What’s the most overlooked symptom of narcissism?

The one you never think of when you think about narcissism, I’m going to be telling you all about it in this article.

The reason why I’m on this mission, on this personal crusade, is to make sure that we can shift the whole world and finally feel empowered. I’ve heard that 16% of the population are narcissists and if each one of those people would go around narcissistically abusing just five people in their lifetimes, they would end up abusing 3.4 billion people. That’s like all of us.

Narcissists got all kinds of really frustratingly awful habits. But the one thing that people don’t know is that narcissists are really horrible listeners. Sometimes it’s hard to understand them, but it is what it is. They talk a lot more about themselves than listen. This is a symptom of narcissism that can often be overlooked because it is subtle a lot of times. I’m not saying everybody who’s a non-listener is a narcissist, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that they do. It’s extremely difficult to deal with them in a business situation, as a colleague, as a boss, also in marriage. When you are negotiating with them, it can certainly be a problem.

Horrible listeners — that’s one red flag that a lot of people don’t necessarily see or think about. In my case, it was a law partner that my husband had at one point. You’d be in the middle of a conversation with him and even if he asked you a question directly, and you’re halfway mid-sentence, he would decide that either there was someone else in the room he’d rather talk to, or look at his phone instead. He would just start looking at his phone, texting, or he’d be walking away. He didn’t even have the manners, to let you finish your sentence. He would just be gone. He was a flaming narcissist and ended up being divorced from a really lovely & great woman.

Whether they talk more than listen, or they walk away from you mid-sentence, narcissists are just not very good listeners and tend to be very dismissive. Situations like they don’t remember meeting you before even though you’ve told them that you’ve bumped into each other on more than one occasion, that’s also kind of a giveaway. Another tell-tale sign is every time you say something, they would contradict or negate it. They might say, “Yeah, but…” or “well, but not really…” They’re just dismissive and constantly brush aside your ideas.

Even a narcissist’s tone can give it away, like “yeah, whatever” or “I guess…”. You can sort of listen to their tone as to how they’re taking your message. You’ll know if somebody is truly listening because they’ll make you feel that whatever you have to say means something to them. You’ll get that sense and feel whether or not you are important to a person by how they’re treating you.

Do you feel tired or drained when you come in contact with that person? How do you feel when you have been in their space? That’s a huge red flag. This is something that I say all the time, especially having dealt with narcissists in my own life, defend your light with your life. We are all vibrating beings of energy. So make sure you are defending your light with your life. It is so important.

So, what is the most overlooked symptom of narcissism? It is whether or not they’re listening to you. And it shows up in many different ways. So, if you are dealing with a narcissist in any way, shape or form, make sure that you protect yourself, make sure that you are doing what you need to do to create some boundaries, and start thinking about how you’re going to exit that relationship if you can.

Remember that today is a great day to start negotiating your best life. And I will definitely be with you in the next article.