What Your Enneagram Type Is Not An Excuse For

The Enneagram of Personality outlines our basic fears and motivations in life – and with those fears and motivations comes a specific set of traits. The further we delve into how those traits manifest in our day-to-day lives, the easier it can become to use them as an excuse. But at the end of the day, it’s important to remember that our fears and motivations are not deterministic. How we act is still up to us – and our types themselves are never an excuse for any sort of poor behaviour.

Thong Vo
Thong Vo

Being a type 1 does not give you the right to expect others to follow your system of values or morals because you believe them to be less corrupt than the morals of others.

Being a type 2 does not give you the right to expect attention and devotion from the people you invest in, if they did not actively agree to invest equally in you.

Being a type 3 does not give you the right to demand admiration and respect from those around you, simply because you’ve achieved something impressive.

Being a type 4 does not give you the right to deplete others’ resources because you refuse to take an average job or maintain an average lifestyle because you’re more complex and unique than other people.

Being a type 5 does not give you the excuse to outright ignore the opinions and input of other people because you believe yourself to be intellectually superior to them.

Being a type 6 does not give you the right to put your wellbeing entirely in the hands of other people and expect them to care for you at all costs.

Being a type 7 does not give you the right to disappear or flake on the commitments you’ve made because you see something more exciting on the horizon.

Being a type 8 does not give you the right to coerce or bully others into doing things your way because nobody else wants to take the initiative.

Being a type 9 does not give you the right to expect others to stay close and connected to you, even if doing so hinders their personal development and growth. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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