Are you constantly afraid of threats in your immediate environment?
Do you tend to monitor your environment for potential dangers?
Are you often anxious of everything that happens around you?
Do you have the feeling that you have to be continuously on your guard and on high alert?
Do you tend to spend considerable time overanalysing every comment made by a colleague to try and find a hidden meaning?
Do you tend to have sleep disorders?
People who answer yes to most of these questions may have a hyper-vigilant saboteur (Shirzad Chamine, Positive Intelligence, 2012). These people are generally sensitive and aware of risks, value security and stability and therefore tend to be serious and reliable. However, saboteurs overuse and abuse a great strength that these people have, i.e. vigilance to risk, and turn it into a weakness.
These individuals may frequently be in a state of alertness to any hidden threats, which often are not real, and so become anxious and nervous about danger that may come from anywhere. Their extreme sensitivity to their surroundings may make it difficult for them to relax and sleep well. Their subconscious is constantly anticipating danger: they may keep checking doors and windows being locked at home; they may fear crowded or noisy environments.
At work, they may overanalyse situations and believe them to be worse than they are, they may overreact if they misinterpret a colleague’s statement, and may have persistent worries about what could go wrong. They may also be suspicious of other people’s motives and have chronic doubts about themselves and others.
Some people may have a natural predisposition to have a hyper-vigilant saboteur, which could be intensified by a particular childhood, e.g. a traumatic event such as the death of a loved one, exposure to violence or to a life-threatening event, a parental separation with an unstable and unreliable father figure.
This constant state of alertness about something bad potentially happening in the future can cause fatigue, physical and mental exhaustion, a huge waste of personal energy and negatively affect relationships in social situations. It can be tiring to spend time with an individual with a strong hyper-vigilant saboteur, and other people may become frustrated by the intensity of their anxiety.
At work, overestimating the chances of a bad thing happening and sending false alarms for danger may undermine the credibility of subsequent valid claims, i.e. the ‘crying wolf’ phenomenon. As a result, huge amounts of personal energy can be wasted.
How strong is the hyper-vigilant in you?
What’s the biggest impact of the hyper-vigilant saboteur on your business or career?
Luca Dondi is a certified professional coach, helping people enhance and realise their unexpressed potential, by leveraging business experience and accredited training. Get in touch for a free coaching session.