The Enneagram is a system of personality typology that classifies human personality into nine basic types. Each type is represented by a point on a geometric figure called an enneagram, which indicates various connections and commonalities between the types. Here is a beginner’s guide to the 9 Personality Types of the Enneagram.
The Nine Enneagram Types
- The Reformer: The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic
- The Helper: The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive
- The Achiever: The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
- The Individualist: The Sensitive, Withdrawn Type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental
- The Investigator: The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
- The Loyalist: The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious
- The Enthusiast: The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered
- The Challenger: The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
- The Peacemaker: The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent
Each type has its own core motivations, fears and internal dynamics.
The beauty of the Enneagram is that it can help provide insights into your own behavior and help you better understand yourself and others. What’s really interesting is how sensible this classification system is. No woo woo here. And it’s ancient which is kind of cool too.
My Personal Experience with the Enneagram
I’ve taken several types of personality tests over the years: one with Tony Robbins; one with coach Talane Miedaner; and another with design business coach Tobi Fairly and liked and disliked the findings of my tests.
Surprisingly, some people don’t really know what an Enneagram is. So, I wanted to give you a brief background and maybe, just maybe, convince you to discover your own type.
Want to know my type? I’m a 9 with a 1 wing. Nines are the Peacemakers, self-effacing, complacent, agreeable and receptive. The 1 wing means I’m rational, idealistic, principled, purposeful and ugh, perfectionistic.
Tony’s tests indicated I’m slow to learn and that I should be in a visual field. Interior design. Duh. But enough about me.
Enneagram Book Recommendation
“The Road Back to You” by Ian Morgan Cron is the Enneagram book coach Tobi recommended to me. It didn’t take long to figure out my type. I admit I didn’t read the whole book once I identified the people closest to me.
Where to Find an Enneagram Personality Test
There are many resources available for learning more about the Enneagram and discovering your own type. You can take a free Enneagram personality test online to see which of the 9 personality types suit you best. You can also read detailed descriptions about each of the nine Enneagram types on websites such as The Enneagram Institute.
By exploring the Enneagram and understanding your own type and the types of those around you, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself and others and improve your relationships.
