Discovering one’s Enneagram type can be easy or hard, depending on a veriety of factors. There are some who hear about their type and immediately know it’s them. If this is not you, read on.

I would love to be able to say that if you cultivate enough self-reflection you will know your type as soon as you stumble on a (good) description of it. This is not necessarily so.

It also depends on the quality of the self-reflection. Most people have some kind of inner discourse going on. But inner discourse is not self-reflection. A Six, for instance, has a very intense inner discourse surrounding all their sources of uncertainty. They are aware of these sources of worry, but they are not aware of their being aware of this mechanism. The same is true of all types.

Until we have become used to seeing our mechanism from an observational vantage point,* the type’s mechanism is to us like water to a fish: we are so deeply immersed in it that we don’t notice it. In fact, we may even think this is the last thing we’d do. If I had a buck for every Two who told me they’ve never been proud or for every Four who told me they’ve never been envious… Well, buying a house would be much easier.

One reason discovering one’s type can be hard is also that the core of the type is one of the nine passions, all of which are, to a degree, stigmatized, frowned upon or even swept under the rug. We train ourselves to think that, because we are good or right or ok, we cannot feel such feelings, and so we delude ourselves into believing we don’t. Usually, once the illusion is rent, we discover that our mechanism has always been in front of our nose and our passion has been in the driver’s seat of our life all along.

So? What do I do to discover my type?

Well, a good grounding in Enneagram theory is more or less a must, unless you let an expert type you. Even then, it would be advisable to educate yourself a bit so you can make your own self-discovery. You don’t need to read hundreds of books. One or two good ones, or even the information you find here or on other websites, is often more than enough to get you started. Usually, this will be already enough to discard at least one or two types (although, especially at the beginning, it pays to suspend judgment).

Once you know a bit about the core of each type, learn to take a step back from your life and observe it. Look at your reaction to things, people, happenings, memories, etc. Look at what motivates you. Don’t hurry. Your type is not running away from you. You can take all the time you need. Also look back at how you were in the past, both distant and recent. Journaling is a good option, if you are so inclined.

Even the way you react toward the Enneagram can be telling of your type. Though this is not a hard rule, often your mechanism will make you see the Enneagram in a certain light. For instance, a Four may see the Enneagram as a straightjacket, or, if they like it, as a magical symbol; a Five as a nice system to explore; Sevens will often (again, not always) dislike being confined to one type; Nines will feel they are a bit of everything and we are all the same; Eights may see the Enneagram as a useless trinket, etc.

Again, this is not always the case, and usually it is something that is only noticeable in hindsight. Still, it is an opportunity to practice self-observation. But this type of self-observation is not the only useful one.

An exercise in meditation

One of the characteristics of our mechanism is that it always steers our attention toward certain things as opposed to other things. A great exercise would be to do some meditation and become aware of where your attention is constantly being lured.

Sit comfortably in a straight-backed chair. Take a couple of deep breaths and free your mind from all thoughts for a second. Then start breathing slowly, inhaling and exhaling as it feels comfortable. Let your attention concentrate on the process of breathing and its rising and falling rythm. Try to keep your attention on it.

Done? Well, no. Because as soon as you settle into this meditation, your mind is going to start wandering. No matter where it goes, bring it back to your breathing. However, sooner or later you are going to start noticing a pattern. All that distracts you tends to show a certain consistency. That’s because what distracts you is your type’s mechanism. Here is a (non exhaustive) list of what tends to catch the attention of each type.

Do not hurry. Don’t expect this exercise to bear fruit after one try.

Are Online Tests Accurate?

Ehhhhh… No. Most tests you’ll find online (or offline) will at most allow you to rule out one or two types, something which you probably already know. The problem with tests is twofold: on one hand, they engage only the most superficial side of our psyche, the one most likely to host the image of ourselves we want to believe we embody but which doesn’t necessarily correspond to our more deeply seated psychological mechanism; on the other hand, they tend to ask about very superficial things that can be easily misinterpreted, either willfully or subconsciously.

For the most part, tests are just there to massage our ego (“look! I think I am X, and this bunch of pixels on the screen agrees!”) If you don’t know enough about the Enneagram, they can lock you into the wrong box for a long time, while if you know enough they are futile. I am no one to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. If you feel like taking a test, go ahead. Just remember that your own assessment is the last word, and that if you are still undecided between two or three types it’s ok to work with all of them for a while until you understand which one you are. Suspending judgment is better than committing too soon.

The best course of action is to educate yourself on Enneagram theory, learn to develop your inner observer, meditate a bit. There are also therapists who incorporate the Enneagram in their practice. If they are skilled, one sitting will be enough to at least narrow down the possibilities to a couple of types.

Can you be more than one type?

It is common for us to resonate with more than one type. For the longest time I was undecided between Four and Five (to this day I sometimes feel I’m the only representative of type Twenty.) And even before, all I knew was that I wasn’t a Two or a Six. Everything else was on the table.

This is normal. In fact, it is also fine to appreciate the parts of us that gravitate toward other types. However, this doesn’t mean that we can be more than one type. We come into being as individuals by losing touch with one side of reality. That side determines our type. At our core, our motivations will stem from it. Not from the other types. Not from wings. Not from tri-types. Self-reflection on our core type is enough for a lifetime of discovery. Everything else becomes a distraction.

* people sometimes ask whether Fives, who are detached and are often known as observers, have it easier in finding out their type. The answer is no. There is a difference between detaching from reality and detaching from your mechanism of detaching from reality. Fives are like every other type.

MQS