kateThere are all sorts of personality assessments out there, and The Enneagram is the latest in the game. According to The Enneagram Insitute,
“The Enneagram can be seen as a set of nine distinct personality types, with each number on the Enneagram denoting one type. It is common to find a little of yourself in all nine of the types, although one of them should stand out as being closest to yourself. This is your basic personality type.”
In these various types, they showcase your most dominant traits and can aid you to understand why you act in certain ways and how to help your mind and body in the process. Knowing your personality traits can help in participating in leisure pursuits that will aid in stress relief, mindfulness, and of course –flow! Below are the nine enneagram types, their most basic personality traits and what leisure pursuits someone with that enneagram should try to engage in.
1 THE REFORMER
The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic.
Leisure To Try: Volunteering, tutoring, Pilates. People of this personality type are essentially looking to make things better, as they think nothing is ever quite good enough. Being able to find leisure pursuits that are filled with purpose is key, therefore finding activities that have specific outcomes is a great way or 1’s to feel at ease.
2 THE HELPER
The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive
Leisure to try: baking, gardening, animal shelter volunteer. 2’s are the caretakers, the constant helpers, the pleasers. As a 2 you’ll want to find leisure that aids in your need to be generous without overextending yourself.
3 THE ACHIEVER
The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
Leisure to try: dance class, singing groups, photography. 3’s are great at adapting to their surroundings, doing the best at what they’re doing and are VERY driven by their own image (how they look, how other people perceive them) Therefore, being able to engage in leisure that feeds that need is key to enjoyment.
4 THE INDIVIDUALIST
The Sensitive, Withdrawn Type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental
Leisure to try: writing, painting, journaling, taking up an instrument, acting class. 4’s are the ‘moody art kid’ type. Those who are strong fours are usually drawn to the expressive arts as a way to showcase their emotions. Try picking up a paintbrush while listening to some music and see what happens!
5 THE INVESTIGATOR
The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
Leisure to try: puzzles, board games, trivia, reading, visiting museums. 5’s are intensely involved in whatever they are passionate about, and are usually thriving in solo activities, or in leisure that uses the brain! Fives have a strong need for alone time, so a solo museum visit could become a new favorite past time.
6 THE LOYALIST
The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious
Leisure to try: volunteering for a nonprofit, drawing, reading, listening to music. These leisure interests can aid 6’s in engaging in their surroundings and calm the anxiousness that is associated with this personality type.
7 THE ENTHUSIAST
The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered
Leisure to try: Trying new foods, live sporting events, improv groups, adrenaline-inducing activities such as rollercoaster’s, skydiving, racing. Sevens want change, they want the unknown and they want it NOW. Similar to 8’s, 7’s need adrenaline-inducing activities to fill that need but both for slightly different reasons.
8 THE CHALLENGER
The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
Leisure to try: debating club, high stakes exercise (weight lifting, rock climbing, kickboxing) Any leisure activity that involves high stamina and inner strength as type 8s are constantly aiming to dominate their surroundings and confront real or imagined power dynamics
9 THE PEACEMAKER
The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent
Leisure to try: spirituality retreats, yoga, meditation, journaling, aromatherapy. These are great for 9’s because the root of someone who associates as a nine is self-awareness; being content and receptive to themselves and their surroundings. These activities will bring them peace and tranquility.
Obviously these leisure pursuits are not limited to just your enneagram and ANYONE can enjoy any type of leisure that interests them. This small list is to give you an idea of what types of leisure interests are the most fitting for your certain personality type. Before taking the enneagram, I knew I had a lot of pent up anger, aggression, and inner drive. I honestly thought I hated exercise and “lived” with my inner drama of constantly wanting to blow up at people.
After discovering I am an intensely strong enneagram 8 did I start to research and discover that for one, I am not alone in these intense feelings and secondly, my body and mind could use some adrenaline in my life. I started incorporating a passive activity that I enjoy (but doesn’t necessarily aid in my personality type) which is reading & used that to enable myself to go to the gym – I read and do high-intensity cardio on the elliptical! I have also been looking into different high energy leisure such as kickboxing to help balance out my passive leisure interests like reading and drawing. As you can see, just because you’re a certain enneagram type doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t enjoy leisure in other domains (Hey type 4’s — I can be moody too!!)
Has this list given you more to think about in terms of what leisure pursuits you currently utilize or what you should try? Let me know!
Don’t know your enneagram? Take the free test HERE
