What is the Enneagram?

The Enneagram is a personality typing system that is used for personal growth and development through the lens of self-awareness (and, in turn, to help you better understand others.) No one truly knows its origin, but some claim elements of it date back to Ancient Greece; however, the version of the Enneagram as it is used today came about in the mid-20th century.

The meaning of the term ‘Enneagram’ is Greek in origin: ‘Ennea‘, meaning nine, and ‘gram‘, meaning figure – referring to the diagram, consisting of nine points (one for each type) on which the framework is developed.

Many people write off the Enneagram immediately, thinking that the idea there are only nine personality types in a world of over 7 billion people is laughable. “I know more than nine people who are all very different – how can there only be nine types?”, you may be wondering.

You see, the Enneagram isn’t about categorizing people into nine boxes. There are many levels to the enneagram, which we will delve into beyond what I’ll cover in this post, that take into account the ever-changing, fluid nature of personality – from our core motivations and fears, to our natural unconscious instincts and primary needs, to how we show up differently dependent on our levels of health, who we’re around (boss and coworkers vs family and friends, etc.)

Important Notes About the Enneagram

The Enneagram of personality is not meant to put you into a box, categorize and label you, and tell you who you are, who you should be, and that you’re incapable of anything else. It’s meant to shed light on your core motivations/fears, help you identify why you may think the way you think, do the things you do, struggle with the things you struggle with, like the things you like, excel at the things you excel at, and develop more self-awareness so that you can better know yourself, recognize when you’re doing well in life or when you’re under stress and need to address issues, and hopefully help you better align the results you have in your life to one that is more authentic to who you are and what you want in life.
Though it is incredibly accurate through tons of study and observation and is acknowledged by psychologists, since the Enneagram is defined by our motivations and fears (rather than specific, measurable behaviors or functions of the brain or body), it is technically considered a theoretical framework rather than an exact science.
Personal development, the Enneagram, and life coaching can be profoundly impactful for personal growth; however, they are not substitutes for therapy. Please seek help from a licensed professional for therapy and mental health concerns.
Additionally, every human being is brought up in very different ways. Even if you’re the same type as somebody else, you likely were brought up in different cultures and belief systems, parental figures and influences, societal expectations, personal needs, family needs, different physical health or abilities, had different life experiences, had different relationships, and a million other factors that contribute to people showing up very differently in the world.

But again, this isn’t about saying that every person who is the same type looks exactly the same as each other. It’s about the fundamental core motivations, fears, and desires. In fact, people of different types could look similar – they may be in the same career path, have similar social tendencies, do similar things, but have very different reasons and motivations for doing so.

For example, someone could have anxiety but for very different reasons – one could be due to low self-esteem and having social anxiety worrying about what others are thinking of them. Another could be having anxiety because they’re in the midst of events they weren’t prepared for ahead of time, and feel ill at ease and incapable of handling the unexpected circumstances. Another could be experiencing anxiety because they feel like they should be doing something else on their to-do list rather than taking time to relax and recover.

You get what I’m saying, all types can experience things like fear, anxiety, sadness, overwhelm, happiness – every range of emotions and experiences – and could even have similar responses to those emotions, but for very different reasons. Those are the core motivations, fears, and desires that the Enneagram of personality ‘categorizes’ the types by.

Remember, this is a tool for growth, not to be boxed in; rather, a tool for figuring out how your unconscious motivations have kept you stuck, and ways to grow beyond the box you’ve put yourself in.

What You’ll Learn with the Enneagram

The Enneagram truly is a fascinating tool for growth. It’s not to be used to manipulate or to hurt others. It’s a tool for developing self-awareness, ways to better understand, relate to, and connect with others, and help you better align your thoughts, feelings, actions, and results with the life that you want.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn with the Enneagram:

Your Core Type

If you’ve heard someone say that they’re a “Type 3”, they’re referring to their core enneagram type. The nine enneagram types have a set of different core motivations, core fears, core weaknesses, and core longings/desires. These underlying cores are what define someone’s type. Therefore, though it’s not always the case, people who share the same type may have similar behavioral qualities or ways that they show up in the world because of these cores.

Your Type’s Wings

If you look at the Enneagram, you’ll see the way in which the nine types are laid out. They are placed in a particular order, and every type is connected to another. One way types are connected are through ‘wings.’ A type’s wing are the two numbers directly adjacent to the core type. For example, if you are a Type 4, you have Type 3 and Type 5 as wings.

A good way to think about wings is that it’s a flavoring of your type. You blend aspects of the wings with your core type, one of which is likely more dominant than the other. Continuing with the Type 4 example, you may have a dominant ‘5’ wing, meaning some (or many) aspects of the Type 5 will blend in with your Type 4 motivations. If you are a 4 with a dominant ‘5 wing’, then you’d type yourself as a “4 with a 5 wing”, or a “4 wing 5” (also written as 4w5). This may be confusing when you’re new to the system, but don’t worry – we’ll go over the concept of wings in a later post.

Your Type’s Arrow of Integration and Disintegration (Growth and Stress)

Similar to the wings being connected to your main type, there is another concept within the Enneagram in which our behaviors and motivations will be influenced by other types depending on our level of health, or how much stress we’re under.

