Enneagram Type 3

By: Alyssa Huey

Anybody else been obsessed with enneagram types lately?

The Enneagram Test is a personality test that pinpoints you as one of nine interconnected personality types and explains what it means to be that type. I am a 3w4, which can be called “The Achiever” or “The Professional,” basically meaning I spread myself way too thin but will never admit it. If you have taken it, did your answers offend you or were you surprised by where the Enneagram Institute placed you?

Initially, I found the whole process exciting and enticing because everything about my type made me feel empowered to say, “Heck yeah I’m a type 3.” Until I saw my biggest fear…being worthless. Okay, ouch! I saw this and had never really identified this with my biggest fear, instead I thought maybe spiders or snakes. But no, the Enneagram Institute had just figured me out enough, in two pages worth of questions, to pinpoint the reason I decided to push myself to a breaking point. In two words I realized why I feel the need to be the best in a room, why I compete with everybody on everything, and why I can’t seem to listen to my body when it says slow down. If some online test that doesn’t even know me personally can point all of these things out about me then what are other people thinking as well? The retched what do other people think about me question still haunts me to this day almost a year and a half out of high school. And I have a feeling it won’t ever truly go away. My enneagram type really pushed me to reflect on how I project myself on a day to day basis. Do I really portray myself as this professional figure who is too afraid of being in close relationship with others?

Then it hit me, this is some human-made psychological personality test. It does not define me!

I define me.

 So, I sat down and wrote some reminders to myself…

 I decide how I want to treat people on a day to day basis. I decide what I want to do and what managing my time looks like. I decide what relationships I invest time in. I decide whose opinions I do and don’t care about. And I definitely decide my own worth. I am me, and I love that about myself.

Wow did that feel great!

This little enneagram exercise was fun, but it taught me more than I ever thought some free online personality test could. I am me, and that is the best thing I can be. I needed a reminder about who I want to be and who I truly am because I decide so, not because others decide for me. This lesson can be one of the hardest to grasp (believe me, I’m not even close) but it’s important to practice it in order to remind yourself of who you are and that it’s perfect. I think letting some outside source decide what you are, and your limits, stops you from truly reaching your full potential in this world. So, I encourage you to write down the five things you decide about yourself today. Then remember those and go Shine your light on this world!!