Discovering Your Type

Some people are able to discover their type early on in their Enneagram journey. For others, it can take months. For me, it took several months.

I led a 5-week online book club of The Road Back to You last month, and it was so fun to help others learn about the Enneagram, and discover their type. Thirty women from all walks of life and levels of Enneagram familiarity joined. I loosely followed The Road Back to You study guide. (Some of them are still trying to figure out their type.)

One thing I told the women over and over is: “Don’t take a test!” Everyone is so tempted to take a test right away. I don’t think that tests are bad; I actually think that they can be a helpful piece of the puzzle in discovering your type. In my personal opinion, I feel like people take a test, and then stop there. They might learn about their type, but they don’t open up their hearts and minds to learn about all of the other eight types. My point in challenging them not to take a test was to be open to all nine types.

I admit that I took a test a few years ago, and forgot all about it. (The test gave me my top three types in this order: Helper/Two, Achiever/Three, and Perfectionist/One.) When I started to read The Road Back to You earlier this year, I thought I needed to take a test because I didn’t know what the authors were talking about. My test results clouded my view of learning about all nine types. I read the book a second time again, along with my book club, and I felt like I could truly focus on all nine types, and have an open mind to learn about all of them.

After learning about all nine types, I think a test (or a few different ones) can definitely be a helpful component. But I believe that we should learn about the Enneagram, and see if any of the types stir something inside of us. From there, I tell people to focus on the few types they think might be theirs.

If you’ve taken a test, and the test was spot on for you, I think that’s great! I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad for taking a test, but sharing some of my thoughts for people who are new to the Enneagram.

P.S. Discovering your type is one component in this whole Enneagram journey. I’ll share later on in this series about what we do after we know our type.

I’d love to hear about your Enneagram journey! Stay tuned for some guests who represent all types throughout the next couple weeks…

This is part of a 31-day series: The Enneagram. To read all posts, head here.