The term scanner personality was coined by the American author Barbara Sher. In her work as a coach, she noticed that many of her clients kept coming to her with the same problems. Above all, these people had difficulties in setting goals, motivation and perseverance.
But in the course of her work, she noticed the enormous potential and challenges of scanner personalities and has therefore traveled the world as a great speaker to educate more about this topic.
That’s why I’ve brought 5 points with me today that will show you whether you too are one of the gifted scanner personalities.
Concept of scanner personality
In recent years, many terms have been searched for and found to better describe scanners. Especially in German-speaking countries, this term is used for an EDP device and is therefore often somewhat misleading.
The description as a multi-talent, “jack of all trades”, multi-talented or as I like to call us “multi-focused” is more accurate.
How do I recognize a scanner?
There are 2 important perspectives here. On the one hand, the social perspective from the outsideas well as the often critical look of the scanners inside.
For outsiders, these people cannot finish things, always start many different projects, are very versatile and then suddenly have no interest in their projects.
For scanners themselves, it often feels like years of searching for the ultimate job, they get bored easily and have new ideas every day. You enjoy gaining new experiences and learn many things very quickly by being self-taught. They often have the feeling that they only have to decide on one thing and are therefore afraid that they have not ever lived out all their interests.
Now let’s go through 5 characteristics of a scanner concretely…..
Point 1 – Absolute thirst for knowledge
Most multi-talents have one enormous thirst for knowledge and learn many very self-taught.
Therefore, they often have the urge to collect more and more diplomas and certificates in order to be able to “prove” what they have learned.
They often don’t see their ability to learn new things quickly and easily.
They gather more and more knowledge in search of the ONE specialization. But they are often unaware of the broad knowledge they have acquired over the years and which they can connect very well thanks to good cross-connections in their brain.
Point 2 – Not focused for outsiders
The biggest mistake in dealing with multi-talented people is the topic focus. I personally love the term multi-focused and also spread it on social media, because for me it describes a scanner wonderfully.
From the outside, they are perceived as “jack of all trades”, flighty, unfocused and erratic. But in most cases this is not the case.
Depending on the scanner type, they always like new challenges. This also means that highly gifted people don’t find it fun to finish everything all the time. Instead, they would rather start new projects and then throw themselves fully into them.
Point 3 – Enthusiasm like no other
As soon as you tell a scanner personality about a new idea, a new opportunity or a new project, the chance is high that a real firework of ideas will be ignited in his head.
Scanner personalities have an enormously quick enthusiasm, which they can also trigger in others.
Due to their high talent, they quickly recognize the potential of new suggestions and would like to implement them immediately.
Especially professions that are supposed to inspire others – such as salespeople, teachers, project managers – are a great field of activity. Especially when a scanner gets the opportunity to try out new things and live out his/her many interests, then there is no stopping him/her.
Item 4 – Feels like a unicorn
For years, gifted people have had the feeling of being alone in the world. They don’t feel understood in many areas and need to learn that it’s okay not to do the same job for 30 years. They often have strong self-doubt because they always want to start something new and encounter a lack of understanding in their environment.
This is exactly why the exchange with like-minded people is a decisive factor in finally living out one’s own scanner qualities.
The inner anxiety and torment in the search for the ONE positioning is over when you listen to other scanners and exchange ideas with them.
Historically, these people were also called universal geniuses or polymaths, and we have these innovative people to thank for many of today’s great inventions.
Point 5 – Boredom
Another feature is definitely boredom. One might think that scanner burnout is a major concern, but in most cases this is not the case. It is more the topic of boredom that is the problem for people with a wide range of interests.
A new topic demands creativity and provides new knowledge and so many scanners regularly need new stimuli.
Neither at work nor in private life is too much monotony to be endured for long. They like to learn new things, use their talents and are especially happy when they experience new things.
If a project or job is suddenly no longer challenging and there is no variety, the scanner personality quickly loses its power.
Now there are many other traits that apply to the majority of Scanner personalities. I would like to invite you to my short quiz.
→ Vip club for scanners
About the author Anita Raidl
Anita Raidl has been a scanner for almost 40 years and only found out about it about 5 years ago.
After realizing that she is very talented and that she neither consciously gets bogged down nor that it is a shortcoming not to finish things, she was able to use her talent both professionally and privately for her success.
She now lives with her family on Mallorca and has set up an exchange platform with her VIP club for scanners.
Meetings take place there regularly and joint masterminds, online products and projects are also planned there. Because as Anita Raidl likes to say “Nobody will roll their eyes there if you report another great idea next month.”
More from Anita Raidl:
- Instagram interactions: 5 tips for interacting on social media
- The Power of Female Anger – Why It’s Finally Time to Get Angry!
