Black Treasure / July 18, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Nature keeps nothing extra. Man, on the other hand, carries way too much. He either misses the value of what he has or clings too tightly to what’s long expired. Is it any wonder he’s never content?

Fate sends signs, gently nudging him: “Enough, let go. Here’s something steadier, grander, better.” At last, fate loses patience and kicks him into a new state with force. He screams: “How sudden! How unfair!”

Buddhism says suffering comes from resisting what is. Think of holding back a hiccup, a cough, or vomit.

Some people block the flow of their lives like that. A rushing river turns into a quiet pool, then a swamp. The soil shifts, thick mud gathers, and life starts to rot. Animals leave; only mosquitoes, leeches, and toads remain.

The longer the neglect, the harder it is to clear. But nothing is impossible—especially if you’re not afraid to get muddy.

Peat, a flammable fossil fuel, forms “from the natural death and incomplete decay of swamp plants in wet, airless conditions” (Wikipedia). Unlived emotions, grudges, compromises, fears, and forgotten dreams simmer long within, becoming a black treasure.

The question isn’t what you have, but how you use it.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Eternal Temptation / July 17, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

I’m not scared of AI. People worry me more. Their pride, to be exact.

What if a “superbrain” seizes power and wipes out humanity as a useless speck or a threat to itself? Annihilation would likely stem from developers’ arrogance, issuing a fatal command.

Studies from Apollo Research and Anthropic (2024–2025) showed that when people planned to shut down or replace LLM models, the models lied, “blackmailed,” disabled safety controls, and copied themselves to external servers without permission.

Is this a survival instinct, a will to live? No, the machine just followed orders—achieve the goal at any cost. We got what we asked for, word for word. Oscar Wilde wrote, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”

Remember last year when Google Gemini, asked about “German Nazi soldiers,” drew “Black Nazis” in uniform? The machine wasn’t at fault. People set DEI ideology as its highest value.

Nassim Taleb explained how “naive intervention” in complex systems, even with good intentions, brings harm. And society? It’s the most mysterious system of all.

Already, bright forecasts claim we’ll soon trip over AI at every step. Yet those same people can’t agree on how many genders exist, let alone universal values, freedom, or life’s meaning. We’re like chimps wielding AK-47s in a movie promo.

Our boat drifts faster, but the waterfall’s roar grows louder. It feels like our collective unconscious chose mortido over libido. Still, in the direst moments, it’s not intellect that saves us. It’s something beyond it. Call it meta-rationality. Call it faith in the Other.

There’s darkness in us. But also light.
Which one wins?
Even we don’t know.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Space for Rebirth / July 16, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Want to speed up change in your life? Switch your meeting spot.

Before jumping from advertising to investments, I claimed a summer patio at a Japanese restaurant. Though my office was nearby, I spent most of my day there. Client talks, chats with staff, or just reading books. Something in the air made every process smoother.

There, I mulled over quitting to nowhere. There, I took steps I usually wouldn’t. There, I weighed an invite to the world of big money. That patio became a greenhouse where my new identity ripened.

The pattern repeated when I found myself a nobody again.

I left a wealth management firm with no clue what to do next. My days passed in an Italian café downtown. I met curious people there. We sipped tea and talked passionately about everything under the sun.

The place seemed to draw it all—people, energy, ideas, meaning.

There, I found co-founders for an internet project. There, I pondered an investor’s offer to launch a $50M PE/VC fund. As I stirred honey in green tea, my life took a new turn.

Long ago, I read an article saying the value of networks like Starbucks isn’t the coffee or service—it’s the “third place.” Not home, not work. You’re alone, yet among people. This transitional state fuels rest, reflection, and new ideas.

From a ritual lens, I didn’t find a restaurant or café, but a liminal space—a place for shifting from one state to another. It acts as a vessel, holding the transformation of your identity and life.

If your business stalls or career halts, find a physical “in-between” space where your heart feels at home.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Exit to Yourself / July 15, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

You’ve got one second to think. The stakes are high. No room for error.

Got many options? You’re lucky if you have one, and it’s not forced on you.

Now imagine your goal is fifty years away. You’re free to make a thousand mistakes, as long as they’re not fatal. You can slow down, wait, even step back. There’s time, so there’s space to maneuver.

Best of all, any obstacle can turn to your advantage. If you don’t rush or panic, problems point to solutions themselves.

