Alexander Lyadov

Charged Space and Time / April 15, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

From school—and sometimes even earlier—we're taught to see time and space as something uniform. Equal slices of seconds and centimeters measure our movement along fixed axes.

Historian of religions Mircea Eliade showed that ancient people saw space—and time—as either sacred or ordinary. A sacred place was “charged” because that’s where people encountered the divine. An ordinary space had nothing special—just the everyday routine.

For modern people, time is linear and irreversible. So there’s little motivation to study the past. But early humans saw time as cyclical. A past event could repeat itself. That’s why they not only remembered the beginning of things, but also re-enacted it through rituals—living it again.

In a sacred place, during sacred time, a person would immerse himself in the source of life and be reborn. That also meant his small world could be renewed. According to ancient myths, the cosmos decays in several stages, but then it’s reborn, and the cycle begins again.

We like to believe that over millions of years, everything has changed. We associate ourselves with countries instead of tribes, tame the atom instead of fire, and fire Tomahawk missiles instead of swinging stone axes.

The external changes are striking—but deep down, not much has changed. Has Cain given up his desire to kill Abel? Has society stopped hunting witches? Has the world stopped rocking dangerously from side to side, like a ship with a drunken cook at the helm?

Perhaps the future will reveal the true potential of each of us—and all of us—by creatively combining the intelligence of the present with the insight of the past.

Think about it—do you have a sacred place or time in your life?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

How can I help you?
If you've long been trying to understand what is limiting you and/or your business and how to finally give important changes a push, then The Catalyst Session is designed specifically for you. Book it here.

Money Is a Perspective / April 14, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

People usually think of money as something material. And sure, it used to be—pearls, stones with holes in them, gold bars. You could hold it in your hand.

But then came digital money. Try touching a string of digits in some database. Good luck.

But even in its earliest form—clam shells from the Maldives—money was mostly intangible: an idea, a belief, a bit of information.

Why? Because how much money you had was shaped by what you believed.

In business therapy, I often help founders figure out what their company or service is really worth. Most of the time, the limits—and the breakthroughs—aren’t out there in the market, the team, or the competition. They're in the founder’s own head.

Your service doesn’t change objectively. But once your mindset shifts, clients are happy to pay five to ten times more.

Same goes for selling your company. The final price will vary wildly depending on how you value it:

Based on how much money you’ve sunk into it.
Based on discounted future cash flows.
Based on comparisons with other companies.
Based on what for the buyer needs it.

Your perspective is like a valve. It controls the flow of money. You can squint, blink, use binoculars—or open your third eye.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Holy Shit / April 13, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

What could be more useless than manure?

And yet, the three horizontal lines—tripundra—on Shiva’s forehead are drawn with sacred ash made from burned cow dung.

Manure is waste. Worse than dirt. Step in it, and you feel disgusted, ashamed, humiliated: “Ugh. What an idiot I am.”

But not in Indian villages. There, manure is dried and burned. It becomes fuel. Fuel for fire that warms and feeds.

See the shift? The dirty becomes sacred.

Shiva’s fire destroys what seems useless, dead, or alien. That’s how cleansing happens. That’s how a person becomes free.

So what burns and turns to ash?

Pride. False beliefs. Excess desires. And fear.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Focus the Beam / April 12, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

This optical illusion was first described by the German physiologist Ludimar Hermann in 1870. Your eyes see gray spots at the intersections of a white grid. But the moment you focus directly on the crossing lines, the spots vanish.

There’s still no clear explanation for what’s known as the Hermann grid illusion.

A lot of our perceptions work the same way. They flicker at the edges of awareness, creating a nervous buzz in the background.

I remember walking home at night as a kid after hearing stories about the “Black Hand.” I’d jump at every shadow. My imagination eagerly filled in what wasn’t there.

The mind is cautious by default. It marks anything strange as Danger! That’s survival instinct. Those who didn’t react this way didn’t live long enough to pass on their genes. The paranoid ones made it—but they looked over their shoulders, slept poorly, and bit their nails.

