Are You Paranoid? The Most Successful Are...

​Are you paranoid?  You should be.  The best always are.  

In any business, at any stage, it pays to have what I call a healthy sense of paranoia.  The reason is stated in the quote above by Andy Grove of Intel.  "Only the paranoid survive."  In fact, he wrote a best-selling book about the subject of the same title.  He's right. 

Healthy paranoia is good for you.  It drives you.  It keeps you on your toes.  It makes you work harder.  It causes you to innovate and stay on your game.  It keeps things interesting.

It also causes you to not rest on your laurels or get complacent.  In the entrepreneurial life cycle, there are peaks and valleys - especially in the early years.  But if you persevere and stick it out, you eventually get to a point where things are pretty good.  Your bills are paid every month.  You're making good money...or enough to sleep well at night.  It is at this point where a lot entrepreneurs and leaders lose their edge. They get, as Andy says, "Complacent."    

Complacency is death by a thousand cuts for a business.  It isn't necessarily the end of the business, but many times it is the end of growth of the business.  It's the end of what made that business great.  It's the end of the "magic."  Many times this happens when a founder leaves as they were the spark and catalyst....and they had the healthy paranoia.  Apple with Steve Jobs and Starbucks with Howard Schultz are good examples.  In each case, they both left or retired and the business got complacent and sputtered. When each returned, they brought back that edge, that drive, that feeling of "we  have to go to do better or we'll get passed up."

Healthy paranoia is good for you.  It drives you.  I keeps you on your toes.  It makes you work harder.  It causes you to innovate and stay on your game.  It keeps things interesting.

If you are an entrepreneur or even in a position to affect the direction of a company, embrace being a little paranoid.  Here are 5 examples of how being a little paranoid can make a difference:

1. You should be paranoid about how your competition is trying to be beat you.  Keep one eye on the future and one eye on what they are doing.  Stay as many steps ahead as you can.
2. Things are never set in stone.  It's OK to be paranoid about the health of your business and to avoid excess where you can.  In others words, if you are doing really well, be smart and don't spend it all like it will last forever.  Ask Mike Tyson and other pro-athletes how that turns out.  Or most lottery winners.
3. Markets and economies change.  2001 and 2008 taught most of us that, but many forget it.  Being a little skeptical and having a plan for economic downturns is prudent.  Having a healthy paranoia that the next market downturn is right around the corner helps to fuel your hustle.  
4. Being a little paranoid that you don't have everything you need to succeed or reach your goals is another good thing because it will make you strive and seek out what you need to get them. Challenge yourself and grow yourself constantly.  Never stop or quit in this area - complacency is the enemy of your personal success as well.
5. The last one is my favorite - paranoia of failure.  I know...I know.  Everyone tells you to embrace failure, it's a wonderful thing.  I've said it before.  Let's get real.  Failure sucks.  But you can't go through life afraid of it happening.  Accept that it will.  You just don't have to like it.  And you certainly don't have to go seek it out or force it to happen when you don't have to.  And that is what I mean by "paranoia of failure."  If you have a healthy paranoia of failure, it will push you, as much as possible, to take action to keep it from happening.  It will make you do the little things you don't want to do, but that you know will sink you if you don't.  It will make you put in the extra work or planning to be more successful.  It will keep you honest and help you to have a good understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.  

Developing a healthy sense of paranoia is critical to success and a big part of how people keep their edge.  
​If you want to be more successful, get paranoid!