Episode 86: Your Enneagram with Ian Morgan Cron

Are you curious about better understanding your personality type and taking your personal growth to the next level?

In today’s episode of Euphoric The Podcast, Karolina delves into a fascinating conversation with bestselling author, psychotherapist, and Enneagram expert, Ian Morgan Cron. With over 1 million copies sold, Ian’s book The Road Back To You breaks down the Enneagram, a popular tool designed to help you understand your unconscious motivators, creating space for you to grow and evolve into the best version of yourself. With 30 years of sobriety, Ian shares his experience, knowledge, and wisdom. Get ready to dig into the Enneagram and discover a powerful tool for transformation, freedom, and sense of self. You’ll also learn why each type gravitates towards alcohol and the go-to coping strategies for each of the nine types. Enjoy!

Understanding the Enneagram

Personality typing has been a fascination of humans for thousands of years. The Greeks had varying approaches to typing humans, and ancient Buddhists had a list of over 300 types of personalities.

Can you believe the Enneagram has roots going back 1,700 years? It has been an evolving system ever since, especially once it was met with more modern day psychology.

The Enneagram consists of nine personality types and we gravitate towards one core type during childhood as a means of coping, self-protection, and navigating both the world and relationships.

One interesting thing about the Enneagram is that we are in fact made up of all nine types, so it is very common to recognize attributes of each number in yourself! That being said, you will have a dominant type that most resonates with you.

Are you curious about better understanding your personality type and taking your personal growth to the next level? Ian Morgan Cron, in his incredibly down-to-earth book, The Road Back To You, breaks down the nine different types in a way that is easy to understand and helps you discover which type you are. You can even discover your Enneagram type with iEQ9.

Breaking down the nine Enneagram types

The Enneagram is made up of nine core personality types, and each one has an unconscious drive or motivating factor. One of the incredible gifts of the Enneagram is that it brings things that are part of our subconscious functioning into our awareness so we are able to grow, evolve, and begin addressing the struggles that hold us back in life.

So what are the nine Enneagram types, and what are their driving motivators?

Type 1: Improvers - their unconscious drive is the need to be good, and they attain this by perfecting themselves, others, and the world. They are described as conscientious, dependable, and responsible.

Type 2: Helpers - their unconscious drive is to be liked and attain the love and appreciation of others by meeting their needs. They are described as warm, supportive, kind, and great listeners.

Type 3: Achievers - their unconscious belief is that people are valued by what they do, not who they are. They attain this by being successful, appearing successful, and avoiding failure. They are described as driven, goal-oriented, and are often workaholics.

Type 4: Romantics - their unconscious drive is to be special and unique because they believe there is fundamentally something broken about them, or they have a missing piece. They are often described as creative, imaginative, and deeply emotional.

Type 5: Investigators - their unconscious drive is to avoid feelings of inadequacy and ineptitude, as well as emotions, and feeling overwhelmed by the world. They attain this by fixating on knowledge and information, often on a niche topic. They are described as analytical, cerebral, independent, and often emotionally unavailable.

Type 6: Loyalists - their unconscious drive is to feel safe and secure in a world that feels unpredictable and chaotic. They tend to be the worst-case-scenario types. They are often described as team players, practical, earthy, and witty.

Type 7: Enthusiasts - their unconscious drive is to avoid pain and distressing thoughts or feelings. They attain this by avoiding being in the present moment by fixating on optimism. They are often described as adventurous, future-oriented, and energetic.

Type 8: Challengers - their unconscious drive is to mask vulnerability and tenderness. They attain this by asserting strength and power over their environment and others. They are often described as blunt, confrontational, domineering, and energized by a good debate.

Type 9: Peacemakers - their unconscious drive is to maintain connection with people at all cost, rooted in a fear that they don’t matter. They attain this by avoiding conflict at all costs and conforming to the agenda and lifestyle of another person or group. They are often described as go-with-the-flow, easy to please, and low-maintenance.

Do one or a couple of these types resonate with you?

The power of shifting from “doing” to “being”

We live in a culture that focuses on the principle of “doing.” Life is about success, productivity, efficiency, and attaining. This is woven into the fabric of our society.

When we stop living life on a treadmill and allow ourselves to slow waaay down, we are confronted with “being.” This is about the beauty of the present moment. This can be overwhelming and scary, especially in a culture built for constantly running. This can lead to the desire to numb out, turning toward unhealthy coping mechanisms.

These coping mechanisms are uniquely triggered and look different for each personality type. For Ones, it may look like secretly engaging in indulgence, such as drinking or overeating, while publicly condemning the same behavior.

Twos and Nines often engage in co-dependence and overly caring for others. As a Four, Ian explains the need to help process the overwhelming feelings as well as the desire to fill the missing piece they feel they have, which can commonly be soothed with alcohol or drugs.

The challenges of life are unavoidable, but as we do the hard work of hitting pause, asking the hard questions, and welcoming the difficult parts of life, we heal and grow. The Enneagram is an incredible tool to come alongside you in this process.

Most of us go through life comparing the inner, worst version of ourselves with everyone else's mask and highlight reel. If we shift to a perspective that ‘no one has it figured out’, the result is both relief and a deep sense of comfort.

This is a beautiful reminder that we are not alone in the struggles we face. Situations may be different, but there is a sense of community in knowing that we are not alone.

We are all on a unique journey. We all handle difficulty and coping differently, but through community and tools like the Enneagram we can move through them and become the truest, healthiest version of ourselves. I’m in awe of how much wisdom Ian shared in this episode and can’t wait to hear what you think of this conversation!

“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it's connection. The solution to our problems really is having a sense of purpose, a community with whom we can share life.” Ian Morgan Cron