Have you ever seen someone doing something you thought was weird or completely illogical and wondered what could have possibly been going on in their head? One big reason for this is because every individual person chooses to act based on many slightly different bases of motivation. When our own minds and unique motivations are the only ones we can see, sometimes it’s easy to assume that everyone else around us has the same internal instincts. When we don’t understand what is actually most valuable in their eyes and in our own eyes, it then becomes easy to either blame others for doing what we see as illogical, or to blame ourselves for not reacting to stimuli the same way as others might. It then brings much validation as well as valuable knowledge of ourselves and other people to come to understand the real motivations and learn how to harness them .

As a four, my core desire is to find my identity and to express my own individuality or unique significance. This gives me and other fours the strength of authenticity, creativity, and being able to feel emotion very deeply. But they are also very susceptible to feeling fundamentally flawed for being different and becoming envious, overly dramatic, self indulgent, or moody. Understanding the Enneagram has specifically helped me because it’s a lot easier to fully accept and become a better version of myself when I can focus on developing my own strengths and tendencies rather than simply trying to force myself into strengths I admire in other types.

When you take the test or review your results, the first thing that’s important to recognize is that all 9 types can have equally positive attributes. Therefore, the question of whether or not you have a “good” personality depends entirely on your level of health and development, not your specific type. So don’t be afraid to be completely honest in your responses so that you can get the most out of understanding who you actually are rather than who you want to or think you should be. Of course, everyone has at least some portion of each type, but the type you most identify with will reveal the large majority of  your overall tendencies. Mark also advises, “If you have multiple different values that you integrate into your life, it actually strengthens your ability to [follow your own values]”. So while it’s not going to be effective to try and completely become another Enneagram type simply because you may like it better, it can be helpful to understand and develop some of their values as well as your own to enhance your personality as well as appreciation of others.