At Their Best
Self-disciplined, hardworking, responsible, honest, conscientious, practical, and self-controlled.
When Struggling
Rigid, judgmental, self-righteous, uptight, and overly critical of themselves and others.
What Type Ones say about themselves:
- I live with a powerful inner critic that monitors my thoughts, words, and deeds.
- I strive for perfection and feel responsible for making things right.
- I focus on being good while repressing my impulses and desires for pleasure.
- I get angry when important rules and standards are ignored or violated.
- I seek love and approval from others by being good and right.
From www.narrativeenneagram.org
We each feel that we must show up in a certain way in the world in order to deserve love.
These are internal messages that resonate with Ones:
BASIC FEAR: Of being corrupt, evil, or defective.
BASIC DESIRE: To be good, to have integrity, to be balanced.
BASIC PROPOSITION: “You must be good and right to be worthy.”
AVOIDANCE: Showing anger, losing self-control, or making mistakes.
FOCUS of ATTENTION: What is right or wrong, correct or incorrect.
- Positive aspect: The ability to quickly discern and fix errors or problems.
- Negative aspect: The tendency/potential to be overly critical of self or others.
Strategies For Growth:
- Take some time for yourself without feeling that everything depends on you. Remind yourself that the world will keep turning without you, and it’s ok to take time to relax/rest.
- Beware of constant irritation with your own “shortcomings”. Ask yourself if the sharp self-criticism helps you to improve or if it makes you tense and upset. Take a pause and try to observe your feelings and body with as little judgment as possible. Remember that you deserve compassion and grace as much as anyone.
