I first learned about and studied the Enneagram 30 years ago. Different from the Myers-Briggs Types Indicator giving you a static personality type, the Enneagram is dynamic. It means that if I’m self aware, then I can see when I am slipping into the negative parts of the type. And I can know what I should do to reclaim the positive aspects. Delving deeply, I can work toward a more balanced life.
The total misuse of the Enneagram is to use it like the MBTI or the signs of the Zodiac. “Oh, you’re so 7,” or “You’re acting out your 1, being too perfectionist,” or whatever simplistic attitude you develop. It’s perhaps even worse than applying vernacular psychological descriptions supposing a diagnosis…she’s so OCD, he’s a narcissist, what a bipolar person, etc.
Arthur Brooks, the professor of happiness suggesting seeking growth, wrote in this week’s newsletter about an Aristotelian versus Platonic:
- Find the person you want to be.
- Identify the characteristics of that person you seek to emulate.
- Make a plan to practice the virtues you want to cultivate.
Our culture today is likely to push you to define yourself as being a particular sort of person, with a fixed, permanent character (Platonic). This is certainly convenient for businesses and political parties: It makes you a repeat customer, a reliable voter, a faithful donor. Having such an immutable identity can be appealing if it also gives you a sense of belonging as “one of us,” not “one of them.” But it can also leave you stuck in circumstances that you might not like, and that will make you less happy than you could be. Instead, become more of an Aristotelian, and that can set you free.
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Faith Venture 
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