The Enneagram Test Helped Me Understand More About Myself
I hope my detailed results will inspire you into taking the test
I won’t be the first one giving the Enneagram test a shiny review on the Internet, and I surely won’t be the last. My review is so shimmering because it allowed me to learn more about myself than ever before.
I first heard about the Enneagram test on a podcast that I was listening to.
The specific Podcast episode I was listening to was “All About Enneagram” Parts 1–5 on the Unsolicited Advice with Ashley and Taryne where I realized I was listening to a description of my personality to a T blasted into my headphones while on a walk.
I immediately logged onto my computer after getting home and figured out how to complete the test for myself.
Now, I did pay for my full results on the website that provided me with the most information for this post (Truity.com), and I would recommend it to all those who are interested in learning more about themselves.
It was a $19.00 fee, but I have both a downloaded form of the report and had the opportunity to make an account on the Truity website, so I can view my personality type report anytime I want. (Yes, in my opinion, that rationalizes the cost.)
But, I was able to find some great information about what it means to be a Type 9 (The Peacemaker) as found out on my test results from the actual online test I took. I’ll include my sources down below. :)
I scored as the Peacemaker on the test, and I found that this couldn’t ring more true for me.
Basic Information About My Type:
I am extremely easygoing and like for other people to make plans and decisions for me. This makes me extremely accepting of other people’s ideas and decisions, too.
However, I can become resistant and willingly “oblivious” when something happens that throws off my “inner balance”.
The strengths within my type include: “agreeable and accommodating”, “easygoing and likeable” and “good at finding compromises or middle ground” while the challenges within this type are: “out of touch with own needs”, “faces problems with passive resistance instead of head-on” and “has trouble taking decisive action”.
My core fear is having needs or desires that create friction or divides between people, thus driving other people away.
My core desire is to maintain a sense of peace and “inner balance” within the surrounding environment, as well as be connected with other people without losing my sense of self.
This can become a challenge when I want to “go with the flow” and “be more agreeable” with others.
I know that I personally tend to do or act like the traits and behaviors listed above either when I am at the healthiest or unhealthiest points in my mental health.
I tend to feel and experience fairly strong emotions, but most of these occur without me or others being aware of it.
I know that if I were to feel upset about something, I bottle up these emotions and bury them away, so I don’t seem upset or angry with other people.
Repressing anger is something I could win a Gold Medal for in the Olympics if there was a way to measure a competition out of that.
Healthy Me:
At my best, I am accepting, gentle and supportive of others.
I am able to maintain my own sense of inner harmony and peace while being aware of my experiences and ideas.
Average Me:
Average Me is most agreeable and I spend plenty of time downplaying my own presence in group settings or in most of my relationships with other people.
I don’t feel comfortable taking the lead or accepting credit for things.
I try to avoid feelings of anxiety or stress by minimizing problems or conflict (sometimes avoiding them) and ignoring my discomfort in situations.
Unhealthy Me:
When I am feeling stressed or mentally “unwell”, I would describe myself as “dissociated, disinterested, unaware, negligent or lethargic.”
The work I put forth into my goals and tasks on a daily basis are left forgotten or just pushed aside for a lack of desire to complete them, and this mirrors the work I put in towards my relationships too.
At the current moment, I would say that I was shocked at first discovering my personality type on the test. I mean, I answered all the questions truthfully and made sure to remain impartial throughout the test.
But, I realized that my shock started to fade away almost instantaneously after reading this portion of the results report.
I have mostly been in an unhealthy mindset for the past couple of weeks, but am currently trying to get more mental clarity so that way I can start to climb out of my mental rut.
My Wing:
While looking through my results, I also had high scores for Type 1 on the Enneagram, or the “Reformer”.
These types are most commonly described as perfectionists, which has been used to describe me more often than not as well. My wing leaning towards Type One allows me to keep a sense of structure and order in my life, and I think it is most helpful for me in keeping my sense of self and individuality too.
Also, fun fact: this type of identification is mostly associated with several careers that include: nursing, veterinary medicine, religious workers and human resources manager.
Which I found to be all the more relatable since after experiencing multiple years of struggling to figure out what I wanted to do career-wise for so long, nursing was what I discovered I wanted to do most!
My “Superpowers”:
Discipline, Optimism and Perfectionism.
I happen to be more disciplined than most in my type, thanks to my wing towards Type One.
I can be really focused on “crushing my goals” and have a tremendous amount of willpower. However, my discipline can put me so forth on one particular path that I forget about other goals I set for myself in my other avenues of life.
I have seen this start to manifest itself as I started focusing on finishing up graduate school applications during the tail-end of my senior year of college, almost forgetting that I was still a college student and that I had a massive senior thesis project to write and present to my advisor.
But, once I get my priorities in order, I am more than capable of getting my tasks done and accomplishing my goals.
I am one of those odd folks with a “glass-half-full mentality” and my dedication to sticking by that has always been a plus to me and my personal life experiences.
I do believe that all things eventually work out for the best, and that belief is what keeps me able to hold on and keep moving forward when life tends to bring me down.
Working hard is something that comes naturally to me.
Getting tasks done and checking over my work is something I can do without a problem. I like making sure that all the minute details are put into place before finishing a project, or say, publishing an article or blog post (haha…see what I did there!).
People can always rely on me to produce consistent, high-quality work and to meet deadlines. This is something that is going to help me stay on “top of my game” as I start graduate school soon.
My “Blindspots”:
Agreeableness, Avoidance and Image.
I am so likeable, accommodating and agreeable that more often than not, I am taking advantage of (whether that aligns with people’s intentions or not). It is so easy for me to turn a blind eye to my own thoughts, ideas and feelings in order to focus on someone else.
I sometimes forget the importance of my own ideas and experiences.
This is a spot where I could use some growth to improve upon, and I’m lucky to have such an amazing support system with my friends and family that are able to call upon me and ask what I am thinking.
Avoiding my sad or anxious feelings is a strong power of mine, but I would describe it as a “double-edged sword” most of the time.
It is great to keep feeling on top of the world with my infectious optimism, but avoiding and bottling up feelings and emotions that are less peppy than usual can be super toxic as well.
Reminding myself that it is “ok to not be ok” is something I find myself regularly doing in times of stress and anxiety.
My care over my personal image and the perspective other people have of me goes hand-in-hand with my belief that I need to be agreeable nearly all the time.
My personal image is something that I think mostly lies in the impression people share about my attitude. As much as I like appearing like I have everything together, I don’t mostly do that in the way that aligns with my physical appearance.
More often than not, I am wearing athletic clothes around my house sans makeup.
And sometimes, I do try to keep up a decent appearance, but that is not me most of the time, and again, my insecurities regarding my physical appearance are most apparent when I feel most mentally unhealthy.
Take the Enneagram Test here!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
