Cultivating the inner observer will afford you more choice about the manner in which you show up in the world.

Becoming aware of your unconscious motivations and how you act out certain archetypal patterns in the world will increase your flexibility as to how you respond emotionally, how you think and behave - as opposed to being stuck in outdated paradigms or worldviews… and keep falling in the same hole. To make lasting changes in our lives, we must determine what currently shapes our judgment and decisions.

Becoming conscious of our Enneagram patterns is the first step. It is a helpful tool for raising consciousness and becoming aware of the implicit assumptions we have about ourselves and the world and the strategies we use. Through developing the inner observer, we can slow down the activation of our habitual personality patterns and change the automatic “operating system” according which we function. We can then truly unlock our own potential, become the complex adaptive systems we are as human beings and impact positively on the world around us.

You still ask why should you bother with the Enneagram?" Simply put, it is the richest possible map for self-development and self- and other-awareness.

The Enneagram teaches us to hold polarities within ourselves and integrate our shadow as we become aware of our blind spots. You can expand your consciousness beyond the confines of your Enneagram type and become more flexible and have greater choice. You are not your feelings, nor your thoughts! This is what mindfulness teaches us.

Learning about the Enneagram types improves human connection and intimacy because it engenders compassion for the other people's perspectives and struggles, and provides better insight into your own patterns and core motivations.

In her poem, Autobiography in Five Short Chapters, Portia Nelson describes the stages of psychological change with beautiful simplicity.

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