I quit my corporate job, moved to Europe, and started a business... (Here’s what happened next)

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 57-page interactive guide that will help you structure your own lifestyle transformation, 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.

In my opinion, this is among the highest cognitive and intellectual achievements, because languages are extremely complex, and there are no shortcuts to learning. You can’t just take a pill or have surgery and all of a sudden be able to speak a foreign language.

In an age of short-attention spans and a growing brain-rot epidemic, language learning requires concentration, active listening, and only happens through being extraordinarily intentional about how you spend your time.  All of these things, in my view, condition the mind to be more disciplined and focused in a highly distracted world.

And I fundamentally believe that discipline and focus are two of the key ingredients to fixing most problems in life.  Whether you’re out of shape, or you’re in financial trouble, a disciplined and focused mind will always fare better than an undisciplined and distracted mind.

So in a roundabout way, learning a new language as a 30-something year old adult is a sort of cognitive training that keeps me mentally sharp during a time in life where the onset of cognitive decline, and atrophying of the brain, starts to accelerate.

Beyond the cognitive benefits I’ve also enjoyed cultural benefits from learning Portuguese. Admittedly my Portuguese is not fluent by any stretch, but as I’ve grown to understand the language, I’ve grown to understand the Portuguese-speaking diaspora which spans from Asia all the way down to South America, and there’s so much history and cultural richness that I feel like I’m discovering a completely different world that I previously only vaguely knew existed.

When you think about it. Virtually everyone you will ever interact with in life beyond a surface level will be people who speak a language you understand.  And while English is the most widely spoken language with 1.5 billion speakers, that leaves about 6.5 billion people on this planet that I was automatically closed off to.

Of course, 1.5 billion people is more than you will ever interact with in your life, but as an American who only speaks English, by not understanding another language my entire perception of reality is limited to the perspectives of English-speaking people. By picking up another language I’ve been able to interact with non-English speaking people on a deeper level.  

Connecting with people on a deeper level means more relationships and expanded networks, which also means more career and business opportunities.  And if you’ve been following me for any time you’ll know that I firmly believe that more career options translates to a more free and autonomous life where you get to dictate the terms.

It’s always been a life goal of mine to learn another language and this experience has made that happen much faster than it would have if I had stayed in the comfort of my 9-5.

2) I became ridiculously healthy

One of my biggest frustrations with being in both the office setting and the U.S. in general was the casual normalization of sedentary living and other terribly destructive lifestyle habits.

You may not be aware of this but the corporate environment contributes directly to the growing epidemic of chronic metabolic illnesses that are uniquely abundant within affluent countries.

• Excessive time indoors with lack of natural lighting is contributing to increasing rates of near-sightedness and vitamin D deficiencies among many other things.

• Alarm clock usage is contributing to chronic sleep deprivation which wrecks absolute havoc on literally every bodily function including hormones linked to stress and appetite.

  
  

• Corporate jobs are linked to a growing erectile dysfunction problem in men due to workplace-induced stress and the sedentary nature of work which lowers testosterone.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Across the board, the average person in corporate America is physically less capable with higher levels of anxiety, and too strapped for time to make health a top priority in life.

I’ve talked before about how I’ve struggled to reconcile making health a priority with the realities of office work, but I’ve come to see the two as water and oil. We can try our best to make them coexist, but they just don’t mix.

So stepping away from the daily 9-5 life unlocked an abundance of time for me to prioritize my health.  I have more time to sit down and enjoy full home-cooked meals consisting of whole foods. And I don’t rush. The days of sitting at a desk while scarfing down some processed junk marketed as “health food” are over. So are the days of to-go coffee in paper cups that leach plastics into your morning brew.

I’ve had the time to commit to 365 days of working out in one form or another throughout 2025, and I have not missed a single day. Whether it’s calisthenics, or going for a hike, I spend a LOT of time outdoors in the elements, moving my body.  At an age where physical deterioration begins to accelerate, I’m more capable today than I was in my twenties. I have more strength, more mobility, more flexibility, single digit body fat percentage, and zero … I repeat… ZERO major health issues.

No nagging back pain. No high blood pressure. No pre-diabetes. No concerns by the doctor. Knock on wood, I don’t even know the last time I had a cold.

Admittedly, stepping away from corporate life and focusing on entrepreneurship means, at least for now, I no longer enjoy the financial abundance that I once did before, but I am abundantly wealthy when it comes to my health.

3) Learned new skills 

This opportunity has given me more time to explore my natural curiosities and in doing so, I’ve inadvertently picked up knowledge and skills that are transferrable to so many other areas of life.

When we go through formal education, we learn skills that employers want us to learn, and not necessarily skills that are best for us to know. The government has a general interest in ensuring that the population is educated in certain fields, and with them controlling education dollars, they will shape not only the skill development of children in grade school, but also in higher education.

I’m not saying this is good or bad, but it means that our formal education teaches us skills that prepare us for work as employees, and not necessarily life skills that translate to ownership and personal sovereignty.

So breaking away from the standard school to corporate pipeline, and becoming a solo-entrepreneur led me to start developing some of those real life skills that I never needed before.

I’ve had to learn how to be a better writer because it turns out that writing is the foundation of basically everything.  Your favorite movie started off as words on paper, your job opportunities are contingent on how well you write your resume.

And as a business owner, the foundation of everything I do, this blog, my newsletters, my YouTube videos, my ad copies, my email campaigns, my sales funnel… they all require effective writing.

I’ve also had to learn how to build a business end to end, from conceptualizing an idea, to creating an effective marketing and sales funnel, to building a supporting business infrastructure, my passive learning in corporate has turned into active learning as a solopreneur.

