David Vaucher on Ending His Career to Start His Life

[01:00] Paul: Welcome to The Boundless Podcast. I'm Paul Millerd, and I created this podcast because I'm passionate about making sense of the future of work and having conversations with the innovators, creators, and thought leaders who are carving their path in today's fast-changing world. You can check out the podcast and more on boundlesspod.com. David, I'm excited to talk to you today. I came across an article you wrote titled, I'm 33 and I'm Ending My Career to Start My Life. I was really excited upon reading this.

I think we have a lot of similarities in terms of leaving the corporate world and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your story. So first, it'd be great to just start and say, first, how is this new life going? You're starting it. And how would you introduce yourself now?

[02:05] David Vaucher: Well, thank you very much for having me, Paul. I definitely agree that we have a lot of commonalities and, and I'm, I'm just very excited that you reached out to me to talk about this. So I've been I guess you can— I don't want to call it retired. I thought it was going to be retirement, but it turns out that people like you, me, and probably others out there listening are kind of wired the same way in that there's never really a neutral gear. You're always sort of going forward towards something. So I have been unemployed since the 19th, so it's been almost a month exactly.

And funnily enough, I feel like there's less time now than there was when I was working. It's a different kind of time constraint, but I definitely feel like time goes by faster now.

[02:55] Paul: Yeah. What, what do you, so I saw you're doing a daily video vlog. What else, uh, are you finding that leaving the corporate world has unlocked certain things that you're more energized or more excited about?

[03:09] David Vaucher: For sure. Yeah. I mean, I think. You know, there's competing, I guess, there's some constraints but there's also some desires here. So, you know, you probably read in the article that I was going to retire and to an extent that's true. I mean, I definitely believe that I am over being told what to do unless it's obviously working with a client.

I mean, that's a different relationship.

[03:36] Paul: Right.

[03:36] David Vaucher: But in the sense that I don't care I don't care about a title anymore. I don't care about climbing a ladder. I really, even a high salary, right? I mean, this is kind of a tangential conversation, kind of my relationship towards owning stuff, which was a big theme of the article. I think I'm sort of over that. So in the sense that I'm not really working towards any, what you call typical markers of success, I definitely think I'm finished with that.

But I was always really curious and the thing that frustrated me the most about having to show up to an office every day— and this was a fair deal by the way, it's like you get paid money and you show up, I mean that's a fair deal— but in the end I grew tired of it because I didn't have time to learn the things that I wanted to learn. And so going back to your previous question on what am I doing, so the video log is one of them. Another one is obviously just trying to find clients to to work on things that I want to work on. But the education piece is huge. So I'm actually completing my third Udemy course right now, uh, on machine learning. And then I'm doing some programming as well.

So now that I have time to do more or less what I want, I'm finding that there's more that I want to do than there is time to actually do it.

[04:51] Paul: Interesting. So what were some of those moments where you first started to question, okay, maybe I don't want more things, or I don't really care about climbing the ladder?

[05:01] David Vaucher: That's a really good question. It's definitely been a process, but I would say that— so there's really two pieces to this. Ever since I came out of college, I always had this feeling that I didn't take orders very well. It was just this underlying— again, resentment might be a naive word, and I'm a millennial. You're a millennial. I think we're on the tail end of millennialism, if that's a word.

And so I definitely look back on some of the things that I did and I cringe a little bit because it was— there was some arrogance there. There probably was some me being naive, right? And I admit that. Having said that, I think, you know, you don't step out and do something kind of crazy unless you have those traits anyways. And so I always knew that I didn't take orders very well. And so that's where kind of my desire to So that actually— I'm sorry, so that actually first drove me to go to school.

So I went back to school twice while I worked and got two master's degrees. And that, that was the first stage. That was like, okay, you look at me and you think I'm young and I don't know anything. Okay, well, I'm going to show you, you know, on paper, like objectively, here's why I'm perfectly qualified to do this, right? So that was being a little bit— I don't want to say insolent, but it was, yeah, a little bit of that chip on my shoulder showing up in order to climb the corporate route. Then, as society started turning more towards entrepreneurship, I thought, "Wow, I've got all these interests.

