(A collage that I put together from photos taken by Endlisnis on flickr)
According to the Enneagram, we have one core Personality Type. It appears that we are either born with it or that it can be the result of early nurturing. This core is home base. It describes you the most. If you are a bird, which is free to roam and to explore all other Types, you always come flying home. You reside in this sector; as if it is a familiar nest.
Confusion In Assessing Which Profile Type
Diagram A: Enneagram By Energy Centers
Going by the feedback from my last post on How Would You Cross the River, some of you clearly do not face any difficulty in deciding which profile type you are. Yet, there are others who confessed to having problems in deciphering.
Using the breath of your life experiences to gauge can cloud your mind from making the right analysis. It may be that you have operated out from a different Enneagram Type for a period in time. Then, life may have presented different challenges, which require a different set of attributes that you have built upon.
Additionally, you may at some point in your life, decide to explore some other aspects of who you are. If this has been the case, you would have probably been exploring the sectors that are most within reach to your true Type. Such sectors correspond to your adjacent wings or lines that direct to your stress or security points, according to the Enneagram grid.
In trying to make an analysis, it is possible that you identify with strengths and weaknesses from each sector of the Enneagram Type; hence, throwing you into confusion. Finally, your friends may wrongly assess you, when they base their conclusions on the actions they perceive that you have been taking. (Summary from the various comments to my last post: Only three bloggers got my Profile Type rightly; Irene, Hunter and Rita. Kudos!! The rest had either not ventured a guess or guessed wrongly.)
Based on what I learned from Raj Revindran, in order to make the right assessment, it is important to separate the behavior from the underlying motivation of your actions. The question to ask is: What drives your strategy? What is the underlying life strategy of your various actions? Raj put me through a series of penetrating questions that kept me awake for two nights.
Diagram B: Enneagram By Life Strategy
Crossing The River In Style
I finally arrived at the answer of my Profile Type. Go over my previous post here and scroll all the way near the bottom of my article. At the part where I asked my readers to make a guess as to what profile type I am, I placed the picture of a lady next to my question. The clue is found in this very picture.
It depicted: Ballet plus Water. Put them together, it becomes Water Ballet.
If you read over the nine styles of river crossing carefully, the answer can be deduced: I am a Type Four. The Fours use a variety of fancy styles and even do a water ballet (see above collage).
Raj went on to ask me to consider the possibility that I have a strong influence from my wings (wing of three and wing of five). Having an influence of attributes from both these wings might had prevented me from making a quick deduction of my true Ennegram Type, he explained.
So over the weekend, I borrowed a book that he recommended from the library, to explore the possibility. There on page 112 of Head Versus Heart–and Our Gut Reactions: The 21st Century Enneagram
FOUR may be tempted to withdraw from the world – but waiting in the THREE wing are gifts for relating to and enriching the lives of others. FOUR can be tempted to look at the world with envy – but waiting in the FIVE wing is a more objective view of the lives that other people live. The gifts in the wings can even help develop the FOUR’s own gift of creativity – potentially a gift to inspire others, and containing seeds of wisdom. FOUR only needs to avoid having its temptation toward envy compounded instead by THREE’s temptation for making a false self-presentation to the world or FIVE’s temptation toward isolation and healing.
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The paragraph hit home!
If you have been following my blog, you will note that my recent personal articles are mostly centered on dreams, visions, visualizations, design, images, photography, love, beauty, creating miracles, making mind movies, etc. Law of Attraction is something that sits very well with me.
Here is what I have gathered that is true of a Enneagram Type Four . I am at heart, a creative person, lover of beauty and highly aware of my inner life. Authenticity is what sits in the throne of my Being. My life plan is to convert pain, ugliness and illusions into beauty through creativity, inspiration, vision and compassion.
Diagram C: Enneagram By Gift
Raj pointed out to me that my search on this Earth is to know who I am. Fair enough. I have conducted this search both previously and even up to this day through engaging in a multitude of experiences.
Yet in recent times, I have come to know that the external journey can never be as enriching and fulfilling as the one that comes from within. Seeking seizes in the space that is free of all illusions. It marks an ending of my ego. In Stillness, I am my divine Self.