Sometimes the flicker doesn’t fade. It grows. Every day, your thoughts pull toward the anomaly like iron shavings to a magnet. The strange thing begs to be put under a microscope.

But there’s a problem—when emotions run too hot, your subconscious does anything it can to dodge the truth. “I need to prep more,” you say. “I’m not in the right headspace.” “Some other time.”

What you need is someone to help focus your scattered attention into a laser beam. Someone to give you a container—a special time and space where you can finally break your usual pattern.

That someone doesn’t have to be a person. It could be a journal.

Once the anomaly is held in the light of consciousness, it might turn out to be nonsense. You exhale. Your energy returnы.

But if it turns out to be something real—and dangerous—you can study it safely, like a 3D model turning in space. And that’s when the strange thing often reveals its gift.

Either there is no monster—or he bows and says, ‘Master, how may I serve?’

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Alchemy of Trust / April 11, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

In chemistry class, there’s an experiment called “Golden Rain.” The teacher prepares supersaturated solutions of potassium iodide and lead nitrate, carefully mixing and heating them. A reaction happens: lead iodide forms.

Pb(NO₃)₂ + 2KI → PbI₂↓ + 2KNO₃

If the solution is hot and concentrated enough, it stays clear—just like regular water. Nothing seems to happen. No visible change. But the reaction has already occurred.

Then suddenly, if he cools it down or taps the glass with a rod, “golden” crystals of PbI₂ begin to appear everywhere, as if out of thin air. Pure magic.

The substance was there all along—just invisible. Waiting for an outside nudge. Sleeping matter wakes, like a fairytale beauty in a crystal coffin, kissed by a prince who truly loved her.

Can you see the parallel between this chemical trick and personal transformation?

Here’s what you’ll need:

A special container—neutral and safe for all the reagents inside.
Fire—to melt differences and speed up the process.
Faith in something real that feels like it doesn’t exist.

When you’re the one in crisis, it’s hard to create the right conditions on your own. I tried doing it all by myself, but only wasted time.

The change came faster when I found Another—someone I could trust with my madness. Then suddenly, golden crystals began to rise from the “empty” water.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

When pushed—pull / April 10, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

If you wake up early, sometimes after exercise and breakfast, work doesn’t flow. You just want to sleep again. First thought: “What are you doing?! So much to do! Come on, cheer up! Drink some coffee. Splash cold water on your face.”

I used to fight off sleep. Then I’d regret it. The work dragged. No bright ideas, no rhythm, no mood. I was trying to push start my car.

Now I remember what the old jiu-jitsu and judo masters taught: “When pushed—pull, when pulled—push.” You surprise your opponent, save energy, and seize the initiative.

So I slide into a comfy chair, close my eyes, relax, and follow sleep wherever it takes me. Ten to twenty minutes later, it’s like hitting ctrl+alt+del. Full system reboot. Memory wiped clean. I feel excited, clear, and fresh.

Sleep used to seem like the enemy. Like it was trying to wreck my day, pin me down for 8–10 hours. But that was just fear talking. My wise body wasn’t fighting me—it was helping me.

A power nap is a secret weapon. It boosts your thinking, your focus, your memory, your mood, and your energy. Whoever painted it as lazy or shameful in our culture—he’s the real villain.

Remember: You always have this ace up your sleeve. Use it to win.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

All or None / April 9, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

I’ve had this feeling for a long time: All truly gifted people are trying to express the same thing—whether they speak, sing, build, protect, write, or paint. Their work is sunlight reflected through the different faces of a single diamond.

Now imagine a -diamond with 8 billion sides. Some of its faces shine close to perfection. They were lucky—cut by a master who revealed their natural brilliance.

But many sides are still rough. Raw stone. Dull and uneven. They don’t reflect the light. They hold it inside.

That doesn’t mean the diamond is ruined. For a Creator, it’s just raw material. The goal? To unlock the sleeping brilliance of the stone. With perfect cuts—sharp, symmetrical, precise. Only then will light bounce fully inside the diamond and exit through the crown, sparkling at its brightest.