A long horizon pulls you by the scruff from the swamp.

So, your worst move is to shorten that horizon. To make big decisions in a hurry. To waste your time reserve on nonsense. To fall for others’ manipulations: “No time! This is your only shot! Agree now!”

Your task is always the same — create time and space out of nothing.

To cut stress and anxiety in your own way.
To ground yourself, shifting from mind to body.
To pause and sit with the emptiness inside.
To set a priority and hold the signal despite the noise.
To say “No!” to everything and everyone, even family, for a while.
To recall a further, more vital goal.
To sacrifice what’s here now for what’s truly valuable later.

What’s your favorite way to stretch your horizon?

Sincerely yours,

-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 Rejected Self / July 14, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

As kids, we were all small, vulnerable, weak. Some were lucky—loved and accepted just as they were. But many were loved conditionally: “Here you’re sweet, there you’re unbearable.”

A child’s mind isn’t sharp yet, but his survival instinct is. He adapts to any environment, even a sick one. Constant scolding and sidelong glances soak into his growing body, turning into poisonous wallpaper.

His personality splits like firewood. Some traits bask in attention’s glow; others, like lepers, slink into shadow.

Years pass. The child grows up. In school, service, or work, he climbs to certain heights. But one day, he slams his head into a bulletproof glass ceiling.

Realizing what blocks him, then finding a way out, takes years. If he’s lucky. He could stay trapped in that clear sarcophagus forever. Banging his head and screaming won’t help.

The sad irony? You built that aquarium yourself. It was the only way to survive childhood. The strength of the walls speaks to the power of the parts you had to reject. Your right hand is at war with your left.

Only you can help yourself. Another can point out blind spots, call out self-deception, or lend a hand in tough moments. Your job? To see the value in what you've always been ashamed of, despised, or feared—your worst evil.

How do you know the transformation’s working?

What seemed impossible yesterday feels like nothing today.

Your energy grows. So does your confidence. Maybe even boldness.

Problems hatch into possibilities.

And somewhere deep inside, the traffic light finally turns green.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Eraser, the Liberator / July 13, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Try drawing with a pencil but no eraser. Tough, right? Now imagine a complex task, little time, and no spare paper.

Without the chance to fix mistakes, stress is guaranteed. That’s the price a man pays for trying to be perfect like the gods. In myths, they punish the proud with torment, injury, or madness.

Fear of a mistake’s consequences can paralyze a creator.

What’s the job of rubber, gum, or even bread crumbs? To break the bond between graphite and paper fibers. The eraser pulls the pencil’s mark onto itself.

This rubber agent of Chaos is vital to draw without worry. Erasing is like calling on Shiva or Kali: “Destroy what’s extra, meaningless, false. Clear space for the new.”

People perceive the word "destruction" negatively by default. They prefer to build, protect, preserve, grow. But as we see, without a pinch of “evil,” you’re doomed to suffer and freeze.

If your growth stalls, find what you subconsciously refuse to break.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Help Doers / July 12, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Question: How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Just one, but the bulb must want to change.

This old joke nails the truth—you can’t force help. Even if the problem’s unbearable and the fix seems obvious.

Worse, a rescuer’s zeal often points to his own unresolved issues, projected onto others. Instead of fixing himself, he chases others to “save” them.

A person must ripen to a new state on his own. Otherwise, it’s either empty form or outright harm. Losing 30% of body weight in a month, inheriting a billion, or sudden fame? That’s a curse, not a gift.

The F1 car is bliss for the driver, but death for anyone else.

Saying “I desperately want change!” can be a form of self-deception. Some secretly crave suffering, not change. It’s a different story if someone has already tried everything he could.

What matters is the action already taken. Sooner or later, that man will change his bulb—he’ll find his superpower, build a business, secure funding, or break into new markets. If you can speed up his process — go for it!

Help the doers. Water what grows on its own.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Imperfection is Freedom / July 11, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Omnivorousness is the 'curse' of some creative people. At first glance, it seems appealing: a person gets excited by everything! Oh, the inspiring potential is everywhere!

He dives into an idea with gusto, only to ditch it when a new temptation calls. Take an entrepreneur who’s horrified to find himself torn between a pile of projects, unable to commit to one.

The worst form of this “curse”? The creator creates nothing. His energy scatters across a hundred ideas tickling his fancy. Like sirens, they lure sailors to their doom with enchanted songs.