How To Determine The Profile Type You Are
Knowing my life plan and strategy has now definitely increased my conscious awareness.
Which brings me back to you.
What if you still do not know what profile type you are and hence, unable to determine the deeper meanings of your human existence?
I believe that most books or text on Enneagram would contain quizzes, such as this online test, for assistance. Even then, it may be hard for you to pick the answer in the format of a MCQ, if you have no clarity.
Well, I am a highly visual person. I prefer to work in pictures. So other than the pictures above, I have adapted and recreated images from the same book
Diagram D: Enneagram By Animal
Diagram E: Enneagram By National Stereotype
Diagram F: Enneagram By Retail Road Vehicle
Kindly note that I did not come up with the descriptions that went along with each Enneagram Type. If you do not agree to your animal type or the vehicle that best describes your personality, please do not protest here! You can state whether or not you disagreed with the descriptions in the feedback below; but most certainly, write to the author of the book, with accompanying reasons.
Michael Hampson
Change Your Car; A Creative Challenge To You
Are you already driving the vehicle that best reflects your Enneagram Type? If it is not the case, will you consider changing your car?
What other factors do you think can be used to describe the 9 Enneagram Types? Pop stars? Food? Music? Please give examples, if you would like to take a creative stab at this challenge.
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{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
You’ve revealed your profile type! Finally. It took quite awhile guessing previously.
I’m reading this article again.
Daniel
After doing the online quiz, I realized that I’m a Type #9.
I just feel that I am all of those things in one. Maybe I am a bit biased? I guess I have to do the quizz, and am sure the results will surprise me! This is a bit like the Personality Type Indicator used in psychology. I cannot remember the proper name..
Now I really get why I am a 7. s you say, it isn’t just behaviours we’ve chosen, it’s the underlying motivation and mine has always been to persevere and find the good/the positive/the light in every situation and most people. I am all about the adventure, the journey and throwing myself out there to flutter around and see what happens. And now I get why you are a 4. This blog is a representation of your inner 4.
I wish I could come up with some creative definers for you on enneagram types, but I’m tired from my weekend away so I’ll leave it up to one of your other creative readers. I do love this topic though. Utterly fascinating. I’m keen to find out more.
Kelly
Hi Evelyn - I guessed you as a two but you’re a four. I was a three - I’m not sure it is right for me though, as I tend to use my gut also. And I’m not sure a sports car is right for me. I love Fords. Until recently I owned a Ford people carrier and a Ford Focus, but I’ve now got rid of the people carrier. One woman and two cars didn’t make sense.
Maybe I’ll be a sports car person when the kids have grown up.
I suppose you could apply lots of things to the personality types - songs, food, fictional characters. I’ll have a think and see what I come up with.
@Daniel, one important thing is to ask yourself after doing the online test is whether you really feel like a Type 9. Tests and quizzes are not always 100% reliable; so you need to look into yourself for an accurate reading.
@sharon, if you feel that One speaks to you most, you may be right. By all means, do the test to confirm
@Kelly, it’s great to know that you continue to agree with seven. You sure sound like a very positive person, judging by your posts!
How nicely you put it…that this blog is a representation of my inner 4!
Glad that you are enjoying this topic. Do get some rest! I’m also needing some myself!
@Cath, still confused as to what your type is? I’m just wondering if you are a two. You seem pretty nurturing to me.
If you do have some nice ideas of Enneagram by other factors, do come back here and share! Thanks!
I scored equally for Types 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, so the system had to pick one among them - Type 3. The last time I took another Enneagram test, I was Type 2. Gosh, I have multiple personalities, LOL!
I’m still keen to find out how this applies to spirituality … you’ve GOT to tell me more! I’ll buy dinner.
You are definitely a classic type 4.
As I said in your last post, I am a classic type 1… jealous of type 7!
Now that was one in depth blog post. I had to create one these these diagrams when I was in the hospital after a car accident. They actually tried to teach you to find your inner self. It was actually very interesting and I learned a lot about myself.
This reminds me of horoscopes, and like horoscopes, I find it more confusing than helpful. At least so far. Also, I don’t know you well enough to guess what type you are, or, knowing what type you are, be able to conclude anything from that.
