Are you motivated yet? Have you caught up on all the types, homed in on yours, followed the suggestions, and found that you’ll never feel unmotivated again?
Yeah, that’s okay. Progress can be slow. In fact, the kind that lasts almost always is.
Maybe you’re one of the many people who struggle to figure out what type you are, so you don’t know which advice is for you yet. That’s okay, too!
The Enneagram is a framework that people study and refer back to over the course of their lifetime. If you’re feeling unmotivated in your writing, I understand the sense of urgency to remedy that, but a little patience goes a long way. Every step forward is a victory, and even some of the steps backward are victories too.
This series was never intended to be a quick-fix (if only those existed!) but has always been more of an introduction to the concepts. For instance, the first time someone asked me to question the belief that productivity and service to others was a sign of how good of a person I was, that shit just did. not. compute.
These are deeply rooted false scripts we’re talking about, the bedrock of a lot of your other beliefs about the world, so the first step is simply to hear someone else say, “Hey, maybe they’re not capital-T Truth. Maybe someone or a group or a society put them there by accident or on purpose because it made you more useful to them.” Learning about the Enneagram is simply naming the lens through which we see the world, and that launches us into questioning some things we always thought were givens.
So like I said, no hurry here. Transformation works on its own schedule.
In the meantime, I want to address some concerns and touch on considerations for why you haven’t gone from writing a few words a day to thousands upon thousands of the best words you’ve ever written.
First, and I’m not trying to be cute here, but have you tried any of the suggestions? It’s easy to forget to put the new tricks into practice, but that is a requirement to, you know, use them.
Now, let’s start with this common question first:
Question: “Can I be two types?”
Answer: Sort of, but not really. Everyone has a “dominant type.” That is our starting point, our main lens. But there are all sorts of reasons you would legitimately relate more to other types in various situations!
The Enneagram isn’t stagnant. We flow to and access different types at certain points in our human experience. Here are some explanations for that:
1. You feel evenly split between two numbers that are next to each other numerically (Nine and One are considered next to each other, BTW.)
If this is the case, like, “I can’t tell if I’m a Two or a Three,” then there’s a high likelihood that one of those is your dominant type, and the other is your “wing.” A wing is a number on either side of yours whose qualities you can draw from to support your dominant type. So, you could be an Achiever (3) with a Helper (2) wing, which would mean that you use helping and being needed (2) to support your quest for value (3). That’s written as a “3w2.”
Or you could be a Helper with an Achiever wing, which would mean you use your ability to bring value to others (3) to feel wanted and needed (2). That’s written as a “2w3.”
The difference is subtle, but it’s there. Some people have access to both wings, some have access to one, and some have access to neither.
For instance, I’m a Reformer who predominantly leans on her Helper wing (1w2), but I have easy access to my Peacemaker wing (9) when diplomacy and finding the common ground is the best way to support my goal of being good and having integrity (1w9).
If you find that the two types you’re split between are next to each other, this is probably why.
2. You feel evenly split between two numbers that are not next to each other.
When this happens, we’re usually dealing with 1. a dominant-stress pair, 2. A dominant-security pair, 3. a number in your tri-type, or 4. a strong overlay. Let’s look at each of these.
Your dominant-stress pair: Each type can begin to resemble a different type under prolonged stress. This is not a bad thing! The options under stress are either to spiral down the development levels (not a good look) or shoot over into our stress number for a little break from whatever ails us.
So, if your dominant type is Five, under prolonged stress (and the definition of “prolonged” is super relative to the way your nervous system and brain are wired), you may start to look more like the avoidant levels of type Seven. You might retreat from the stressors rather than trying to figure them out.
Here are the stress numbers for each type (dominant typestress number):
1→ 4
2→ 8
3→ 9
4→ 2
5→ 7
6→ 3
7→ 1
8→ 5
9→ 6
So, if you’re vacillating between one of these pairings as your dominant type, consider whether one is your stress type and the other is your dominant type.