Yeah, I'd like to do that. I'd like to start a business." Well, I started a blog and started some things here and there. They never really took off, but still kept at it, still kept doing things. Then my father died in 2014, and that's when I really started to question, "What am I doing here?" because he was an immigrant. He grew up poor back in France. And, you know, worked hard and, you know, I don't want to make up his thoughts for him.

I'm sure in his mind, you know, did what he had to. He raised a family and made things better for his kids, right? But in my mind, I was like, man, this is nuts. Like, you worked hard for this company. Just as you're about to retire, you know, you die and it's all taken from you. So like, what's the point of me following in that same path?

And then, so that was kind of the first, that was more like, okay, this corporate thing I really don't think is for me, but it pays well and I enjoy the things I'm buying with it. Well, so then, this is now 2014, then the work, this is when I joined the consulting firm. And as you said, you worked for McKinsey before. It's super high pressure, but you learn a ton, right?

[07:38] Paul: Right.

[07:38] David Vaucher: And so I was learning a lot, but the pressure was also getting really, really high. And so What I found was I was getting more and more stressed just because it was self-imposed. I read actually a history of McKinsey a couple years back, and the line that always sticks out is that the perfect McKinsey consultant is someone highly intelligent but incredibly insecure because they're always wondering, am I doing the right thing? This isn't perfect. What are they going to think of me?

[08:09] Paul: Yeah, it's that imposter syndrome.

[08:11] David Vaucher: It's exactly what it is. So, what I found was the stress was building and building and I was seeing the person who is now my wife, Allison, and we got married and we started looking at all the things that married people buy, like a big house and a bigger car. I was like, "If I buy this, I'm going to fill it with more stuff and the stress that I have on me, it's going to be like this is it. I can't get out of this." And so that's when I really started thinking, gosh, like I go to work and I buy things, but I don't use most of the things I buy. And I'm frustrated. I don't get to work on what I want to work on.

And so what am I doing? And so it's just, I apologize for the long-winded answer, but it just, no, no, this is a lot.

[08:54] Paul: This is, this is great.

[08:56] David Vaucher: So it just goes to show you, like, if I could just give the summary, um, it definitely was this internal thing inside of me that was driving me. And over the course of, you know, 11 years since school, it just, it's manifested itself in different ways until it really all crystallized recently. And I was like, okay, I've got all these savings now. I really, I don't know quite what I want to do going forward, but I have an idea. Uh, it's now or never. And, uh, and here I am.

[09:20] Paul: Right. Yeah. I, that definitely resonates with me. I think, I think for most people early in career, you're just trying to prove yourself. And like you said, you tried to do that through different jobs and, um, going to grad school, but, uh, there's, it sounds like you also had that underlying urge of, okay, maybe I'm not the perfect fit for this. Um, and, uh, yeah, thanks for sharing.

I mean, it, uh, sounds like you went through a lot with your father. Um, was that something that really snuck up on you, caused you to step back?

[09:52] David Vaucher: So he, without getting too much into it, he actually had So 3 different cancers over the course of 3 years, and the 3rd time was the one that unfortunately that was the end for him. But I think what, beyond that, I think he had worked for this company, this big company, for over 20 years. And he actually ended up, the way he was let go was he had to train his replacements who were cheaper overseas, and then he was kind of let go. And he was, to be fair, to the company. He was let go with a good package, like he was taken care of. But he was let go.

And what struck me was at the end, his coworkers weren't there. It was just his family, right? And so after—

[10:34] Paul: Interesting, yeah.

[10:36] David Vaucher: So after all that happened, and again, I can't ascribe thoughts to him. I think, again, I go back to his was the immigrant story. Story, which is that you work hard, you raise your situation, and then hopefully your kids can be in a position to make choices. So I think in his mind, he probably did everything he was supposed to. But at the same time, me being the generation lower, seeing him go through everything he did and then sort of having— it's just like it's over. You know what I mean?

It made me realize that you have one life. So in the same way that there will never be a Bernard Mouchet anymore, like once I'm gone, that's it. I mean, there's really no do-overs, right? And you can't take any of what you accumulate with you. And so you really want to make sure that what you're doing in your— time is extremely short. I mean, I think what— it's interesting that one of my interests is mechanical watches just because of the engineering and the design.

