I used to work in computer support. I was good at it and it paid the bills, but it wasn’t very fulfilling.

After a while I realized that I was suffering from a lifestyle where the bad aspects outweighed the good ones. Money, benefits, feeling safe in the comfort of routine, and job perks were all good, but they didn’t measure up to the fundamental bad: At the end of the day, the job left me unfulfilled.

I’m sure that’s the case with all jobs. There are ups and downs, two sides to every coin, and your attitude is reflective of your perspective. When you concentrate on the good aspects of your job, it’s easy to ignore the bad ones — no matter how bad it really is.

If you concentrate on the bad aspects, however, you might consider if the good is really worth it. For me, working a job that left me feeling unfulfilled was job suicide. Consequently, I left my job in pursuit of a life where the good might outweigh the bad.

I began writing. Specifically, professional blogging. I write articles for a website and earn income from donations and advertisements. It quickly became clear what was good about my new career choice:

The Good

1. I’m enjoying myself.

Now that I’ve embraced what I like to do, I look forward to each “workday.” I use the term loosely because it doesn’t actually feel like work. I willingly drive to my local library each day and compose my writings on the public PCs there, because I want to.

2. I have an incredible amount of freedom.

This morning I got out of bed around 8:15am to check my site earnings. While I was sleeping, LifeReboot earned me about $25. This is the beauty of earning passive income online — I earn money when I’m not working. As I’m writing this very article, hundreds of people are reading my website, potentially clicking advertisements or making donations. The same is true for when I’m out to dinner, stuck in traffic, or away on vacation.

3. I receive genuine encouragement from interested readers.

It’s never easy to strike out on your own, but I have a lot of respect for anybody willing to take the risks you have. Good luck.

I love to see young guys like you with so much wisdom and understanding of what you are building right now. Live life on your terms… You inspire me!

I want to thank you for lighting the fire within me, and changing my life for the better. I was a tech support specialist for 10yrs and within last few months started to think about my lifestyle. It just wasn’t fun, and everything you said in the “top 10 things doesn’t pay to be computer guy” was dead on. After reading your “top 10” article, I got the courage to hand in my resignation. I’m now starting a new business selling women’s dresses (can you believe it!)

Just had to say, this is a great site. Thanks for existing.

Thanks for a great article! It’s ironic that I’ve come across it today – last Friday I finished my present job at a bank – I didn’t enjoy it, and couldn’t see it going anywhere for me. Today is my first day of being unemployed, I don’t have anything to go to yet, but I feel totally liberated, simply because I made a choice to take control of my future! Suddenly, there are so many possibilities, so many different directions I could go, I’m spoilt for choice! Sometimes you’ve got to take a risk, and see what happens! Thanks for reassuring me in my decision.

dude, everything you write is so true. i’m a fan

Now I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, but your articles have been so inspiring that I had to respond to your stimulation. I read the web more than I can probably digest but never do I comment on anything. Well today, all of that have changed. I came across your articles at a time where I feel like selling everything and move out of state also to some degree. I love the way you write and love what you have to say. I predict you’ll be very successful at what you love to do, whatever that might be.

I just want to say that your site is absolutely brilliant. I myself have had several blogs, and my newest is trying to crack the digg demographic, maybe we could chat and share tips sometime. Congratulations on your success.

Your writing style is incredibly unique, and your advice for life is solid and useful. Keep it up – I’m curious to see where this blog will go in the future!

Just want to say thanks for an awesome site. Truly informative articles coupled with a wicked sense of humor.

To everyone who has sent me words of encouragement — Thank you. It is supportive readers like you that help inspire me to continue writing.

Of course, not everything about this new life I’ve created for myself is good.

The Bad

1. I live with an abundance of uncertainty.

When I began writing, there was no guarantee that my efforts would amount to anything. I was writing for myself, because I had virtually no audience. There was no immediate payoff, as my typical daily earnings were $0 even though I was putting in many hours of work. Four months into this experiment, I’m seeing a constant upward trend in both my audience and the site earnings, but there’s still a fair amount of uncertainty as to the future of LifeReboot.

2. I am often a victim of plagiarism.

As my site has become more and more popular, I’ve run into more and more instances where someone has copied my content and published it to their own website, blog, or forum. In most cases, the offender links back to my original article on LifeReboot — there are a few, however, who try to disguise my work as their own. I’ve written about my reaction to these people already, in my Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff article.

3. I receive hateful discouragement from the majority of readers.

For every person that likes something I write, there are two people that hate it. Thanks to the anonymity of the Internet, these people aren’t shy about their feelings:

I would suppose your two friends to be saying, “Depending on someone else for a living sucks, but so does ten cents – ten dollars a day.” How do you live, in mama’s basement?

So let me get this straight… you graduate college, get a great job (which most people would kill for) then get tired of it, go to another, repeat, etc etc and we are somehow supposed to feel sorry for you? Not only that, but we’re supposed to donate money to your deadbeat ass? Here’s a reality check for you – work is HARD WORK that’s why it’s called WORK and not SLEEP! Get off your dead-ass and get a real job like the rest of us. Try having a wife, 3 kids, being laid-off, and having to scratch around to feed them. Maybe you should donate money to ME or at least go out and make yourself useful and stop WHINING about the fact that you have to WORK for a living. Do us all a favor to, quit writing, cause you suck. Bet you won’t print this in your whiny self-righteous blog. Kiss off lazy ass.

This guy is obviously a burnt out whiner. Yes, everything Shaun says is true to one degree or another, but if you take one ounce of initiative, you can usually counteract and thrive with most of the issues presented. So if you are in this work or thinking about it. Don’t listen to Shaun. It can be very rewarding and fun if you want it to be.

You’re sick and tired of hearing excuses? Do you have any friends left? Has your family kicked you out for being an arrogant ass? People fail, buddy, people fail a lot, and they deserve compassion and unconditional love. Your “Just Do It” attitude is poisonous, and it infects our whole culture, and you are just as much a victim of it as you are victimizer. If someone is stuck, if someone has tried and failed, if someone is depressed, your snotty little kick-in-the-pants isn’t helpful. You give me the impression of being very young, and trying hard to be smart. I would advise you to get a little more wisdom, think for yourself a bit more, and if you’re going to spout cliches and judgments at least back it up with a few facts. Your article is full of generalities.

This guy needs to get over himself. There are enough shit jobs out there with no thanks included. Computer Guys should be different in just which way? Feeling worn out? Find another job. Whooptie crap. How often do you think nurses, garbagemen, electric linemen, train drivers, truck drivers, and a litany of other jobs that keep things running are appropriately thanked? Welcome to life, jerkbag.

I’ve discussed my method for dealing with this kind of discouragement in my Accept That You Can’t Make Everyone Happy article.

The Acceptance of Both

I’m comfortable with the bad aspects I’ve listed above because they pale in comparison to my primary good: I’m enjoying myself. As long as I doing something that is fulfilling, then I can withstand anything negative that comes along with it.

Remember, there’s no perfect job that lacks bad aspects. There will always be something imperfect about your career. Just make sure that the good aspects are worth putting up with the bad ones.

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