The benefit of this is that I now know how to make money independent of a paycheck.  I have not perfected this skill yet so I’m not going to claim to be another guru who’s unlocked the keys to easy wealth. But when you have foundations in these types of skills, your life completely changes because you’re not totally dependent on a 9-5 paycheck.

If I went back to a corporate job, and I was thoroughly dissatisfied, then I can just leave because I’m confident in my ability to create, market, and distribute digital products and services on my own.  Even if it’s not my calling, having this optionality once again shifts the power into my hands to dictate the terms of my life.

On that note, if you want to have a deeper discussion about this then book me for a 1-on-1 consultation, and I’ll give you the rundown. Honestly, at this point, especially with A.I. rendering a lot of highly skilled jobs obsolete, I think having a basic understanding of writing, marketing, sales, and back end business infrastructure are absolutely mandatory for survival in the future.

Aside from business, I’ve had to learn how to be more disciplined, and to structure my days. It turns out that when you have nowhere to be and very few immediate obligations, it’s very easy to be lazy and to succumb to lower frequency behaviors and habits.

So I’ve had to double down on mindfulness, and learning how to be very intentional with my life, with my relationships, with my time, etc.

4) I met many insanely interesting people.

About 4 or 5 days out of the week I go to a local calisthenics park near my house and it’s always full of people. This wasn’t intentional, but I continuously meet new people at this park.

Some are locals, and many others are just tourists on vacation.  But there’s a peculiar thing about calisthenics where people who embrace this style of workout, also seem to generally be comfortable with deviating from the traditional path.

So it happens that as I meet people through calisthenics particularly, but also by the sheer fact of being in Lisbon which is a hub for entrepreneurial spirits, my network of people with very interesting lifestyles has expanded significantly.

I’ve met countless people who were also deep in the Corporate life and left their comfortable situation to do something different.  Some branched off into starting businesses in their career field, others took a completely different route to become yoga instructors and the like.

Many are on spiritual and wellness journeys. Some have adopted alcohol-free lifestyles. Others have given up caffeine. Some have lived in 4 or 5 different countries. Some run ultramarathons. Most have some sort of online business.

I know one guy who was a dentist in Sweden, but gave up the prestigious job, and is now teaching “fit boxing” classes for fun.

This is in stark contrast to my corporate life where most people I interacted with were on a frequency tuned to comfort, stability, and routine. There’s less of an adventurous and risk-taking spirit.  That’s totally fine, but if you are trying to do something different with your life, and travel down an atypical path, then being in such an environment is most certainly a hinderance to your growth.

As humans we have a built-in survival mechanism to subconsciously adapt and assume similar attitudes about life as the people around us.  So if you’re around a bunch of risk averse people who value the stability of a paycheck every two weeks, then you’re far less likely to take on the risk of creating the life that you really want for yourself.

So by making this change, I’ve completely shifted the energy that I’m surrounded by, and it is fueling me to explore new territory that I previously would never have considered.

5) Shifted my perspective.

Not getting up and rushing off into the office every day changes you. Being able to wake up, pour a cup of coffee, take in the sunrise and then go work out in the park for a couple of hours is a different kind of existence.

Instead of navigating morning rush hour, my morning commute might be a leisurely stroll down cobblestone streets to a café serving up my favorite style of Portuguese coffee, known as a Galão (basically a latte).

I’ve really come to appreciate the value of slow living and flowing with the pace of nature. Society in general is very fast paced. Social media and short form content forces our brains to process more information in an hour than our ancestors probably would have processed in a lifetime.

I think back to all of the working lunches, or how most people spend the whole day in the office feeling like they have no time to take a couple of 15-minute walks outside to reset.

I think about how the human brain naturally follows an ultradian rhythm which is basically 90-120 minute periods of alertness followed by a 30-minute recovery period, but the typical office work disrupts this cycle with meetings and distractions scattered throughout the day.This has real effects on the mind and body.  In fact, a disrupted ultradian cycle can lead a host of cognitive, physical, and psychological effects.  Adding insult to injury, a chronically disrupted cycle prevents the brain from ever reaching peak focus and alertness.

So it’s possible that you’ve been operating suboptimally for years now and don’t realize it.

There is a time and place for everything. But after confirming what I have always suspected, I can definitively say now that corporate life, and to some respects, American culture, makes it incredibly difficult to be fully present in mind and in body.

I also think about the countless people I’ve encountered in the past who were depressed or miserable because they were passed up for a promotion, or they didn’t get a large enough annual pay bump, but despite this, take no action to change their situation leading to even deeper resentment.

It seems that, in a way, the promise of a steady paycheck, keeps  many people locked into a corporate environment that does not suit them well. From the outside looking in, this is insanity.

This leads me to my main point:

Which is that I'm now convinced everyone should weave sabbaticals or "mini-retirements" into their lives to reserve dedicated time away from the influences of corporate life so they can focus on other things.

Take a year off to go study something interesting. If you’re currently “funemployed” then good. Stay funemployed for a while unless you REALLY need a job. Pick up a copy of Million Dollar Weekend, then use your time to test out the business idea you’ve been thinking about for the past 5 years but never got around to starting.

If you have young kids, pull them out of day-care and spend time during their formative years actually being with them. Spend quality time with your partner. Travel around to catch up with old friends who you’ve lost touch with.

Go live somewhere different. Write a book. The possibilities are endless.

It's a truly life-changing experience, and if you seriously want to step away from the corporate life, either temporarily or permanently then remember to start with The Self-Reinvention Cheat Code so you can navigate the next stage of your life with clarity and focused energy that’ll leave the universe with no choice but to conspire in your favor.

And if you REALLY want to take things to the next level then pair the interactive guide with a coaching session so we can work together in custom designing your life.