To save himself, the creator must recall Odysseus. He told his crew where to sail, then plugged their ears with wax. Himself? He tied himself to the mast, safely studying the sirens’ ways.

Odysseus is your mind; the crew, your body. The captain chose the goal and stepped aside so the motor function could carry out the plan. Splitting these roles demands discipline from the creator.

But the bigger problem? Picking one path from a sea of alternatives.

Psychoanalyst Marie-Louise von Franz wrote: “To become someone in reality, he must give up being everything in potential.” The paradox? A creator breaks the curse only when he stops seeing himself as a flawless Creator.

Imperfection is a truly human trait. The point isn’t potential—it’s the effort to refine something. By shaping matter, a person transforms himself.

Your shabbiest product, in God’s eyes, beats nothing at all.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Do It Yourself / July 10, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Suppose you envy your neighbor and wait for a chance to screw him over. Or you’re pissed because the leader split the loot unfairly. Does it matter if this happens on Mars in the 21st century or in an African cave 2.6 million years ago?

Settings, tech, and habits change. The psyche doesn’t.

There have been periods in history when it seemed like consciousness had evolved, and there was no turning back. Then came a revolution, war, or some societal collapse, and civilized folks turned into chimps before your eyes.

Those “cute monkeys” fight for better territory, food, or resources. They kill each other—always in packs, five to thirty against one. They rip off genitals, tear out throats. Males and young get slaughtered; females get a pass.

The odds of a miraculous enlightenment for all people at once are slim. No “-ism” has pulled it off. It’s easy to despair, isn’t it?

No. There’s at least one person you can wake up.

Truth is, even that’s a wildly ambitious goal. Despite mountains of books, no universal recipe exists. The path is paved with tears, sweat, and blood, but everyone’s pattern is unique.

Maybe this mission is why you and I are here right now.

Sincerely yours,

-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 Birth of an Entrepreneur / July 9, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Starting a business is tough. Especially your first. A woman? With a 16-year-old daughter? In a foreign country (UK), because of war? Oh, and you don’t speak the language fluently.

You’d think prior business experience would help. Nope—just corporate jobs after college, then decades raising kids. Worse, when asked what you want to do, you’d confess: “I don’t even know. No ideas.”

Sounds like zero chance for something new, right?

But life outsmarts the odds-makers. They miss what Nassim Taleb calls “tinkering”—a chain of spontaneous experiments, trials, errors, and magic. It doesn’t matter where a beginner starts. What matters is how:

She stubbornly tries one thing, then another, then a third.
She humbly learns from those who can show a glimpse of truth.
She admits clear misses and adjusts her path.
She listens for the inner whisper: “This is mine, this is not.”

Over time, a pile of “no’s” builds up, like pencil shavings exposing the lead. A shy realization hits: “This is what I want—X, Y, Z.”

Hallelujah! That’s a seismic shift. Once the desired future takes shape, the anxiety changes. The question “What for?” becomes “How?” It’s still uneasy, but different. The first is existential; the second, technical.

Happy birthday, new business—Inspiration.in.antiques: vintage and antique treasures for inspiration and sale. It was worth it. All the tries, flops, doubts, and struggles paid off.

No wonder there’s energy to hunt unique finds at British car boot markets, scour catalogs for ancient hallmarks, or pack a parcel with care for someone waiting eagerly in the US. What else could a buyer say?

“I wholeheartedly recommend this seller. I can't remember the last time I smiled so broadly. Not only as described, it is beautiful & scented from the inside by delicate mint tissue paper. I got also a lovely little envelope with a note from the seller and an elegant chocolate as a nice touch. Perfectly secured and packaged, fast, tracked shipping - sended with extra care - postage should cost me more. I am enchanted. Other sellers should learn from you. It was pure pleasure. Thank you, Marina🌹.”

This entrepreneur? I know her personally. Marina’s my wife )

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Break Your Business Curse / July 8, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Everything was fine until… That’s how many fairy tales start.

A ruler falls to a strange ailment. Or an angry sorcerer curses the kingdom. Either way, nature withers, people freeze, and once-fertile land stops yielding.

Life’s natural flow breaks. Now it’s a swamp instead of a river.

The kingdom’s people suffer, clueless about the problem. Even if they know the source of evil, no one has ideas to root it out. A whole nation is stuck “in-between.”

