI).

The smartest artificial breathing imaginable. Ready to switch?

I hope not.

The map will never become the territory it tries to represent.

An ICU ventilator is, without question, enormously valuable.

But only as a necessary solution while a person is ill.

Life is not a hospital room with its artificial environment.

Better to let the Body, not the Mind, govern your breathing.

The Body is inseparably connected to its environment — in constant exchange with it.

They imply each other.

Interact. Dance. Play.

And the Mind? It watches their Being with fascination.

And if it knows its role, it doesn't get in the way — it helps Life along.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Let It Flow /  by Alexander Lyadov

 

In our culture, doing nothing is frowned upon.

A person who does nothing looks lazy, suspicious, strange.

At best, he'll be seen as the village idiot. Sitting on a bench, squinting into the sun, smiling at something. What a weirdo.

But he'll start to irritate many people. Why does he get to sit around while everyone else works like a horse? Such a disruption creates chaos.

It's hard to tolerate someone else's idleness. Why?

Maybe it's the heavy legacy of the USSR, where everyone was compelled to give everything today for the sake of a bright tomorrow. But no — in the West, a person who goes still for a moment also triggers unease and anxiety.

The first exercise taught at a Vipassana meditation course helps explain this phenomenon. You have to closely observe the air touching your nostrils as you breathe in and out, without getting distracted by anything else.

Oh, and for an hour you cannot move, shift, or change your position.

Within seconds, you realize what torture this is. A tsunami of thoughts, memories, sensations, and feelings crashes over you. Sometimes drowsiness takes over. And above all, the boredom drives you insane.

To distract yourself somehow, you're ready to do just about anything. Better to push a mine cart underground than endure the dead calm and the storm within.

Doing nothing turns a person toward himself. More precisely, toward the unknown aspects of himself that he desperately avoids.

A pause is like a hole in the bottom of a yacht through which death seeps in. At least, that's how your own otherness feels. Dangerous questions crowd your mind, and there are no ready-made answers.

That's why even the sight of another person sitting perfectly still can make you uneasy. He's like a finger pointing at the Void within.

The irony is that through that hole, genuine Life enters. Which the mind — acting as controller — perceives as madness, collapse, and ruin.

All that frightening darkness is your unique resource — like crude oil. The simpleton will sneer: "Ugh, filth." The master will dance in a fountain of that "filth" and laugh wildly: "We are rich!"

Most importantly, this Source within you is inexhaustible.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.

Black Gold /  by Alexander Lyadov

In our culture, doing nothing is frowned upon.

A person who does nothing looks lazy, suspicious, strange.

At best, he'll be seen as the village idiot. Sitting on a bench, squinting into the sun, smiling at something. What a weirdo.

But he'll start to irritate many people. Why does he get to sit around while everyone else works like a horse? Such a disruption creates chaos.

It's hard to tolerate someone else's idleness. Why?

Maybe it's the heavy legacy of the USSR, where everyone was compelled to give everything today for the sake of a bright tomorrow. But no — in the West, a person who goes still for a moment also triggers unease and anxiety.

The first exercise taught at a Vipassana meditation course helps explain this phenomenon. You have to closely observe the air touching your nostrils as you breathe in and out, without getting distracted by anything else.

Oh, and for an hour you cannot move, shift, or change your position.

Within seconds, you realize what torture this is. A tsunami of thoughts, memories, sensations, and feelings crashes over you. Sometimes drowsiness takes over. And above all, the boredom drives you insane.

To distract yourself somehow, you're ready to do just about anything. Better to push a mine cart underground than endure the dead calm and the storm within.

Doing nothing turns a person toward himself. More precisely, toward the unknown aspects of himself that he desperately avoids.

A pause is like a hole in the bottom of a yacht through which death seeps in. At least, that's how your own otherness feels. Dangerous questions crowd your mind, and there are no ready-made answers.

That's why even the sight of another person sitting perfectly still can make you uneasy. He's like a finger pointing at the Void within.

The irony is that through that hole, genuine Life enters. Which the mind — acting as controller — perceives as madness, collapse, and ruin.

All that frightening darkness is your unique resource — like crude oil. The simpleton will sneer: "Ugh, filth." The master will dance in a fountain of that "filth" and laugh wildly: "We are rich!"

Most importantly, this Source within you is inexhaustible.

Sincerely yours,​

​-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​.