The Enneagram Whammies

by Andrea Isaacs

Can you imagine finding a whammy — a surprise with a powerful and unpleasant effect — in the results of a personality profile?

Discovering “double whammies” and “triple whammies” in profiles sure surprised me as I started going over dozens, and then hundreds of charts.

My initial surprise gave way to an aha! moment when I started seeing patterns in these “whammies” that explained why so many people were struggling so mightily. Suddenly, it all made sense!

The “EQ and the Enneagram” Quiz.
The EQ Quiz (click here to take it), which takes between five and ten minutes, is a holistic view of the Enneagram. It shows you what your likely type is, the strengths and gifts you have in all areas of the Enneagram, and the challenges you may have in each area.

Talking to over 200 people about their results, I started to see patterns that supported the challenges someone was having. I remember saying, “No wonder it’s so hard for you to get things done; you have a double whammy!”

When you take the quiz, you’ll immediately get a chart of your results called the Emotional Mastery Blueprint. When you receive your Blueprint, see if you have any whammies in your chart.

When looking at one client’s chart, for example, it became clear that there was a “root cause” to what may have seemed like an overwhelming challenge. I suggested some things that initiated an easy shift that literally put an end to that struggle. Ease, better communication, better relationships, and more success then started to flow.

Curious? I hope so! Here’s an example of a quadruple whammy.
If you have a high green for type Seven, the Enthusiast, it means you have an abundance of ideas. And that’s a good thing, right?
If you have a high red score for Seven, it means you have SOOOO many ideas, it’s hard to focus.
Your challenge is deciding. Picking one thing to do and focusing on it.
If you have a low green for Eight, you don’t have a way to listen to your “gut knowing.”
That’s a double whammy.

And then there’s a triple whammy.
If you also have a high red score for type Six, it means you have a lot of anxiety about making decisions.

Uh-oh. A quadruple whammy?
What if you have a high red score for type Nine – well, then you’re going to procrastinate that decision, or taking action on that decision!

And then you wonder why you can’t get things done, it seems you never reach your goals, and you keep getting distracted. No wonder your green score for type 3, the Achiever, is so low.

There IS a way through this!!!!

It’s not just to “work smarter, not harder.” It’s not stewing over the decision and asking others’ opinions. It’s building your ability to listen to your gut knowing. Learning how to increase the green score for type Eight. We can turn the volume up on that. It’ll make decision making a heck of a lot easier. It’ll quiet your mind because it won’t be filled with all the options and the anxiety of trying to decide. You’ll just know.

Wouldn’t that be a relief?

What to do about a Whammy
Imagine someone with a short temper; they probably have a high red score for type Eight. If you look at the green score for type Nine and it’s low, well, no wonder! — a part of them doesn’t really value or believe in inner peace. So they don’t really mind when they get angry. It’s true. Not everybody wants or believes in peace. It could be it didn't exist or it wasn’t safe to want it when they were growing up. Or they don’t believe it’s possible.

As this person starts to mature, and realizes their relationships are suffering, that they’ve hurt people without intending to, they’re motivated to change. But HOW?

There are many ways to do this. The easiest one to explain right now is by suggesting a mantra (a word or phrase) and a mudra (a gesture or body position).

No matter what your scores are, what I’m about to tell you works for ANYBODY who gets angry at anyone about anything. So if you’ve ever been hurt, angry or offended, instead of avoiding, repressing, sweeping it under the rug, raising your voice, cutting off communication, etc., try this:

Say the mantra / phrase:
I speak gently from my heart.

And do this mudra / body position:
Put both hands on your sternum, which represents your heart chakra.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, feel it in your body. That’s right. Take a moment. Quiet your mind. Say those words. And feel the intention of these words in every cell of your body.

I can feel it right now, just typing these words. Are you feeling it?

I guarantee what happens next will be different! Let me know what happens next for you!

One way to look at Emotional Intelligence is to shift your WHAMMIES to HARMONY! It may be easier than you think!

Andrea Isaacs has been on the leading edge of combining emotional intelligence (EQ), the Enneagram, Body Wisdom and neuroscience since 1994 with her unique system that increases EQ. She is an international speaker, empowering facilitator and transformational coach and has brought her work to 25 countries, transforming the lives of thousands of people, resulting in increased productivity for dozens of organizations whose teams are “humming” because of their work with her. She has taught alongside Don Riso (until his passing in 2012) and Russ Hudson since 1994. Over 500 people have taken her recently created The EQ the Enneagram Quiz.

She lives in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, bikes almost daily and swims whenever possible.

Click here to visit Andrea’s website.