But like, I think about time a lot. And one of the underlying themes of the article I wrote was is projecting myself forward. So I always, every day, project myself into the future for whatever decision I make, right? So if someone asks me to do something unethical, I'm projecting myself 10 years down the line and thinking, okay, how would my life end up if I made this wrong choice? Or in the case of the article, what is my life gonna be like in 50 or 60 years, 70 years hopefully when I'm on my deathbed? What am I gonna think?

Worst case, like, okay, what happens next week if I just walk in front of the road and get plowed over by a bus? You know, so I think my— it's, it's grim, right? But I think that seeing my dad go through what he did relatively young— I think he was 59 when he died— um, it makes you think we only have one life, and if we don't do what we want to do immediately, uh, with some planning obviously, you know, next thing you know it's 30 years later and you have regret and really nothing to show for it. At least that's, that's what was motivating me to do this.

[12:41] Paul: Right. No, thanks for sharing. I think, um, some of what you said definitely resonates. I, uh, I remember losing a grandfather and also coming to the same conclusion, realizing that, uh, nobody he ever worked with was there at the end, right? It's, uh, it's, it's the people close to you. And, uh, that's, uh, definitely something I think about a lot.

[13:02] David Vaucher: Yep.

[13:03] Paul: So when, in 2017, you, you did a lot. You kind of glossed over before. Um, left your job, um, took over, uh, your retirement home, which was, I, I believe your father's home in the French countryside.

[13:21] David Vaucher: Yep.

[13:22] Paul: Um, got engaged and married. So, yeah. Uh, where did that, where did that all come from?

[13:28] David Vaucher: Yeah, so man, this is— okay, Paul, I want, I want you to stop me if this gets— because if so, if this gets long-winded, tell me. And I think this goes back to the difficulty that you were talking about earlier, is that nothing happens overnight. Everything builds. And if I try to tell everyone, here's how I did it, there's no way they could say they could apply it to themselves, because all you're doing is trying to make the next step forward. And it might not make sense in the big picture, but it keeps you going forward, and so it ends up working out, right? And so I don't want to get too detailed, but it was a little bit roundabout.

So basically I'd been seeing my girlfriend at the time, but my wife now. So we actually got, we've been seeing each other probably 4 and a half years when we got engaged in summer of 2016. And that was kind of spur of the moment. I mean, I knew I was going to ask her, but we were in Paris on vacation because I'm French. And long story short, we went to visit a jewelry store to look at watches. And I knew she was going to be angry if I looked at watches and there were rings there.

And so I said, we should just, you know, we should just do this. So please pick out a ring. And, uh, and, and that was it. So yeah, I mean, people might say it's not very romantic, but the theme of all this is going to be that I tend to just make a decision and go for it. So we got engaged. And then, so 2017 comes along and, um, we had been talking about weddings and things like that.

And again, it's the theme of like, you know, I think the average price for a wedding in the States is $35,000, and that's a giant amount of money.

[15:01] Paul: And that might be the discounted cost in Texas.

[15:06] David Vaucher: In Texas, Campbell, there you go.

[15:07] Paul: A little more expensive in the Northeast.

[15:09] David Vaucher: So there you go. And so we just got to talking like, you know, what is this for? You know, that's a huge chunk of money. So February 2017 rolls around, and it turns out that one of my good family friends is an internet ordained minister. So he signed our papers on his kitchen table basically, and we were married. So it was like a free wedding basically, which was awesome.

I have 6 wedding pictures, one of which is in the article. So that was exciting. And then, you know, that was great. I mean, that was I've reached a significant milestone in my life. But this whole dissatisfaction with my job was sticking around and I would just come home angry and not angry, I would never take it out on my wife and it wasn't anger at any particular thing at work. I mean, the company I left is fantastic, the people are great.

