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When it comes to any test deemed to help you know yourself better, I’m a total sucker. I can’t help it: Whenever I see one, I’m like, “What do I not know about myself that is definitely holding me back and keeping me from NSYNC-circa-2001 levels of greatness?! WHAT?!”
I can’t be alone. We all secretly want to be Justin Timberlake during his denim-on-denim phase, right?
It’s just my nature that my ears perked up when I heard people buzzing about enneagrams. Even though I had no idea what they meant. Were they like Whole Foods’ take on Teddy Grahams? Some new age-y take on Meyers Briggs?
Turns out, the latter is closer to the truth, but still pretty far off. It’s often reduced to a personality test that puts you into one of nine types, but as the May/June issue of Relevant explains, that’s a little too simplistic.
Sit down for this, because The Sacred Enneagram author Christopher L. Heuertz has a beautiful, illuminating — and so woo-woo you might eyeroll yourself into oblivion — description. Hold your cynicism for just a few lines with me, okay? “[It’s] a sacred map of our soul,” he told the magazine. “The map isn’t the journey. The map informs the journey. So if the Enneagram is a sacred map of our soul, if it’s a compassionate sketch of possibilities of who we can become, then what it actually helps us do is excavate our essence.”
It sounds extreme, yes, but how powerful is that? Excavate our essence?! That’s the big thing that many resources have gotten down to — it reveals who you are and your weaknesses, but it also shows you your potential.
The article stresses that you should be wary of simple online tests that make finding your Enneagram type as easy as completing a BuzzFeed quiz (and about as insightful), urging people to meet with an Enneagram coach to go through a more rigorous process to find out more.
However, before I invest in books or meeting with a coach, I kind of want the simplified test, just to get a taste for it. If that’s you too, this one seems to be pretty thorough, all things considered. You read through dozens of statements, clicking whether you agree or disagree with the sentiment. From there, you’re given a very brief analysis — and if the description doesn’t sound like a good fit, you’re directed toward a book, coaching sessions or a daylong conference.
My Results: Obviously, I’m doing the exact opposite of what’s suggested, but the test results seemed pretty well-matched. Apparently, I’m a 2, AKA the helper, which makes me “warm, caring and giving” but also motivated by a need to feel loved and needed. So … also a people-pleaser. It’s that last part that intrigues me, reinforcing a weakness I’ve already seen in myself (which may have influenced by answers, since your level of self-awareness dictates how you’ll respond to these agree/disagree statements). By being aware of it, I can start taking steps to stop those behaviors before they get out of control, like when I spread myself too thin or fail to speak up about what I need.
In some ways, the descriptions are vague enough to remind me of a horoscope, but in others, it’s fascinating. I’ve only just begun researching this, but I’d love to learn more.
Top photo by Shannon Whittington on Unsplash
Lower photo from ExploreYourType.com
