Shaun Boyd can tell you that change is hard. After realizing that the monotonous cycle of his day job was slowly crushing his enthusiasm, Shaun decided it was time for a personal reboot. And thus, LifeReboot.com was born.  Through his blog, Shaun embraces his love of writing while sharing his wisdom with thousands of readers, offering them advice, insight, and honesty about the daunting process of living the life you truly want.  And now, Shaun has kindly agreed to share his story with Scinti readers.

What led you to create LifeReboot.com? How would you define the purpose of your blog?

Honestly, I first created LifeReboot with selfish intents.  I saw other bloggers earning my yearly salary from blog advertisements alone, and I wanted to mimic their success.  The idea of having a website that earned money for me was extremely appealing, not only for the money, but also for the lifestyle–earning money automatically, without having to work a soul-crushing day job?  Yes, please!

With this selfish aim in mind, I quit my job and started LifeReboot.  I wrote articles often, and tried to gain some momentum in the blogosphere.  Turns out, blogging is hard!  Developing new ideas for original content, writing consistently each day, and growing an audience takes a tremendous amount of discipline.  After only a year, my savings ran out, and it was clear that I needed a day job to make ends meet.  Consequently, I work a soul-crushing day job, but commit my evenings and weekends to writing in my blog.

I believe that LifeReboot serves three purposes:

1) It’s a creative outlet for my thoughts and experiences,

2) Readers relate to me as someone who desperately wants more out of life–I’m trapped in the rat race, doing what I must do to get by, but I’m always wanting to be doing something more fulfilling.

3) It chronicles my trials and triumphs during my journey to reinvent myself.  Today, miserable computer tech support guy.  Tomorrow, happy and successful writer?

Your blog focuses a lot on active choices–on things we can do to ensure that we are moving forward and pursuing lives of happiness.  What were some of the most important changes you made in the way you live to improve your quality of life?

It starts with awareness.  There was a point in my life where I was so miserable that I was suicidal.  I felt like my life was pointless:

“Wake, work, blah, sleep, repeat.

Repeat until dead.”

What was the point?  Life was overwhelming me because I thought I was trapped, because nothing would ever change.

I was unhappy and believed that my only way out was to “quit” life altogether.

“The truth is, the way out wasn’t to stop living, it was to start living.“

I woke up.  I stopped sleepwalking through life and became aware of the fact that I could consciously change my life for the better.

I quit my dead-end job.  I sold, donated, or threw away all of the stuff in my apartment that was weighing me down.  I moved away from my overbearing parents, cut ties with any friends that had negative “you”ll never make it” attitudes, and tried earning a new living 600 miles from home, doing only what I wanted to do. I spent most days in the local library reading and writing.  It was the best year of my life.

What I’ve learned, though, is that once you wake up the human inside of you, it can’t be put back to sleep.  Ever since I’ve had to re-join the working dead, and started experiencing the “wake-work-repeat” cycle once more, I feel like I’m being treated like a robot.  Answer the phone, type on the computer.  Be here for 8 hours, work for half of that.  I’m not alive at my job, I’m just trading away the days of my youth for “job security,” if there even is such a thing.

The point, I suppose, is that the most important change is to recognize that change is possible. If something about your life isn’t what you want it to be, then you have to make a conscious effort to change it.

What are some changes you still hope to make?

I want a career.  I’ve had jobs, but I’ve never enjoyed them.  I desperately want to be in a situation where I’m not miserable on Sunday nights, where I’m not dreading waking up to get ready for my work each morning, where I’m actually capable of looking forward to my workday with a smile on my face.  I want to be able to answer the question “So what do you do?” with excitement, and to talk about my career with pride.  Like many others, I find myself sacrificing what I want to do for the things that I must do.

Do you have any personal roadblocks that create challenges for you as you work toward positive change in your life?  How do you overcome them?

Anyone that has ever had reason to complain about their life has experienced some form of a personal roadblock.  For me, the most significant obstacle to overcome came about this past year, when my girlfriend Cassie was diagnosed with cancer.

In all relationships, there’s a constant give-and-take where you make personal sacrifices for the sake of others.  When Cassie had to stop working to focus on her health, I understood how my life really isn’t only about me anymore–we were in this thing together.

The best thing that I could do for her was to be there for her.  It meant putting my needs aside for a while while we attended to hers.  Priorities changed.  Being selfish wasn’t an option.  Our real lives were put on pause for a year while we focused on her recovery.

It has been a very tough year.  We managed to overcome it together by taking it one day at a time, and being positive about the situation.  yes, cancer is scary, but thankfully she was diagnosed with a form that’s curable.  Within a year, she was cured.

What advice would you give to someone who is just beginning his or her own personal Life Reboot?

1) Take a moment to imagine the very worst that could happen. You’ll probably notice that the worst isn’t really that bad.  Maybe the worst is that you’ll be wrong, and be somewhat embarrassed.  Get rid of these fears that prevent you from living your life.

2) Expect people to be negative, even the people closest to you.  Family and friends will relentlessly try to steer you towards a “safe” path in life, where your actions fall in line with what they always imagined for you.  Remember that it’s your life–so do what you are, and not what others want you to be.

3) Fail the first time.  Making mistakes is the best way to learn to adapt to change.  Try again with new knowledge.  Never let anyone boo you off the stage.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Take everything that I say objectively.  I’m not some proctor of infinite wisdom–I’m just an ordinary guy that wants change, who recognizes that change is tough.  The hardest thing about change is starting.  Once you’ve started, though, the hardest thing about change is following through.  Change is tricky like that, but if you want it enough, you’ll find a way to persevere.

Thank you for taking the time to share with us, Shaun.

To learn more about Shaun and his thoughts on “rebooting,” visit him at LifeReboot.com.