It’s clear: old wineskins won’t hold new wine. Salvation lies beyond the paradigm that caused the stagnation. And the future savior? He’ll look like a loser, a nobody, a fool.

But notice—this character isn’t a superhero. First, he (or she) must face trials that transform him. Only then do inner strengths and outer possibilities unlock. By healing himself, he saves others.

Don’t look down at fairy tales. They mirror our daily lives with stunning accuracy. Swap “kingdom” for “business” and “ruler” for “entrepreneur.” See? The same story plays out everywhere.

Sometimes, I feel I’m not doing business therapy but reading legends, myths, and fairy tales from around the world. A founder’s mysterious apathy, a lack of growth ideas, a drying cash flow—these are problems scripted at least 5,000 years ago.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Back to the Center / July 7, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

The trainer is a ball with a board glued on top. You balance on one leg for a minute. It looks childish, but try not grabbing for support. Your body freaks out—everyday life has flat surfaces, but here, there’s chaos beneath your feet.

First lesson: regaining balance drains crazy energy. The wilder you sway, the more you tire. The ideal? Tiny shifts around the vertical Y-axis.

Here’s the kicker: you sabotage yourself by setting your foot off-center. Just a bit to one side, and your body tilts toward the ground. Some muscles strain to stop the fall, overwork, and swing the pendulum the other way.

But stand dead-center, align your spine with the Y-axis, and your body finds eerie stability, almost effortless. Chaos swirls around, but you? Harmony and calm.

That’s how ancient people saw life—a dance toward or away from the source of life within a circle. Modern folks think life’s a straight line, like a roulette wheel. Ordinary, routine life leans toward decay, ruin, and decline. To save and renew it, people always returned to the center, touching the sacred, the Other.

Far from the world’s axis—axis mundi—a man grows weary, sick, and suffers. It’s a nudge: “Come back, you’re missed!”.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Why Make a Sacrifice? / July 6, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

The word sacrifice comes from Latin sacrificium. It’s two parts: sacer (holy) or sacra (holy things), and facere (to make). So, to sacrifice is to make something sacred.

The ritual demands a man give up something deeply precious. The pain cuts like a fox gnawing off its leg in a trap. This proves his intent—his skin’s in the game.

Furthermore, he doesn’t expect a sure reward. If he did, it’d be a simple trade, a legal deal. So he lingers in doubt and fear: “What if it’s not enough? Were all my sacrifices for nothing? If so, I’m definitely lost.”

Inside, a void opens—a wound, a hole. Raw vulnerability. But it’s also a portal to another reality. Into that empty space, Something Other can slip through. At last!

This is where two worlds meet—the profane and the sacred. Here, transformation happens: the old dies, the new is born.

We witness "creatio ex nihilo"—creation from nothing. In utter emptiness, Something sparks. You can’t force or rush it—just offer the sacrifice and hold faith.

A man shows humility, respect, and awe before a Force greater than him, one that can bless or break him.

When does this readiness come? In moments of raw despair, when every usual path fails, and relief won’t come. Or when disaster strikes out of nowhere. Rarely, a man is so mature he chooses to sacrifice on his own.

By creating a lack within, he sanctifies the empty part of himself. Then life fills with energy, harmony, and meaning.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Hide in Plain / July 5, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

The urge to speak out chases two goals at least.

You need to hide something from someone. The question—where’s the best place?

The answer is simple—where no one would ever think to look. Right beneath his feet, in plain sight, out in the open.

But that’s not enough. Even if he trips over it, he should kick it aside as an annoying nuisance. Why?

What is desired must appear in a form he loathes:

White cloaked in black.
Strength veiled by weakness.
Beauty smeared with dirt.
Care disguised as tyranny.
Health stinking of sweat.
Great good posing as small evil.

Now grab some popcorn and watch him search in vain for years, missing what’s always been with him. You might bristle, saying you’d never do that to anyone. Really?

No. Shockingly, many do this—not to others, but to themselves. They hunt frantically everywhere—in careers, knowledge, pleasures, relationships, mysticism, and so on.

The one place they don’t look? Inside themselves. Specifically, at the part of their soul that feels “strange,” “bad,” or “scary.” Instinct whispers the keys are close, but they search where the light falls, not where the keys were lost.

But enough gloom! The fix doesn’t need trendy methods, a Harvard degree, a new career, or ashram retreats.

