An Information Security Place

My pastor writes a blog on our church website that I follow, and today’s message was very good.  Here’s an excerpt:

Life is a long series of “moving-up-a-level” experiences. We move from kindergarten to first grade, or from middle school to high school, or from engineer to project manager, or from club member to club president, or from team member to team captain, or from salesman to sales manager, or from second string to first string, or from busser to waiter. 

In this “moving up” process we spend a lot of time and energy desiring to move up and wanting more responsibility and more money and more control and more recognition—and we spend very little time and energy considering the struggles that are coming with that new level. At new levels there are new challenges.

 

This really struck me.  Almost everyone thinks about the next level and what it would mean for them.  Like Pastor Dave says, it means more money, more control, more power, more fame maybe.  But if we would just stop to see what bad things that new level involves, we might not be so eager to make that climb.

Now, Pastor Dave is in no way saying we shouldn’t strive for the next level.  Look at this quote:

There is nothing wrong with desiring a new level in life—just be sure you are prepared for the new devils at those new levels.

Obviously this is written from a Christian perspective, so you will have to apply the term "devil" to whatever your belief system happens to be.    "Devils" can be a term that can be used for any issue that arises when you move on to new challenges, no matter if you are Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, or whatever.  But the message still applies.  Moving up brings new challenges.  Those can be exciting, but you might want to make sure you are prepared for those challenges before you start the climb (or even start looking for the ladder).

From a personal perspective, I can say that I made the climb early in my career.  I started in IT during the golden age of the 90′s.  If you had a CNE or a even a MCSE, you could pretty much write your own ticket.  Everyone needed a network admin, network engineer, webmaster, etc.  Everyone was growing, and they needed more people to grow with them.  So I sought and got promotions very quickly.  I learned a lot from those experiences, and I don’t regret any of it.  However, I know now through hindsight that I was not prepared for some of those jumps.  I struggled through a lot of those new jobs and levels.  I happen to learn better through doing, so it was good for me.  But not everyone learns that way.

So basically, use caution when seeking that next level.  Be patient and honest with yourself.  Sometimes delayed gratification is better.  Always seek to better yourself, but make sure you are doing it in a smart way.

Vet