YOU are the best person to discover your Enneagram Type! 

And the PURPOSE is for 

  • self-discovery and 
  • self-development, 

using the Enneagram’s deep insight and wisdom of the 9 personality types.

There are several ways to find your Enneagram Type, like 

  • learning about the 9 types and observing yourself,
  • using typing activities or cards and observing yourself, and 
  • taking a test/profiler and observing yourself.

It all comes back to self-observation, as only you can observe yourself all of the time over all the situations in your life. So give yourself time to fully explore yourself, your habitual behaviours, your emotional triggers, your thoughts and beliefs in a wide variety of contexts. When you connect these data points and surface the underlying patterns that remain consistent throughout your life, there lies your Enneagram Type! For some people, it may take some time (a few weeks, months or even years) to ascertain their core basic Enneagram Type. This journey is always worth it, feeling like you arrive “home” at last!

self-reflection-to-discover-your-Enneagram-type

Challenges to ascertaining the core basic type using any profiler, without giving time for subsequent self-observation, include

  • whether or not a long-term timeframe was held in mind,
  • overthinking, or selecting how you think others expect you to be (particularly if for a certain job or post),
  • lack of honesty, or selecting how you would like to be,
  • the state of mind when taking the Enneagram test - need to have the time and privacy to deeply reflect on yourself,
  • do not understand some words, especially if not in your first language, and
  • the level of self-awareness - especially being unaware of your blind spots and “the water that you swim in.”

“The water that you swim in” refers to if a fish swims in a blue pond, it is oblivious to the blue water, and if it swims in a red pond, it is oblivious to the red water.

At Mind Transformations, our practice is to “hold mirrors” for you to reflect on yourself, assisting you to clearly see yourself, your blind spots and the “water that you swim in” to bring what you are not aware of into your consciousness. This could be quite a revelation!

The importance of having a long-term timeframe in mind.

Ideally, hold in mind what you have been like since your late-teens up till now, but at least over the past ten years till now. This is because we all have had different periods or situations in life which brought out different aspects of our personality. A certain educational environment, a particular industry or company you were working for, relationships, changes in family structure or living environment - all contribute to some aspects being emphasized and others downplayed. So doing the profiler with a long-term timeframe and a “more of the time” (vs “less of the time”) perspective is very important! 

Common errors people make when they first learn the Enneagram.

People who are new to the Enneagram are often very excited to find their Type quickly, and do not give enough time for self-observation.

They are also very enthusiastic to find out other people’s types, and may jump to conclusions and tell people their types. For example:

  • “He’s so angry, he must be an 8” - As humans, we all can get angry
  • “She’s so artistic, she must be a 4” - We can all be artistic, in different ways
  • “They cannot sit still, they must be 7s” - Anyone can be fidgety

With the wealth of richness in the Enneagram descriptions, give yourself time to learn and connect them in their entirety. Keep an open mind, and beware of jumping to conclusions, as every description can apply to all 9 types. Each type can display the same outer appearance, behaviour or emotion, but the underlying cause or motivation is different. 

Practise “holding mirrors” for others to see themselves, rather than telling them what type you think they are. We hope that you will hold this space for other people to benefit from their own self-observation and self-typing process.

In Mind Transformations, our training and coaching programmes support you with information, activities, experiences, a profiler and we “hold mirrors” for you to clearly see yourself, even your blind spots.

a-reflection-of-yourself-for-personal-mastery-and-growth

As a dynamic system, the Enneagram gives an excellent roadmap on how to progress. 

We will unveil the Enneagram layer by layer, over many data points, giving you time to experientially realize who you truly are as a Whole-Person, through your own self-observation and self-typing process. 

Our methodology integrates the richness of the Enneagram with the practicality of Multi-Intelligences and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), focuses on helping you to practise neuro-actionables and adopting healthy ways to develop towards your Best Self. One of the highlights of our Neuro-Linguistic Enneagram (NLE) Profile is the gap between your Inner Intention and how others perceive you instead. This is a real eye opener for many people. It helps explain the conflicts people have with each other, and how you can develop better relationships.


Realize that you are more than just an Enneagram Type, you are a Whole-Person on a journey to developing your Best Self. 


You CAN cultivate the “Spirit” of being an Enneagram practitioner - in our Neuro-Linguistic Enneagram programme.

Neuro-Linguistic Enneagram Practitioner Certification Course by Mind Transformations

You’ll get to practise this “Spirit” in a supportive coaching environment, and receive feedback to fine-tune your development. You’ll gain first-hand experience working with different Enneagram personalities and how to develop synergy with them. The Enneagram is limited as just head knowledge; when you embody the “Spirit” of compassion and wisdom, people stand to benefit from the flow and finesse in your practice.

Explore the next steps