Again, looking at the Enneagram, you’ll see that it’s laid out in a very specific way – all for a reason. It shows the interconnectedness of all types. Aside from the wings being connected to your main ‘core’ type, there are ‘arrows’ of integration and disintegration for every type.

When you’re in an average state of health and not under significant stress (and not doing particularly well in growth either), you’ll be in the main motivations, characteristics, and behaviors associated with your main type.

If you’re under significant stress or an unhealthy headspace, you’ll drift toward the unhealthy traits of the type that your arrow of disintegration points to. For example, if you’re a Type 7 under significant stress, you’ll move to the unhealthier traits of a Type 1.

Conversely, if you’re doing really well and are in a healthy headspace, you’ll move to the healthier aspects of the type your arrow of integration points to. Using the Type 7 example again, in health you’d take on healthier aspects of the Type 5.

The arrows really bring in the fluid nature of our personality. It’s not a fixed system, it shows how many different factors can influence how we show up in the world, react to conflict or stress, and how we integrate and grow into the healthiest versions of ourselves.

I will go over the arrows more in-depth in a later post. But for now, I want you to be aware of the importance of learning about these arrows of stress and growth. They help you identify and become aware of when you’re in an unhealthy state, analyze why, and work to move back into a healthier state, as well as give you a roadmap on how to accomplish that.

Your Instinctual Variants

Every type has three different instinctual variants that will further ‘flavor’ or influence the core type. Though we each utilize the three instincts of our main types, we heavily rely on one, utilize one on occasion, and are either blind to (or neglectful of) the third. This is yet another reason that people of the same Enneagram Type, and even the same Type and Wing combinations, could look very different to others. The three instincts are:

Self Preservation
Social
Sexual (or One-To-One)

Again, there’s way too much to cover about the instincts in this post, so this will be covered in future content.

Your Type’s Center of Intelligence

The nine enneagram types are grouped into different ‘Triads’, or sets of threes, that further help us define and understand our type (or others). One of the most important to learn about when you’re first diving into the Enneagram is learning about the ‘Centers of Intelligence.’ This triad splits the nine types into three groups – the body/gut, the feeling/heart, and the thinking/head triads. Read more about the Centers of Intelligence in this post.

Reasons for Using the Enneagram

Understanding the Enneagram can help you in your journey of personal development, in your life, career, relationships, and simply just developing self-awareness.

By understanding the Enneagram, you’ll begin to see that you’re not alone in your struggles. Yes, we all have unique challenges and obstacles in our lives, but having a system that truly helps support, guide, and essentially give you a roadmap of the way to move forward is pretty incredible. I haven’t experienced other personality systems, methods, or anything else that can have this kind of impact when you truly understand it.
You learn how to identify and manage your stress and weaknesses, find your strengths and unique gifts, find careers or purpose that is much more in alignment with your authentic self, better understand the reasons for your life circumstances, get better clarity on who you are and what purpose you want to pursue in your life, manage your relationships with others in a healthier and more productive way, and so many more insights from those who have experienced the struggles of each type and have gone through this journey ahead of you.
By becoming more aware of your motivations, desires, and fears, your strengths and weaknesses, identifying and being aware of your stress responses, and noticing when you’re in a healthy or unhealthy headspace, you can find ways to work through struggles, better share and articulate your voice and your thoughts/feelings in struggles, and you can show up fully as your authentic self, being present and intentional in your life.
Additionally, by developing self-awareness in these areas, you can find meaningful careers, activities, and causes to support, enabling you to create a more authentic and positive impact in the world that aligns much closer to the life you want and envision for yourself.
Depending on your type, it may even give a voice or permission for you to recognize when you’ve been suppressing your own desires and needs for others, and show you how to define what’s important to you, help you to stop hiding or shying away from showing up fully to life, overcome fears, embrace your strengths, get outside of your comfort zone, and to simply be present to your own life rather than living to please others.

Personal growth and development is a journey – and a tough one, at that. One thing that I love to hate about the Enneagram is that it doesn’t just show you what’s good about your type; it’s very objective. It shows your weaknesses and illuminates your fears, frustrations, and the things you don’t openly want to share with others. And it’s important to address these things in your life if you want to have meaningful growth.

I found radically transformational growth once I nailed down what my type was. It was a nearly two-year-long journey for me. I wasn’t aware of some of the core motivations because they were so unconscious and involuntary reactions that I had embedded into my whole being. It was very uncomfortable to learn about my type, but also very liberating.

It certainly has helped me not to feel so ashamed of my traits/weaknesses, to own who I am, and to show up fully in my life. After years of feeling uncertain about who I am and what I wanted as a Type 9, I’ve been able to understand my reasons better, own my weaknesses, and not discount my strengths. It’s led me to want to share and help others find their core values, motivations, and life purpose – and it’s been an incredibly awesome journey.

Again, and I can’t stress this enough, the Enneagram is a tool for self-awareness and personal growth and development, not to limit you or to box you in and define you to a T. That being said, if there’s nothing else you take away, I hope you give it an honest try to identify your type, to find ways in which you can identify stress and growth in your life, and to better align with what’s important to you in your life.