Your personality’s dark side: Double Troubles

 

Your personality has valuable, captivating differences. These attract people to you, and help you build relationships.

Yet we all have one fatal flaw.

When you get stressed, or tired, or out of whack, you can become exaggeratedly one-dimensional.

Your advantage becomes a disadvantage.

Rather than being seen in a positive light, you can turn people off, or push them away. I call this a “Double Trouble,” because rather than having a healthy balance, you are “doubling up” on one trait.

This causes big problems at work, and at home, often without our realizing it. It’s our personality danger zone.

The good news is, there are patterns behind our pitfalls, and once you know what they are, you can avoid turning people off. Once you know your personality’s danger zones, you can avoid those pitfalls.

Your personality normally uses two Advantages: Primary and Secondary. These two Advantages balance each other and help your Archetype communicate within a healthy range.

Primary Advantage + Secondary Advantage = Archetype

However, what happens when you get stressed, overwhelmed, or fearful?

Your normal positive attributes can turn into weaknesses. In these situations, your combined strengths get thrown out of equilibrium, and you begin using only your Primary Advantage.

This is what we call “Double Trouble” mode. Your normal communication style disappears, and you start using one Advantage almost exclusively.

Your Archetype blends the best of your two most dominant, and different Advantages. You communicate at your best when you work with both of your top two Advantages because you embody the most beneficial aspects of each of them.

However, when you communicate with only one Advantage, pitfalls begin to outweigh advantages. This is when you’re at risk of sliding into your Double Trouble.

When you rely too much on one Advantage, your personality becomes one-dimensional. Rather than fascinating others, you can potentially turn them off.

Let’s say your Primary Advantage is Trust. Trust seems like an Advantage that everyone aspires to embody. Not always. While Trust-focused personalities promote stability and dependability, A pitfall appears when they lean too much on their primary Advantage: Trust can become overly predictable, or even locked in a rut. In this situation, a Trust personality becomes the Old Guard (Trust + Trust). Likewise, if you are a Passion Personality and ignore your Secondary Advantage, your emotionality could take over, turning you into a Drama Queen.

If you are in Double Trouble mode, one attribute overrides your communications. Watch Sally explain Double Troubles in this One Minute Tip:

Fascination is based upon hardwired responses. You want to create a healthy and multi-dimensional response, not one that is simplistic or fixated.

If you’re stressed or anxious, and find your communication is not successful, it’s good to remember to use your other Advantages to balance your messages.

Do you feel yourself slipping into your Double Trouble when you feel stressed or overwhelmed?

Discover your most impressive qualities today. Log in to your account or take the Fascinate® test test here.

In less than 5 minutes, you’ll find out exactly how you’re most likely to add value—and which Double Trouble personality to watch out for. Unlock your Fascinate® profile–or send a friend to find theirs–right here.

WHEN HAVE YOU SEEN SOMEONE BECOME THEIR DOUBLE TROUBLE? UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DOES THIS HAPPEN TO YOU? TELL US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!

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About the author

Sally Hogshead

Sally skyrocketed to the top of the advertising world in her early 20s, fascinating millions of consumers for clients such as MINI Cooper and Coca-Cola. Since then, she’s published two New York Times bestsellers on the science of fascination, and is one of only 172 living members in the Speaker Hall of Fame. Over a million professionals have taken the Fascination Advantage® personality test to discover how others perceive their communication.

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