Standard Directive 009: You Should Be Just A Little Paranoid

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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Jocko Willink?

  I was always paranoid.

• 0:06Jocko Willink?

  Maybe that's why I like the song so much. And listen, I'm not talking about being clinically, pathologically paranoid, which is what happens when people have a irrational, extreme distrust of people, or they have an internal passionate belief that the world is conspiring against them. They think everyone around them is plotting on them, and it drives them crazy, right? They go insane. So I'm not talking about that type of paranoia. But in my life, I've always had a certain level of paranoia, like a low level of paranoia in my head.

• 0:51Jocko Willink?

  And I think, I actually know, I know it's always kinda helped me.

• 1:02Jocko Willink?

  I was paranoid I'd forget a piece of gear.

• 1:07Jocko Willink?

  So I'd double-check my kit, make sure, triple-check my kit, make sure I have all my stuff. I was paranoid about being late.

• 1:15Jocko Willink?

  So I set multiple alarm clocks.

• 1:19Jocko Willink?

  One electric, one battery-powered, one wind-up. I was paranoid I'd run out of time with things, so I wouldn't slack off. I was always paranoid I was gonna fail. In whatever thing I was trying to do, I was always paranoid it was gonna fail. So I practiced and I prepared more.

• 1:41Jocko Willink?

  I was always kinda paranoid that my competition or my enemy was training or working harder than me.

• 1:49Jocko Willink?

  So I worked even harder and trained even more than I imagined they could be.

• 1:58Jocko Willink?

  I always felt paranoid that I didn't deserve to be promoted. I didn't deserve to be in a leadership position. And that kept me humble.

• 2:09Jocko Willink?

  I was actually paranoid always that I'd run out of money. So I never spent more than I earned. I was just a little paranoid about everything.

• 2:22Jocko Willink?

  But that kept me focused. That kept me working hard. It made me show up early.

• 2:31Jocko Willink?

  Made me stay late. I didn't forget things because I had checked. I never slept in.

• 2:39Jocko Willink?

  And I didn't allow any slack.

• 2:44Jocko Willink?

  Being paranoid kept me in line. It kept me disciplined.

• 2:52Jocko Willink?

  So, don't get comfortable. Don't get cocky. Be a little bit paranoid. And then work as hard as you can to fight it off.