The Creator’s work isn’t done while even one face remains cloudy. Take the "royal cut"—not just the 49 top facets must be flawless, but also the 37 below.

Imagine the light humanity could reflect—if we remembered:

All or none.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

The Right Vessel / April 8, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

It’s a hypnotic thing—
when someone’s eyes suddenly light up.
Like a spark flaring in the dark.
Like an avalanche breaking loose from the mountain.
His face comes alive.
His shoulders drop.
Words begin to flow, smooth and easy.

What does it take to make that happen?
Oh, almost nothing.

Just this:
To feel seen and heard for who you really are.
Not feared. Not judged.
But accepted—your Reality welcomed,
even if it shows up in a strange and twisted form.

It takes a certain kind of space.
One that can hold what’s inside you and begin to warm it.
That’s when the alchemical process becomes possible—
breaking down, purifying, distilling, and crystallizing your essence.

New threads begin to weave into the fabric of your personality—
the ones that have been missing for a long time.

It may seem like only one person has changed.
But no—the whole world becomes a little better.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Detail in Context / April 7, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Driving through the city, my eyes tripped on a building. No, not the building itself—it was ordinary. Gray, run-down, and old. But one entrance had a luxurious door, framed with marble tile. A well-dressed woman stepped inside what looked like a boutique.

It gave off a strong sense of absurdity. A mismatch. A kind of visual dissonance.

What’s the point of remodeling your apartment if your neighbors are running a drug den? It’s nice to have a strong immune system—but what if the doctors aren’t following hygiene protocols? Why buy a Ferrari, only to sit growling in traffic on broken roads?

I once read in an architecture book that no matter how beautiful a building is, it has to fit its surroundings.

Why? Because a high-tech house in a traditional village isn’t a “Wow”—it’s a foreign body. A tiny room in Tuscany is more desirable than a royal palace in the Sahara. No amount of money spent on a detail will change the global context.

That’s why quick change so often fails. People fall in love with a “brilliant” idea and try to plant it in the wrong soil. The ground rejects the outsider.

On the contrary, real change comes inexorably—when your effort aligns with a natural tectonic shift. But even then, you need to manage the transition carefully. The in-between is fragile.

That’s also why successful company transformations are rare. And why it’s so hard to change your life. You have to build a rich, nourishing environment around you — so it can support the metamorphosis within.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Bite of Truth / April 6, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

“Come here. It’s cold. I know you’re freezing,” says the man, reaching out to the shivering animal. The beast inches closer, wary, nose stretched out… and suddenly bites hi.

“Ow! Motherfucker! Son of bitch got me!” the man yells. “Oh! God damn coyotes!” Really? No way. What a shock!

Instagram is full of nonsense, but the Tourons of Yellowstone account is something else. It’s a fascinating diary of how far modern people have drifted from their roots.

City life is a warm cocoon of control and comfort. Turn the tap, and water flows. Press a button, and food arrives. Nature still exists, but smart infrastructure softens the blow.

We are unaware of the dark side of nature anymore, so we swoon over the cute side. Hollywood helps with that. It’s easy to love wild animals from a distance — especially when they sing and dance on screen.

But ignorance never saved anyone. It just guarantees pain later. Why? Because no one escapes Reality. What we don’t want to face always finds us. And bites. The man should’ve said: “Oh wise coyote! Thank you for the lesson.”

Because it’s not just the wild world whose dark side we deny; we deny our own darkness. Believing we’re angels in the flesh feels good and safe. But the cost of that lie is this: we start hunting witches and demons in others.

Unable to accept the “evil” within, man fights “evil” outside. Quotes on purpose. Because when you study your inner darkness, it often surprises you. A curse turns out to be a gift. And the filth was hiding the Cullinan diamond.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Productive Tension / April 5, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

I’ve done dancing, boxing, jiu-jitsu, and motorcycle riding. Totally different things. But they all taught me the same truth:

Your job is to create a clash of opposite forces—and learn to ride it.

Sounds strange, right? Dancers move with grace. Fighters try to choke each other out. But don’t get distracted by the surface. Contact, tension, conflict, struggle—they’re all forms of connection.

