What IS The Enneagram, And How Can It Help?

What IS The Enneagram, and how can it help?

What is the enneagram? 

You’ve heard me talking about it a bit by now and I came out of the closet last week on it being a super secret weapon that I’ve been keeping up my sleeve for years, reserved for private clients and people I spend time with in person.

I even started a brand new shiny instagram account for it because I think it deserves to stand on its own and I want to make sure the people following it are engaging with it and looking to learn, as there are 9 types and I know when people find it they’ll want to find their direct information about their number which is much easier to do if it’s all in one place. 

So I’ve gone back to being a proper newbie over @enneagramandexcell (see what I did there…cheeky cringey play on my name, coz you can excel with the enneagram…anyhoo!) over on Instagram and i’m even going to get down with the kids on tiktok so please do come show me some love, i’d really appreciate it.

Come join me and my 45 followers over there because we’re going to have a lot of fun and exploration. 

So what is the enneagram and why do I think it’s so great?!

At its most basic the enneagram is a personality profiling system. 

If you’ve ever been fascinated by Myers Briggs, VIA, Strengthsfinder, Disc profiling, Human design or any other system that helps you understand yourself you will love the enneagram.

But it has a twist. 

With most personality profiling systems (apart from zodiac and human design) they are movable beasts. They shift and change as you do and with the context with which you answer the questions. 

For example, your Myers Briggs might be different if you answer thinking about work or within a friendship group context. 

Once you’re an adult your enneagram number won’t change.  Regardless of the context.  It’s not as simple as pigeon holing you into one number either. There is a spectrum of healthy, average and healthy within your number.  

There is also your social stance to consider (I won’t go into that today but there are 3 social stances within each number, make sure you’re following @enneagramandexcell where i’ll go into these things more)

And then you have a stress number and a growth number AND potential wings too.

So it’s pretty in depth. 

But what actually is it?

The Enneagram is essentially a modern integration/combination of a number of ancient traditions and philosophies grounded in psychology.  It was originally put together by Oscar Ichazo.

It uses an ancient symbol with 9 points. These are the different personality numbers. 

The other thing that is different with the enneagram is it’s not simply about behaviours.  It’s about unconscious motivations. It’s about WHY you do what you do.

All those things that frustrate you about yourself or other people become clear when you understand your enneagram.

Those things that really bother you and don’t seem to bother other people start to make sense. 

Why certain things trigger you starts to make sense.

You begin to understand your own, and other peoples’, behaviour on a deep level.  With this awareness comes self compassion, compassion and understanding for others, self acceptance, AND most importantly the ability to change and grow through that awareness.

It’s all about ego structure, ego consciousness. Unconscious programming and unconscious fears and motivations which drive behaviour.  So you can probably see why I love it and why I use it and why it’s helpful in my work.

It tells you if you’re driven by head, heart or gut, whether you’re falling into healthy, average or healthy versions of your personality type.  It gives you clues for when you’re veering into stress territory and also when you’re in growth.

It helps you figure out why some things feel really hard for you and others feel easy.  And why you can get frustrated with other people when you think it ‘should’ be easy and it’s not.

All the clues are there and it’s an incredible, incredible tool for self awareness which is exactly what you need to create any change in your life.

Using the enneagram (and a core reason why I use it) really helps you see where you’re trying to do things against your own identity and personality.  It helps me, and therefore you, see what’s really important to you.  Why certain things might not have been working and feel like you’re wading through treacle.  

It helps you see how to shape your business, or the kind of roles to go for in your career.  Why some things just don’t click and others do.

For me, the enneagram makes the foundational work to ensure a path to success and happiness ten times easier. 

It creates the awareness that a lot of people struggle with for a long time. It makes it easier to be conscious of these patterns and makes them far easier to change.

It even helps you see why you might struggle with certain friendship dynamics, with authority, in romantic relationships and where you can excel. 

You stop beating yourself up, you start to be able to accept others.  All round less frustration! Delightful. It basically, in my opinion, makes life so much easier.

THEN combining this with my work in complex trauma, cognitive and somatic modalities, how to heal, regulate emotions, regulate the nervous system leads to a holistic approach to your growth, success, happiness and all the juicy good stuff!

Hopefully you can see how this might be super helpful for you too. 

If you do want to go deeper into this little introduction of what the enneagram is and how it can help then do make sure you’re following @enneagramandexcell I’ve also just launched some beta pricing on Enneagram essentials sessions with me.  These are 60 minute sessions where we’ll go through your profile together so you can see the patterns and opportunities for growth specific to you, your number and where you currently are within that spectrum.

It’s normally £500 for an hour with me but as they’re brand spanking new these sessions are just £222 so if you want to take advantage of one of those then drop me a DM on Instagram @enneagramandexcell or just head to https://bit.ly/enneagramessentials If you have questions or want to ask about payment plans just drop me a message on instagram of email hello@franexcell.com

I’m LOVING doing these already. I can’t wait to find out your number and how it can help you grow!

Fx

Fran Excell, Success Mindset Mentor at www.franexcell.com – Helping Business Owners & Executives Overcome Stress & Self Sabotage so they can get back their time, get off the emotional rollercoaster and feel more in control. 

RESOURCES:

Check out The Positive Pants Podcast Here

Book an Enneagram Essentials session HERE

Download your FREE Stressed To Success Meditation Here

Join The Positive Pants Toolkit App Here

Work with me. Book In a Free 20 Minute Discovery Call Here