It's just anger at, I felt trapped because yeah, I mean, the paycheck was good and there's always that fear of like, "What if? What am I doing?" So I was just angry. And at the same time, this was when I was thinking, "Do I want a bigger house and a bigger car?" And thankfully, because I stuck around at my job, I had a fair amount of savings saved up. And so I looked at where the world was going and what I wanted to do, and I said, "If I do leave my job, I don't want to just flutter around and not have anything to show for it. I want at least one tangible thing I can show. And I had enough saved up to do this one big thing.

And I said, okay. So we have this house in France, which it's— France is old. I mean, America is old-ish. The rest of the world is old. And so France—

[17:00] Paul: No, I definitely get that. When you go to Europe, they're like, this building is 5,000 years old. And I'm in Boston and we're impressed by some something that's 300 years old.

[17:11] David Vaucher: [Speaker:JOSH] Yeah, exactly. And so, this place, I looked into it. It's a 600-year-old large house, which it sounds fancier than it really is because it's livable, but it needs a ton of work. And this was going to be my dad's dream was to fix it up because he spent his summers there and we in turn spent our summers there. And so, I said, "I've got enough to make a decent house out of this." And I guess I rationalized it several ways. First was, well, this is where I want to retire anyway, so worst case I have my retirement home.

And second case is, in the meantime, if anything happens to me, like I did go totally broke and bankrupt, as long as I can get back into the country, then I'm good. I'll never be homeless. So that was the second, like, oh crap moment was, OK, I'm really going to do this. Because once you're in, you're in. I mean, you're paying the contractors. You're in.

Moment number 2, and that was probably actually right around the same time. It was like February, March, so shortly after we got married. And then a third big moment was December of— so December 5th was when I turned in my notice, and that was when I said, okay, like, you know, I'm done with this. So yeah, getting married, putting it all into the house, and then leaving my job. That was 2017 for me. Awesome.

[18:30] Paul: And how were you feeling that day on December 5th? And how do you feel relatively today?

[18:38] David Vaucher: Great question. So what happened on December 5th, December 4th, actually, so December 5th was a Tuesday. December 4th was a Monday. And like many people, I was kind of, you know, I showed up and I was like, I give myself the pep talk, you know, like, okay, I am. And here's what I want anyone listening to understand is that My reasoning, I never ever turned in what I thought was substandard work because I wasn't happy. Like, I'm a professional.

I did the best I could because I was paid to do that and I was paid well. But I always got the feeling that first I was unhappy, but B, I just felt dishonest with the company because, you know, they were paying me X and if they can pay someone else for whom like this was really their thing, they'd get a bigger investment, right? And so like I would just always have to give myself a pep talk every every week of like, man, like, you know, is this the day when I finally just say I've had it? And wouldn't it be better because then I'm happy, the company gets a better return, etc., etc.? So I get into work on Monday morning at 7:30 and I already had, you know, quite a full plate of things to do. And it was the holidays, so I figured, you know, it'll be a little bit quiet these next couple weeks, I can recharge.

I just need to get through this stuff. Well, 7:30, I'm sitting at my desk. I was probably the only one in the office at the time. And someone comes back in— and I'm sure you've heard this, someone say this to you, Paul. They're like, hey, so what are you working on? And I was just like, oh, man.

You know what I mean? It's a very office space moment. You've got lumber behind you. Well, this one was like, hey, what are you working on? And so I just thought, oh, man. And it was the standard request of, you know, partner needs something done, there's a meeting.

[20:21] Paul: Right.

[20:21] David Vaucher: And, and for some reason, like, because I thought I was gonna get to recharge and because I already had a bunch of other stuff, I was like, mentally, obviously, I was like, you know what? No, like, no, I just, for some reason, this was my breaking point. And so I always try and think things through. And so I said, you know what, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this like today, but I want to make sure I'm, you know, squared away with this mentally. So Monday the 4th, you know, ticks by and I tell my wife when I get home and I say, hey, look, Allison, here's how I'm, here's how I'm feeling. And I've always been talking about, you know, leaving my job.

And I think I just, I can't do it anymore. I think this is it for me. I also want you to know that I've got a plan and I've been obviously pitching her this plan the last couple of weeks. And I just want you to know like this plan we've talked about, there's several milestones to it. You've seen me working on the side to learn new things, to try new things, and here's how much I've got just of liquid savings. And so he was like, okay.