When two forces meet, the story begins.

In electrochemistry, you need both electrodes—a positive anode and a negative cathode—for the current to flow. What happens when one force crushes the other? Nothing. Absolute nothing. Movement loses meaning. Life stops.

Even the words “dark” and “light” only make sense through contrast. The feminine shapes the masculine, and vice versa. Good stands out only next to evil.

When you see signs of decay, chaos, or confusion, you can be sure of one thing: the system is out of balance. The dancer loses his partner. The bike tips and falls.

And this doesn’t just apply to the world outside. Mighty, ancient forces clash within us all. Every archetype wants to rule you completely.

Maturity means learning to work the clutch, the brake, and the gas—smoothly, all at once.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

The First Act / April 4, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

A gaze is an action. The beginning of everything. The one who stands above all. Some might say, “What? Looking at something is nothing!”

Let’s test that. Name the biggest problems keeping you up at night.

As you analyze them, you’ll inevitably hit your meta-problem—the one too painful to mention without emotion. A wave of anger, shame, resentment, disgust, or fear crashes over you. You haven’t wanted to open that cursed door for a long time.

From here, one of two things will happen. Either one day the storm will kick the door down and wreck your life. Or, like the Dutch, you’ll start managing the floods before they come.

No living creature rushes toward the unknown with open paws or tentacles. The first step is to pick the anomaly out of the flow.

To notice, you must focus your gaze.

From that moment, the mind races along the learning curve. The body stays still, but inside, it’s an R&D lab in overdrive.

We engage most intensely with the unknown—with what can just as easily kill us as reward us.

So when do real changes begin in business, family, and life? In my experience, real change begins the moment you’re ready to stare your #1 problem straight in the jaws.

It’s not just an action. It’s the First Creative Act.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Respect the Beast / April 3, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

When dealing with an animal, never forget who’s who. A dog has lived alongside man for 15,000 years, but even in it, you must respect the Beast. It shows itself when your beloved pet needs an emergency emetic, an injection, or a shower.

I remember sitting in a maxillofacial surgery ward while an old lady in the next chair had her lip stitched up. Her tiny Spitz had bitten her. The doctor assured her it was common. People cross the line all the time.

But the biggest shock I ever experienced was in a small zoo in Peru, when someone draped a python—or maybe an anaconda—around my neck. It was "Just" about five feet long. It was calm, and for a moment, I felt an illusion of balance between us.

Then it stretched, lazily reaching in some direction. I resisted. Suddenly, I felt a power so immense that it seemed like steel cables were hidden beneath its smooth skin.

And that snake wasn’t even fighting for its life. Imagine if, in blind fury, it coiled around your neck, your thigh, or your arm. That’s the dark side of Mother Nature.

And in this sense, you must remember—you have a Beast inside you too. Sure, the neocortex has changed everything. The mind lifts us higher and higher into the sky, but our roots? They’re buried in black soil.

The fool ignores the wild thing within. Then it bursts out in sudden fits of fear, greed, lust, paranoia, and rage. And the man is left in shock: “What came over me?!” You can’t get rid of the Beast. You can’t fully tame it. Building a relationship based on understanding, respect, and earned trust is only one way.

The good news? If you do, your Animal will multiply your power a hundredfold.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

The Beast's Gift / April 2, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

In 2017, I went through eleven ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru. During one of them, I came face to face with my greatest fear. Or rather—face to snout. Because out of the darkness, with a soul-piercing roar, Something was coming for me. A Monster. A Creature. A Beast.

There was nowhere to run. So I did the only thing I could—I raised my hand, foolishly, as if that could shield me. The chthonic beast sniffed, opened its maw, and breathed against my face. I, frozen to my mattress, felt something deeper than fear, a kind of sacred awe.

What can you do in such helplessness? Just one thing—keep Being.

I don’t remember how long we “communed.” By morning, my first thought was: “Enough experiments! I’m packing my bags and going home.” But ancient rituals are wise. There was a full day before the next ceremony—time to rest, to gather myself.

