4 Mistakes in Finding Your Enneagram Type
Have you heard friends or co-workers toss around ambiguous numbers with personality traits? If so, chances are you’ve encountered the Enneagram.
The Enneagram is a deeply saturated personality framework that:
- Breaks down nine valid perspectives of the world,
- Accurately describes the different clusters of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors people experience in life,
- Illuminates our greatest fears and desires, and
- Provides a pathway to becoming our healthiest self.
Sound interesting? It definitely is! If you’re tempted to join the Enneagram bandwagon, it’s worth the ride. However, before you can benefit from what the Enneagram offers, you need to discover your main Type.
Discovering your main Type is a journey only you can take. It takes time, intentionality, and humility to identify with your Type. Some people find their Main Type immediately after reading the Type descriptions. Others wrestle for months, even years, to determine their Type.
Although there aren’t any shortcuts to finding your Main Type, you can avoid common pitfalls along the way. Here are a few common mistakes to keep in mind as you journey to discover your Enneagram Type.
Mistake #1: Asking How Others Type You
One of the cardinal sins of Enneagram typing is to label someone else before they can conclude their Type themselves.
If someone has labeled you as a Type, I sincerely apologize. Not only does this complicate your journey of self-discovery, but you can live a long time thinking you’re a certain Type when you’re not.
Even though your friend may be convinced you’re a specific Type, it’s best to learn your Type for yourself. Who knows? Your friend may end up shocked when you tell her what Type you actually are.
Mistake #2: Believing Tests Are End-All Results
The truth is, an Enneagram test is only about 70% accurate in nailing your Main Type. The accuracy only increases with your self-awareness.
This means 30% of people take a test, read their results, and balk when the description doesn’t define them at all. They end up thinking the Enneagram is a made-up bunch of nonsense and never give it another thought. This conclusion forces people to cut off the Enneagram. Worse, it can spurn them to speak out against the Enneagram and discourage others from looking into it.
If you decide to take an assessment, the best approach is to take your test results as a starting point for your self-typing journey. The better you know yourself and the more honestly you can answer the assessment questions, your results' accuracy will increase.
Free Enneagram Tests:
- Eclectic Energies — Take the Classical Option
- Your Enneagram Coach
Mistake #3: Identifying with a Type’s Title (& That’s It)
Each Type has a title or an identifier. Since using numbers wasn’t descriptive enough, people gave a one-word label to describe each Type.
This label attempts to define each unique and complex Type in a single word, which means these titles miss some nuances and box each Type a little too tightly.
People can get tripped up in these labels, thinking they’re a certain Type because a title describes them on a surface level. Some people might mistakenly think:
- I’m a perfectionist. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type One!
- I’m a helper. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Two!
- I’m an over-achiever. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Three!
- I’m artistic. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Four!
- I’m studious. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Five!
- I’m anxious. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Six!
- I’m enthusiastic. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Seven!
- I’m a challenger. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Eight!
- I’m a peacemaker. Oh! That must mean I’m a Type Nine!
Absolutely not! Just because you are perfectionistic, artistic, or anxious does not automatically make you a particular Type. Many Types are perfectionistic, artistic, or anxious in their own ways. Don’t let these titles deceive you into thinking you’re a Type that you’re not.
Your Type boils down to your Core Motivations, not your behaviors or tendencies, which leads to the next harmful mistake people make in finding their Enneagram Type.
Mistake #4: Focusing Too Closely on Behaviors
Labeling each other might work with other personality assessments, like Myers Briggs, but the Enneagram looks deeper than surface-level behaviors; it magnifies your motivation behind the actions.
Only you can only define your motivations behind your behaviors, which means no one else can uncover your Main Type for you.
I don’t know why you do what you do. The same goes for everyone else. I can only see what you do; I don’t know what motivates you to do it. Knowing this, the only way someone can find their Type is to discover it for themselves.
Focus on your motivations, rather than your behaviors, when reading about the different Enneagram Types.
Now you know the common mistakes people make in finding their Main Type. So how do you move forward?
- You can refrain from typing those around you, letting them discover their Type for themselves.
- You could encourage friends and family to give the Enneagram another try if they wrote it off due to inaccurate test results.
- You can look past a Type’s title to dig deeper into the Core Motivations for each Type.
- You can begin your journey to discover your Main Enneagram Type with fresh eyes.
