Had your Enneagram Moment?

This will be a short-ish one, and I hope to muse more as I learn more.

Here goes. I’m a doubter about “type” tests, from Myers-Briggs to Strengthfinders. Don’t you put me in a box, says me. Having avoided, I’m now having, my Enneagram Moment.

Initial insights? The Enneagram offers itself as another tool in my toolkit, with a message that perhaps I have predictable behaviors/characteristics or ways of seeing the world. Perhaps I’m not so unique after all! Or maybe I am?

What is it? The Enneagram is an ancient spiritual typology framework that identifies nine interconnected personality types, based on underlying core motivations that drive behaviors. The word means nine-o-gram, as the nine types are plotted as nine points on a circle with inter-connected lines among them. Thankfully, rather than tagging you with one number, it suggests you’re mix of your dominant number and one of the numbers adjacent to it on the circle. Yay! I’m still unique. And you start to look, feel, and act like even other numbers if you’re in a healthy or stressed emotional state. Oooooooh. Now I’m interested.

Sidestepping it for years, I’ve recently (reluctantly?) taken a wee dip into the Enneagram with a small group of close friends. Asking those I love and trust about characteristics and tendencies in me -- both positive and “challenging” -- allows me to open the kimono and be vulnerable. They are helping me look differently at myself, so I can become a better friend, spouse, advisor/coach, and citizen of the world. If you know the Enneagram numbers, you will guess correctly from what I just wrote that I am an 8 – a challenger. Ha!

As someone who values my own and others’ wellness and health, I found it interesting that Forbes.com posted this recent article on the Enneagram in their Health section. There you go. Take look if you’re curious to explore, as the article provides some Enneagram resources you may find helpful. To quote Ian Morgan Cron, author of The Road Back to You, “It’s a powerful system for personal growth and a great resource for transforming our relationships in every sphere of life.”

I’ll have a moment with that.

*Enneagram faces thanks to Digital Mom blog.