I mean, you know, she— we're very different, and I think consultants generally, they're good at making decisions, right? And the reason people hire consultants is because they want decisions made. And so, you know, my wife, who who I love very much obviously, is not someone who will just say like, "Yes, let's do that." And so it's always kind of up to me to say, "Okay, here's where I think we should go with this." And the reason I'm saying this is because occasionally I just want her to say like, "That is a terrible, terrible idea and you should not do it." And she has not. And I guess maybe she just trusts me, which is fantastic. But she was like, "Okay, if you really feel that way, I know you're unhappy." you should do it. And so I said, "Okay." And so the next test was, all right, I wake up Tuesday on the 5th, do I still feel okay with this decision?

Do I wake up and think, "Oh man, I'm glad I didn't do anything rash," or do I wake up and feel like, "No, I gotta do this." And so that was it. I woke up and said, "No, I have to do this." So I wrote my resignation, printed it, turned it in at the office, and that was it. Fast forward to now, which is how do I feel about it? I mean, obviously I'm uncertain about the future, but in no way do I regret my past decision. Like now it's all about, okay, I've done this. What do I do to make this work going forward?

It's not like, oh wow, that was a horrible decision. I need my job back. So it's, it's, it's good in that sense. Like I'm looking forward. I'm not looking back.

[22:55] Paul: Right. Yeah. I, I've found that people often when they think about these jumps, they don't take the next step of saying, okay, how, How could I get back to where I was, right? And for you, I'm sure you could probably get a similar job, but sure, uh, you also have that second, um, aspect where you're kind of looking into the future and saying, okay, at 60 years old, who do I want to be? And that probably, uh, drives you further than, um, worrying about getting back to where you were.

[23:26] David Vaucher: That's right. That's right. I think when people think about making choices too much. Well, I say too much, so I'm not trying to speak for any broad swath of population, but people focus a lot on the pain rather than the outcome. I'm not going to lie. Yeah, I've got savings, but I definitely can't take my wife out to eat like we used to.

I can't just buy any old thing that I care about. It's not a huge sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice, right? At the same time, I tell myself, you know what? Temporary because best case, I end up being more successful than I would have been at the firm. And in that case, I can go back to my old behaviors. Or I make less money, I buy less stuff, but I've got freedom and so I'm better off.

So I think at the moment, yeah, I'm in transition. It's not ideal, but I acknowledge it and I say, "You know what? This is just the necessary thing to get to the next step." that and then just keep moving forward.

[24:26] Paul: Right. Yeah. So if you think back, like when you were young, uh, do you have moments when you kind of knew you weren't cut out for this default path or was it mostly, uh, once you were in these, uh, larger organizations?

[24:41] David Vaucher: Yeah, no, that's a great question. And there's two, two ways that I would answer that. So first is that you and I, I think we're probably pretty similar in ages, so I'm 33. Uh, we, I think, were probably the last generation where entrepreneurship wasn't kind of the default path, you know. I think for most people, certainly my age, it was very much like go to school, right? Yeah, you had to get work for a company and, you know, kind of do the traditional thing, right?

[25:10] Paul: So, well, I think it's interesting because when we graduated college, um, I tell people this now graduating college, it was kind of hard to figure out like what jobs are out there. There was no Facebook, people didn't News, LinkedIn. There was very limited information. And now you can kind of see all these paths, and I think a lot more has changed than people realize. But sorry to cut you off, but yeah.

[25:36] David Vaucher: No, no. So you're right. And so the other part was to, again, just going back to my upbringing, immigrant father, like go to school, get a job, and just kind of live your life that way. And so I actually To be honest with you, my childhood, I worked a lot, but I also had a very non— what's the word? Non— it didn't stand out very much. I hung out with the neighbors.

I played video games. I worked hard because my dad told me to. But I certainly didn't have any particular interest that would peg me as any kind of prodigy or anything like that. And so I liken it to— so when I graduated, I had this, again, like this inner chip on my shoulder, which I don't think came from anywhere in my upbringing. I just knew that this is weird. I don't like showing up to work.

