I found myself lost (again) in the self-growth section of Chapters the other day and stumbled upon this book, a book about Enneagram types! (2, 3, 8, and 1). As someone who adores personality tests (I mean, I even made two of my own on this blog: What your Breakfast says about you, and What Your Chipotle meal says about you), I took it, sat down, and starting flipping straight to the test section. Then I proceeded to read up on myself.
(One note about this book: there is some dry sarcasm, blunt humor and swearing. I didn’t really resonate with the writing tone of this book, so I suggest looking towards another book that would better do an accurate job of depicting the archetypes.)
What are Enneagram types?
I’m still new to this, so this is what I know: There are 9 personality types. There are 3 categories, and 3 personalities fit into each category. The Feelers, the Intuitives, and the Thinkers.Each number pertains to a specific personality type.
Upon taking the test in the book (and you can do this one here), it said I was an intuitive-feeler.
My enneagram types are 1, 8, 2, and 3.
Enneagram 2: The Helper/Parent/Nurturer
- Usually grown up with the notion that it wasn’t okay to have their own needs
- Can have anxious-attachment
- Self-sacrificing
- Want to be acknowledged and loved for appreciated.
- Empathic; takes on others’ emotions and feels deeply
- Good at reading people’s energies and body language.
According to the Enneagram Institute:
Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are well-meaning and driven to be close to others, but can slip into doing things for others in order to be needed. They typically have problems with possessiveness and with acknowledging their own needs. At their Best: unselfish and altruistic, they have unconditional love for others.
- Basic Fear: Of being unwanted, unworthy of being loved
- Basic Desire: To feel loved
Perhaps the biggest obstacle facing Twos, Threes, and Fours in their inner work is having to face their underlying Center fear of worthlessness. Beneath the surface, all three types fear that they are without value in themselves, and so they must be or do something extraordinary in order to win love and acceptance from others.
At Their Best, they become deeply unselfish, humble, and altruistic: giving unconditional love to self and others. They feel it is a privilege to be in the lives of others.
Addictions: Abusing food and over-the-counter medications. Bingeing, especially on sweets and carbohydrates. Over-eating from feeling “love-starved”.
Well… I can definitely see this in my relentless fulfillment in coaching. It’s so satisfying to see the transformation of happier women in my coaching through mindset and confidence shifting. (You can apply to work with me!). My 5 love languages (which is another book you HAVE GOT TO READ! Regardless of whether you’re in a relationship or not!) test also points out that I’m a huge person for Words of Affirmation. Meaning; I treasure compliments, take feedback personally and lovingly use words to appreciate and receive. Onto the next enneagram type!
Enneagram 3: The Machine/Achiever
- Self-critical; perfectionist; sets high expectations for themselves
- High-performer
- Tendency to workaholism
- The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic, Adaptable, Excelling, Driven
Threes are self-assured, attractive, and charming. Ambitious, competent, and energetic, they can also be status-conscious and highly driven for advancement. They are diplomatic and poised, but can also be overly concerned with their image and what others think of them. They typically have problems with workaholism and competitiveness. At their Best: self-accepting, authentic, everything they seem to be—role models who inspire others.
- Basic Fear: Of being worthless
- Basic Desire: To feel valuable and worthwhile
Healthy Threes know how good it feels to develop themselves and contribute their abilities to the world, and also enjoy motivating others to greater personal achievements than others thought they were capable of. They are usually well regarded and popular among their peers, the type of person who is frequently voted “class president” or “home coming queen” because people feel they want to be associated with this kind of person who acts as a stand-in for them. Healthy Threes embody the best in a culture, and others are able to see their hopes and dreams mirrored in them.
Threes report that when they realize to what extent they have adapted their lives to the expectations of others, the question arises, “Well, then, what do I want?” They often simply did not know; it was not a question that had ever come up before.
I can see this. I like having a purpose and when I do, I am very driven towards it. I can burn myself out with self-expectations and having too many things to do. I also am very high-performing and when I want something, I truly manifest it. I always have. 🙂
Enneagram 8: The Challenger
- Firey
- Doesn’t like to be controlled.
- The Powerful, Dominating Type. Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, straight-talking, and decisive, but can also be ego-centric and domineering. Eights feel they must control their environment, especially people, sometimes becoming confrontational and intimidating. Eights typically have problems with their tempers and with allowing themselves to be vulnerable. At their Best: self- mastering, they use their strength to improve others’ lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and inspiring.