@Vered - I’d guess you were a 5. You have a big heart.
Hi Evelyn. I wonder if we could determine our type through our blogging practice styles: types of blogs visited, how many we comment on, if we are running it for a biz or not, style of writing, subject of posts, what features do we offer our readers, etc. Just throwing that one out there.
OK, now can you make a comparison between the nine enneagrams, the 12 signs of the Zodiac, the Myer-Briggs personality types, and the tree of life?
I think each one helps us to understand ourselves a bit better. And isn’t the most important thing in life to know thyself? I enjoyed reading this Evelyn.
Evelyn, it’s wonderful to see you blossom as a Romantic on your blog, to be more visual and feeling-oriented, rather than cerebral and list-oriented. From previous posts (not the most recent ones), I’d have thought you were an Achiever with a strong Helper tendency. I stand corrected, and I’m delighted to see you come into your power as a Romantic. I probably say this because of my own strong Romantic 4-wing. And it is quite strong.
As an Observer, with Guardian and Romantic as my wings, I’ve traced the paths of least resistance from all three types. So for example, the path of least resistance from Observer to Optimist to Achiever to Romantic leads me to believe that Optimistic Achievement is important for me to connect the Observer in me to my Romantic side. The other two paths I’ve traced are equally intriguing, and provide good references for my learning and growth.
I think you’ve done well in this post to assist your readers to idenitfy their types. I’d love to see you explore the dynamics of the Enneagram in future posts. Thank you for sharing your best, most awesome self.
Love and Light,
Christopher
Evelyn, I have to say that I “cheated” in determining your type. I figured out your Myers-Briggs type first, since I’m much more familiar with that, and then I looked up the mapping from MBTI to enneagrams! It’s interesting that it worked though!
@Irene, thanks for the dinner invite! I’d be delighted to accept it. Sometime towards the end of next week? I’ll contact you.
@Vered, it sure took me awhile to figure out mine myself! Hey…we have a line to each other too!
@Franklin, I’m beginning to enjoy learning about the Enneagram. It sure is fun and pretty educational!
@Dot, I’ve got to admit that I would have been pretty confused myself if I did not get some guidance from my coach. But now that I’ve managed to clear it, I’m sleeping much better….LOL!!
@Davina, interesting idea!
@Marelisa, hmmm….you’ve got a great suggestion! I’m not sure if I would be able to do that, at this point in time. I’m still new to Enneagram and have to learn more about the rest. But yes…I’m beginning to see that a number of us need help to understand ourselves better….including me…LOL!
Hello Christopher,
I am guessing that I’m able to operate out of other Enneagram Types healthily because at home base, I’m already nurtured. My coach, Raj, also said that because the Fours are drawn to beauty, they are able to see the beauty in others as well. It is a gift that the Fours should definitely bring out.
I’m glad to know that you are using the Enneagram as a guide and tool for greater self awareness and growth. It’s fascinating not just for understanding myself and for understanding others too. So thanks for sharing your analysis from a Type 5!
I’m appreciative for your feedback and am looking forward myself to publishing interesting posts on the Enneagram. I don’t have any inspired ideas right now as I tend to go with the flow. But I’m sure that my spirit guides will be helping me with these along the way!
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
Hunter,
Judging by what you’ve said, you appear to know me better than I know myself….LOL!! I could not figure out mine so quickly. On the other hand, you were able to use another personality profiling system altogether to make a deduction and then map across. Ingenious!
You’re really very smart…I’ve noticed that of you already….my wing of five making that observation..LOL!!
Let me guess. You also have a strong wing of 6, to your Type 5???
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
Evelyn,
Yippee! I was right. And so were you - even though I don’t know you, you DID leave clues. So to all doubters out there that I can solve most mysteries within 20 pages of reading I say ha!
Seriously, this was a great and informative exercise. I learned about a LOT of people - and that was kind of fun!
Rita
Evelyn,
Again, after a second reading, this is absolutely on the mark. Now that you have “expanded” the original concept, I feel a LOT more comfortable with the number I knew I was. I wasn’t happy being a 9 the first time around, but I feel a lot better about it now that it’s been “connected.”