I've done all the right things, and yet I don't feel happy. So what is this? So I kind of liken it to steering the Titanic a little bit, because I was molded in a certain way growing up, and now I've had to, over the past 10 or 11 years undo all of that to go on the path I'm on now. So short answer to your question is no. I had a very, you know, save for the strict father with regards to school, I had a very normal childhood. And then I've just had to figure everything out since graduating college.

[26:59] Paul: I love it. So I want to shift gears a bit. I see you've written a lot. Me personally, I'm often surprised at how much writing has really helped me gain clarity and also just connect with other awesome people. What role has writing been or has it played for you?

[27:22] David Vaucher: So I started writing because I just had a lot of opinions and I didn't feel like people were listening to me. So no, I mean, again, I resonate with that as well.

[27:32] Paul: I think writing for me has been what am I excited about or what pisses me off?

[27:36] David Vaucher: Yeah, exactly. Like, so my first, my first real piece that had an impact was, um, so I, I come, you know, dad was in oil and gas, so I've— most of my background's oil and gas. And there was a magazine written for oil and gas young professionals, and I wrote a letter to the editor, and I got invited on board to basically be part of the editorial team. And I got to write about stuff that I liked, but then I felt that the topic was limited and it was a limited audience, and so I felt I could broaden it. So the next step was to pitch it to the local paper here in Houston, the Houston Chronicle. So I blogged for them.

And then all of this was obviously just honing what I wanted to say and how to say it. And then from there, once you've got a certain confidence level built up, you can kind of write about anything. And so for me, it was just, it was an outlet, but it's also been very helpful just to my career. I mean, when I wrote that piece on LinkedIn, the one that you found me through, it had 155,000— I think it's got 155,000 views so far. So I mean, it's done well. And I don't want to say that I knew it was happening, but at the same time, I've been doing this long enough where I know like how to structure a story, what kind of title gets the right impact, you know, all these things that have to come together perfectly.

I had an idea of what they were going to be. So had that been my first piece, I don't think it would have had the same impact as if it were my 200th piece, which it probably was somewhere around there. So it's been huge, just like in my career, getting my thoughts across, just personally. Being able to use it as an outlet and then for this next stage of my life, getting some good positive feedback and following so I can launch the next step in my life. Awesome.

[29:34] Paul: If you had to reflect back in the corporate world and you had to say, "What's one thing we should change about organizations and how they currently operate?" What is your recipe they should be thinking about?

[29:48] David Vaucher: Oh man, that's— I know this is your topic, Paul, so I'm sure this is something we could talk about at length. I think what always bothered me the most, and this is probably what, you know, just made that chip bigger, was that all of these corporations claim to be meritocratic, but it's certainly in oil and gas. It always just seemed to come down to like, well, who is like the oldest? Right? Right.

[30:14] Paul: Smartest guy in the room.

[30:15] David Vaucher: Yeah, you could just substitute old for experience and like, boom, like the youngest guy in the room just gets shut down on it for a completely arbitrary thing, right? And I don't want to take away from legitimate experience. I mean, I look at things differently now, you know, in 2018 than I did in 2006 when I graduated from school. So it's not to take away from people who have actual experience over time. But in the corporate world, there's plenty of people who just show up every day and they will always, or most of the time it seems to me, that they would end up carrying things because they had "experience." And so the reason I got so frustrated in the end with corporate was I felt like I was doing all the things I was supposed to to do to get ahead, right? I mean, going back to school twice while I worked, right?

So I didn't lose any job experience. Doing the networking thing, doing the writing thing. And I just, I still felt like I was kind of moving along at the same pace as everyone else. And so I think companies like to say they're meritocratic, but if you look at it, I guess this could be the millennial in me talking, Paul, I don't know. I just, I felt like it just seemed like it's a word that gets used but not really applied. Into corporate structure.

[31:34] Paul: Yeah, no, I, I think you hit the nail on the head. I think when companies talk about meritocracy, they don't often think about what are they being meritocratic about. It often is, uh, awarding points for rank, status, or experience, like you said. And, uh, I think we've also just seen a shift in the workforce, right? So a lot— the work has become more complex, more creative, which means the people actually doing the work are more valuable, but we're still scoring it like the old system. And I think you're seeing things like Ray Dalio, and he's talking about the idea meritocracy, and the real power is thinking about ideas and creativity and what people are putting out there into the world rather than some of the old paradigms, which might have made sense at one time, but I think that's changing.

