--- title: "The Hard Part Is The Bar, Not The Fall" description: "This article reveals why the most challenging part of any major decision is letting go of the familiar, not the unknown, and how this applies to both…" 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": "The Hard Part Is The Bar, Not The Fall | Christian Espinosa", "description": "This article reveals why the most challenging part of any major decision is letting go of the familiar, not the unknown, and how this applies to both…", "image": "https://christianespinosa.com/__l5e/assets-v1/31cca0c5-b322-4962-a6cb-6c0c9f413c20/the-hard-part-is-the-bar-not-the-fall-card.png", "datePublished": "2026-06-21T21:00:00Z", "dateModified": "2026-06-21T21:00:00Z", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://christianespinosa.com/blog/the-hard-part-is-the-bar-not-the-fall" }, "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 \"The Hard Part Is The Bar, Not The Fall\"?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "That's me dangling off the wing strut of an inverted biplane at the World Free Fall Convention. People assume the scary part of a jump like this is the falling. It isn't. The hard part is the bar; and most leaders I work with are stuck on one right now" } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Who is this post for?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Honestly, leaders, founders, and anyone running a team who is tired of the sanitized version of leadership advice. 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 the moment before the jump?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The In-Between is the book I wrote about the uncomfortable space between knowing the move and making it. 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) [Leadership](/blog/category/leadership) # The Hard Part Is The Bar, Not The Fall June 21, 2026 4 min read 882 words That's me dangling off the wing strut of an inverted biplane at the World Free Fall Convention. People assume the scary part of a jump like this is the falling. It isn't. The hard part is the bar; and most leaders I work with are stuck on one right now ![](/__l5e/assets-v1/ebea235d-cc53-4e63-a96a-54109e65a50d/inverted-biplane-bar.jpg) Published June 21, 2026 Read time 4 min In this essay 1. [01 What You're Actually Looking At ](#what-youre-actually-looking-at) 2. [02 Why The Falling Is The Easy Part ](#why-the-falling-is-the-easy-part) 3. [03 The Career Version Of The Bar ](#the-career-version-of-the-bar) 4. [04 The Lie The Bar Tells You ](#the-lie-the-bar-tells-you) 5. [05 What To Do If You're On The Bar Right Now ](#what-to-do-if-youre-on-the-bar-right-now) 6. [06 The Exit ](#the-exit) Jump to 1. [01 What You're Actually Looking At ](#what-youre-actually-looking-at) 2. [02 Why The Falling Is The Easy Part ](#why-the-falling-is-the-easy-part) 3. [03 The Career Version Of The Bar ](#the-career-version-of-the-bar) 4. [04 The Lie The Bar Tells You ](#the-lie-the-bar-tells-you) 5. [05 What To Do If You're On The Bar Right Now ](#what-to-do-if-youre-on-the-bar-right-now) 6. [06 The Exit ](#the-exit) The takeaways 1. 01 The real challenge in high-stakes situations is overcoming the initial inertia, not the inherent risk of the action itself. What to do next Write down the last three decisions you made about risk and mark which ones you would repeat. 2. 02 Many professionals hesitate to make necessary career changes because their current role is deeply intertwined with their self-identity. What to do next Pause for five minutes today, then name the one place in your week where professionals is playing out and you have been avoiding naming it. 3. 03 Delaying crucial decisions, whether in extreme sports or career transitions, only worsens the eventual outcome and increases the difficulty of the exit. What to do next Pick one meeting on this week's calendar where delaying is actually the underlying issue, and put that on the agenda by name. 4. 04 The perceived safety of holding onto a familiar but ineffective situation is an illusion that hinders progress and necessary change. What to do next Pick one meeting on this week's calendar where perceived is actually the underlying issue, and put that on the agenda by name. 5. 05 Recognizing and acting on the internal discomfort associated with being stuck is a vital step toward initiating positive and impactful career transitions. What to do next Block 30 minutes this week to audit how recognizing is showing up on your team, then decide one thing to change. ## What You're Actually Looking At The photo is exactly what it looks like. I'm hanging off the bar of a biplane. The plane is inverted. A few thousand feet of Midwest farmland is stretched out underneath me like a quilt nobody asked permission to lay down. The World Free Fall Convention used to be the place you went if you wanted to do the stupid, beautiful version of skydiving that didn't fit in a normal jump manifest. Camera flyers. Big-way formations. Aerobatic exits. Things I tell my mom about _after_. People see this image and assume the scary part of the jump is the falling. It isn't. Not even close. ## Why The Falling Is The Easy Part The falling is the easy part because by the time you're falling, the decision is already behind you. Physics has taken over. Your job at that point is almost embarrassingly simple: arch, count, check altitude, deploy. The hard thinking is done. Gravity doesn't negotiate. The hard part is the bar. Your hands are still on it. The wind is doing things to your jumpsuit you weren't briefed on. The pilot is holding the inverted line longer than you remembered agreeing to. And your brain; the same brain that voluntarily climbed out onto a wing strut sixty seconds ago; is suddenly an extremely competent lawyer arguing every reason to hold on for one more second. _One more breath. One more check. Wait for a better moment. Wait until it feels right._ It never feels right. That's the whole point of the bar. ## The Career Version Of The Bar I have watched a lot of smart, capable, well-trained people freeze on the bar in their careers. They've done the work. They know exactly what jump they need to make. Leave the role that's quietly draining them. Fire the executive everyone on the team can see is wrong. Kill the product line they've been propping up for years. Have the conversation with the co-founder. Walk away from the contract. Start the company they've been describing to their spouse on every long drive for the last three years. Say the unpopular thing in the board meeting that everyone in the room already knows is true. They've trained for it. They've journaled about it. They've paid coaches to talk them through it. They've run the numbers, modeled the downside, talked to the lawyer. They just can't let go of the bar. Usually because letting go means admitting, even quietly to themselves, that the old grip wasn't working. That the role they outgrew is the role that built their identity. That the executive they're protecting is someone they personally hired. That the product they're keeping alive is the one that funded the house. The bar isn't just metal. It's history. ## The Lie The Bar Tells You Here is the trick the bar plays on you, in the air and at work. It feels like it's keeping you safe. It isn't. The bar isn't safety. The bar is just _what's keeping you on the plane_. Two completely different things. Safety is the canopy on your back, the reserve at your hip, the training you put in for the last however many years. The bar is just inertia with a handle on it. The longer you hang there, the more your arms burn, the more your mind invents reasons, the worse the eventual exit gets. Plane jumps and career jumps share that property. Delay doesn't reduce risk. It just degrades the conditions of the inevitable exit. ## What To Do If You're On The Bar Right Now If you're reading this and your stomach just did something; that's information. Don't argue with it. Don't journal it into submission. Sit with it for a second. Then ask three questions, in this order. **What's the actual jump?** Name it precisely. Not "I should think about leaving." The specific decision. _Resign by Q1. Sunset the product by March. Have the conversation with my co-founder before the next board meeting._ Vague jumps don't get made. **Is the prep done?** Honestly. Not perfectly. Done enough. If you've been preparing for more than six months, the prep is done and "more prep" is just a more sophisticated form of holding the bar. **What is the bar actually giving me right now?** This is the one that hurts. Strip away the safety story. The bar isn't keeping you alive. It's keeping you attached to a version of yourself or a version of the business that you've already outgrown. Naming what the bar is _actually_ protecting; your ego, your title, your story, someone else's feelings; is usually what unsticks the grip. ## The Exit Nobody is going to count you out of the plane. The pilot can hold the inverted line for a little while. He can't hold it forever, and he definitely can't decide for you. If the prep is done, the bar isn't keeping you safe. It's just keeping you on the plane. Let go. Sit with this - What specific jump have you been training for that you still haven't made? - If you stripped the safety story away, what is your 'bar' actually protecting; the role, the relationship, or your identity? - If you knew the prep was done, what would change about how you spent the next two weeks? Frequently asked ### What is the core idea behind "The Hard Part Is The Bar, Not The Fall"? ### Who is this post for? ### How do I actually apply this, not just nod along? ### How does this connect to More on the moment before the jump? ### More on the moment before the jump The In-Between is the book I wrote about the uncomfortable space between knowing the move and making it. [Get the book](/books) Share this essay [X ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-hard-part-is-the-bar-not-the-fall&text=The%20Hard%20Part%20Is%20The%20Bar%2C%20Not%20The%20Fall) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-hard-part-is-the-bar-not-the-fall) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-hard-part-is-the-bar-not-the-fall) [Email](mailto:?subject=The%20Hard%20Part%20Is%20The%20Bar%2C%20Not%20The%20Fall&body=https%3A%2F%2Fchristianespinosa.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-hard-part-is-the-bar-not-the-fall)Copy link ![Christian Espinosa, headshot](/__l5e/assets-v1/de07e44b-a8e0-4bcc-bcb0-13aec15421f1/headshot-front.jpg) About the author [Christian Espinosa](/about) · Air Force Academy grad, author, 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 - [ ### What Ozzy and Zakk Taught Me About Not Getting Sanded Down | Christian Espinosa Same thread: leadership. Read essay → ](/blog/what-ozzy-and-zakk-taught-me-about-not-getting-sanded-down) - [ ### Speed Is Easy. Control Is Hard. | Christian Espinosa Same thread: leadership. Read essay → ](/blog/speed-is-easy-control-is-hard) - [ ### The Circumstance Will Lie To You | Christian Espinosa Same thread: leadership. Read essay → ](/blog/the-circumstance-will-lie-to-you) [← Previous essay Check Your Grip: What Top Gun Still Teaches Me About Leadership | Christian Espinosa ](/blog/check-your-grip-what-top-gun-still-teaches-me-about-leadership)[Next essay → Founder-CEO vs Hired CEO: The Difference Is Personal | Christian Espinosa ](/blog/founder-ceo-vs-hired-ceo-the-difference-is-personal) 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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