The most astonishing thing was what came next time—a strange mix of confidence, calm, and playful defiance. As if the fire of forced confrontation had burned my fear to ash.

Sometimes, a Gaze is the best action. It lets you endure the unbearable without losing your mind. Paradoxically, Cerberus grants you freedom—carrying away in his jaws the very thing that once terrified you.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Become the Function / April 1, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

About 30 years ago, at the start of my career, I was entrusted with the Ferrero account—one of the top three advertisers in the country at the time. Before every meeting at their office, I worried about forgetting something. So I dragged along a massive folder stuffed with every brief, letter, and report.

I had no knowledge or experience to offer—just a reliable interface.

In the early days of the market, competitive advantage came out of thin air. Fluent English, attention to detail, and keeping promises—that was enough to make a business grow like yeast.

By the time I co-founded an advertising group and became its CEO, I had stopped carrying anything to client meetings. But I still prepared thoroughly and, of course, still worried about the outcome.

Later, I gained experience in wealth management, private equity, and venture capital. For the last ten years, I’ve been practicing business therapy. I still help founders and CEOs, but my role and the way I create value have changed dramatically.

Now, I don’t prepare for client meetings at all. The less I know about their situation beforehand, the better—no biases. The core issue reveals itself within the first half-hour, sometimes in minutes.

Thousands of entrepreneurial problems have sharpened my pencil. All I need is a blank sheet, and the pattern will emerge naturally.

My worries have shifted. I no longer fear forgetting something—every tool I need is already within me. And if something is missing, I’ll create it on the spot.

Nowadays, my only concern is whether I can give the client 100% attention. The Gaze makes the work.

In essence, I help not with something but with who I am.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

The Cosmic Eye / March 31, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Harmony with the world is impossible while hell reigns within. Put a man in paradise, give him all the earth's riches, and he’ll defile them, mock them, and reduce them to nothing: "That’s it? That’s all?"

And the easiest thing for him to devalue is what can't be seen under a microscope, bottled up, or given a price tag—love and meaning. He denies the light in others because he can’t see it in himself.

Why? Because as a child, few ever gave him That Look.

No matter what nonsense a child speaks, how dirty he gets, what he ruins, or how much he hurts others—some adult sees the divine spark in him, loves him anyway, and makes sure he knows it.

Once you’ve felt That Look, you can never forget it. It’s like metal shavings scattered at random—lying still, waiting. But the moment they recognize a magnet, they rush into perfect order.

I think of Wadjet, the ancient Egyptian symbol—the left falcon eye of Horus. In his battle with the evil Set, Horus lost his eye, then restored it and even used it to resurrect his father, Osiris. The deeper meaning of this symbol is the watchful eye, the force that guards and restores divine order—from kingship to fertility itself.

When That Look is internalized, when it becomes part of a person, he brings harmony to everything he touches.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Who Betrayed Whom? / March 30, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

“How did I get injured? I have no idea. It happened out of nowhere!” I stared at my MRI results in disbelief. A partial tear in the collateral and cruciate ligaments, fluid buildup, worsening meniscus damage—the list went on.

My first reaction was angry frustration. 'My body failed me again!'

But then I remembered the warning signs. Once, my knee popped weirdly when I stood up. Another time, pain flared up and then vanished on its own. I even found an old photo of myself wrapping my knees in cabbage leaves overnight. This problem had been brewing for years.

More than that, I’d had a nagging thought for over a year—my left leg was noticeably weaker than my right. After surgery, my right leg got so strong it overtook my left.

I knew I needed to push my left leg harder, but I didn’t. What I should’ve done was go back to my rehab specialist and fix the imbalance. But his training sessions were brutal, so I skipped them.

So who betrayed whom? My body—or me?

It’s always tempting to blame external factors—bad luck, a sparring partner, or just aging. But if I’m being honest, 99.9% of my problems come down to me.

That thought is both depressing and empowering.

