TryHackMe

I joined TryHackMe at the start of this year and for a while my discipline with practicing each day was great but lately it has fallen off a cliff, or rather I’ve fallen off, depending on how you look at things. I’ve decided to try and get back into it, especially since I’ve paid for the annual plan.

Its fun but sticking to a routine is difficutl. So maintaining discipline with this fixes three things: discipline, refreshing core skills, and ensuring I am still capable of learning.

Over time you get good at what you already do. You develop instincts, shortcuts, and an internal autopilot. That’s great for shipping work, but it’s not always great for learning. TryHackMe forces me to slow down, follow the fundamentals, and prove things to myself in a hands-on way. No vague “I understand this”. It’s either solved or it isn’t.

And I like that.

I’m taking the Blue Hat path because I’m drawn to the defensive side of the house rather than the (argubly more fun) sides of the house, more on that later.

I’ve spent years in and around systems that should be observable, controllable, and secure. But knowing how things should work isn’t the same as practicing how to spot when they don’t.

There’s a particular kind of humility that comes from being a beginner in public. On TryHackMe, my title doesn’t matter and neither do my years of experience so I’m leaning into the beginner lane, taking notes like it’s my first week on the job, and treating confusion as a signpost instead of a failure.

If you’re newer to blue team work, or you’re restarting like me, feel free to follow along. I’ll share the wins, the mistakes, and the bits that made me stop and say, “Wait… that’s how that works?”

Onward.