Getting it all horribly wrong

There are times when we can get it all horribly wrong. It's part of the learning process and its inevitable that we'll make mistakes but hopefully we become wise and sensitive the more we use the enneagram.

Using the Enneagram to blame others

Using the enneagram to judge others instead of seeing the loving, alive, intelligence within each person.

Using the enneagram as a fault finding tool or a power trip

Either using the enneagram to beat up on oneself or seeing only the patterns and not what's deeper

If we judge ourselves or others because a personality pattern has shown up we miss the gift of the enneagram and instead become members of the FS (the Fixation Squad)

There is this strange idea floating around that if we act out our patterns we are bad and if we don't act them out then we are more enlightened. This idea only compounds the problem. No one is out there counting how many times we act out our patterns.

Seeing people as numbers

When we first start learning the enneagram it's useful to look for behaviors and body types to gain understanding. Then we either need to stop or be aware that its more enriching for both ourselves and the people in our lives to see deeper.

Regardless of our personalities we are all the same underneath. Its worth remembering that these personality patterns highlight behaviors not our identities.