I’ve been joking that my version of the Ted Lasso ‘believe’ is ‘follow your curiosity’. It was something my mentor mentioned to me while I was talking about side projects that I was rabbit holing into. Since that conversation, it’s been something that pops back top of mind often.
It crosses my mind while I was break open a new IOT device, go through forums about Flipper Zero, read about AI and different approaches to writing prompts, and tweak my home lab.
It’s acted as a guide to help fuel my curiosity and also justify the many detours I find myself on as I work towards the overall goal of being a successful cyber security professional and generalist.
At times, it might seem like this will just give an excuse to get distracted and lose focus on the ultimate goal. But at least for me, my ultimate goal is to learn as much as possible. Learning as much as possible allows me to deepen my understanding and also helps me not get daunted by diving into unknown technical rabbit holes. Again, learning as much as possible definitely sounds vague. It is, it’s meant to be. But I can assert that on plenty of occasions that some random topic, or rabbit hole, or article comes back in handy often while working through the task at hand.
It’s also something I mention to my students regularly while I teach. While you’re starting out on a new career, there is so much to learn and absorb. And, that is something you should really lean into. Follow your curiosity and you’ll be surprised what you learn.