Thanks!
Rita
Hi Evelyn - I’m REALLY sorry - but I don’t have time to use this method. I use astrology for understanding personality - which does the job for me.
It’s great, though, that people are so interested in understanding themselves!
@Rita, great one with being able to deduce from clues! You sure did a wonderful job even while I was having difficulty determining my own!
There’s really nothing wrong with any one Type. We are blessed with gifts and just need to look for our temptations or weaknesses for each Type.
Nines are cool because they are peaceful, open-minded and patient. They also make great friends because they listen intently and can really get to the heart of a problem.
@Robin, I wouldn’t expect everyone to take to the Enneagram. So if astrology works out well for you, do go ahead with it
In fact, I was rather surprised at the response to my posts. I thought that they would appeal only to a small group of readers.
It’s been quite fun so far, getting everyone to find out if they really know themselves and others too!
um.. I have a hard time differentiating between the HEAD and GUT :-0) Where does that leave me
Hi Shamelle,
You are not alone…LOL!! Coming from the heart center, I could not understand what is the difference between Head and Gut. They sound the same to me.
Here is a brief explanation here….
GUT. Gut is based on instinct and intuiton. The gut types feel most at home in their bodies. They directly engage with the world. Gut types connect to all of creation in full embodiment and totally engaged. They approach life practically and openly. They are in the here and now.
HEAD. The head types think, assess and consider the world at large with objectivity, logic and analysis. It observes, calculates and rationalizes.
HERE IS A GOOD WAY TO DISTINGUISH. HEAD types fill with thoughts; heart types with emotions; GUT types just know that they are part of creation, engaging directly, trusting their instincts and intuition.
In each new situation, the response of the HEAD is to remain objective and logical, to observe and assess, then decide.
The response of the HEART is to long for an emotional and meaningful interaction with people around.
The response of the GUT is to see the situation in practical or functional terms, engaging openly and in an unselfconscious manner, and then see how things go.
Hope the above helps you have a better understanding. If you still need more clarification, do not hesitate to let me know
Love, light & truth,
Evelyn
I’m going to dig deeper to see if my type is different than my initial instinct.
Stacey, good idea to reflect through to be sure! I was convinced I was a 6 and then a 5 and then, I felt that I could be every Type. I kept bugging poor Raj, my coach, and we spent hours on the phone.
During the weekend, I read the above mentioned book in the post and had insufficient sleep because of wanting to find out more info and then, reflected later.
Enneagram fascinated me because it did not only tell me my Profile Type. It also revealed my life plan, meaning of existence, the best way to bring out my gifts, how to grow from here, how I react in times of stress, how to have better relationships, the kind of friends that I best get along with, etc.
It will definitely be worthwhile spending time to ascertain your true Profile Type; so that you can extract a deeper understanding from it for your spiritual growth.
Love, light & truth,
Evelyn
This was an interesting exercise Evelyn. Upon doing the online test, I came back as a 9. Not what I labeled myself as in your previous post. And, I see this as all part of the process of me getting to really know myself better.
Evelyn, I also love how you’re sharing your journey with us here too. You give all of this meaning, and that’s very helpful.
Lance, it is quite a challenge to discover what our true intents are - underneath all the noise and actions that we take - isn’t it?
For instance, I found out that I am a lost Four. Creativity is not encouraged in formal school education. It is deemed that creative jobs like musicians, artists, painters, writers and actors generally are not able to bring enough income. So why encourage a faculty of the mind and spirit when head-based learning helps to eventually pay the bills?
So it is enlightening to find out that I’ve been developing traits and operating from other Types all this time. Yet, the home base has always been one of creativity, beauty and inspiration. It has not been nurtured for a long time. It’s time to return to home base, to reclaim my inner core of four.
I believe that by doing so and only then, I can serve others much better than how I am doing now. The light that my soul brings in this lifetime to others is the joy that shines through the beauty, waiting to blossom from the inner recesses of my heart.
May the light come shining through for you, as it has for me!
Love and peace to you always,
Evelyn
Evelyn, I think you’re right on - the “noise” in our life drowns out our innermost thoughts and feelings. Our true being.
