If you want to succeed in life, you must grow a little more carefully after each step of success you conquer. Over time, you’ll see the good, the bad, and the ugly of human nature, and as you do, you’ll begin to realize how risk and reward work, and also a lot about human motivation and how hierarchy works. Maslow’s needs, and free market philosophy works in the real world, when not manipulated by Machiavellian takers.
Achievement is possible, it’s just that many people don’t understand simplicity in all the abundance of information, PR gimmicks, and perceived complexity.
Not long ago, I read a very interesting article in the New York Times on May 31, 2011 titled “Not Flashy Investor, Just Successful” by Julie Creswell which talked about Martin Sass and said that he; “Martin Sass runs a boutique investment firm with $8 billion in assets. He doesn’t believe in get-rich-quick schemes and has “a healthy degree of paranoia.” After reading that and the entire article, I thought to myself, how this is my kind of person, how his skepticism, cynicism, and mild paranoia kept him away from the likes of Bernie Madoff, Allan Sanford, and others over the years.
Do you remember the former CEO and president of Intel, Andy Grove? In his memoir and biography, he wrote a book called “Only the Paranoid Survive,” and I think that was the appropriate title for someone who was the president of the world’s largest semiconductor corporation at the time. Actually, he still is, and for good reason, including an ability to outpace the competition, not fall for new untested fad concepts, and a healthy degree of paranoia.
People who are well grounded realize that there is no easy way, that anything is possible but it requires hard work ethic, intelligence and a bit of integrity. At the same time, they need to realize that not everyone thinks this way, and that there are plenty of get-rich-quicks out there willing to cut corners and do whatever it takes to make deals. Those who have been around the block enough times can spot a fake when they see them, and frankly, we’re smart enough to stay away from them.
Does it make sense to live your life full of paranoia? No, of course not, but you also need to realize that there are others who wish you ill and will do whatever it takes to see your downfall in order to gain an advantage for themselves without working for it. I think you should take the high road and understand that a little paranoia is okay, and get-rich-quick schemes are not. In fact, I hope you will please consider all this and think about it.