Who is this guy?

How can he help me?

I’m not here to impress you.

And I don’t have everything figured out.

I’m a work in progress. I make mistakes. I’ve got much more to learn.

I’m too hard on myself. I take myself too seriously.

But I am committed to living a life of freedom and contribution.

To live my IKIG-AI.

Here’s the long story, if you care…

I was chasing success in the rat race…

I grew up in a mid-sized town in post-communist Romania before the dawn of internet and social media. I’m the quintessential European Millennial.

The conventional life path (good degree - stable job - work for 40 years) was the only path I was told about and saw around me.

In 2012 I became a lawyer in a big corporate law firm in the capital, Bucharest.

The money, status and work hard, play harder lifestyle easily corrupted a small town kid hungry for success.

I did a lot of things I wasn’t proud of…

In 2014 karma caught up with me hard. Broken leg, crashed car, bad career move, no real friends and suffering - all in 1 month.

That’s when I got into the Stoics, Eastern philosophy and personal development.

I continued my lawyer career journey to the top.

I moved to London in 2015 and Dubai in 2016 to work for the #1 global law firm.

I sent this selfie to my mom who I had seen only once in 2016.

Look into my eyes - I was a continent away from everyone I loved, stressing 10-12h daily for a too low salary and 20 days off/year.

Then I witnessed a powerful moment in the office. My biggest fear became painfully clear:

In 5 years I didn’t want the life my senior colleagues had… so why show up tomorrow?

In 2017 I quit the lawyer life, moved back to Romania and started an online tourism business — Romanian Friend.

I didn’t know anything about tourism or online marketing but I had a burning desire to get out of the rat race.

I thought entrepreneurship would be my way out - how naive :)

I had a massive motivation (and Ego!), confidence I could learn anything and a lawyer’s work ethic.

I got out of my comfort zone by completely changing the zone. My whole identity, lifestyle, friends and mindset changed dramatically over the next 6-12 months:

I had unreasonable expectations and discovered my self-doubts and fears
I overcompensated through 24/7 work
I developed massive anxiety and burned out
I learned how to pick myself up, take care of my mind & body
to find and admit my weaknesses; the courage to ask for help
deal with everyone’s expectations and judgements

All while trying to make a business work, stay healthy and productive…

Still - no regrets. It was the best - and hardest - decision I ever made. I was excited to pursue my vision and take 100% responsibility for my life.

I dived in the unknown…

In 2018 I moved to Luxembourg. My girlfriend for 3 years got a job here and we already had 2 years of long distance…

My 4th move in 4 years to a city I didn’t like while running a tourism start up — not easy!

But I wanted us to work so I learned how to be emotionally mature, committed and balance my personal ambitions.

In 2019 we got married and in 2021 our son was born. We had - and still do - lots of bumps and tough conversations, but I’m proud of the strong, healthy and supportive connection we have.

By 2019 Romanian Friend was booming. I got a taste for entrepreneurship and was planning to start another business in 2020…

Without realising, since 2014 I was spending all my free time and money on books, podcasts, courses, 1-to-1 coaching, retreats, biohacking products etc.

Self-improvement, learning and challenging myself to new limits became my lifestyle. I was lucky to have lots of mentors too.

I paid strict attention to my thoughts, words, habits, diet, decisions, how & who I spent my time with.

I meditate and exercise regularly, eat healthy, use breathing techniques, self-hypnosis, visualisation and others. I tried biohacking techniques, psychedelics, ice baths and many more.

All combined with educating myself in the psychology of self-actualisation, the latest in neuroscience and human performance, and the philosophy of paradox.

I wanted to know myself better, grow and live a life of wealth, freedom and impact.

This is how I made big changes and started living in alignment with my true self.

…until the puzzle started to fit

“Self-knowledge is no guarantee for happiness, but it is on the side of happiness and can supply the courage to fight for it.”

— Simone de Beauvoir

Covid-19 put my tourism business on hold. I lost all my hard work…

With nothing to do during the lockdowns, I used my free time to go deeper into my curiosities and educate myself on our mind-body connection, the psychology of self-actualisation and how to live a good life.

During lockdowns I was talking to friends to “stay in touch.”

I asked them questions, challenged their fears, expanded their perspective and shared things and ideas that helped me.

For me it was natural, effortless.

For them it was much more and wanted to talk again next week…

In 2020 I found my ikigai:

to use my natural talents and personal experiences to help others make the changes they want and live a better life.

My mom would always tell me: you can’t stay still, you always have to do something new!

I specialise in reinventing myself.

In challenging my beliefs, trying new things and pushing my limits.

In pursuing what some would call idealistic, naive ideas - of doing meaningful work WHILE living a good life.

In conventional, old-school Europe - this sounds like American bullsh*t.

To me, it’s the only way to live.

Artificial intelligence will change how we live, work and interact with each other.

So why not live our ikig-ai in a way that is both meaningful and rewarding?

Smart and efficient?

My coaching

My coaching expertise

NLP

I’m a certified neuro-linguistic programing practitioner with several specialisations from renowned practitioners. I use it to uncover the stories and beliefs that don’t serve you and instal new, positive ones.

Optimize coach

As an Optimize coach I have an overview of the key ideas and concepts from ancient and modern philosophy, proven by science and empirical evidence, that helps a person create a meaningful, impactful life.

Self-educated

I’ve done many courses in positive psychology, behavioural science and neuroscience. On the business front, copywriting, marketing, sales and more. All of which applied directly in my business.

My experience

I experimented with and practiced a lot of things. And I’ve been through several big changes. I’m an avid reader too. I will use my personal insights, resources and experience to help you.