The Secure Blog
The Christian Espinosa blog.
Thought leadership on cybersecurity, leadership, and the human side of high-performing teams.
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Beliefs, Principles, and Values
Most companies print one-word values on a wall and change nothing. Beliefs, principles, and values are three layers. Here is how they stack, using Blue Goat Cyber's.
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Mission vs Vision vs Purpose
Most company About pages use mission, vision, and purpose as synonyms. They answer three different questions. Here is the difference, and Blue Goat Cyber's three.
Read the full post: Mission vs Vision vs Purpose -
Get To Versus Have To
My CTO at Alpine Security refused to say "I have to." It sounded like word games until I understood it was an identity swap, not a mood trick.
Read the full post: Get To Versus Have To -
The Primary Question That Shapes Your Life
Tony Robbins says every one of us runs a single unconscious question on repeat, and it shapes identity more than any goal or plan. Here is mine, and how I changed it.
Read the full post: The Primary Question That Shapes Your Life -
The Epiphany Bridge, Applied: How I Sell Medical Device Cybersecurity And How I Lead
Russell Brunson's epiphany bridge is the reason most pitches and most leadership advice fail. Here is how I use it at Blue Goat Cyber, and how it changes the way I lead.
Read the full post: The Epiphany Bridge, Applied: How I Sell Medical Device Cybersecurity And How I Lead -
Fight For Your Limitations And You Get To Keep Them
Richard Bach wrote that if you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. Here is why the defense is the mechanism, and how to stop being the lawyer for your own ceiling.
Read the full post: Fight For Your Limitations And You Get To Keep Them -
The Importance Of Unlearning
The reason most leaders plateau is not that they stopped learning. It is that they never unlearned the belief that got them to the current ceiling.
Read the full post: The Importance Of Unlearning -
Principle Over Peace: What It Actually Costs To Stand On A Decision
Principle over peace is not righteousness, not scorched earth, and not free. It is the willingness to cool a bridge you could have kept warm, and pay the friction on purpose.
Read the full post: Principle Over Peace: What It Actually Costs To Stand On A Decision -
"Stepping Into Your Power" Is A Phrase. Here's What It Actually Means.
Stepping into your power is not a feeling you summon, a morning routine, or the volume of your voice. It is the willingness to make a costly decision and stand behind it in public.
Read the full post: "Stepping Into Your Power" Is A Phrase. Here's What It Actually Means.
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Beliefs, Principles, and Values
Most companies print one-word values on a wall and change nothing. Beliefs, principles, and values are three layers. Here is how they stack, using Blue Goat Cyber's.
Read the full post: Beliefs, Principles, and Values -
Mission vs Vision vs Purpose
Most company About pages use mission, vision, and purpose as synonyms. They answer three different questions. Here is the difference, and Blue Goat Cyber's three.
Read the full post: Mission vs Vision vs Purpose -
Get To Versus Have To
My CTO at Alpine Security refused to say "I have to." It sounded like word games until I understood it was an identity swap, not a mood trick.
Read the full post: Get To Versus Have To -
The Primary Question That Shapes Your Life
Tony Robbins says every one of us runs a single unconscious question on repeat, and it shapes identity more than any goal or plan. Here is mine, and how I changed it.
Read the full post: The Primary Question That Shapes Your Life -
The Epiphany Bridge, Applied: How I Sell Medical Device Cybersecurity And How I Lead
Russell Brunson's epiphany bridge is the reason most pitches and most leadership advice fail. Here is how I use it at Blue Goat Cyber, and how it changes the way I lead.
Read the full post: The Epiphany Bridge, Applied: How I Sell Medical Device Cybersecurity And How I Lead -
Fight For Your Limitations And You Get To Keep Them
Richard Bach wrote that if you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. Here is why the defense is the mechanism, and how to stop being the lawyer for your own ceiling.
Read the full post: Fight For Your Limitations And You Get To Keep Them -
The Importance Of Unlearning
The reason most leaders plateau is not that they stopped learning. It is that they never unlearned the belief that got them to the current ceiling.
Read the full post: The Importance Of Unlearning -
Principle Over Peace: What It Actually Costs To Stand On A Decision
Principle over peace is not righteousness, not scorched earth, and not free. It is the willingness to cool a bridge you could have kept warm, and pay the friction on purpose.
