Dancing with Our Selves: A Practical Guide to Harness the Ego and Live on Purpose
Excerpts from Chapter 6 | What's your number?
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"The Enneagram serves as a powerful tool for personal growth, helping us to better understand ourselves and others. It guides us towards living more authentically and compassionately, enhancing our relationships and overall well-being.
It has helped me see, understand, and celebrate some of my innate personality traits and behaviors that I wasn’t aware of before. I can use it for clues to let me know when my ego is taking the lead in areas of my life. By identifying these patterns, we can cultivate greater self-awareness and develop strategies to step out of reactive, ego-based behaviors and into conscious, purposeful actions. This journey is like a dance, where we continuously learn to balance the influences of the ego and higher self." --Dancing with Our Selves: A Practical Guide to Harness the Ego and Live on Purpose [Excerpts from Chapter 6] |
Wing Numbers
"Wings add nuance and depth to your primary type, influencing your behavior, motivations, and personality traits. For example, if you are an Enneagram Two, your wings would be Type One and Type Three, and you might display some traits from these neighboring types, creating a more complex and individualized personality profile.
In the illustration above, Two is the dominant type. If you are a considerate helper that also likes to be the best, then you would be a Two wing Three. If you are a considerate helper that likes to have things just right, then you are probably a Two wing One." |
Crossing Example
"In Health (Integration): When a person is in a healthy, balanced state, they can access the positive traits of another type. For example, a Type One (The Idealistic Perfectionist) moves toward Type Seven (The Enthusiastic Visionary) when healthy, adopting traits like spontaneity and joy.
In Stress (Disintegration): When a person is under stress or in an unhealthy state, they may exhibit the negative traits of a different type. For example, a Type One (The Idealistic Perfectionist), when stressed, moves toward Type Four (The Intense Feeling Individual) exhibiting traits like melancholy and self-absorption." |
Stress and Growth
"Each Enneagram number has its own set of great qualities and challenges. Understanding how they manifest in health, stress, and growth can give clues to when you let your ego take the lead in your life and know that it’s time to make a shift.
Your strengths shine when you are in action in your life as your higher self. On the other hand, it can be valuable to use the Enneagram for clues to how you default to operating when you react in life as your ego self." |
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"Exploring the Enneagram has been a game-changer for so many in understanding our patterns of behavior....
Take your time and know that it will make more and more sense as we move along in the book. The nine main personality types each have their own set of strengths, motivations, fears, and coping mechanisms. Additionally, each type draws on characteristics from the numbers on either side of it and specific numbers from across the circle. Even though there are nine main types, the interplay between them effectively creates eighteen distinct personality variations. If that seems confusing, don't worry. For now, let me give you some examples. I promise it's worth the mental gymnastics to see our gifts and challenges through this lens." Dancing with Our Selves: A Practical Guide to Harness the Ego and Live on Purpose [Excerpts from Chapter 6] |
This is a great introduction to each number. It can be challenging to learn the less than flattering things about yourself, but these authors do a great job of making it accessible.
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To further understand how the Enneagram types dance together, this is a good book.
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Enneagram Abby's Instagram profile is hilarious and makes accepting things about yourself approachable!
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I love how this Enneagram Instagram presents information!
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We Can Do Hard Things Podcast interview that is a fun introduction to the Enneagram!
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