I’m still hesitant of the answer I came up with - and for this very reason. I did this test, if you will, amongst the noise of everyday life. I didn’t give it my full attention. And in so doing, I would wager to guess I shortchanged myself. Maybe the result would be the same. But the level of my thinking, of being open to these questions, and to letting them truly enter into me - is not that same.
On another note - I really feel you creativity when I visit here Evelyn (how did I miss this when I guessed on your last post???). So, you are showing your true colors (in your writing, art work, movies, etc).
Ok, now it gets more confusing
I use my head a lot. And gut very rarely unless my heart forces me to. I thought I was 2 but this kinda mixes things up. In addition, I could relate to lot of stuff on diagram B which doesn’t match with the earlier numbers. Seems I will have to take a test to figure out. (I checked it out earlier. Has wayyy too many questions)
Evelyn,
I read your comment on my comment…you say you had a difficult time determining your own type. If I may ask, were you SURPRISED to find that you were a 4? If so, in what ways?
Thank you,
Rita
Lance,
I believe that a simple online test cannot possibly reveal our true nature and core motivations. Hmmm…I’m wondering how I can help you better. I’d have to think up a creative solution.
You know…I missed it myself with regards to my recent posts. I know that creativity is something that I wish to indulge in, but I did not think that a 4-type was the driver to all my actions.
My Enneagram coach, Raj, did not know me previously nor have visited my blog. But he was able to ask me very leading questions to arrive at an answer, when we first met. Still, he wanted me to think over if it was true.
After I thought I was a four, I needed to confirm my finding. While writing my post on the Enneagram, I realised that the confirmation was found in my blog. It can be deduced from the many posts that I’ve written!
Lance, I continue to wish you success in your self discovery. May you find the answers that you are looking for!
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
Avani,
Like Lance, you need to clear away the “noise” that is cluttering your mind. It is impossible to get the true answer if you’ve got too many things on your mind.
I suggest that if you are intending to take the online test, sit quietly first. Or the other way, is forget about the online test, just go meditate. Trust your unconscious mind to provide you with an answer. I know it sounds a little difficult to do this; but in NLP coaching, we often use this suggestion to aid our clients “extract” answers.
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
Rita,
I knew I’ve always have a love for art & painting and all things creative. However, because I also saw myself in various situations being driven by other life strategies, I did not think I was a Four initially.
Perhaps a little background history can help you to understand why it took me a while to make the right deduction. I’ve never ever had formal school training in art and I hardly saw myself as a Romantic. I studied science and did further mathematics in school as a teenager. I then went on to be trained in accountancy and was a banker for a number of years.
In the bank, I was put in a special program which was designed to fast track a group of us. If anything, there was hardly any creativity involved here. What were encouraged were skill sets that pertain to success, hitting goals, research analysis (to read the markets), leadership, team building etc. Because of all these actions, I did not think that I could not be a Type 4 at first.
Yet, the underlying current was a love to create things. When I started working in the bank, I’d be taking up all kinds of art classes as hobbies after office hours. When I first quit the bank, I did freelance graphic design for a while, selling my designs to a company. When I wrote my articles for this blog, I realised that I was always looking for creative solutions in the area of personal development.
In my own spiritual journey, I found that it was beauty that fed my soul. As soon as I could nurture myself in a creative manner (like say spending 3 hours doing art over the weekend), I would be more effective in assisting others during the week. I’d be in a joyful state, seeing the beauty and abundance all around; and from that state, I felt empowered to spread more love, light and kindness.
I also finally understood why it took me so long to make a deduction. When I read the book (as mentioned in my post) last weekend, I realized that I was a “lost Four”. Read my comments to Lance for more details.
Rita, thanks for asking me your questions. I didn’t explain my background and all in too much details before because I did not think anyone will be too interested.
If you’ve got further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn, thank you for sharing more of your background in your generous, encouraging responses to your reader’s comments, and how you came to reclaim your core essence. By your example, you’ve moved us and guided us to seek and find our true essence so as to attract the kind of abundance that would allow us to blossom and flourish.
In the light of truth, for the love of truth,
Christopher
Okay…let’s see, I am for sure a 6, no, I mean, 3, did I say 3? Arghh, I meant 4, 5, no, really, a 6, aren’t I?
