Appreciate what you have / by Alexander Lyadov

Yesterday I did a stupid thing that caused my lower back to jam. In the morning I wrote to the wonderful neurologist at the Time+ clinic, he found a window in the schedule and saw me the same day. Every time you get a service in Ukraine promptly, whether it's by Nova Pochta, Privatbank, M24 or Medicom, you tend to take it for granted. But when I talk to my family who have been in England because of the war, it is immediately clear that this is not the case everywhere. When we traveled around England on holiday, we always marvelled: "Ah, how cleverly everything is arranged. I wish we could live here!". But unlike short-term tourism, permanent living reveals another side to life in England where you can't get a dentist by day, CT appointments take up to 12 weeks and a 90 year old English lady has to wait eight hours in a hospital waiting room. The railway workers are on strike all the time, there is red tape and paperwork is everywhere. However, our priority right now is family safety, the rest is unimportant.

Of course, England is a civilized, strong, rich and welcoming country, admirable in so many ways, it would take hours to list them all. But nothing in this world is perfect, and more importantly, everyone is imperfect in their own way. It follows that everyone has something to offer others. But there is one condition: that this value is recognised and acknowledged by oneself. It is all too easy to habitually devalue oneself: "Who are we? Nobody. A developing market. Corruption, unfair courts and now war. Unlike us, England, America and Germany have...". In reality it is not quite like that, and on the individual level it is not true at all.

Among my clients, there are entrepreneurs who were forced by the war to make business expansions to the USA, for example. They have always dreamed of doing it, but never had the time or, to be honest, were afraid of it. It is one thing to be a leader in Ukraine for many years, but it is another thing to prove again on someone else's territory that you are the best. And what if you are not? They were astonished to find that their professional expertise and entrepreneurial flair were in high demand in other markets. I am sure that after a while, they will wonder why they did not launch businesses in the USA, Europe, the Emirates and Asia a decade earlier. Moreover, even those who never considered themselves entrepreneurs will probably start their own business, because the contrast is too great: "Why is there no service X here like in Ukraine? It's so convenient!". Or, having explored another country for a couple of years, they will go back and launch Wow service at home.

The fact is that our people are now able to produce a synthesis of two very different worlds, which is a prerequisite for a creative breakthrough in any field.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander


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