I love it.

[32:32] David Vaucher: So no, I, so I will say the one thing I will add to that, just to build on it, is that I, I thought, you know, obviously I think highly of myself because I think I can make this work on my own. And so part of it I left was to prove myself. But to your point on this, uh, the, the value of an idea, I was thinking, okay, if my ideas are in fact good, and that's still to be determined, but if they are, then I'd like to, rather than have to run it up the chain and have it come back down again, or just run it up the chain and have it die, I want to see it through myself. And so if my ideas are really that good, then the only way I can actually validate that is by doing it myself. So yeah, I think ideas have tremendous value. And the only way I felt I could test my own was to try it myself.

Awesome.

[33:25] Paul: Yeah, yeah, I love that. I think that's one of the one unexpected things I've liked about being a freelancer is you put your ideas into the world and a lot of them flop, but you're doing it fast, you're getting the feedback and you have responsibility for what you're putting out there. So I love that. So I'll let it slide giving you two ideas to change organizations, but I think they need a lot of help. If you had to give one piece of advice for somebody thinking about building up the courage to take that leap, what would you tell them?

[34:03] David Vaucher: Definitely don't do it because you had a bad day or a bad week. I mean, this is not something that you do—

[34:10] Paul: Do not try this at home.

[34:12] David Vaucher: No, well, and this is always the tough thing, right, is a lot of responses to the article were like, "Man, tell me how you did it." And it's like, well, even if I told you, I just don't know it could apply to you. I mean, the first thing that you have to really be comfortable with is you have to have self-awareness to say like, do you like the idea of it or do you actually want to do it? Because there are people, and this is fine, like there are people who just show up to work every day. And they turn in, they leave, they get paid well, and that's fine. It's not to take away from what other people are doing, but I know that to me, deep down, I felt every day that this is not for me. I feel like I'm trapped and I dislike this very strongly.

And unless you have that level of discomfort, first of all, I think that That's the first test, right? You have to know really deep within yourself, like, am I doing it because everyone else is doing it, or am I doing it because I really, really dislike where I'm at now? Second thing is you definitely have to have a financial cushion and plan. Like, I'm very lucky. You know, I have my wife, she's a teacher. It's a steady job.

I get health insurance, which that's another whole thing, but that factored into my thinking, right? Was like, I need health health insurance? Or do I have to— if I don't, you know, am I gonna have to be on the first plane back to France and get national healthcare, right? I mean, these were all things that I thought about. So you need to have a plan where you have, you know, your savings lined up, you have contingencies, and you think of most things that could realistically go wrong if you were to do this.

[35:55] Paul: And then finally, sounds like you're approaching it like an engineer. I like it.

[35:59] David Vaucher: I mean, you, you have to, right? Because at the end of the day And people can laugh at this, but I could have very easily, had I not been married, quit my job on December— left on December— so December 19th when I left, my benefits ran out on basically January 1st. I could have slipped on one of the ice patches that we had the last 2 days, broken my arm, and then boom, there goes all my savings. I mean, this is not impossible, but also not It's a very probable thing even though it's unlikely, right? And so yeah, I definitely thought through every possible thing that could go wrong and how I mitigated it. Next thing you have to have— so first one was the intrinsic, like, I feel uncomfortable.

Second is the plan. Third, you need to have the financial plan. Third is you need to have some kind of idea, a very concrete idea of what you're going to do with milestones. So for me, I don't want to go too deep into it in this question, but there was a plan. Here's what I'm going to do. Here's my goals, and here's how I'm going to achieve it.

That's the third thing. And then the fourth thing you have to have is really just doing it. I'm only speaking from my own experience here, but it's going to get to a point where it builds up, it builds up, it builds up, and you're going to feel like you have more to lose staying because you're ready to go. I felt like, "No, I've got a plan. Now I just need to execute on it." And at some point someone's going to say something and you're going to say like, nope, I'm done. And it's just going to like, you're not going to be able to stop it.

