Last night I went to a very interesting seminar about Enneagrams. It's basically a system of defining personalities and behaviour patterns which can be used as a method of self-understanding and self-development. I'd never heard anything about this before and I was hugely sceptical, however, I was asked by a friend to go along so I thought I'd give it a try. They started off by describing the first personality type "The Reformer" and I swear that they could have been talking about me - they described my personality so perfectly.
Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their Best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic.
Everything else I've read about Type 1 seems to fit me just perfectly and I feel like I now have a better understanding of who I am, what my strengths and weakenesses are and what I can do to improve. My main fault is that I'm extremely critical of others. I want everyone and everything to be perfect and I get extremely nervous and uptight when things aren't done perfectly (which of course is all of the time!). I'm also really hard on myself and think that I should always do better or work harder. The seminar last night made me realise that I should relax a little bit more and not 'sweat the small stuff.'
So, now along with my spending hiatus and my 12 weekly goals I have a new set of challenges. I'm going to try to be less impatient and critical of others and of myself. I want to keep the positive side of being a type 1 but lose the negatives. The idea of the enneagram is not that it puts you in a box but that it helps you to get out of the box your behaviour has put you inside. I'm definatley on my way to getting out of my box.
Righthand (female):free enneagram test
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6 comments:
I love this stuff!! I have a good friend who is heavily into Enneagram, she is a presenter and travels to the US to present each year at a conference.
I thought I was 1 to start with, then 4, now I think I'm 9!! lol
How very interesting! I haven't heard of Enneagram previously. What a great exercise in self understanding and personal development. I'd love to learn more about Enneagram and myself - the good and the bad! Thanks for sharing, good luck with your new goal.
Sounded like a very interesting seminar. We had a professional development at my school a few years ago and all the teachers did a similar analysis of their personalities. I think it must be similar to what you did - I remember I was a type A which was something about being a perfectionist. We must be similar :) I think a lot of teachers have that element of being a bit fastidious and organised. Enjoy your weekend x
Hi Sarah, Just discovered your blog. I will read with interest how your renovation goes - I am renovating my much newer house (only 100 years old!) and have been blogging about it too. It is such a slow process!
At my old job we used to always have to go to workshops and take tests like these; I'm a type 1 too!
The Reformer is an ace one to be! I always hope I'll come out as the individualist or the creative one but I'm always the helper or the team-player!!
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