- Basic Fear: Of being harmed or controlled by others
- Basic Desire: To protect themselves (to be in control of their own life
and destiny)
Eights have enormous willpower and vitality, and they feel most alive when they are exercising these capacities in the world. They use their abundant energy to effect changes in their environment—to “leave their mark” on it—but also to keep the environment, and especially other people, from hurting them and those they care about. At an early age, Eights understand that this requires strength, will, persistence, and endurance—qualities that they develop in themselves and which they look for in others.
At Their Best, they become self-restrained and magnanimous, merciful and forbearing, mastering self through their self-surrender to a higher authority. Courageous, willing to put self in serious jeopardy to achieve their vision and have a lasting influence. They may achieve true heroism and historical greatness.
In their shadow side, they may be self-righteous, stubborn, vengeful and spiteful. They may seek to destroy.
I don’t see a strong 8 in myself. Sometimes when others strike a cord in something I’m passionate about, my 8 will ignite in firey defense/attack. I know I was like this with my parents, especially in teenhood. I had a vision, and I was going to see through to it. Other than that, I’m not self-entitled, often blame myself than on external people/circumstances and tend towards sadness/depression than anger.
Enneagram 1: The Reformer
- The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic
- Constantly improving something; making something better.
Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their Best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic.
- Basic Fear: Of being corrupt/evil, defective
- Basic Desire: To be good, to have integrity, to be balanced
We have named personality type One The Reformer because Ones have a “sense of mission” that leads them to want to improve the world in various ways, using whatever degree of influence they have. In the effort to stay true to their principles, Ones resist being affected by their instinctual drives, consciously not giving in to them or expressing them too freely. The result is a personality type that has problems with repression, resistance, and aggression. They are usually seen by others as highly self- controlled, even rigid, although this is not how Ones experience themselves. It seems to them that they are sitting on a cauldron of passions and desires. Ones believe that being strict with themselves (and eventually becoming “perfect”) will justify them in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. But by attempting to create their own brand of perfection, they often create their own personal hell.Ones come to rely heavily on their superego. When Ones have gotten completely entranced in their personality, there is little distinction between them and this severe, unforgiving voice. They can have severe depression.
At Their Best, One’s become extraordinarily wise and discerning. By accepting what is, they become transcendentally realistic, knowing the best action to take in each moment. They are humane, inspiring, and hopeful: the truth will be heard.
Well, I can definitely see this in my values about diet, human empathy/psychology, and spiritual growth and the unconscious. Albeit I don’ resonate with the constant pursuit of always improving something (but I do believe in self-growth and having a sense of purpose in life), my superego is my weakness in that it crushes me with blame, shame, and guilt–something I and my clients work through! Through spirituality, I can affirm that I am enough just as I am and that no human needs to earn their worth when they’re inherently born with it.
All in all? What do I think?
I resonate with 2 the most at heart, with 1’s shadow side (a self-destructive superego), with the light side of 3’s (being a inspiration and motivation to others) and very little of the 8.
I know when I feel authentic and when I don’t, so that’s why I don’t think I’m as superficial as a 3 but I hold the productivity and entrepeneurial/social aspect of a 3. I’m not as aggressive as an 8 but I am firey and passionate about what I’m passionate about and I will NOT tolerate another throwing insults to my values. I will envision myself b*tch slapping people in the face if they’re being offensive and naive with their views (I get so angry about this; I kid you not).
I don’t believe people fit into 1 category; I think we are all made up of a little bit of this and a little bit of that, an at certain points of our lives we change, evolve, and realize a different part of ourselves. In the end, we are all human and come from the same consciousness; so on a level you are me, and I am you. What I see in you reflects the dark (the things I judge) and light (the things I love!) aspects of myself.
If you’d like to work with me as a lifestyle coach to uplevel your life and elevate your circumstances and gifts (believe me, your curses are NOT curses–they are blessings!), shoot me an email at thefittyblog@gmail.com ! Otherwise, feel free to join the fitty community on patreon to get exclusive attention and content here.
Have you done the test before? What enneagram are you? (Please explain, because I’ve yet to read up on all of them myself! This post took me hours to put together in all that research. @_@ But it was a lot of fun :))
