Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia.

In ambiguous situations, you’re probably better off biasing your thoughts in favor of positive outcomes. When you believe that the world is conspiring in your favor, you start behaving in ways that contribute to a positive outcome. Your attitude is more positive and expansive; you’re open-minded, mindful, and relaxed. (Dr. Richard Wiseman explores this more in The Luck Factor.)

Conversely, if you’re biasing to the negative and constantly behave with a paranoid attitude, your mind will close off many possibilities and alienate people who can otherwise help you. Sure, you’ll expose yourself to limited downside—at the expense of practically cutting off all the positive upside.

There’s a thin line between pronoia and reality distortion. If you receive consistent, concrete, reasonable, feedback that your approach isn’t working, it’s best to listen and adapt, not to stubbornly move forward.

Learn to listen to your limbic system and intuition; it’ll tell you when something is going the right way, or not.