Wanting To Change Careers

Hey there, Im 28 years old and currently work at a cigar lounge part time. Prior to this, I ran a family business for about 3 years and then did trading as primary income for a few years before I realized how stressful it is. Made 6 figures one year but most of it was spent on a mentor and me eventually losing everything from my own choices and being in debt

I was interested in cyber security because I have some friends that were in it but one had suggested a linux sys admin route. A year ago I dabbled with it, making some small labs and documenting. I really enjoy using linux, theres so much to learn but never fully committed to it so i just stopped slowly.but lately Ive been caring more and more about my future and I do want a career in this space. All I ever known my whole life is physical work and I want to give myself a chance to actually commit to this because this does look exciting

My question for anyone that is willing to help:

If you were starting back with little experience within this space, where would you start to gain experience and knowledge to help get yourself prepared for a role of a sysadmin that employers are looking for?

Is google cyber security good for foundational knowledge?

Would you build a home lab and practice on a machine? I currently installed rocky linux on my old laptop that had pop os on it since its more similar to red hat.

What else would you recommend to help better prepare for the role for employers?

Certs? Degrees?

I have an associate arts degree and no certs.

Final question, I know a job like this isnt cyber, but in 2026 lets say you got the sys admin role, after where would you look at to specialize in after? Cloud security looks really cool.

Tried to make this simple, I appreciate everyone that replies back. Means alot to me.