I have to admit that so far I enjoy traveling, evangelising and sharing my experience on cyber security during many workshops, meetings, conferences and seminars with customers. It feels very natural to me and trust me.. I can discuss this subject for hours!
Here’s a new lesson for this month: Helping others makes me happy! :)
I know, I know.. there’s many things that I need to perfect and even though I often come across as overconfident, please don’t misunderstand my approach as I’m very humble inside - student of life and my craft forever!
My confidence (sometimes mistaken with overconfidence) was developed over many years in which I had to make critical strategical, or tactical decisions with a scope to affect thousands of customers in seconds while causing thousands if not millions pounds of damage in downtime, reputation and security!
Guess what?! I was successful! Why? Trust me, after many years in this kind of environment, your mind learns to handle the pressure and stress with extreme confidence required to stand up to the challenges of these magnitude, defeat them and not melt in under the pressure. I believe that this is the reason why I might sound or feel overconfident to many. I’m sorry if I do so, but I had to develop this skills as otherwise I would fail. If you feel that there’s an alternative path, please let me know as I’m keen to learn from your experience!
The good news is that I moved on and comparing my past experiences in life, I’m in a much better place today! (see attached pictures). Why did I stop following these extremes? I realised that there’s nothing at the end of that rainbow! 😊 Don’t get me wrong, it’s not pointless but simply it’s an element or a step in ones journey. It’s definitely not the goal! The experience is priceless but the success is always out there ..in the future! Evolution is natural!
Today, my experience always points at advising, empowering and making people around me better while taking control only in critical situations if there’s no other choice! Yes.. I’m getting older on one hand 😊..but I also want to pass the experience that I gained in these extreme situations to others. Why? Sharing is caring right?! Also, I know what they are going through, I know how it feels therefore I want to do something for them that wasn’t done for me! Simples! Please don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean that people around me will avoid problems. Of course they won’t as I don’t (sadly) believe in magic, but they will experience future challenges in safe(er) and controlled environment in which plan B or C will immediately come to the rescue! #teamwork
Guess what?! Today, I’m in Uber heading from a Cyber Security Workshop in Newcastle where I shared my vision and collaborated with some great people! I decided to use this time to share a little bit of my experience that helps me to thrive in high pressure environments often crushing others immediately or both in the short and long term!
If you know me, you know
that “I’m a man of rules” and “I don’t break my standards”! Don’t worry however, “I never say never” :) Confusing? Contradicting? Illogical? Yes and no, it’s simple a good subject for another blog in the future!
Ready? Here we go!
Love what you do as you will need to employ your obsession to reach the level of extraordinary!
Study your craft and don’t just learn.. experience deeply! Don’t think, ponder! Don’t just dream, do! Don't just talk, act! Don't just exist, live! If you see a cliff, a challenge, or an impossible situation, do yourself a favour and jump in it immediately! You will find your way while heading down! #PeopleAreAwesome :)
Define your standards and don’t break them. Aim at quality and stand behind the quality of your work!
Make it personal! It’s you against the world. Don’t aim at people even if they clearly failed.
ALWAYS blame yourself as there’s ALWAYS something that YOU could do better to avoid failures.
Always create plan A, B and C. If plan A to fail? No stress, plan two is therefore help immediately. If B will not deliver, initiate plan C and start thinking about D. This way you will replace stress with focus and succeed at all cost. (My experience: I rarely use plan B and I’m very comfortable (overconfident? :]) in any situation because of this model)
Always Analyse, Apply and Double-Check (my AAD rule) without ANY exception as this model will save you in many critical situations when your mind will fail you!
Share your experience with others around you to establish or enable their extreme confidence! Two minds are more powerful than a single one!
Invest yourself ONLY in meaningful situations. Work smart and hard ONLY if required! Pace yourself, your body and mind has its limits! Appreciate and aim to improve your mind and body connection by actively working on perfecting both!
Don’t aim to find yourself in this world, create your world! Don’t follow other rules, create your own!
Finally, remember the you never fail, you experience and learn! It’s acceptable to fail with your plan A, B or even a C in certain situations. It’s unacceptable however to repeat your mistakes! Life is an adventure so ..Join The Revolution! :)
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