Quarterly update on our lives (Q1 2026)

Dear friends,

We’d love to share a personal update with you. What we’ve experienced over the past three months, what we’ve learned, and what we’re looking forward to next.

We plan to do this every quarter so you can follow our journey. And if it’s not for you, simply ignore these messages.

We began the year in beautiful Bali, which has become one of our second homes. We don’t have a first home, so we have multiple second homes around the world.

Australia

In mid-January, we traveled to Australia. It was our first time there together, and Monica was especially excited. She loved the strong focus on health and wellness, the relaxed lifestyle, and the sense that people don’t overwork themselves.

A friend of ours, Dr. Jack, once said “Australia is like the UK with better people and better weather.” We found that to be quite accurate. The main challenge was the distance. Communicating with our team in Europe in the evenings was difficult, especially since we’re both morning people. Making important decisions late in the day was a significant challenge.

We stayed in a beautiful neighborhood, but the house itself was below our standards. A clear lesson for us to choose more carefully in the future.

One downside of our nomadic lifestyle is that we often work from Airbnbs that aren’t designed for long workdays. Even though we travel, we work 12 hours a day, and doing that from a simple wooden kitchen chair affects our back, leading to back pain, neck pain, and other discomfort.

One of the highlights was meeting our friends Raz and Andreea. Even though all four of us were so far from where we were born, it didn’t feel strange at all. Being there together, at the end of the world, felt as normal as meeting at their home. They inspired us to go back to the gym and take better care of our health. Thank you, Raz and Andreea!

At the start of the year, Monica began asking herself two simple questions each day:

“What do I have the right energy for today?”

“What could I work on in alignment with this energy?”

This brought her a sense of freedom. It became easier to fully rest and do nothing on some days and, on others, to be highly productive while working on things that truly matched her energy.

Stefan explored the idea of pursuing a PhD in psychology in Australia and spoke with several professors. He is now considering other locations, including Singapore, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands. If you happen to closely know a psychology professor (anywhere in the world) and feel comfortable making an introduction, he would greatly appreciate it. You can simply reply to this email.

In February, Stefan ran a learning experiment. He studied 10 new neuroscience words every day and explained them daily to someone else (Thank you Antonia). In just one month, he learned the 200 most commonly used terms in neuroscience. This approach can be applied to any field, from philosophy to physics to IT, because you can’t truly understand a domain without first understanding its vocabulary.

Another important step this quarter was launching our email series, “The Space Between the Chords.” It has now been 10 weeks since we started sending 4 emails each week, and we’ve received a lot of appreciation. Some people told us it’s the only newsletter they read, first thing in the morning, while drinking their coffee or tea.

“Such a relevant and vital email series.”

“I love this. Thank you for these emails.”

“These short notes are ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!”

“I know they take a great deal of time to synthesize, but PLEASE keep them coming and I will keep reading!”

Our intention was simple: to create something we would personally enjoy reading in the first place. Short, under 2 minutes, and offering meaningful insights on psychology, spirituality, or science. If you haven’t opened these emails yet, you may want to give them a try.

Middle East

At the end of February, we traveled to Egypt to meet our friends from Wayfinders and begin a special expedition through the Neom desert in Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Trail.

Cairo felt heavy. We could sense the pain, scarcity, and poverty around us. Interestingly, Egypt appears at both the beginning and the end of our year. We are already scheduled to return in November for a private expedition to explore secret places, not accessible to regular tourists.

After three days in Cairo, we continued to the Neom desert. The landscape is spectacular.

It was fascinating to observe how entrepreneurs approached the trip, each in their own way. Some arrived early, like we did. Others flew directly to Saudi Arabia. Some planned to arrive later but never made it due to the outbreak of the US-Israel and Iran conflict, which led to canceled flights.

After a few days, the situation escalated. The State Department advised American citizens to leave the area. Since most of our group were Americans and Canadians, the group decided to end the trip. Flights were canceled, prices doubled overnight, and there was a lot of uncertainty.

We tried to understand the deeper meaning behind this experience. Usually, we don’t find ourselves in chaotic situations like this. Stefan believes that when you are aligned with your path, you tend to avoid such disruptions. For now, we have not found the meaning of this experience.

The truth is, the desert “didn’t speak” to Monica. She couldn’t connect with it the way she did in Mongolia in October, so even more time in the desert likely wouldn’t have added much depth to the experience.

From there, we traveled to Istanbul to wait for our flights back to Bali. Unfortunately, Turkish Airlines was not flexible with changing our tickets, even though it would have been possible. Stefan decided to avoid flying with them for the next year. Of course, it will make no difference to Turkish Airlines, but he wants to have his revenge :)).

While in Istanbul, Monica drank tap water and developed severe food poisoning. We called an IV treatment service, which is very effective in such cases. Keep IV treatments in mind for the future if you or your loved ones face food poisoning anywhere in the world, as they can make a significant difference. You can get rid of the pain in a few hours instead of a few days. They came twice, and Monica’s recovery was much faster, although there were moments when we weren’t sure she would be able to fly.

Back to Bali

Eventually, we made it back to Bali and returned to our normal rhythm.

We completed the Romanian translation of “The 7 Universal Laws,” which has become a USA Today bestseller at the beginning of March. We also finished translating “Power on Heels” into English. Both books are planned for release in May or June.

On a lighter note, Stefan surprised Monica, who loves dogs, by renting three puppies for six weeks. Yes, it is possible. Even the owner was surprised by the idea at first, but agreed once he saw how well they would be cared for. Monica plays with them daily and ensures they have everything they need.

The lesson here is simple: think creatively and make space for what brings you joy.

This year, we also began running more webinars in English. Monica led the following sessions so far:

• Clear the 5 Money Patterns That Block You From Earning More

• Dissolve Impostor Syndrome in 5 Steps

• 7 Ways Rich People Think That No One Ever Told You

The feedback has been very positive, with strong engagement throughout, and we plan to continue.

Plans for the next few months

We will stay in Bali until the end of April, then travel to Romania. We’ll be in Cluj in early May and Bucharest later in May and early June.

In Cluj, we will host “The Prosperity Equation in Times of Crisis” (in Romanian), meet with close members of our community, and participate in podcasts about the Romanian edition of “The 7 Universal Laws.”

These days, Stefan is preparing a special workshop called “God Wants You to Be Wealthy,” which will be delivered first in English and then in Romanian. Over the past 20 years, he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about spirituality and money and is eager to share it for the first time.

As the global crisis continues to unfold, we notice its effects first on people’s minds and then on their finances. Monica is going to create a series of messages and online events to support people through this period of uncertainty. We hope for the best and prepare for what may come.

Love and Wisdom,
Monica and Stefan
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P.S.

These emails, from Monica and Stefan, are not written by AI. It takes a few hours, sometimes half a day, to write a message like this. Behind these words are real people: the two of us and our team. Feel free to write to us. We might not reply immediately, we are not bots, but we will reply, even if it’s just a short thank you.

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