Your dominant-security pair: Similar to the stress type, we have a security type. This is what we begin to resemble in a secure environment—around friends who get us, a job where we’re killing it, or family members who don’t actively stress us out.
So, if your dominant type is Four, in secure moments you’ll look a little like a One with more balanced emotions and maybe a touch of criticism for those around you. As you become a healthy Four, though, you’ll unlock the higher levels of One in these situations (this is when we refer to it as the “growth number,” and embody sound wisdom, moral clarity, and integrity.
Here are the security numbers for each type (dominantsecurity):
1 → 7
2→ 4
3→ 6
4→ 1
5→ 8
6→ 9
7→ 5
8→ 2
9→ 3
But wait, did you catch that? Because these are the same pairings as above, only the arrows are reversed! So, yes, if you’re trying to decide whether you’re a Two or an Eight, say, you’ll have to parse whether you’re dealing with a dominant type and a stress number or a dominant type and a growth number.
Asking yourself when each type shows up is a smart place to start with that. Who are you when you’ve taken too much on? Who are you when you’re feeling good with your friends?
Your Tri-Type: This is a more complex Enneagram topic, but essentially it comes down to “triads.” The nine types break down into three triads: 8-9-1, 2-3-4, 5-6-7.
8-9-1 are known as the “Gut Triad.” This covers how you relate to your primary experience of the world through your body and includes your connection to intuition. These types, when healthy, possess incredibly strong intuition, but use it different ways.
2-3-4 are known as the “Heart Triad.” This covers how you relate to your primary experience of the world through your emotions. These types, when healthy, are incredibly connected to their emotions, but use them in different ways.
5-6-7 are known as the “Head Triad.” This covers how you relate to your primary experience of the world through your thoughts. These types, when healthy, are incredibly connected to their minds, but use them in different ways.
But we all have a body, mind, and emotions, don’t we? This is what our Tri-Type represents.
How do you experience the world through each of these modes? One will occur first, according to your dominant type, then the information will kick over to another triad, and finally make its way to the last. And when it does, how do you use it?
For example, my Tri-Type is 1-5-3, so I’m occasionally mistaken for a Five or a Three, and I relate strongly to those types. I’m gut instinct first (1), but then I quickly kick that information up to my head to justify and verify my instincts (5), and then I eventually let those emotions through in as productive of a manner as I can (3). One then Five then Three.
This is yet another reason why you might relate strongly to more than one type.
A strong overlay: Overlays are these weird Enneagram vibes that are thrust upon us by the values of the groups we belong to. Your family of origin, for instance, had an Enneagram overlay, which would push you to look more like a particular type, even if that wasn’t your type. In this case, the overlay is usually the type of one of the parents. Maybe your father was a Five and impressed upon everyone else in the household the importance of intelligence and knowledge above all else.
If you took the test while you were still living under his roof (or before you’d unpacked a big box of daddy issues with a professional or friends), you might test as a Five, even if you were a Three. You would very likely come to associate your value (a core theme of the Three) with how knowledgeable you are (the Five overlay), and you would need to untangle those two things before it became crystal clear what your true type was all along.
Families have overlays. Religious communities have overlays. Friend groups and teams have overlays. Even countries have overlays. Sometimes it takes peeling back a few of these layers before we can see ourselves clearly. In the meantime, you might be relating strongly to the overlay and wonder if it’s your dominant type as a result.
Question: “Why do I relate strongly to almost all of the types?”
Answer: There are lessons for us to learn in each of the types, but also you’re probably a Four or a Nine.
Some of the types’ essential experiences read loud and clear to people of those types. In my experience, Sixes, Fives, Sevens, Eights, and Ones tend to immediately say, “Okay, yeah, you got me.” Twos and Threes come around eventually.
But the Fours and Nines can find themselves super stuck, and this makes a lot of sense when you look at those core motivations, and the values and gifts those lead to.
