Do you sometimes feel like there’s a pair of eyes burning in the back of your head?
If so, it’s not your imagination, trust me. Narcissists thrive on watching you from afar. They love to know exactly what you’re doing, and who you’re doing it with.
Knowing how they’re watching you will give you more control over your life – and that’s what everyone wants, right?
I want to look at how you fail to notice, and how they get away with keeping up with you every day.
Your privacy is important, so let’s reclaim your boundaries!
Do You Get That Uneasy Feeling?
The feeling like someone’s watching you comes from that burning intuition you feel in your gut.
Just as you turn your back, they’re there waiting for you to make your next move. You can’t see them, but you know they’re there.
Related : This is How Narcissists Are Always Watching You
It’s annoying, and you want to get rid of it – but that doesn’t work with narcissists. They’re notorious for prowling.
And you’re the prey.
Feelings of Uneasyness
If you’re experiencing this feeling of unease, you might want to know where it is in your body.
Do you feel anxious, knowing that the narcissist knows your routine and schedule?
Do you panic when you think about finding yourself in a situation with them alone?
Does your heart beat faster, knowing that you might see them on your lunch break again?
Does your heart palpitate at the mere thought of them being around?
I ask these questions because you’d be surprised how many people experience physical symptoms when it comes to the narcissist in their lives.
Especially if you know they’re watching you.
Something to Never Ignore
If a narcissist is watching you, you can take steps to help alleviate or eliminate it. I say this because letting go—your life online and offline—will not make the narcissist go away.
If left alone, they will continue to watch you from afar, judging your choices, your appearance, and what you have (or don’t have). Not only that, but they will make it public.
This is rooted in jealousy. You are living your best life, and they are criticizing it because you are doing just fine without them.
You are living a life of pain and they do not care about your well-being, and they love it and tell everyone that you clearly cannot live without them.
No matter what you do, you will not win.
That’s why hitting the block button as often as you can will help. Only share your news with people you know and trust.
Narcissists Are Always Watching You
They can’t help themselves.
Narcissists are always watching you because they need to know what you are doing when you are not with them.
Whether it is good or bad, they want to be there so they can act accordingly.
This could be an ex, or it could be an active narcissist in your life who wants this ultimate form of control over you.
Related : You Won’t Believe These 5 Passive-Aggressive Tactics Narcissists Use Against You
That’s why they do it.
It’s all about control, and it always will be. If they can know you, even who you are without them, they know everything about you to use as ammunition later.
Use Other Eyes
This is definitely one of the ways that narcissists keep tabs on you. Remember – they mostly have jobs and lives of their own. How can they be in so many places at once?
By using their flying monkeys!
Family and friends, even your family and friends – they can check up on you through the eyes of your clothes whenever they want.
This is how easy it is to monitor you.
Expect a call from a friend asking what you’ve been up to, and telling you how the narcissist met them.
Expect a call from the narcissist’s mother – or even an online friend request.
By the way…
Social Media
Social media is probably the most obvious way that a narcissist ensures that they keep tabs on you. And trust me – they will if you let them.
What can make this easier for them is:
Having a public profile open.
Share mutual friends who can monitor what you’re doing and report it to the narcissist.
Make sure every little detail about your life is posted on your social media so nothing is secret or sacred anymore.
Put your bad days online so the narcissist knows (and enjoys) them too.
YourHabits = Her Encounters (Sometimes!)
Have you ever encountered a narcissist?
I knew someone years ago who made the mistake of telling her narcissistic sister-in-law every time she signed up for a new fitness class, found a new hike, or loved a city.
Before she knew it, her sister-in-law was showing up to that class early to make friends and talk to everyone.
She would walk those routes and post about how great they were online. She would fly to those cities for weekend getaways.
Nothing was sacred.
Related : 10 Signs From The Universe You Are Dealing With a Narcissist
For the SIL, it was all just, “Oh, that’s funny, I like that too. I like going there. I like this form of exercise.”
For the client, it wasn’t a coincidence.
If you’re being watched, the narcissist already knows where you go, what you like, and when you like to do it.
That’s when you bump into them.
That’s when your life becomes intertwined with theirs.
Why Do They Insist On Watching You?
Frankly, you have something they want.
As much as they can’t understand how you can live such a fulfilling life, they also don’t want to acknowledge that your life is pretty good.
They care about you because you don’t need anyone else’s approval. You live the way you want to, and that doesn’t change if you’re asked to change it.
If the narcissist is an ex, they want to watch how you handle it when you’re not together. They hope you fail without them—only then will they see how much you need them. If you succeed, he wants to bring you down.
Related : 8 Ways Narcissists Treat You in Public vs. Behind Closed Doors
Narcissists feel that watching people gives them a little bit of control and insight into what’s going on.
When you think they can’t see you, it’s always worth double-checking whether there’s a way into your life that they can get through to others.
This has happened to people I know before, and they’ve been caught with different people passing on information – that’s the whole thing about being a friend of a friend.
If you value your life and how much control you have over it, you’ll value protecting it.
