Enneagram Type 7

The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered. The Enthusiast, the Multitasker & Cheerful. The One Who Thinks Is Getting Late For Somewhere Or That Is Missing Something Important.   

People with an Enneagram Type 7 personality tend to be enthusiastic, adventurous, and spontaneous in their behavior. They love seeking out new experiences. They are people-oriented and enjoy pursuing new relationships.

Sevens are extroverted, energetic and enthusiastic about life’s possibilities. For Sevens, the world is primarily a place of adventure. They live for the excitement of the future. Sevens are fun-loving, entertaining and like to spin every defeat into a success.

As good as Sevens are with inviting others to enjoy what life has to offer, they struggle to acknowledge the painful parts of life. Sevens are cheerful and pragmatic people who spend a lot of their time focusing on the next amazing experience. They are spontaneous and bold and don’t quickly accept limitations to their curiosity.

Among the amazing gifts of Sevens is their belief in the positive sides of people and their ideas. They like to encourage others to try out new things and pursue their dreams, just like they do themselves. But their desire for constant stimulation can often lead them into over-indulgence. Their inability to face up the less positive sides of life also makes it hard for them to commit when things get hard and to own up to their mistakes, instead of spinning them into something entertaining.

Enneagram type 7 is the restless explorer. Type 7s always go after whatever makes them feel alive. They are like Pandora’s Box: no one knows what’s coming next. Spontaneous, versatile, and highly stimulated Sevens are up to new intense things. Even in a desert they can find something to do or goals to achieve. But sometimes the emotion involved in finding the oasis can make other water sources go unnoticed. Despite this, Sevens know it’s worth it. Like a butterfly, they flutter around chasing beauty and joy. Life is a plethora of experiences and the Enthusiast wants them all. They’ve got a thirst for life, but unbalanced as they are, Sevens end up never getting satisfied.

Life is beautiful, mysterious, and infinite. In some way, Enneagram Type 7s can’t stand the idea of leaving this world without seeing everything and finding what’s out there for them. Every single moment of pain is even more painful if they think it’s a waste of time.

We have named this personality type The Enthusiast because Sevens are enthusiastic about almost everything that catches their attention. They approach life with curiosity, optimism, and a sense of adventure, like “kids in a candy store” who look at the world in wide-eyed, rapt anticipation of all the good things they are about to experience. They are bold and vivacious, pursuing what they want in life with a cheerful determination. They have a quality best described by the Yiddish word “chutzpah”—a kind of brash “nerviness.”

Although Sevens are in the Thinking Center, this is not immediately apparent because they tend to be extremely practical and engaged in a multitude of projects at any given time. Their thinking is anticipatory: they foresee events and generate ideas “on the fly,” favoring activities that stimulate their minds—which in turn generate more things to do and think about. Sevens are not necessarily intellectual or studious by any standard definition, although they are often intelligent and can be widely read and highly verbal. Their minds move rapidly from one idea to the next, making Sevens gifted at brainstorming and synthesizing information. Sevens are exhilarated by the rush of ideas and by the pleasure of being spontaneous, preferring broad overviews and the excitement of the initial stages of the creative process to probing a single topic in depth.

Sevens are frequently endowed with quick, agile minds, and can be exceptionally fast learners. This is true both of their ability to absorb information (language, facts, and procedures) and their ability to learn new manual skills—they tend to have excellent mind-body coordination, and manual dexterity (typewriting, piano playing, tennis). All of this can combine to make a Seven into the quintessential “Renaissance person.”

Ironically, Sevens’ wide-ranging curiosity and ability to learn quickly can also create problems for them. Because they are able to pick up many different skills with relative ease, it becomes more difficult for them to decide what to do with themselves. As a result, they also do not always value their abilities as they would if they had to struggle to gain them. When Sevens are more balanced however, their versatility, curiosity, and ability to learn can lead them to extraordinary achievement.

The root of their problem is common to all of the types of the Thinking Center: they are out of touch with the inner guidance and support of their Essential nature. As with Fives and Sixes, this creates a deep anxiety in Sevens. They do not feel that they know what to do or how to make choices that will be beneficial to themselves and others. Sevens cope with this anxiety in two ways. First, they try to keep their minds busy all of the time. As long as Sevens can keep their minds occupied, especially with projects and positive ideas for the future, they can, to some extent, keep anxiety and negative feelings out of conscious awareness. Likewise, since their thinking is stimulated by activity, Sevens are compelled to stay on the go, moving from one experience to the next, searching for more stimulation. This is not to say that Sevens are “spinning their wheels.” They generally enjoy being practical and getting things done.

Sevens’ minds picture incredibly funny scenarios, things they get to try, places they want to go to, and so on. Life is promising. That gets Type 7s high for a while, but everything that goes up must come down, eventually. They hate the low downs, the flat zones. So, as soon as they start feeling trapped by boredom or time, they take a deep breath and run back like thunder. The good thing is that their sparkling energy usually takes them to interesting places where their eyes—trained to see opportunities and pleasure everywhere—always find nurturing experiences they can learn from. If Enneagram 7s allow themselves to stare, great things can grow. Their agile minds, always looking for beauty and pleasure, are able to create those experiences too.

Healthy Enneagram Type 7

When the bike is OK, when the chain is lubed up and the brakes work well, it’s time for Type 7s to adventure themselves down the chosen trail. They just need to pedal up and they’ll come back home like E.T. With the spell that made Sevens see light where there were only reflections broken, they live in a mirage. Although scary to consider, surrendering often brings exactly what they are fighting for. Thanks to the Enthusiasts’ magnificent awareness, they are capable of feeling wisdom and joy just where they are. That does not make them settle, but value every stage as a destination. Finally, Type 7s meet and enjoy peace. No more anxiety surrounding all the things they are missing. They’ve finally chosen which aspect of life to embody without trying to live all of them at once. They feel grateful, and everything seems an open field.

