“Each Enneagram Subtype shapes how we see the world and connect with it. Through instinctual drives, subtypes reveal unique strengths and challenges, offering a clear path to meaningful growth and purpose.”
—Stef Becker (Sadashiva)
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27 Enneagram Subtypes for Personal Growth*
Understanding Enneagram Subtypes: Navigating Saboteur & Guardian Expressions
The Saboteur and Guardian names we use (like 'The Worried Perfectionist' or 'The Wise Pioneer') are educational tools designed to help identify patterns and tendencies, not rigid labels or fixed identities. Think of these names as signposts pointing to different expressions of energy that naturally arise within each subtype - some more challenging (Saboteur), others more supportive (Guardian). Just as weather patterns shift and change, these expressions are fluid and dynamic. None of us is permanently stuck in either Saboteur or Guardian mode. Through self-awareness and inner work, we can learn to recognize when we're caught in Saboteur patterns and consciously choose to align with our Guardian wisdom. These names serve as practical reference points on our growth journey, not as boxes to confine our infinite human potential.
Unveiling Your Path of Purpose Through TriCenter Archetypes
Your TriCenter Archetype reveals the intricate interplay between your most prominent personality patterns across the three centers of intelligence. Exploring this interplay unveils your core motivations, fears, coping mechanisms, life vision, and growth opportunities that lie beneath the surface. While your main Enneagram type shapes your overall worldview, your TriCenter Archetype paints a more nuanced picture of your inherent potentials, strengths, and areas for development on the journey of self-discovery.
The TriCenter Archetype exposes the unconscious collaboration between the strategies you naturally employ across the three centers of intelligence – the Head center (mental focus), the Heart center (emotional/relational focus), and the Gut/Body center (instinctual/physical focus). Understanding this interplay provides profound insights into your personality's driving forces. This awareness empowers you to leverage innate strengths effectively while consciously working on potential blind spots.
Moreover, the wisdom gained from your TriCenter Archetype can guide you in clarifying your "path of purpose." By aligning the tools, methods, and approaches you use with the strategies most natural to your TriCenter, you can make choices that resonate deeply with your authentic self. This harmonization allows you to navigate life's journey with greater clarity, intention, and a sense of inner fulfillment as you actualize your highest potentials.
TriCenter Guides for Personal and Professional Growth
Understanding your TriCenter Archetype offers a powerful framework for personal and professional growth. By recognizing the interplay between your dominant strategies across the three centers of intelligence, you gain invaluable insights into your innate strengths, blind spots, and areas for development. This awareness allows you to consciously cultivate your natural talents while addressing potential limitations, ultimately enabling you to show up as your most authentic and effective self in all areas of life.
On a personal level, aligning your choices and actions with the wisdom of your TriCenter can help you clarify your life purpose, nurture fulfilling relationships, and navigate challenges with greater ease and resilience. Professionally, leveraging your TriCenter's inherent tendencies can empower you to excel in roles and environments that harmonize with your natural inclinations, while also identifying growth opportunities to expand your capabilities.
Moreover, the TriCenter Archetype provides a lens for understanding and appreciating the diversity of human experience. By recognizing the unique strategies and perspectives embodied by different TriCenter combinations, you can foster greater empathy, effective communication, and collaboration within teams and organizations. This deeper understanding can catalyze personal and collective growth, enabling individuals and groups to thrive and contribute their unique gifts to the world.
Enneagram Subtypes for Personal Growth
Unlock the 27 Pathways to Meaningful Growth and Purpose
Type 1
Type 2
Type 3
Type 4
Type 5
Type 6
Type 7
Type 8
Type 9
* Each subtype represents a unique combination of the core type's patterns with one of the three instinctual drives (Self-Preservation, Social, and Sexual/One-to-One). For easier cross-referencing, we have kept the same names as used by Beatrice Chestnut, PhD, in her book "The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge."
The Enneagram's Three Centers of Intelligence
Our human body is composed of three distinct neural networks or "brains," each with a clearly defined function. These three "brains" are interconnected and exchange information via neural pathways across our body. In the Enneagram world, we call these three "brains" the 'Centers of Intelligence.' While we can engage any of the three centers at any given moment, we have a preference or tendency to rely more on one center over the others. In other words, we have a preferred center of intelligence that we use more frequently.
Additionally, we have a preference for HOW we use our preferred center of intelligence. For example, our dominant Head Center type (Enneagram Types 5, 6, or 7) indicates the strategy we prefer to focus on the internal world of ideas, analysis, and finding certainty. Our dominant Heart Center type (Enneagram Types 2, 3, or 4) indicates the primary strategy we use to attune to the world of emotions, image, and relationships. Our dominant Gut/Body Center type (Enneagram Types 8, 9, or 1) indicates the primary strategy we use to rely on our instincts, willpower, and sense of belonging.
The combination of your dominant Enneagram type in each of the three centers of intelligence forms your unique "TriCenter Archetype." In other words, your TriCenter Archetype indicates your preference for specific strategies that you can use to be more successful in life and deal with challenges more easily. You can leverage the wisdom of your TriCenter Archetype to make choices aligned with your path and purpose – for example, by choosing tools, method
Reveal your Core Type, Wing, and TriCenter in one session
Reveal your Core Type, Wing, and TriCenter in one session