Prepare to dominate cyber security in 2024

👋 Good morning!

Each week I provide an in-depth response to your questions about careers, building security teams, AI security, cloud security, and anything else you need support with. Send me your questions and I’ll do my best to provide actionable advice.

December is a reflective month. It’s an opportunity to face inward and analyse our year. To do this, the most important thing we can do is ask the right questions.

You may be a security veteran contemplating your next move, an early-career professional wondering if you’re on the right trajectory, or an enthusiast trying to get started.

These 10 questions are based on ancient ideas and philosophical practices. Use them to reflect on your own journey - the intention is to set you up for a strong 2024.

(The inspiration for this post comes from Ryan Holiday, creator of the Daily Stoic)

1/ What does your ideal day look like?

• Seneca said that a life is made up of days. The sum of these days amount to how we spend our lives. The role we choose and the organisations we work for massively impact the life we can live.

• What does it look like for you? How are you trying to design your life?

• If you don’t decide, you’ll waste time and energy on things that may not matter to you. Others will dictate how you spend your days.

• Look at each opportunity and ask if it’s getting you closer to the life you want to lead, and the type of person you want to be.

2/ Who are you spending time with?

• Goethe said ‘Show me who you spend time with and I will tell you who you are’.

• Seneca talks about spending time with people who make you a better person.

• Are you spending time with people averaging you towards or away from where you want to go.

• Who are you reading? Who are you talking to? They will either make you better, worse, or keep you exactly who you are - which could be good or bad.

3/ Is this in my control?

• Epictetus said, ‘The chief task of the philosopher is to make the distinction between what is in their control and what is not’.

• We burn so much time and energy on things that are not up to us.

• Your actions, thoughts and opinions are yours to own.

• Ask yourself, ‘Is this up to me?’

4/ What am I missing by choosing to worry or be afraid?

• When you worry, ask yourself, what am I choosing not to see right now?

• We control how we spend our time and energy, don’t let destructive behaviours like worrying take your time.

• Redundancies happen, job markets run dry, security incidents are inevitable… stuff will happen to make us emotional and we only compound their impact by acting upon them negatively.

5/ Are you doing your job?

• Everyone has a job in every moment. They can be big and small. But everyone has to know their job in the organisation.

• Are you doing yours?

• We often focus on others rather than ourselves because it’s easier.

• When we choose to sit idle, we reduce our impact and signal to our brain that we don’t care about this thing we spend our days doing.

• Take ownership and watch the quality of your days soar.

6/ What is the most important thing?

• What do you actually value? If you don’t know what’s important, how do you know what to put first?

• You must establish the importance of your career and personal life in balance with each other.

• Seneca talks about ‘knowing the path that you're on and not being distracted by the paths of the people whose crisscross yours. Especially the people who are hopelessly lost’.

7/ Who is this for?

• Why are you doing this role?

• It’s important to establish clearly in your mind why you’re doing something. Be clear on the business you’re supporting, the market you’re serving, and the people you’re protecting.

8/ Does this actually matter?

• So many things we get upset about don’t matter. Marcus Aurelius said, ‘Ask yourself in every moment, is this essential?’

• When you eliminate the inessential you get the double benefit of doing the essential things better.

• Ask yourself - does this matter in the big picture?

9/ Will this be alive time or dead time?

• Whether it’s the festive period, a pandemic, or waiting for a delayed train, are you going to use every second or sit around, be passive and wait?

• Ask yourself, what will I have to show for this 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years?

• If you always choose ‘alive time’, you’re always moving forward.

• Seneca said, ‘It's not that life is short, it's that we waste a lot of it’. We kill time like time is killing us.

10/ Is this who I want to be?

• Is this representative as the person I see myself as, or the person I want to become?

• Cheryl Strayed said, ‘You’re becoming who you are going to be, so you might as well not be an asshole’.

• Does this align with what I said is important to me? Every interaction and situation, big or small, adds up.

We are all architects of our reality. I hope these questions serve you as you ready yourself for a massive 2024.

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