INNER SUPPORTS. WHY AN ENTERPRENEUR NEEDS PHILOSOPHY AND A MOVEMENT TOWARD GOD IN A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY AND DEEP CRISIS
“The Workshop of Success”
I will start with the distant year 2004. At that time, I was a little over 30. I was actively building a business, making money, and focusing on practical results. During that period, I went to an off-site seminar for entrepreneurs on the island of Crete. Its theme, “The Workshop of Success,” spoke for itself. At that time, such formats were popular and taken seriously, rather than perceived as superficial “successful success” with the appropriate entourage.Almost immediately, the conversation shifted into a completely different, philosophical direction. Our teacher and mentor spoke about the fact that alongside material goals, it is important for a person to set spiritual ones as well. They take much longer to achieve, but they have deeper meaning, because they form supports that allow one to withstand any trials.Twenty years ago, I did not attach much importance to this. What spiritual goals, when you need to run, earn more, grow financially and in status. Only later, in the process of inner development and maturation, did I begin to understand what he meant.This has become especially clear to me now, at the end of the fourth year of the war in Ukraine, where my entire business is concentrated. When so much hangs by a thread and you are unable to influence it, you need something to lean on. Inner supports in such a situation become a lifeline not only for the entrepreneur, but also for their business.
From “successful success” to Dante
Why did the conversation about spirituality and inner supports become especially relevant during meetings at the Aspen Institute?Because of the large number of deep philosophical texts we analyze, and the serious conversations that force you to look at life from a different angle. One of the texts that opened up for me in a completely new way was Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy.This is a work that is difficult to read and even more difficult to understand without explanations. Behind the poetic form lies a multilayered system of meanings that rarely reveals itself through superficial reading. Contemporary Ukrainian philosopher Oleksandr Filonenko helps to see another level in this text and opens up unexpected interpretations, which for me are directly connected to the life of an entrepreneur.One of the key themes in Dante is that stopping is not an option. The moment a person stops moving, a reverse process is triggered. Even stopping in a comfortable, outwardly happy place eventually turns into stagnation. What was perceived as a personal paradise gradually becomes a personal hell.It is precisely from this logic that Filonenko’s interpretation of vanity grows. In The Divine Comedy, this sin is understood differently than we are used to. Vanity manifests itself at the moment of self-limitation, when a person decides that it is enough and consciously refuses to move further. But who are you to diminish God’s plan for you and your potential.
There is always a way out
In general, the theme of sins in The Divine Comedy is revealed in an unexpected way. According to Dante, there is no sin that God could not forgive. There is always a way out. Even from the deepest point of hell, there is a path upward. This path requires time, consistency, and movement, but it exists.The sin of gluttony is also interpreted interestingly by Dante. Its essence lies not in excessive consumption, but in the fact that a person throughout life only absorbs and creates nothing. In hell, the “gluttonous” lie face down in excrement, eat it, and reproduce the same thing.This is a harsh metaphor. When a person lives exclusively in a mode of consuming content, impressions, and resources, they stop creating meaning. In the end, emptiness remains.A special place in Filonenko’s interpretations is occupied by the image of the Last Judgment. It is important as a principle for evaluating a lived life.According to Dante, at the judgment there are two stands. On one sit relatives and close ones, people who have known you for a long time and seen you in different states. They are the ones who most often speak about weaknesses, mistakes, and imperfections. On the other stand are people who know you little or did not know you personally at all, but for whom you did something good. And one such positive voice is enough for you to end up in Paradise.Over the past five years, I have been deeply engaged in creativity, having stepped away from operational business management. Each time I receive feedback from readers that some of my thoughts helped them get through a difficult period or make a decision, I catch myself thinking that perhaps I already have one such voice. Over time, others may appear as well.Another important line in The Divine Comedy is connected to the theme of guides. On a conscious path, they always appear. These are not abstract figures or fictional characters. Most often, they are people from the same environment in which a person lives. For Dante, such a guide was Virgil. Filonenko emphasizes that guides appear when the right questions are formulated.At a certain moment, a person themselves becomes a guide for others. They pass on accumulated knowledge. The path ceases to be a solitary movement and turns into a chain of transmitting meaning and experience.
Why learn and why this
Guided by this logic, I recently brought several friends to a closed event where similar topics were discussed. I wanted to show them what kind of knowledge truly supports development and forward movement today.Marketing and business education continue to matter, but their role is gradually changing. Today, they are ceasing to be a self-sufficient foundation for development. In the current context, learning requires a different approach, one that goes beyond academic programs and standard management models.Professional tools are updated faster than habitual ways of thinking can adapt. Artificial intelligence, changes in economic and social structures make the limitations of applied knowledge obvious if it is not accompanied by work on one’s own perception and understanding of what is happening.Under these conditions, learning increasingly shifts toward holistic development. This involves reading complex texts, turning to philosophy, and attempting to comprehend reality in a broader context.These are educational spaces where people with different professional backgrounds gather. Scientists, representatives of medicine, art, public service, politics, and business. Different ways of thinking form an environment in which new connections and meanings emerge.
Preservation instead of scaling
Recently, I was told a story that accurately describes the current context. An acquaintance of mine attended a semi-official international congress in Miami. Among the speakers was a representative of the close circle of the American administration, who had previously worked with U.S. President Barack Obama. His forecast was straightforward. The next ten years will be difficult, and relief is not expected. And this was said about the United States. So what then can be said about the rest of the world.The time of aggressive growth and endless expansion is coming to an end. Other qualities are coming to the forefront. The ability to focus, to endure pauses, to preserve integrity, and to go through difficult stages without fuss. Preservation is gradually becoming a form of development.Over time, I began to understand differently what gives the feeling of God’s presence in everyday life. It is a state of inner calm that does not depend on the news agenda, markets, or other people’s expectations.This is the state my mentor spoke about many years ago. He warned that a moment inevitably comes when external supports stop working. At that moment, it becomes clear whether something has been built inside.I cannot say that this inner support arises instantly. It is formed gradually through experience, doubts, and movement, until it ultimately becomes a natural part of one’s inner structure.
