Sarajane Case - The Honest Enneagram: Know Your Type, Own Your Challenges, Embrace Your Growth

The Honest Enneagram copyright 2020 by Sarajane Case. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

Andrews McMeel Publishing

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ISBN: 978-1-5248-6243-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019956827

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Contents

Introduction

Being a human is hard. Yet we are never going to graduate from the human experience.

So often Ive found myself seeking an end pointa destination of some kind that tells me Ive made it, that Ive finally figured out how not to be a person with flaws and aches and blind spots, a transcending of the human experience.

Still, after all of these years, Ive found that most of lifes turmoil comes from fighting the reality that I am human and life is full of ups and downs and in-betweens. To make it even clearer, the struggles I had as a high schooler are the same struggles I have now. Ive spent every single day of my adult and adolescent life focused on being better and doing better, and yet the struggles are the same. Yes, Ive learned how to soften them, and yes, I have learned ways to do less harm to myself and others in the process. But I am still the person Ive always been. I am still only human.

In fact, its the moment I think Ive surpassed them that I find myself less aware than ever of the way theyre impacting me.

Whats important is that we wake up each day willing and ready to do the best we can with what we have. Some days, thats not so much, and on others, we shine. Both are OK. Both are normal. All of this is simply human.

This book is all about the Enneagrama map of human psyche that helps us come face-to-face with our blind spots (the areas of our personality that show up over and over again, often without our full awareness). We ALL have blind spots. No one is beyond having parts of their personality that we arent one hundred percent aware of. It can feel vulnerable and challenging to look at them and uncomfortable to admit to ourselvesand especially to others.

However, there is a freedom on the other side of knowing our unconscious behavior patterns. It increases our ability to relate to the world from an honest and whole state of mind. This is one of the key steps to full self-acceptance, integrated confidence, and self-trust. It is also one of my favorite cures for impostor syndrome. If you are aware of your blind spots and are proactive in holding space for them, you cant ever be found out, because you already know.

It was close to five years ago when a friend looked over at me during a bonfire and said, Have you heard of the Enneagram? That question changed the trajectory of my life forever.

It kick-started what would be a two-year journey of diving deep into self-discovery. The Enneagram is a system that breaks people up into nine distinct personality types. Each type has a unique fear, motivation, and set of behavior patterns based on those motivations.

I took close to two years to nail down my type, and through that process, I dove deep into the intricacies of each type. I started to see patterns between the Enneagram types and how my consulting clients were engaging in their work lives.

It gave me amazing insight into not only what we are doing but also why we are doing it. As a consultant, I found this tool invaluable. So often, we focus on how to change our habits, but we forget to ask ourselves why those habits are there in the first place. Once we identify what were trying to accomplish with those habits, we can deal with the root of the issue. This is what the Enneagram made possible for me in my own life and the lives of my clients.

Ive spent the last five years consuming every piece of Enneagram- related content available. I read the books, listened to the podcasts, and watched the YouTube channels. When that wasnt enough, I invested in my own Enneagram certification with Integrative Enneagram Solutions based out of South Africa.

In that process, I started a little Instagram account called Enneagram & Coffee. The account started because I was annoying my friends and family with the desire to make everything about the Enneagram. Finally, a friend said, Just start an Instagram account already. So I did.

Within three days, the account had grown to over 100,000 followers, and it became clear that this is a conversation were all wanting to have.

Im not surprised by the attraction to the Enneagram. Its an amazing tool that allows us to fast-track the process of self-discovery. What would normally take many decades to learn through lots of painful trial and error can be read in the description of your Enneagram type, and that is life-altering magic.

Ive had the opportunity to support hundreds of thousands of people in the process of working with the Enneagram, and nothing has been as rewarding for me as that has.

I spend time coaching clients on how to use the Enneagram in their businesses, I have a membership community focused on using the Enneagram for personal growth, I speak to large conferences about the work of the Enneagram, and now Im here writing to you.

I decided to write this book as a way to make the Enneagram easier to digest. So many of the Enneagram books I read were textbook in nature. Long, technical, and overwhelming for beginners. I hope this book feels less like a textbook and more like a really good friend.

Its also important to me that you have not only the information for what your Enneagram type is but also some tools and tips for how to work with your type for growth. Thats why Im sharing the Enneagram elements as well as my coaching method for working with the Enneagram.

I encourage you to read the chapter for your type as well as the chapters applying to friends, family, and coworkers. It can be transformational for your understanding of yourself and can be healing in your understanding of those around you.

My Approach

The Enneagram is, in essence, a theory. Its a series of observations put together over time that make a whole lot of sense. Just like any theory, there are several schools of thought in the world of the Enneagram.

You might hear Claudio Naranjo say one thing, while Helen Palmer or Richard Rohr says another. They mostly play together pretty well, and then sometimes they contradict one another.

When I came to the Enneagram, I had a background in creative consulting and expertise in self-compassionate productivity. I built my business helping people get their creative work out into the world while being very, very kind to themselves in the process.

When I began studying the Enneagram, I saw a lot of language that I would never use with a client, or even with myselfwords like lazy or gluttonous, words that imply a fatal flaw which has no rhyme or reason behind it.