I’m sitting in the Puerto Vallarta airport, waiting to board a flight to Denver. Tomorrow, ISC2 is giving me a 2026 Global Achievement Award, the Senior Professional Award for the Americas region. I should be thrilled. Mostly, I’m torn. Honestly? I’d rather be working. I know how that sounds. Stick with me, because I think the reason matters, and I suspect some of you feel…
You have a version of yourself you keep putting off. Not because you don’t know what it takes. You know exactly what it takes. You’ve read the books, watched the videos, made the plan on a Sunday night with real conviction. And then Monday shows up, and so does the thing you actually worship. Comfort. Not drugs. Not money. Not fame. Comfort. The soft, reasonable,…
“Happy Memorial Day” is wrong. Not rude. Not technically illegal. Just — wrong. And the fact that most people don’t even pause before saying it tells you something important about where we are as a culture. I grew up on Marine Corps bases. Only child of two U.S. Marines. I didn’t learn about Memorial Day from a teacher or a TV commercial or a mattress…
Nobody told me a damn thing. Not my dad. Not my friends. Not a single guy I respect pulled me aside and said, “Hey, brace yourself.” I walked into this completely blind, full of confidence, and got absolutely leveled. Multiple times. Still do, honestly. So here I am. Telling you what nobody told me. You’re welcome. First — it’s hard. Like, actually hard. And I…
I’ve said this for years, and it usually gets one of two reactions: a slow nod of understanding or a look of pure, offended confusion. Most people think love and liking are the same thing, just at different volumes. They think “liking” is the base level and “loving” is what happens when you turn the dial all the way to the right. They’re wrong. In…
We’ve got it backwards. The cybersecurity industry spends billions on tools, certifications, frameworks, and compliance programs. Companies hire armies of analysts. Vendors peddle the next “AI-powered” solution that’s going to save us all. And still — still — the breaches keep coming. The scams keep working. The ransomware keeps paying out. Why? Because we’ve been focused on the wrong things. We’ve made cybersecurity so complicated,…
Last week, I introduced you to Violet. Violet is presence. Violet is authority. Violet doesn’t bark because she doesn’t need to. She walks into a room and the room adjusts. Today, I’d like you to meet Rita. Rita weighs 4.5 pounds. Rita barks whenever she wants to. And Rita believes everything is her responsibility. If Violet represents quiet authority, Rita represents something equally important in…
I have five dogs. Let me repeat that. Five. Dogs. And yet… there is only one queen. Her name is Violet. She’s not the loudest. She’s not the neediest. She’s not the one causing chaos at 6 a.m. like the world is ending because someone moved a sock. No. Violet is different. Violet is my dog. The Queen Energy Every house has a natural hierarchy….
I grew up in a Marine Corps family. My dad did 20 years. My mom did 6. In our house, respect wasn’t optional. It wasn’t tied to feelings. It wasn’t something you earned by being charming or agreeable. It was mandatory. You didn’t get to decide whether someone “deserved” respect based on whether you liked them. You respected them because that’s how disciplined adults behave….
Here’s How I’m Actually Doing It. A few days ago, I wrote a post called Make 2026 Your B*tch. It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t gentle. And it definitely wasn’t for everyone. That post was about deciding—deciding that this year wouldn’t just happen to you. That you wouldn’t drift, doomscroll, overcommit, or wake up in December wondering where the hell the year went. A bunch of…