Healthy Sevens have learned to live with the shadowy side of life. They aren’t afraid of being unhappy or unsatisfied anymore, which allows them to live their lives with a more calm and easy approach. Their optimism becomes infectious, because it’s no longer just a pain-avoiding method, but an honest conviction that you can and will come out on the other side better than you were before. Healthy Sevens can testify to this truth because it’s the path they had to walk themselves in order to become whole. These Sevens remind us of the pure pleasure of existence – one of life’s great gifts.

Healthy Levels:

Level 1 (At Their Best): Assimilate experiences in depth, making them deeply grateful and appreciative for what they have. Become awed by the simple wonders of life: joyous and ecstatic. Intimations of spiritual reality, of the boundless goodness of life.

Level 2: Highly responsive, excitable, enthusiastic about sensation and experience. Most extroverted type: stimuli bring immediate responses—they find everything invigorating. Lively, vivacious, eager, spontaneous, resilient, cheerful.

Level 3: Easily become accomplished achievers, generalists who do many different things well: multi-talented. Practical, productive, usually prolific, cross-fertilizing areas of interest.

Average Enneagram Type 7

On average, Sevens use their quick minds to learn a lot, experience a lot and get a lot done. They love things that tickle their brain, because it gives them more things to do and think about, and so they jump from one thing to the next. This can also make it hard for them to stay focused on one thing for a long period of time. To avoid any negative feelings they stay active and busy and downplay negative emotions or reframe them into positive ones.

Average Levels:

Level 4: As restlessness increases, want to have more options and choices available to them. Become adventurous and “worldly wise,” but less focused, constantly seeking new things and experiences: the sophisticate, connoisseur, and consumer. Money, variety, keeping up with the latest trends important.

Level 5: Unable to discriminate what they really need, become hyperactive, unable to say “no” to themselves, throwing self into constant activity. Uninhibited, doing and saying whatever comes to mind: storytelling, flamboyant exaggerations, witty wise-cracking, performing. Fear being bored: in perpetual motion, but do too many things—many ideas but little follow through.

Level 6: Get into conspicuous consumption and all forms of excess. Self-centered, materialistic, and greedy, never feeling that they have enough. Demanding and pushy, yet unsatisfied and jaded. Addictive, hardened, and insensitive.

Unhealthy Enneagram Type 7

Just a little swipe is enough to go from the average state to the unhealthy one. It’s always best to be wary and avoid speeding up on a bike with broken brakes. Type 7s know how enrolling in a lot of activities feels like, going from one activity to the other while life passes by. Time becomes something one uses up and not something one is given, just like a fork is a tool used to eat and is unable to feed one by itself. It’s easy to forget one’s priorities while the clock is ticking, so Sevens end up losing sight of what they want or desire, who they want to be, and what their limits are. Like time, everything is relative, so they find they are stepping on their shadow’s shadow just to run more quickly away from it. Observing from afar, one might think Sevens are escaping from it; however, in reality, they are actually running towards it.

Unhealthy Sevens are caught in a back and forth of excess and despair. Their search for stimulation often turns into a flight from reality that can turn into addiction. Sevens who don’t know how to address their fear of sadness become irresponsible and reckless in their attempt to run away from it.

Unhealthy Levels:

Level 7: Desperate to quell their anxieties, can be impulsive and infantile: do not know when to stop. Addictions and excess take their toll: debauched, depraved, dissipated escapists, offensive and abusive.

Level 8: In flight from self, acting out impulses rather than dealing with anxiety or frustrations: go out of control, into erratic mood swings, and compulsive actions (manias).

Level 9: Finally, their energy and health is completely spent: become claustrophobic and panic-stricken. Often give up on themselves and life: deep depression and despair, self-destructive overdoses, impulsive suicide. Generally corresponds to the Bipolar disorder and Histrionic personality disorder.

Growth opportunities that are typically associated with the Enneagram 7

• Taking the time to face and work through negative emotions

• Encouraging and listening attentively to others as they share

• Finding value in what’s in front of them

• Slowing down to think and process ideas

Enjoy restraint: Even though it may sound like an insult, Sevens are the ones who are to gain the most from getting off the bandwagon that says “more is always better“. Practicing some form of daily meditation to give your mind a chance to slow down and focus on the now is one of your most helpful potential tools.

Look out for the word ”boring“: Usually when Sevens get “bored“ by something, it’s a good indicator their minds are revving up to mask some source of anxiety. Watching out for that state of mind helps you recognize when it’s time to look at those feelings instead of running away from them.

Face your past: Sevens love the future. They don’t like the past as much, especially when it comes to remembering the rainy days. That’s why taking an unflinching look at the people who have caused you hurt and actively forgiving them as well as yourself will be a game-changer for you. Making amends is the next step.

Dive underneath the surface: Many Sevens will strongly object to the notion that they avoid negative feelings. This is true inasmuch as they do recognize them, they just process them incompletely and want to move on from them as quickly as possible. Contrary to how it sounds though, taking the effort and time to actually let your painful experience really touch you on a deeper level will only enrich your joy. A journal to write things down can help.

Practice patience: Sevens often travel at a different speed than those around them. This can make them impatient with others as well as themselves. But there is no such thing as an “instant expert“. The best way to not be perceived as superficial is to reign in your impatience that keeps you from actually doing your homework and becoming a true master of your skills.