Robert Leary - Enneagram: The Scientific Guide to Self-Discovery and Personality Types, The Road to Increase Spirituality and Empath. Build Healthy Relationships and Stop Overthinking. Go back to Being Yourself

Congratulations on purchasing this book on the Enneagram of personality and thank you for doing so. Within the following chapters, youll be guided through the first few steps of a potentially life-changing journey of personal development, empathetic enlightenment, and spiritual growth. Im excited to share this journey with you, and I have no doubt that once you get started, youll be glad you chose this path, too.

I havent always been interested in personality typing systems. Like most adolescents, I grew up thinking that my personalitymy thoughts, feelings, behaviors, preferences, and perspectiveswere essentially normal, average, and reasonable; that any person put in my position, given access to the same information, influenced by the same authority figures, exposed to the same experiences, would likely make the same choices that I did. Whenever I would encounter someone whose viewpoint didnt make sense to me, or whenever I would find myself in a conflict that I didnt fully understand, I would resign to writing off the other person (or people) involved as crazy, moody, or misinformed. I believed that I was good at communicating, and that if anyone else had trouble understanding my actions, that was their problem. And though I probably never would have admitted it back then, over time, I was developing a nagging internal fear that I might be wrong; that I might be the moody, crazy, misinformed one; that my perspective included a fair number of blind spots; that maybe-- just maybe the problem wasnt that everyone else was insane. Maybe the problem was that, from where I was standing, I couldnt see the reasons behind their actions. Maybe other people couldnt see my reasons, either, and that was why they couldnt understand me, my behaviors, my choices, or my beliefs.

When I finally found the Enneagram, it felt like taking off sunglasses that I hadnt realized Id been wearing my entire life. I was like Dorothy in the first full-color scene in The Wizard of Oz , amazed at all the diversity and depth Id been missing out on beforehand. Through learning about this personality typing system, I was able to put many of my past experiences into context, understand nuances Id previously been blinded to, and empathize with people who had once mystified, or even infuriated, me. More importantly, I was led to discover some interesting truths about myself, ones that I might never have come to terms with otherwise.

Like any personality typing system, the Enneagram is not a scientific method; it is subjective, and impossible to measure with any standard of precision or accuracy. That being said, the Enneagram can still be extraordinarily powerful when used as a creative tool, rather than a yardstick. It can help to improve communication between friends, family members, and romantic partners; it can build stronger, more harmonious team dynamics in work environments; and it can help to steer any individual towards personal growth and fulfillment. It provides a vocabulary through which we can discuss difficult subjects and free ourselves from the rhetoric of blame and malicious intent. Finally, it consistently works to remind us that our personality types are dynamic, not fixed, so each and every one of us has the capacity to learn, grow, change, and evolve. We all have it in us to become heroes, villains, or apathetic bystanders. What defines us, in the end, are the choices we make, and the reasons we make them.

I have every hope that this book will spark your curiosity, entertain and enlighten you, and inspire you to share its contents with the most important people in your life. There are lots of books about the Enneagram on the market today, so thank you again for choosing this one. Every effort was made to ensure it is full of as much useful and accurate information as possible. Please enjoy!