If you’re a Four, you necessarily do battle with identity. It’s a fluid thing that you don’t like trying to pin down (even if you’re desperate to pin it down). Instead, firmly nestled in the Heart triad, you are likely to overidentify with your emotions, meaning one day you’ll think, I guess I’m a contemplative person, because that’s how you’re feeling that day. And the next you’ll think, I guess I’m a sensitive person, and the next you’ll think, Turns out I’m a joyful person.
We all experience a broad range of emotions, but we don’t tend to anchor our identity to them unless we’re a Four (or have a Four wing, stress number, security number, or have it in our tri-type). So, when a Four reads about the other types, she’ll tend to think, “Oh yes, I’ve had that emotional experience. Maybe this is my identity.” It’s the struggle to weigh one emotional experience over the other and the need to tether her horse to one that can make it hard for a Four to self-identify as a Four. Is this you, perhaps?
And then there’s the Nine. When you can see the world from so many perspectives, as can the Peacemaker, it’s easy to lose sight of your own. The gift of diplomacy that allows you to relate to everyone is the same one that makes it tricky to figure out where you end and they begin.
Nines struggle more than any other type to figure out they are Nines, and it usually takes me nosing around in their full test results before I can find the patterns with wings, stress, and security to say, “Hey, maybe take another look at the Peacemaker and see if it hits.”
Question: Why do none of the types sound especially like me?
Answer: You might be focusing too much on the behavioral descriptions and not enough on the core motivations and values.
There are these things called “subtypes,” and for each type, one of the subtypes is called the “counter type.” This is way more complicated than I’m going to get into here, but suffice to say that the way you react to your core fears and desires might be atypical of the type.
That’s why it’s important to focus on the core fears/desires and the values of the type. No matter your subtype, if you’re an Eight, you’re going to fear being controlled or harmed, desire autonomy and power over yourself, and your central values will revolve around power, strength, and vulnerability. You might not be picking fights left and right (a common behavior that can result from the motivations), especially if you’re extremely introverted, but these essential parts of the type—fear, desire, values—will still be present for you.
Question: My type used to describe me, but now it doesn’t seem as accurate. Have I changed types?
Answer: Nope. I’ve never spoken with or read an Enneagram expert who said anything other than: “We stay the same type for our whole life.” Whether we are born as our type (nature) or develop it around the age of 3 or 4 (nurture) is still very much up for debate, but the fact remains: you are the same dominant type for the duration.
So what gives? Why does it not seem as accurate as it once did? As usual, it could be one or more of a few root causes.
1. You’ve been living or once lived most of your life in your stress number.
You can hang around in your stress type for years and years if the stressors remains in place. I can’t tell you how many authors were testing as their stress type during the pandemic.
Mothers of young children also tend to test in their stress type, and if you’ve worked a job that made you miserable for the last ten years, you were probably spending a lot of that time in stress. So it’s possible that when you originally tested, you tested as your stress number, and now you’re in a healthier situation and your dominant type gets to show up and live its best life.
2. You’ve grown!
It’s easiest to identify the negative behavior that stems from each type than it is the positive behavior. As a result, the healthier you become, the less obviously you look like your type.
People who’ve done extensive therapy, introspection, journaling, or general emotional growth can be tricky to type, because they’ve had so much practice interacting introspectively with their core fear and desire that they are responsive rather than reactive to it as a matter of course. It rarely determines their behavior or controls their lives in obvious ways, because they no longer wish it to.
They may still be a phobic Six at heart, but because they let their values of loyalty and bravery make the decisions for them rather than their trigger of feeling unsafe/unsupported or their need for instant gratification of feeling secure and supported, they begin to identify less with their core motivations and the central need of “I am reliable.” They just are those things. And because they’re in control, they can effortlessly be many other things, too, when the occasion calls for it. They can look inspiring like the 3, principled like the 1, diplomatic like the 9, creative like the 4, and joyful like the 7. But this sort of freedom from the temptations and burdens of the type only comes after extensive work.
