Enneagram Goal Setting: How to Set Yourself Up for Success

The Enneagram offers a powerful tool for understanding your personality and setting goals that resonate with your core motivations. Success isn't one-size-fits-all, and what drives one person may be demotivating to another.

By leveraging your type's strengths and addressing its potential challenges, you can create a roadmap for success that feels both inspiring and achievable. Here's how to utilize the Enneagram for effective goal setting.

Goal Setting for Each Enneagram Type

Success looks different for everyone. Here’s how to align your goals with your type's inherent motivations, play to your strengths, and navigate your unique challenges.

• The Reformer (Type 1): Your core desire is for a just and improved world. Success: Set goals that contribute to positive change or align with your strong values. Challenge: Your relentless inner critic and perfectionism can lead to burnout or procrastination. Strategy: Use your natural discipline to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), but practice self-compassion. Focus on "progress," not "perfection."
• The Helper (Type 2): Your core desire is to be loved and needed. Success: Set goals that involve helping others, fostering strong relationships, or building a supportive community. Challenge: You may set ambitious goals for others while neglecting your own. Strategy: Use your strength for building support networks, but be sure to set at least one goal that is 100% for you. Learn to ask for help in return.
• The Achiever (Type 3): Your core desire is for success, recognition, and achievement. Success: Set ambitious, clear, and measurable goals. Challenge: You can chase "vanity goals" (what looks impressive) instead of "authentic goals" (what truly matters to you). Strategy: Use your natural drive to track progress and celebrate milestones. Before committing, ask: "Do I want this, or do I want the applause for it?"
• The Individualist (Type 4): Your core desire is for authenticity and significance. Success: Set creative, inspiring goals that tap into your unique passions. Challenge: You may get stuck in "analysis paralysis" of your feelings or procrastinate while waiting for perfect inspiration. Strategy: Leverage your creativity. Make your goals visual (vision boards) and focus on the process of self-expression, not just a perfect outcome.
• The Investigator (Type 5): Your core desire is to be competent and capable. Success: Set goals that involve research, mastery, and deep learning. Challenge: You can get stuck in the research phase and never act, fearing you don't know enough. Strategy: Use your analytical mind to create detailed plans. Then, set a firm "action date" to consciously shift from learning to doing.
• The Loyalist (Type 6): Your core desire is for security and support. Success: Set goals that build stability, community, and preparedness. Challenge: Anxiety and worst-case-scenario thinking can stop you from taking necessary risks. Strategy: Build a strong support system (your strength!) to hold you accountable. Break down large, scary goals into small, predictable steps to build confidence.
• The Enthusiast (Type 7): Your core desire is for joy, satisfaction, and possibility. Success: Set exciting, novel goals that inspire you. Challenge: Scattered focus and a fear of missing out (FOMO) can lead to setting too many goals and abandoning them quickly. Strategy: Prioritize! Focus on one or two "big" goals at a time. Break them into small, manageable steps and celebrate finishing each step to maintain momentum.
• The Challenger (Type 8): Your core desire is for control and impact. Success: Set big, bold, world-changing goals. Challenge: Your directness can bulldoze collaborators, and you may resist delegating or asking for help. Strategy: Use your relentless drive, but frame goal-setting as a collaborative process. Actively seek input—it's a sign of a strong leader, not weakness.
• The Peacemaker (Type 9): Your core desire is for harmony and peace. Success: Set goals that involve collaboration, mediation, and building positive environments. Challenge: Indecisiveness and a desire to please others can make it difficult to commit to your own goal. Strategy: Clearly define your priorities (not your boss's or partner's). Write them down, and don't be afraid to say "no" to distractions that create conflict with your true goals.

Remember Your "Why"

• Goal Setting is a Journey: Be flexible and adjust your goals as needed. Celebrate small wins and learn from setbacks.
• Align with Your Core Values: Ensure your goals reflect what's truly important to you, not just external pressures.
• Take Inspired Action: Don't just set goals, take action steps towards achieving them.

By understanding your Enneagram type and its core motivations, you can craft goals that resonate deeply, leverage your strengths, and propel you towards success. The Enneagram empowers you to set yourself up for success based on your unique personality and what truly matters to you.

For more insights into personality, you might also be interested in the MBTI Guide book or The MBTI Advantage book series.