Read the full post: Principle Over Peace: What It Actually Costs To Stand On A Decision -
"Stepping Into Your Power" Is A Phrase. Here's What It Actually Means.
Stepping into your power is not a feeling you summon, a morning routine, or the volume of your voice. It is the willingness to make a costly decision and stand behind it in public.
Read the full post: "Stepping Into Your Power" Is A Phrase. Here's What It Actually Means. -
You Can't Want It More Than They Do
Richard Bach wrote, 'argue for your limitations and they're yours.' The leadership version is harder: you can offer the door, name what you see, and still respect their answer.
Read the full post: You Can't Want It More Than They Do -
How To Reframe A Hard Thought In Four Steps
The reframe I use when a thought starts running me: name the story, ask what it's actually about, find the truer sentence, then act before the feeling clears.
Read the full post: How To Reframe A Hard Thought In Four Steps -
An Ending Isn't A Failure. It's Time Doing Its Job.
Selling Alpine, losing friendships that were built for one season, and losing the version of me that walked into an Illinois intersection in 2022 all taught me the same thing: endings aren't verdicts.
Read the full post: An Ending Isn't A Failure. It's Time Doing Its Job. -
Your Life Is The Sum Of Your Small Choices
No one wrecks their health, wealth, or relationships in one big decision. They lose all three the same way: one small choice at a time, on a Tuesday nobody remembers.
Read the full post: Your Life Is The Sum Of Your Small Choices -
98% Desire, 2% Ambition: Is Russell Brunson Right?
Russell Brunson says 98% of people have desire and only 2% have the ambition to back it up. Is the number real? And what does it actually mean on a Tuesday in February?
Read the full post: 98% Desire, 2% Ambition: Is Russell Brunson Right? -
The Long Walk, The Marathon, And The Friendship You Get To Keep For A Few Days
I read The Long Walk in high school and thought about it at mile 22 of every Ironman. The movie added something new: a friendship worth having even when you know it ends.
Read the full post: The Long Walk, The Marathon, And The Friendship You Get To Keep For A Few Days -
Neurodivergent in Tech: Do You Still Have to Learn EQ?
High tech rewards deep focus and punishes the communication gap. Why neurodivergent, neurotypical, and mixed teams all have to learn EQ, and what that actually looks like.
Read the full post: Neurodivergent in Tech: Do You Still Have to Learn EQ? -
Too Old Is a Decision, Not an Age: How People Quietly Stop Living
Most people don't run out of time, they run out of permission. Why too old is a story you tell yourself, and how identity calcification turns living into existing.
Read the full post: Too Old Is a Decision, Not an Age: How People Quietly Stop Living -
Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast
The same lesson shows up in F4 racing, Ironman, leadership, and bringing a product to market: the fastest people are not rushing; they are smooth.
Read the full post: Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast -
I Am Statements: How Identity Language Rewires Behavior
The words after I am decide who you become. Why I am an athlete beats I'm trying to get back in shape, and how identity-based language makes change stick.
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The Circumstance Will Lie To You
Mile 18 of an Ironman taught me something that carried straight into building Blue Goat: a bad moment is weather, not a verdict. Hold the vision, walk through it, finish what you started.
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Wet Tires At COTA: When The Conditions Change
Day two of Skip Barber Advanced Formula Car at COTA. Frost on the track, wet tires, and a lesson that applies on the circuit, in leadership, and in cybersecurity: stop forcing the original plan and read the conditions for what they are.
Read the full post: Wet Tires At COTA: When The Conditions Change -
No Wasted Years, No Wasted Cycles
Jet lag, heavy metal, and the founder question that survives every time zone: what's worth it? Why most MedTech cybersecurity pain comes from waiting, and what Iron Maiden's Wasted Years has to do with building it right early.
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Fade To Black And The Loneliness Of Leadership
Nothing's wrong with my marriage. Blue Goat Cyber is scaling fast. And still, leadership is lonely in ways the org chart doesn't show. Naming what most founders won't say out loud, and why honesty is part of the job.
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Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe
Made it to Bells Beach, Victoria, where Point Break filmed Bodhi's final wave. A bucket-list stop, and a reminder of the line from the movie that quietly shaped how I make decisions: choose what's true over what's safe.
Read the full post: Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe