There are many definitions as to how one can find their niche, success and happiness in life. I was often given advice as to how to approach it, “follow your heart”, “be true to yourself” or other such quotes designed to inspire and motivate were often to vague. Or worse still, can lead one down the completely wrong path.
Which is why my personal favourite definition is about finding the cross section between your expertise and your passion.
Expertise is your livelihood and pays the bills. That’s information security for me. The second part is your passion(s) or interest(s) and finding a way to merge them together.
You may need to go through several interests and passions to find what works in a capacity that you’re comfortable with. The most obvious connections won’t always be made.
For example Dual Core have a passion for rapping – so they combined it by rapping about security.
Kevin Riggins is a keen and skilled photographer. So many times he’ll take photos of fellow security professionals.
Eddie ‘the yetti‘ is an artist and has created some wonderful portraits of security professionals using items like lime juice, soy sauce, tea, coffee, water and ink.
I remember similar advice being given by many professionals at Blackhat Europe 2012. The importance of focussing in on a specific area of expertise is a repeating theme.
Javvad Malik 