29 Apr 2016
What Personality Type Are You?
All of us are unique, the nuances that make up who we are, are referred to as our personalities and whilst each of us is different to the next person, most of us will belong to a basic personality type. These personality types are called ‘Enneagrams’ and knowing which group we belong too, understanding ourselves better and getting to grips with our strengths and weaknesses, can be empowering in all sorts of ways in our day to day lives and in the relationships we have with others.
Of course getting to know yourself is a lifetime’s journey; hopefully you will change and grow as a person over time. Some of our traits will be genetic or copied from family, others will be influenced by how we are raised, the life we choose for ourselves, the people we meet, the jobs we do and those we fall in love with.
Understanding the aspects of our personalities both the good and bad, gives us insight not only into ourselves, but others as well. Often you will notice qualities in other people if you yourself possess those qualities as well. For example if you are a sensitive person, who is empathetic and a good listener, you will notice that in others, but equally people will be drawn to you for those qualities, and you need to be careful to not take on too much of other people’s worries. Equally the people that annoy you the most can share some of your personality characteristics, for example if you tend to butt heads with a family member or work colleague over ideas, it may be that you are both stubborn and unwilling to see each other’s point of view!
They say an ‘old dog cannot be taught new tricks’, but in reality we can all work on aspects of our personality, if we are open to viewing our weaknesses and have a real desire to change. The outcome can be a much more self-confident person to present to the world. One of the secrets is to appreciate the best bits about your personality and express those aspects more to those around you, so that your weaknesses pale in significance.
These are the nine Enneagrams; do you recognise yourself in them?
- Perfectionists – Hard working with strong principles, idealistic and purposeful.
- Helpers – Kind, caring, generous and sensitive souls.
- Succeeders – Ambitious, energetic, happy-go lucky and image-conscious.
- Romantics – Sensitive, perceptive, responsible, engaging and loving.
- Observers – Fact-finders with enquiring minds, inquisitive and perceptive.
- Adventurers – Energetic, enthusiastic, versatile and spontaneous.
- Questioners – Powerful, self-confident, confrontational and decisive.
- Asserters – Independent, direct, expressive, confident and dramatic.
- Peacemakers – Harmonious, talkative, reassuring and perceptive.