I have an astonishing amount of freedom—to build my life up or tear it down. Wise guidance is everywhere. The real question is whether I’ll trust the signals of my body, mind, and soul.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Therapeutic Art / March 29, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

I had been thinking for a while about buying clay or plasticine. Why? I had no logical explanation, so I didn’t rush. But the idea kept returning, making my fingers itch.

Eventually, I ordered clay, plasticine, and a set of tools. I put on an engaging lecture by a psychologist and started kneading the formless mass without any goal. The result surprised me.

Shapes emerged before my mind could recognize their meaning.

They were far from perfect, but that mattered less than the transformation of a vague feeling into something concrete. Now, there was something to look at, touch, and turn in my hands.

The unspoken became real. A chance appeared to relate to it in some way.

How do you build a relationship with something while still being fused with it? I am it, and it is me—like water and salt in a boiling broth. But what if the solution holds not just NaCl but a mix of many different salts?

The crystallized and precipitated substance—X—can now be studied, tested, and broken down into even smaller parts.

The key is that you engage with It proactively, rather than letting It secretly act upon you—poisoning, staining, or subjugating you. You are fighting for independence from powerful archetypes.

The illustration for this article is clever, but in my experience, it’s best not to choose between therapy and art but to combine them.

The gaze of Another—if kind and wise—blesses the unknown part of yourself you’ve uncovered but struggle to fully accept. The climb is much easier if a guide has been there before.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Nowhere and Everywhere / March 28, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Do you remember how you felt during your probation period? The minute before stepping in front of investors, onto the tatami, or under the stage lights? The moment after a critical blood test, waiting for the results?

Liminality (from Latin līmen—threshold) is the transition state between two stages of personal or social development.

Most cultures had rites of passage—rituals marking the shift from youth to adulthood, selecting a leader, marriage, or the final farewell.

In the first phase, a person was separated from his group. In the third, he was reintegrated. But in the second phase, he was suspended between two worlds—nowhere, in-between.

Such a person defies all definitions. He dissolves into the primordial soup, taking on paradoxical qualities. He exists, yet he doesn’t. A living paradox.

How does that feel? Not great. A cocktail of doubt and anxiety: Can I do this? What if I can’t?! The old worldview, identity, and community are gone, but nothing has taken their place.

Ancient people didn’t fly to space or split the atom, but they knew one thing well: staying too long in this neither-here-nor-there state is dangerous. Modern intellectuals have canceled or trivialized most rituals, then wonder why mental health disorders are skyrocketing.

Some time ago, I began to notice, encourage, and consciously introduce rituals into my personal life, my famil,y and my business therapy work with entrepreneurs. The results never cease to amaze me.

So, how important are rituals in your life?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.

Capitalism Or Socialism? / March 27, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, spoke at the Arc conference about the common arguments he hears against capitalism:

It entices people into consuming bad products
It makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.
It harms the environment.
It creates more inequality.
It exploits workers.

From there, capitalism’s critics jump to a conclusion: “Socialism is a more just and ethical system.”

One problem—socialism has been tested in 40 countries over the past 100 years. In every case, the experiment ended in failure, leaving 130 million dead in its wake.

So why does the debate persist? Why hasn’t humanity put this question to rest? First, a large part of society, even secular people, naively believes that Eden can be built on Earth. Chasing this illusion, they let themselves be deceived, lose everything, and then start over again.

Second, in every human heart lives a biblical pair—Cain and Abel. Cain thought God had slighted him. His jealousy consumed him until, one day, he killed Abel. The one who sees himself as a victim always longs to trade places with the “oppressor.”

Third, capitalism is guilty of ignoring its own flaws. Even the best medicine has side effects, especially in high doses. By arrogantly dismissing growing discomfort, capitalism pushes people to mistake the cure for poison.

It’s easy to see that both socialists and capitalists share the same flaw—pride. Each side is too enamored with its own intellectual product to admit that even the sun has its dark spots.

It’s like a race car driver obsessed with the gas pedal (social prosperity) while forgetting the brakes (social safety).

The real wisdom isn’t in capitalism defeating socialism, but in finding the right balance for healthy tension—say, 90 to 10. When opposites coexist, society reaps the best of both worlds.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

About me:
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.