--- title: "Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe" description: "Discover how choosing authenticity over security, inspired by Point Break and Bells Beach, can lead to more impactful decisions in business and life." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/#person", "name": "Christian Espinosa", "url": "https://christianespinosa.com/", "image": "https://christianespinosa.com/__l5e/assets-v1/de07e44b-a8e0-4bcc-bcb0-13aec15421f1/headshot-front.jpg", "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/christian.espinosa.official", "https://x.com/Ironracer", "https://www.instagram.com/christian.espinosa.official/", "https://www.youtube.com/@ChristianEspinosaOfficial", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianespinosa/" ], "jobTitle": "Bestselling Author, Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur", "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Blue Goat Cyber", "url": "https://bluegoatcyber.com/" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/#website", "name": "Christian Espinosa", "url": "https://christianespinosa.com/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/#organization" }, "inLanguage": "en-US" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/#organization", "name": "Christian Espinosa", "url": "https://christianespinosa.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://christianespinosa.com/logo.svg" }, "founder": { "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/#person" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/christian.espinosa.official", "https://x.com/Ironracer", "https://www.instagram.com/christian.espinosa.official/", "https://www.youtube.com/@ChristianEspinosaOfficial", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianespinosa/" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe | Christian Espinosa", "description": "Discover how choosing authenticity over security, inspired by Point Break and Bells Beach, can lead to more impactful decisions in business and life.", "image": "https://christianespinosa.com/__l5e/assets-v1/6da3263d-ae53-4d0a-9027-96b5ae5829d2/bells-beach-point-break-and-choosing-true-over-safe-card.png", "datePublished": "2026-03-12T08:00:00Z", "dateModified": "2026-03-12T08:00:00Z", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/blog/bells-beach-point-break-and-choosing-true-over-safe" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Espinosa", "url": "https://christianespinosa.com/about" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Christian Espinosa", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://christianespinosa.com/logo.svg" } } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the core idea behind \"Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe\"?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "I made it to Bells Beach, Victoria. My bucket list" } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who is this post for?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Honestly, anyone who suspects the real life is happening in the ordinary hours, not the milestones. If you want a listicle, this is not that. If you want the honest version of what I have actually lived and worked through, keep reading." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How do I actually apply this, not just nod along?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Pick the single line in the post that made you flinch or look away, and change one thing in your week because of it. One choice this week beats a whole framework you never touch." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does this connect to More on choosing true over safe?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The In-Between is the book I wrote about the decisions you make when the safe version of your life stops fitting. It's the long-form version of the Bells Beach reflection. If the post landed, that is the natural next step; the get the book link at the bottom of the page goes straight there." } } ] } ] --- [Skip to content](#main) [](/) [About](/about)[Speaking](/speaking)[Cybersecurity](/cybersecurity)[Programs](/programs)[Books](/books)[Media](/media) Writing Search Ctrl K[Connect](/connect) [The In-Between](/blog/category/the-in-between) # Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe March 12, 2026 2 min read 532 words I made it to Bells Beach, Victoria. My bucket list ![](/__l5e/assets-v1/6ccc8a9c-f5ae-4d75-90c6-96582aa36350/bells-beach-christian-sign.jpg) Published March 12, 2026 Read time 2 min In this essay 1. [01 What "Safe" Actually Costs ](#what-safe-actually-costs) 2. [02 The Small Versions ](#the-small-versions) 3. [03 Standing At Bells ](#standing-at-bells) Jump to 1. [01 What "Safe" Actually Costs ](#what-safe-actually-costs) 2. [02 The Small Versions ](#the-small-versions) 3. [03 Standing At Bells ](#standing-at-bells) The takeaways 1. 01 "Choosing true over safe" is a guiding principle for navigating life's decisions, both big and small, as inspired by the movie Point Break. 2. 02 Embracing the harder path in professional interactions, like client calls or internal meetings, can lead to more authentic and impactful outcomes. 3. 03 Building a company or pursuing a personal vision based on one's convictions, rather than conventional wisdom, fosters genuine innovation and fulfillment. What to do next Pick one conversation you have been putting off where building is the real subject, and have it before the week ends. 4. 04 The immediate costs of choosing truth may be visible, but they are often less detrimental than the subtle, long-term costs of consistently opting for safety. What to do next Pick one conversation you have been putting off where immediate is the real subject, and have it before the week ends. 5. 