Last year, I decided to hang it up, and step away from my corporate life. So I handed in my resignation letter, and I quit my well-paying job.

Of course I got the usual question in response. “What company are you off to next?” But what was different this time was that I had no answer, because I didn’t exactly know what was next. So I awkwardly responded something to the nature of “I’m not sure… I’m just kinda seeing where life takes me.”

You may be wondering why I would make such a decision after spending 15-ish years committing so much of my life to advancing my career.

There were a number of factors, first being that I believe your 30s is THE most ideal time to venture off and try something new. Because during this decade of life one has enough life experience to make somewhat wise decisions, enough work experience to benefit from a marketable skillset, and enough money to float themselves for a considerable amount of time.

At the same time, a person in his 30s is still young enough to royally F*KCU things up and recover from it.

Add to this was a genuine fear of regret.  I became convinced that when I turn 80 the sting of never trying to do something different and live as authentically as possible would cause far more angst than memories of trying and failing. 

Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse who cared for people living out their last days identified in her book The Five Regrets of the Dying that not living a life that’s true to one’s self, and spending too much time at work are among the top regrets.

Adding to that, the uncertainty of time has always hung over my head.  The idea that we casually live our lives as if tomorrow is all but certain gave me pause, because frowing up in New Orleans, one of the unhealthiest and most violent cities in the U.S., I’ve seen far too many people unexpectedly meet their early demise.

Lastly, I’ve always found myself deeply fascinated by many different topics. Everyone has their obsessions, and learning has always been mine.  You name it, from geography to quantum mechanics, from the evolution of languages to optimizing human health, I soak it all up.

I felt like there was so much to explore about the world, about life, and about myself, and I wanted to give myself the opportunity to go crazy and explore whatever my intuition called me to.

So when all things are considered, I decided that if there is any time to swing for the fences and try to dramatically alter the trajectory of my life, then my late 30s is the time to go big or go home.

A quick tangent, for my real nerds out there, this graph ironically matches exactly with the material strength curve of metal (search on Google for “ideal stress/strain curve for ductile materials”).  Now back to what I was saying….

So after years of rationalizing and psyching myself up, I eventually handed in my two week notice with no plan.

This was no easy feat, because quitting a job where you actually like your boss, your coworkers, and your work is a terrifying ordeal. There is no shortage of self-doubt and “am I crazy” that crossed my mind in this process.

As a slight tangent, I will also say that if you’ve been laid off, or are at risk of losing your job, and assuming you are not facing impending financial doom, then consider yourself lucky, because the hardest decision has been made for you.  And on that same token, consider yourself lucky if you actually do hate your current employment situation.  That also makes the step of quitting the job much easier.

But nonetheless, I did quit, and I immediately found myself with an abundance of time and freedom to do basically anything I wanted. Very rarely do people in their 30s or 40s have the opportunity to live life with a blank slate, but this was the reality I created for myself.

Since then I’ve been on a very interesting journey of personal growth and self-discovery that I simply could not have experienced if I stayed in my comfort zone, and continued with my monotonous routine of work, weekend, work, weekend, and the occasional vacation sprinkled into the mix.  So I want to use the rest of this essay to talk about a few things that happened as a result of my decision, and if you’ve been having thoughts about switching things up and trying something different with your life, then maybe this essay will help you find some direction.

But first, if this is you, then I highly encourage you to pick up the updated and enhanced version of the  Self-Reinvention Cheat Code which is a transformation system that will help you structure your own design your life for … whether it’s leaving the 9-5, getting back into shape, or breaking out of self-destructive cycles.  It’s specially designed to help you cut the BS and get insanely focused on driving real and lasting change.

I’ve offered this guide in the past, but I just gave it a massive update and loaded it full of content to support and motivate you in your own journey, including over 10 hours of podcast-style interviews with people who’ve all created extraordinary lives for themselves.

So pick it up when you get a chance, and let’s move on to the results of my foray both out of corporate life and living outside of the United States.

1) I learned a new language. 

I’ve always envied people who speak multiple languages, and even more so I have a huge level of respect for people who learn new languages on their own free-will as an adult.