I love a good podcast, especially one devoted to talking about personal growth and development. At one point last year, it seemed like podcast after podcast that I listened to referenced in one way or another, the Enneagram. Hosts were talking about their Enneagram number. Interviewees were sharing theirs. It felt like the Enneagram came up in almost every podcast I listened to. And it left me thinking, “What in the heck is the Enneagram?!” I was about to find out.
Thanks to a quick Google search, I quickly learned that the Enneagram are nine different personality types. According to the Enneagram Institute, “Everyone emerges from childhood with one of the nine types dominating their personality, with inborn temperament and other pre-natal factors being the main determinants of our type.”
So what are these types? They are:
1 – The Reformer. The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic
2 – The Helper. The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive
3 – The Achiever. The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
4 – The Individualist. The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
5 – The Investigator. The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
6 – The Loyalist. The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious
7 – The Enthusiast. The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered
8 – The Challenger. The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
9 – The Peacemaker. The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent
I am all about learning more about myself, and so the thought of gaining a deeper understanding of who I am through the Enneagram intrigued me. So, for only $12 and forty-five minutes of my time, I took a test on the Enneagram Institute’s website to discover my Enneagram number.
I am…drum roll please…an Eight. Yep, I’m the Challenger. And upon reading the description of what that meant – man, I completely saw myself in the words and at the same time, felt so seen by the description. I felt so understood. It was as if I was opened up and my insides were all explained on paper. And in a way, it was even explaining myself to me – why I do the things I do sometimes or react the way I react.
Since taking the test for myself, my husband has also taken it, and we found out he’s a Three. Knowing that about him has deepened my understanding of his personality as well. And even though it is recommended that you don’t “type” kids, I am pretty sure my eight-year-old son is a One and my ten-year-old daughter is a fellow Eight. Having this knowledge about my children helps me try to show love in a way they most need to receive it, and to talk to them about their challenges in a way that I think their types might need to hear it the most.
In short, learning more about myself and my loved ones through the Enneagram has been so beneficial. My only regret? That I didn’t know about it sooner.
If you are interested in learning more about the Enneagram or want to take the test yourself, I encourage you to check out the Enneagram Institute’s website.