05 Experiencing significant locations, like Bells Beach, can powerfully underscore personal philosophies and movie-inspired lessons, making them more tangible than fictional narratives alone. What to do next Name the one place in your life this week where experiencing is quietly running the show, and write it down before you go to bed tonight. Editor's note Choosing true over safe inside a company looks unglamorous. It's telling a customer their device architecture won't pass before they've spent another six months on it. It's letting a hire go who's technically strong and culturally corrosive. It's filing the harder report instead of the cleaner one. None of it makes the highlight reel. All of it compounds. Bodhi rode his final wave here in Point Break. That movie shaped me more than I knew. It's still one of my favorites. Choosing what's true over what's safe has stayed with me. Being here puts that in perspective. That line is the one I keep coming back to. Not in some big dramatic way. In small ones. Taking the harder path on a client call instead of the smoother one. Saying the thing in the room instead of the comfortable version of it. Building a company the way I think it should be built instead of the way the playbook says. Bodhi paid for that choice. Most of us pay smaller versions of it every week. But the cost of always choosing safe is bigger than the cost of choosing true. It's just paid quietly, over a longer timeline, where nobody films it. ## What "Safe" Actually Costs Safe looks free in the moment. That is the trick. You take the smoother answer in the meeting and the room exhales. You sign the deal even though the scope is wrong and the cash hits the account. You hire the polished candidate instead of the right one and the headcount slot closes. None of that registers as a cost on the day it happens. It registers six months later, when the project nobody wanted to scope honestly is bleeding hours, the deal nobody wanted to push back on is the one consuming all your weekends, and the hire who looked safe is quietly slowing down the team that does the actual work. True is expensive on Tuesday. Safe is expensive every Tuesday after that. ## The Small Versions I am not talking about cinematic decisions. I am talking about the unglamorous, daily ones. The honest answer to "how is the submission going" when the answer is "behind." The blunt feedback to a senior person who is drifting. The refusal to take a logo client whose values do not match yours, even when the revenue would help the quarter. The willingness to say "I don't know" in front of a board instead of inventing a number. Every one of those is a tiny Bodhi moment. Nobody films them. The cost of choosing safe in any single one is small. The cost of choosing safe in all of them, every week, for years, is the entire shape of the company and the person you become. ## Standing At Bells There is something about being in the physical place a story was told that strips the metaphor down. Bells Beach is not dramatic in person the way the movie made it feel. It is cold, gray, and beautiful, and the people in the water are not chasing the ride of their lives; they are just doing what they do. The choice the movie made famous is the choice the locals make every dawn patrol, in much smaller forms, by paddling out at all. That is the version of "true over safe" that actually matters. Not the final wave. The daily one. Standing at Bells Beach made that obvious in a way the movie never could. > “Safe is a slow leak. True is a hard call you only have to make once.” Frequently asked ### What is the core idea behind "Bells Beach, Point Break, And Choosing True Over Safe"? ### Who is this post for? ### How do I actually apply this, not just nod along? ### How does this connect to More on choosing true over safe? ### More on choosing true over safe The In-Between is the book I wrote about the decisions you make when the safe version of your life stops fitting. It's the long-form version of the Bells Beach reflection. [Get the book](/books) Share this essay [X ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fbells-beach-point-break-and-choosing-true-over-safe&text=Bells%20Beach%2C%20Point%20Break%2C%20And%20Choosing%20True%20Over%20Safe) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fbells-beach-point-break-and-choosing-true-over-safe) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fbells-beach-point-break-and-choosing-true-over-safe) [Email](mailto:?subject=Bells%20Beach%2C%20Point%20Break%2C%20And%20Choosing%20True%20Over%20Safe&body=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fbells-beach-point-break-and-choosing-true-over-safe)Copy link ![Christian Espinosa, headshot](/__l5e/assets-v1/de07e44b-a8e0-4bcc-bcb0-13aec15421f1/headshot-front.jpg) About the author [Christian Espinosa](/about) · Author and founder I'm the founder and CEO of Blue Goat Cyber, a medical device cybersecurity firm where my team has supported 250+ FDA submissions with zero failing to clear on cybersecurity. I previously founded and sold Alpine Security. I host The Med Device Cyber Podcast and wrote The Smartest Person in the Room and The In-Between: Life in the Micro, with Medical Device Cybersecurity: An In-Depth Guide out in 2026. Air Force Academy grad, 24x Ironman, climber of two of the Seven Summits. Keep reading - [ ### Founder-CEO vs Hired CEO: The Difference Is Personal Choosing true over safe at company scale. Why founders carry decisions a hired executive cannot. Read essay → ](/blog/founder-ceo-vs-hired-ceo-the-difference-is-personal) - [ ### The Circumstance Will Lie To You The small, daily version of Bodhi's choice: holding the harder decision when the moment is loud. Read essay → ](/blog/the-circumstance-will-lie-to-you) - [ ### Fade to Black and the Loneliness of Leadership What it actually costs, week to week, to keep choosing true. Read essay → ](/blog/fade-to-black-and-the-loneliness-of-leadership) [← Previous essay Don't Stop Believing: The Comeback Isn't Dramatic | Christian Espinosa ](/blog/dont-stop-believing-the-comeback-isnt-dramatic)[Next essay → I Am Statements: How Identity Language Rewires Behavior ](/blog/i-am-statements-and-the-identity-you-step-into) Related, Cybersecurity ### Need medical-device or offensive security expertise? Blue Goat Cyber, Christian's firm, runs FDA-aligned premarket submissions, penetration testing, and SBOM/SOUP analysis for medtech and high-stakes industries. [Explore Blue Goat Cyber](/cybersecurity) Christian Espinosa Bestselling author, keynote speaker, and Founding CEO of [Blue Goat Cyber](https://bluegoatcyber.com/). Helping technical leaders develop the soft skills that turn brilliance into impact. 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