I have not heard of the Maslow’s Hierarchy until this week. Being a hierarchy of human needs, at a glance it appears to be simple to understand. The hierarchy consists of five tiers, with basic physiological needs at the bottom and the more “self-actualization” needs at the top. With all this said, I’m going to attempt to compare each tier to my life as a traveling cybersecurity analyst to view how fulfilled I am in comparison.
Physiological needs: I think it’s a given that this could be met easily for most people, but can actually be rather rough to meet when you’re career can force a nomadic lifestyle. I am always on the move. In fact, I recently joked that I am probably in an airport more than I am actually working. It’s seriously not uncommon for my trip to include 30 hours of non-stop travel, one-way. Sleep becomes a luxury. Even if I’m home or landed at my work area, sleep becomes the hardest thing to have. I sleep when I can. I’ve slept in airline clubs, the airport floor, to even empty staterooms on ships or at a desk while I wait for an assessment to complete. I find a way to get my sleep. Food, air, shelter, all the other items to keep me alive at a minimum, are easy in comparison. With that said, I’d say this tier, despite the complications of getting a good night’s rest, is met. I might add, as a joke, I need internet connectivity to survive. Thanks to GoogleFi, I’m good to go here, too.
Safety needs: It’s somewhat funny that, in terms of technology, I’m one of the guys that provides safety to others. As such, I always will seem to have some form of job/financial security. With the ever continuing evolution of cyber threats, there will never be a shortage for the need of those in my field in the foreseeable future. As odd as it may sound, it brings me peace knowing this.
Love and belonging needs: With all the travel I do, it does get difficult managing friendships and relationships. With my previous career choice, professional wrestling, it was a known secret that anyone in the business would essentially put these things on the back-burner. Now here I am, leaving that industry to hopefully spend more time at home without the physical stress to… Traveling all the time (I guess I just can’t leave that portion of my life behind). I meet and interact with so many people, but there are very few I will continue to interact with outside of my work obligations. Thankfully, technology has made this easier. I can video chat with the family. I can message friends back home, or wherever they may be in the world, at any time. Without that technology, I’d probably go crazy if I couldn’t talk to my son, but honestly sometimes being stranded on a tiny tropical island without any contact with the outside world is also a refreshing experience.
Self-esteem: I don’t mean to gloat, but I’m good at my job. I know the systems I’m working on. I know what needs to be done to improve their cybersecurity posture. I also know how to remediate those open issues with minimal impact to the end-users, and to do it as fast as possible without shortcuts. These days, I’m asked, by name, to be the one to pay a vessel a visit to get them up-to-speed. I can’t think of any better boost to one’s self-esteem than knowing that you’re trusted and respected in your craft. I will always attest that my job can be learned, and with time, one can become very proficient and efficient at it, but it is rewarding to get the recognition.
Self-actualization: This would be the one that I feel is not fully met. I know I can do more. I would much rather work red-teaming/penetration testing. I have my OSCP and OSWP. I even got the Pentest+ just because I was bored. However, I still work on a different facet of cybersecurity. Maybe one day. Admittingly I do enjoy the travel, and I find my current role “easy” because of the familiarity. But I know I can do more, and currently, I’m not.