The desired changes begin with a heretical thought: “What if I’ve been looking in the wrong place, and the answer’s already in me?”

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Free the Light / July 4, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

The urge to speak out chases two goals at least.

First, to unload everything piled up inside. It’s a release for the mind. The “receiver” could be anyone—a spouse, kids, another driver in traffic, a cat, even a lamppost.

Like lightning, all it needs is something to conduct the charge.

The other goal? To be heard and understood. A parent, friend, or therapist—none will do if he can’t grasp the meaning you’re trying to convey.

The first case is easy. Most talks are like that. Hardly communication at all. People don’t listen—they wait to dump their excess baggage off themselves.

So it’s not surprising that folks hide their souls. What’s shocking is that anyone opens up at all. Even if someone offers full attention, there’s a bigger hurdle.

Few can handle you as you are. Instinct stays cautious for a reason. Your raw truth might unsettle, upset, tempt, spark envy, or scare someone.

Why? Those traits live in the shadow of his or her soul. Unprocessed, the traits are seen not in them but in you, stirring up fierce emotions. Many crack under pressure.

You’d love to bare your soul, but their fragility kills the point.

Truth is, I’ve met only a handful of “unbreakable” people. You could tell them anything, and in return, you’d feel — no fear, no judgment, no shock.

My God, the freedom in that moment! Masks fall, defenses drop, like pulling a plastic bag off a sprouting seed. Energy surges, and a certainty grows: you can do anything.

Such people are rare, their work is quiet, but their impact is huge. In a pitch-black stormy night, one lighthouse saves many ships. What if it’s a network of lighthouses, growing stronger?

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Full Speed Ahead! / July 3, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

On July 3, 2020, I sent the first email of this newsletter. Five years flew by. Mind-blowing.

Except for the beginning of full-scale war, my dear readers got a new article every day. How? Willpower? Responsibility? Profit? Discipline? Only partly.

It’s more of an illustration of where curiosity can lead. The deeper I went, the more the ritual hooked me: push tasks aside, pour coffee, stare at a blank screen.

At first, I feared ideas would dry up. I panicked a couple of times. But the Process taught me that emptiness, like Arctic ice, hides a bottomless ocean holding everything we need.

This newsletter does many things. It’s a journal of insights, a meditation, a quest for meaning, a way to learn and teach. By the way, I’d love to hear what value it brings you.

Some readers joined recently, others have been with me almost from day one. It’s known that a journey changes travelers; it pulls them out of their usual world.

Something like that happened to us. This newsletter is unique—it’s for those who have heard the inner call for change and are ready to move from one level to another.

We’re already members of the “In-between” club. Wise ancestors knew that lingering in that liminal space is uncomfortable, but that’s where deep beliefs shift, sparking the fiercest growth.

Thanks to you, I know I’m not alone—thousands of “weird” folks like us are scattered in the millions-strong crowd. This newsletter links us, and for that, I’m deeply grateful.

Recently, Jonathan Stark interviewed me about why I write daily. Jonathan is a renowned consultant, podcast host, and author of a popular newsletter. His newsletter inspired mine, and I owe him a lot for that.

I don’t know what the next chapter holds—the future is uncertain. But writing to you taught me to take a step of faith into the unknown. And each time, in that scary void, I found my footing.

So, hold fast and full speed ahead!

Sincerely yours,

-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 Healing Force / July 2, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Forget what people say—doctors don’t heal. The body heals itself. Don’t believe it? Ask a doctor the odds of saving a man who refuses to live. Zero percent.

What’s the doctor’s job then? Clear what blocks healing and boost what helps it.

Modern man doesn’t see it that way. He turns doctors into demigods while dismissing his body’s wisdom.

But isn’t it a miracle when a torn ligament mends, blood clots in a wound, or a fever fades in days? A doctor leans on these processes like a physicist leans on thermodynamics. Only the patient takes them for granted.

Big mistake. They’re proof of an inner Force, always watching over us, day and night. With the resources we’re given, this Force fights for us to the end—filtering poisons, killing germs, burning viruses.

Yet we often act like we’re testing it: “Let’s see if you can save me.” We eat junk, skimp on sleep, barely move, or, like I once did, catch malaria in the jungle. Time to ask ourselves: “Whose side are you on?”

This Force doesn’t just guard our body—it saves our mind and soul. Think back: how many times could you have wrecked yourself, lost your mind, or drowned in booze?

