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.

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.

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.