Actually, when all was said and done, and I looked at all of your wonderful charts, I think I am more a 3…I think.
This was fascinating and very well presented…thanks.
peace,
mike
livelife365
Christopher, you are as encouraging as always! I’m very appreciative of the support that you have for my site.
I believe that in each of us, there is the capacity to do more for others. At the same time, we cannot reach out to others unless we start from the basic principle: know who we are. We naturally grow to love ourselves more, embracing our fears and weaknesses, when we know we are.
In understanding ourselves thoroughly, we have every means to turn our weaknesses into strengths and leverage on our gifts for the betterment of all humanity. Enneagram is possibly a tool that can help show us the path.
May I encourage you (as well as every single reader to this site respectively) to share your light with others. We all have unique gifts that can inspire each other to greater heights.
Love and peace to you always,
Evelyn
Mike, do you fancy being the driver of a two-seater sports car compared to the other vehicles? I can’t say that I do not want it too!! It’ll be exciting racing down the highway of life!!
Do have fun deciding who You are and what Type you are
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
Wow-this post is very good at this state of my life when I wonder why I am blogging at all. The test said I was a type three with social traits. That means I need to be attractive and successful to be happy.No wonder i’m unhappy. I thought I was so much different than that!
Maybe I’m a lost “??” insert other more pleasing number.
That was fascinating! I took the test and I am a 9. I am going to have to read all of this again…just to make sure it all sinks in.
@Dr Carson, I’m not sure if I should be taking your comment seriously. Your blog has so many stunning pictures in it. I’m sure this is why you blog: you want to share them with the world. You’ve got an eye for beauty, even in the littlest things. Aren’t you cultivating joy when you are engaged in your photography or writing your creative posts? You may be a four or have a strong-four wing.
@Caroline, if you’ve got any questions, don’t forget to post them here!
I love the Enneagram. I’m a type 6 who is very connected to 3. I’ve studied it with one of the grandfather’s of the Enneagram. It’s great stuff and very helpful when working with and talking to people.
i’m a 9. i would say the test is pretty accurate. calm. laid back. optimistic with a NaTuRaL desire for peace.
@Stacey, that is great! I’m only just beginning to learn about the Enneagram. It is really fascinating!
@NaTuRal, even your nickname reflects your easy going style!! I’m glad to be friends with a 9!
Evelyn,
This is very very fascinating. I guessed I would be a 7 but my test score said I am an 8. Score aside, I really like how it sets us thinking in the direction of our dominant type.
I also really appreciate your elaborate responses to the comments here - I did a bit of learning from your responses as well.
Thx!
Hello Maya, you may well be a 7 with an influence of the 8-wing or the other way round. The question to ask is whether your energy center is more gut or head-based. Are you more instinctual or do you have to think things through?
Thanks for liking the analysis here, even from the comments. With the questions posted, I’m also learning here. I’m happy to check out answers to respond, if I don’t already know them.
Love, light and truth,
Evelyn
It’s interesting! I took the online test as well. I didn’t know that I’m a perfectionist myself, though many said that I am one.
Hello Rosabel, sometimes we look at ourselves too close up that we are unable to see clearly who we are. Just imagine your palm in front of you. As you move it nearer and nearer, the vision of your palm gets blurred.
Perfectionists are cool, because they lent order and discipline. They are also natural leaders!
Glad that you are liking Enneagram! Have fun!
Evelyn
Hi Evelyn,
I am also a 4 and so I enjoyed reading this article all the more!
You wrote:
“I am at heart, a creative person, lover of beauty and highly aware of my inner life. Authenticity is what sits in the throne of my Being. My life plan is to convert pain, ugliness and illusions into beauty through creativity, inspiration, vision and compassion.”
In my own studies with the Enneagram, I could not have come across a better description of my profile. Thanks!
I really enjoyed your perspective. Stumbled!
another 4 here, although I also seem like a 6 recently.
I enjoyed the diagrams.
Hi Evelyn,
I was google-ing on Enneagram and I chanced upon this blog.
Thanks! It basically give me the brief introduction that I was looking for.
Cheers
victor