Model Of Happines

My Vision, Values and PhilosophyÐ'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'.....Ð'... 1

My Dreams and CallingÐ'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'..... 6

My Career and Life AspirationsÐ'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'... 10

Epilogue (Model of Happiness)Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'....Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'...Ð'..... 13

My Vision, Values and Philosophy

I have to say that aside from religious concepts most of the people on Earth are given only one life to leave. I consider myself really lucky because I was given at least two livesÐ'...

I was born and raised in Russia and leaved there for the first 23 years of my life. Last eleven of them I remember trying to leave Russia and immigrate to US. During this relatively long time I learned great deal from my parents and from the Soviet System. I separate both of these sources of my values with the clear understanding that they had very little in common.

Ever since I can recall myself at an early age, I was poised to become a mathematician. Raised in a family of two math professors, I always felt a true affinity with numbers. As I matured, so did my analytic thinking process, and in my youth I did indeed become what my parents had always envisioned - a mathematical genius, as my mother termed it (she is too kind). The methodical approach through which I viewed life came naturally to me, and my chosen profession of mathematician was fulfilling and rewarding. It was a prestigious vocation, one that marked me as part of the professional elite in the communist Russia of the early eighties. This was way before privatization. All businesses were owned by the government - from the local bakery, to a steel mill. Entrepreneurial instincts were not promoted, and capitalism with its promise of fame and fortune for the individual was taboo. Though even at that time, a time when the "window to the west" was nailed shut and forbidden to even glance upon, I felt a certain amount of reverence for those on the other side of the iron curtain, who by sheer desire to improve themselves and their lives were motivated to succeed above and beyond the norm.

My father was well-known mathematician, he was teaching Math in University. My mother was math teacher in school. We were quite ordinary family Ð'- the regular cell of the socialist society. I was 12 when my father applied for permit to leave Soviet Union. He was arrested few weeks after but was let go in a few days. Then our life has changed. He was fired from university and the only job he could find after about a year of searches Ð'- a worker on the factory which was manufacturing electrical ovens. I could not understand what was happening and kept asking him why his hands were always scratched and his head was downÐ'... Only after eleven years of trying to leave and we finally were let go he told me what happened. When he was arrested by KGB he was given two options: to go back to his normal life and forget about this little incident but "cooperate" with them or elseÐ'... He has chosen "or else" and that was the reason for our life to change so drastically. This is how and when I witnessed the courage, integrity, self-respect, self-confidence and dignity in one man Ð'- the one I love the most and the one I learned from the most. Finally we immigrated and then my second life started. But this is not my autobiography Ð'- the reason for this prologue is just to sound convincing when I say that all these quality are the most valuable trades of mine. If I add that I have great sense of humor which helps me to love and to be loved Ð'- it paints my quite recognizable silhouette (or I should say Ð'- self-sketch).

So, here I am, the guy who speaks and writes fluent Russian, who still loves everything RussianÐ'... This is the place where I was born and this is still my homeland. My kids (Mia is eight and Sam is six) were born in US but speak and write fluent Russian (and English, of course). I could not explain before why it was so important for me. But now it is crystal clear Ð'- this is dues to my family, its roots and traditions. When I see the impression on my parents' faces when my daughter reads them the poem in Russian I feel really proud of myself. I came to realize that I can become very successful in my career, I can become famous and rich but I am nobody without my kids and parents. It would simply not make any sense because the purpose will not be there. My home is the place where I come to from work; my kids and my wife are the people I buy presents for with the money I earn being an executive of high-tech firmÐ'...

I was in business working for myself during fifteen years. Started three companies from scratch, one of them had a hundred fifty employees by the time I sold my stake in it. I was never trained to be a leader, never studied the theory of management but, I guess, the set of rules and values I leave by have helped me greatly. Obviously there is a great difference in the environment in the company you build from scratch growing together with people working with you and the established corporation which hired you to run the business. I realize that the gut feeling can take you only that far, it is necessary component of the good or even great leader and looking back I can say I did a pretty good job.

Since I have decided for myself that I will pursue the executive career working for corporation I like or for myself Ð'- I simply must be equipped for it. All my values from both lives are mixed into one cocktail and I have to study each ingredient carefully and thoroughly in order to enjoy it and keep this cocktail attractive for people around me. I was able to list fifteen items on the list titled "My values". This number of objects is not feasible for processing by untrained human brain Ð'- it can simultaneously process not more than seven Ð'- it is a known fact (for example we still can remember 7-digit US phone numbers but having