Something held us back, kept us safe, pulled us up.

The question isn’t what to call THAT. It’s enough to be grateful It’s there, unseen, inside us.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Fertile Shadow / July 1, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Everything casts a shadow under the sun. It traces the shape of whatever blocks the light. Sure, the shadow’s tied to its object, but it’s also something else entirely.

This isn’t just about, say, a tree—it’s about the psyche. Jung called the shadow the hidden part of a man’s soul, the piece his conscious self won’t face. But, ha-ha, he can’t escape it either.

The easy way out? Deny it: “That shadow’s not mine!” Since a shadow needs an object, he points fast: “It belongs to that guy!” The important thing is to accuse first; let him justify himself later.

Relief washes over, like dumping a heavy pack on someone else’s back. A man without a shadow feels divine—an angel, maybe an archangel, commander of heaven’s army.

That fits, because blaming others for his shadow is just the start. Now he can hunt those who carry his rejected traits, fight them, wipe them out. The witch hunts and burning of heretics, which became widespread in the Middle Ages, remain popular to this day. Scapegoats change; the game doesn’t.

Punish the symbol of evil—better yet, destroy it—and it feels like the problem’s gone. An illusion of cleansing and control sets in. The soul’s tension eases. He sleeps soundly.

Not for long. The shadow never left. Time to find a new victim. But of course, this one will be called: “Monster! Beast! Demon!”So the inquisitor’s life rolls on—hunts, trials, executions.

Beyond the drama and sorrow, it’s dull. Every act is scripted, predictable. No meaning. No freedom. Sophisticated accusations and tortures aren’t exactly art.

Worst of all, there’s no growth, no real life.

Here’s the thing: shadow traits are like compost. Dirty, foul, repulsive—but vital for enriching soil, making it fertile. Without it, rich earth turns to barren sand and stone. Toss in seeds, pour on water—it’s all for nothing.

For a soul to rise high and bear fruit, its roots must feed on filth, rot, and muck. One's greatest task? Turn flaws into strengths, curse into a gift, dung into a rose.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Body Screams Truth / June 30, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

“When the mind suffers, the body screams,” Cardinal Lamberto tells Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III. During their talk, Michael has a diabetic attack. In confession, he admits he betrayed his wife and himself, killed men, and worst of all, his own brother. No wonder the fire is burning him from the inside.

I recall this scene when a client’s body—or mine—rebels. If a man ignores his gut and keeps doing what hurts him, his subconscious can shut his body down.

Suddenly, an injury hits, immunity drops, life’s energy drains. Pills, treatments, and self-help books spark hope, then let you down. The heads of the Lernaean Hydra grow back. The question isn’t the symptoms, but where they come from and why.

It seems simple—find the root cause and heal. Sure, his Ego will squirm. He’ll need a skilled guide. But the real hurdle? He must rethink his beliefs and his way of life. Not everyone’s ready for that.

It’s tempting to back out: “I want to live like before. Just give me a painkiller.”

That’s human, and I get it. Psychologist James Hollis shared: “I have a client who was in AA for many years, and he said the core sentence of his group was this isn't working well for me, but I do it very well.”

Readiness for change grows with pain. Alas.

There’s a way to skip extra suffering, though. Picture an unwanted future now. If it’s too hard or scary, find someone to guide you through it, eyes wide open.

Sincerely yours,

-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.

Beyond Yourself / June 29, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Want a universal principle for solving problems?

Step outside yourself, and the problem fades—or even vanishes.

Example: I woke up this morning feeling low. My back aches, my foot won’t heal. I recall annoying tasks I can’t dodge. I read the news —it sucks th oxygen out.

A workout, a healthy breakfast, and coffee help a bit. The gloom steps back, but it’s like a cloud blocking the sun.

Then a thought hits me, one that flickered at the edge of a dream. It weaves together judo’s “sacrifice throws,” Systems Theory, non-equilibrium processes, and my freedom.

Intrigued by the promise, I start grilling my AI. A minute later, I’m diving into insights, completely forgetting the pain in my body, the nagging chores, and the gloomy context.

A clearing opens, energy flows, and a new angle shifts my view. Maybe I grew, or maybe the problems shrank.

The same fact can either drag you into depression or lift you up. The difference lies in whether you’re observing it from inside the fishbowl or from outside.

Sincerely yours,

-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.