I love learn about enneagram and use it as a way to stretch and challenge yourself.
The biggest positive change my enneagram has made (for me) is identifying my struggles and pitfalls, and creating my own vulnerabilities to avoid and overcome they.
Enneagram Seven is defined by a spirit of adventure. We are highly excitable with a love of learning and a desire to experience anything and everything. I attribute a large part of my success in life to a natural positive mindset.
I have always believed that I can do things beyond my experience, education, innate skills, etc. Enneagram Sevens can bring confidence to both myself and those around me. We are believers and dreamers!
Sometimes when people who know me first find out I’m a seven-year-old, they don’t believe me. They always say the same thing – that I can’t be seven because I’m so efficient. But they couldn’t see the vast graveyard of forgotten projects behind me!
It can still work very well as an enneagram 7, with a few hacks and a strong support system.
The flip side of life at the age of seven is that every day feels like there are too many new ideas and projects. So instead of continuing to obsess, we easily jump from project to project, never getting anything done. I always struggle with completing projects because my attention span is so short.
Another common Enneagram Seven struggle is the need to avoid pain. This comes up in obvious ways (like postponing a dentist appointment), but it goes much deeper than that. One of my biggest obstacles was the point in each project where I realized I wasn’t as good as I had imagined.
Like I said above, I can be pretty delusional about my abilities, which can be a BIG strength. For example, when I first had an idea to create an app. Most people have an application idea in their life, but most people don’t pursue it. When I was 7 years old, I always knew I could make a great app, and that belief got me started.
Inevitably, a point occurs in every project where I realize I’m beyond my vision and that certainly happened when creating our first app and with every ambitious project. another hope I ever started.
One of my biggest “challenges” in getting through this was anticipating when I wanted to give up and deciding in advance that I would get over it when that time came. My sister and my husband (“my more realistic better half”) also helped me. It is very helpful for your support system to know when and how to help you.
My support system knows I have a tendency to try to give up when things get tough, and they help me get through it. It happens all the time.
Despite forcing myself to push for big projects and commitments, I don’t live up to those demanding standards in petty ways. In everyday life, I accept myself as seven and I let myself get distracted and start too many projects.
I love my need to try things out, and I don’t beat myself up for all the projects that take too long or aren’t finished. I believe that as long as I’m focusing on the big wins in my career I’ll never finish my weekend to-do list. Accepting my weaknesses and not giving them too much power is helpful.
While I think it’s good to find small ways to protect myself from my useless instincts, I think it’s even more valuable to nurture my strengths. One of the things I loved about enneagram was that it helped me realize my unique ability, or superpower.
As I recognized my unique strengths, I began to put more of my energy and resources into building them. Over the past few years, I have our home into a space created to create and learn. I want to live my life in a creative environment where I always have what I need to create something magical.
Instead of feeling guilty for all the projects I started and didn’t finish, I allowed myself to let go and spend my creative time working from my enthusiasm. It turned out to be a great environment to raise small children.
Some days we bake, and some days we draw and collage. We always have a puzzle. We always have a book half read. We always have three (or more) projects on our to-do list. I think it’s a beautiful way of life.
It excites me for the years ahead because the biggest goal I have for old age is to keep learning and keep trying.
I hope this has been helpful. If you want to learn more about all nine types of enneagram, I recommend our podcast episode, Enneagram 101.
Congratulations on a life full of enthusiasm and projects in progress! Elsie
