Taking Us from Messy to Magical
Why learning your pattern may be the most important work you ever do
The dominant points of the Enneagram: Gifts with Saboteurs (PQ Intelligence)
I Used to Think I Wasn’t Obsessed… Turns Out I Am
If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m pretty passionate. When I get into something, I really get into it. Years ago, my obsession was bringing my dance class to the world. I tried so hard. I didn’t succeed, but I learned a lot, and honestly, if you can’t handle failure, you’re going to have a tough time accomplishing anything in this lifetime.
And now you know I’m serious about my mission, because I recently got an EIN and a checking account for my side hustle: Messy to Magical. A vision of a “side hustle” turning into a rest-of-my-lifetime career.
My latest obsession is personality patterns.
My North Star is to help people see their patterning (the messy) so they can live more fulfilling lives (the magical) instead of living on autopilot. Truthfully, since I left my retreat, I’ve noticed a bit of sleepiness creeping back in. Old patterns. Autopilot trying to reinstall itself. Living in my head instead of presence. I’m aware of it and working on it. Consider this your glimpse into my gentle, selfish accountability.
So here I am, hustling personality patterns.
The Typology Buffet (And the One I Always Choose)
There are all kinds of personality modalities out there: Myers-Briggs, OCEAN, DISC, Four Temperaments, the Enneagram.
Truthfully, I had to look most of these up because I only have eyes for the Enneagram. It’s much more than typology. Typology is the doorway. The depth beyond it is what keeps its enthusiasts studying for decades.
You won’t hear me mention the Enneagram much in my blogs. I’ve learned not to lean too hard into Enneagram language because it can make people sleepy. Something they don’t understand or don’t want to understand. This was excellent advice from my business partner, Ernie (my husband), who admitted the word made him sleepy too. Since his personality keeps it real, I listened.
That being said… today I can’t help myself.
“How Is the Enneagram Any Different?”
The other day, a client asked, “Whenever I’ve been part of a self-help group and feel like I’ve outgrown their belief system, I know it’s time to move on. How is the Enneagram any different?”
I loved the question. It gave me pause, because the way I answered it would determine whether he stayed curious or walked away.
I said, “Unlike other belief systems with dogma, the Enneagram’s focus is revealing your egoic constructs and showing you how to dismantle them. There isn’t anything to believe in. It’s more like a map to personal freedom.”
Yay me. Yay him.
Surface-Level Enneagram Basics
Here’s the briefest possible dip into the Enneagram pool:
There are nine personality points, each with wings (the flanking points) and arrows (the lines connecting your point to two others). This is why there aren’t “nine types of people.”
Each point has gifts that the world needs. No one has all the gifts, which is why we need each other.
Each point has Fixations, our mental loops we go to as a coping strategy.
We all have unconscious motivations, developed in infancy, that helped us cope with the world. That’s ego. That’s personality.
We also have three instinctual drives:
Self-Preservation (body, finances, home)
Social (belonging, significance, community)
Sexual or One-to-One (energy exchange, depth, chemistry, creativity)
There is no one way to interpret the Enneagram. It comes from ancient geometry, and different schools of thought bring their own perspectives.
The Enneagram shows you the box you’re in and how to get out of it. This is what makes it so much deeper than other typologies.
Understanding yourself leads to greater self-compassion, which naturally leads to greater compassion for others. This is how the world becomes a little more just and a little more kind.
There are endless books, blogs, and podcasts to explore. But as a wise Enneagram teacher once said:
“This is solitary work that cannot be done alone.”
Why I’m Offering This Class
That’s why I’m offering a class beginning Saturday, January 24, called Discover and Dive into Your Enneagram Point.
We meet via Zoom at 8:30 AM EST for 75 minutes.
Cost is $275.
Class size is limited to six people.
When you learn about yourself in a group, concepts land faster, deeper, and more clearly. Everyone is modeling the work you’re learning, and the collective sharing supercharges the collective compassion.
I hope you join me.
Register here:
https://app.paperbell.com/checkout/packages/178180