However, the feeling of identifying less with your type can happen relatively quickly after you start doing Enneagram work. That’s because the key to unlocking the patterns you’re stuck in is simply noticing them over and over again. The more attention you give this project, the quicker those bonds dissolve and you can anchor yourself to a higher level of development.
3. You’re shucking a strong overlay.
As we talked about before, these overlays can be tricky things. If you came from a more conformity-focused or even oppressive group, you will feel the overlay more strongly. As you get space and time away from that dynamic, you’ll feel more of your dominant type shining through, which may feel like you’ve changed types. You haven’t. You’ve just discovered yourself.
4. You mistyped yourself the first time around.
This is not uncommon and there are a bunch of fascinating cultural and social reasons for it, including overlays, gender expectations, personality disorders, and various forms of oppression. It’s not uncommon for someone to carry on thinking they’re a different type for months or even years before hitting on their true type and feeling everything click into place. And that’s okay. But it might explain why you feel like you’ve changed types.
There’s this important sentiment shared by every Enneagram teacher and expert I’ve heard or read, and it’s this: you find the Enneagram at the right time in your life. It’s never too late to find it. You may wish you’d found it decades earlier so you could be father along by this point and maybe your life would’ve gone differently, etc. It’s an understandable feeling to have. Don’t we all wish we could have the wisdom of today when we had the body and energy of decades ago? But the sooner you can let go of this unhelpful regret, the easier your growth becomes from this point forward.
So, if you’re lacking motivation for your creative work…
Do you know your type yet?
If not, try to pin it down. Then…
Have you tried any of the suggestions mentioned for your type?
If not, pick one that seems doable and give it a genuine shot for the next week.
Did it work?
If not, try another.
Did that work?
If not… maybe you need rest.
The Enneagram isn’t a bio-hack. It’s simply a way of learning about ourselves and our needs. And no matter your type, rest is a crucial part of life.
Regardless of your core fear and core desire, when it’s time to rest (and your body, mind, and heart let you know if you listen close and don’t drown them out), follow the example of a healthy…
One: drop something that you’re doing out of a sense of personal obligation and replace it with something that brings you joy or with nothing at all.
Two: show yourself the unconditional love you deserve and ask those around you for what you need.
Three: remind others through your example of rest that each of our value is innate rather than a product of what we achieve or produce.
Four: remember that creativity is our natural state and give yourself space to let it flow in surprising and unproductive/non-monetized ways.
Five: refill your well by learning a random skill or researching something you’ve always wondered about for the sheer sake of curiosity
Six: chat with a friend who will understand your exhaustion and ask how best to support you, and then let them.
Seven: pass on pleasure and seek out deeply enjoyable activities that will fill your well and strengthen your brain’s ability for delayed gratification.
Eight: give yourself a safe space to feel weak and vulnerable; you don’t have to carry the burdens of life all of the time without showing strain.
Nine: zoom out and regain perspective on your place in the universe; you are both irreplaceable and part of something much larger than yourself.
Even if you don’t need rest right now, you will in the future. You always will. Again and again.
To call needing regular breaks a sign of failure as an author would be like calling winter a sign of the earth’s failure to remain summer. Sorry, but no. If humans did not need fallow periods in the natural course of our lives, that would make us an exception on this planet.
Everything ebbs and flows. Our misery tends to come from not resting when our bodies indicate that we should and instead berating ourselves for being tired.
So, if you need rest, rest. And if you need motivation upon returning, try out the tips I’ve provided for your type.
And if you still need guidance, schedule an Author Alignment call with me. Sometimes all we need is a little outside perspective or a sounding board who has our best interests in mind, and I can provide you both of those things in our hour-long call to get you on YOUR right track.
This concludes this series on author motivation by Enneagram type, but if you have lingering questions, please hit reply and let me know. I try to respond to everyone personally and in depth (sometimes emails do get lost in my inbox, though).
Thanks so much for sticking around an humoring me. I hope you’ve enjoyed this as much as I have.