It's just going to come without you knowing. So it's a process. Uh, it shouldn't be done all at once, but when, when you know, you'll know, it'll, it'll just, you'll be ready for it.

[37:40] Paul: I love it. I, uh, I think you have another article right there.

[37:44] David Vaucher: Yeah. Yeah. Um, in between all the other things I've got to try and get done, but, uh, yeah, definitely.

[37:51] Paul: Perfect. Uh, what, what are one or two things you've either, uh, read or watched in the last, uh, year that's really inspired you?

[38:00] David Vaucher: That's so— several people have asked me that question, and I'll just be upfront with my reading habits. So I don't read— I used to read a ton of fiction books when I was younger. I don't read a lot of books now. I tend to just look at periodicals every day. So I read like New York Times for economics, and I might read The Washington Post as well. So I've got a whole list of periodicals that I read and go through.

And actually, I think that has been quite helpful because that's a habit I've had for the last couple of years. And I mean, look, I'll be open. I lean quite heavily left. I'm European, whatever, young. So people can read into that what they want. But for me, that definitely played into like, well, how do I view the world?

And like, what is my role in creating it if I stay on the same path? And so just by reading these various sources, which they've got their own biases, every source does, but like, right, I would read about, okay, like, here's how, you know, this policy is being enacted, or like, you know, this, the economy is doing this because of that. And so over time, I just figured out this crystallized this worldview inside of me that like, "Okay, this is the path I want to be on and I feel comfortable living." Now, if people want to ask me specifically, "What is it that you've read that has helped you?" I always— and people are going to read into this, which is fine— but I love reading Paul Krugman for economics. I get a lot from him just in terms of how the economy works. I've learned a lot from reading him. And then that's it.

I mean, so that's the only kind of hardcore, like, consistent thing I like to read. Everything else is just keeping up with current events and trying to make my decisions based off of that.

[39:50] Paul: Great stuff. Where can people find you and keep up to date with you?

[39:55] David Vaucher: Oh man, so hopefully if I do my job right, the question is like, where do they not find you? But so—

[40:01] Paul: Well, are we invited to France?

[40:03] David Vaucher: Yeah, you definitely are, Paul. We're friends now, so for sure. If you want to do one of these episodes from the courtyard, you're welcome.

[40:10] Paul: I love it. When are you officially moving there?

[40:13] David Vaucher: Yeah, so that's another— I've gotten several questions about this. Well, I'll answer the first part. So I'm on LinkedIn quite actively just because it's easy to use and it makes sense, the platform. I've got the YouTube blog which people can check out. Just David Vaucher is the channel. And then those are really the two big ones.

I do everything I can to answer emails and messages and comments. There's usually some delay, but I do sincerely try and get to all of them. But those are the main ones. So YouTube, LinkedIn, and then any of the associated email addresses people can use as well. In terms of when we're going to be moving there. So in my head, it's clear as day because I think about it all the time.

Obviously, I'm married, and so we have to consider what my wife wants, and she loves her job. And so I think what I've settled on is— and one of the questions you sent me, Paul, beforehand was, what am I trying to get out of life? And I think really what I'm trying to get at— and this was probably what I was trying to get at when I was thinking of starting a business all those times— it wasn't so much starting the business. It was just the freedom that I would have. If that business took off. And now I realize I don't know that I need a huge business to be free, right?

I mean, like, my wife makes a good salary. Hopefully just freelancing with my skill set, I can live comfortably. And so I think if you ask me, like, what does success look like? Success to me is that in a year's time, I have enough money to where anytime my wife has a break from school, I can buy 2 tickets back to France and spend the vacation there. That's it. So it's not a permanent move.

We'd have our little apartment here in Houston. We'd have the house in France. And just anytime I felt like going over there, I could go. I mean, that's really it. I don't care for a giant house. I don't care for a fancy car.

I just want to be able to go back and forth as I please with my wife. That's it.

[42:13] Paul: I love it. Well, this has been really fun. I appreciate you sharing your story. We'll have to touch base down the road and see how your early retirement is going.

[42:24] David Vaucher: Yeah, definitely. Definitely would love that.