How To Stay Focused On Your Goals, Based On Your Enneagram Type

Want to leverage your enneagram personality type to become more focused and committed to your life goals?

We’ve talked about what goals to set based on your enneagram, but what about how to actually stick to them and achieve them?

We all have our individual things when it comes to how we get in our own way, so why not use our personality to work through them, so we can create the life we want and make those goals happen!

Haven’t taken the Enneagram test yet? Take it at Truity.*

Here are some tips for each Enneagram type to work through your roadblocks to stay focused on your goals.

Type 1: The Reformers

Type Ones are always trying to improve upon things, including themselves. They’re naturally inclined toward setting goals.

One of their biggest struggles with sticking to goals is their all-or-nothing, black-and-white thinking. If they can’t give it 100%, they might decide to give up altogether instead of making a plan that fits within their lifestyle.

Type 1s can use the ABC Method to create a backup plan for the strategies behind their goals, so that even if they’re having an off day, they can still make progress.

Make the goal to get the task done, instead of having it be perfect – and you’ll be much more likely to stay focused.

Because 1s are so value-focused, they can take themselves and their goals a bit too seriously. Leverage the type 7 that you go to in health to try to have more fun in the progress of going after your goals. Life is supposed to be fun, so try to add in some ways to make it more enjoyable for you in the process.

Type 2: The Helpers

Type 2s are often doing a lot for the people in their lives, and can often set and forget goals because they put others’ needs in front of their own. They’ll drop everything to help and support the people in their lives – which is super admirable, except it means that they’re often neglecting their own needs and vision.

If you’re a type two, start practicing putting yourself first with small practices that you commit to and put it into your calendar as a non-negotiable. As you continue to stick with this small practice, you can work yourself up toward bigger goals – but if you’re in a people-pleasing spiral, small steps will be the best move.

This will require you to say no to some things that come up. Try to remember that when you say yes to something, you’re saying no to something else. If you are constantly saying no to your own needs, you’re going to be less helpful to the people you love. Save your yeses for when you actually have the capacity to give.

It’s an ongoing process, and you won’t always get it right, but it’s time to put your goals as a priority, twos!

Type 3: The Achievers

Type 3s are natural goal-getters, but they don’t spend much time figuring out whether the goals they’re achieving are aligned with what they really want. They can be really determined to make their lives look a certain way to other people, and what they perceive to be an ideal version of success that they don’t stop enough to ask themselves how they actually feel about it.

A question to ask yourself as an enneagram 3; “Do these goals actually add value to my life and make me feel good?” And “Is this goal something I’m actually excited and curious about or is this just something I think looks impressive or like a successful person would do?”

You are not obligated to put on a performance. Just because you are productive does not mean you should treat yourself (or let others treat you) like a machine.

You get to define what success means, and what’s the point of obtaining an impressive image if you’re miserable?

Type 4: The Individualists

Enneagram Type 4s can be the opposite of Type 3s in that they’re always thinking about how they feel and what they really want – and are less consistent in the action of pursuing the goals.

Type 4s can get caught up in comparison when they’re going after goals, even more than other types. It’s important for them to disconnect from social media when they’re heavy in comparison mode. Because you’re so creative, you really need space away to reconnect to your own vision, instead of letting other people’s progress stifle you.

Make the habits you’re trying to add to your life feel like a ritual. Healthy habits that feel like a pleasurable daily ritual is going to be something you want to stick to, because you enjoy the way it makes you feel.

Tap into your why. It’s easy to forget the reason behind why we’re doing what we’re doing, and more than any other type, 4s need to reconnect and stay focused on the reason and vision behind why they’re going after their goals.

Type 5: The Investigators

Type Fives are curious and interested in diving deep into topics that fascinate them but this can be a distraction mechanism for fives to avoid going after the things they want in life.

Fives can have a tendency to isolate, and a lot of goals require us to bring other people in and allow others to help us or give insight. Fives can compartmentalize a lot, and while doing things on your own is totally fine, it’s important to invite other people in and allow yourself to share your progress and have some accountability on your goals.

If you’re a five and you’re feeling in your head too much and disassociated with your body, be sure to do some practices to reconnect like grounding your feet on the ground outside or doing a walking meditation.

Type 6: The Loyalists

Enneagram 6s typically love planning, especially with a good paper planner!

Type 6s can have a lot of negative self-talk and anxiety as they go after their goals. They are hard workers, but can be quite hard on themselves as well.

It’s important for 6s to get their affirmations from themselves, but it’s also nice to have external validation. If you’re a 6, create a folder on your phone or computer (or you could even print these in a physical file) and put in all the nice messages that you receive from people. Whether these are messages from friends or clients, it’s nice to have a folder to look at when you’re in a spiral of self-doubt.

You could also write a list of goals that you have previously accomplished to remind you of how much you have already been able to do!

6s are super community-oriented, so it can be helpful for them to have accountability groups or to invite trust-worthy friends in as they set new challenges from themselves.

Type 7: The Enthusiasts

When Enneagram 7s tell you about their goals, you can’t help but feel the same excitement about their goals that they do. But what can happen for our life-of-the-party sevens is that after the initial momentum fades, they can get distracted or bored and want to move on to another goal or project.

It’s helpful for sevens to prioritize some time to ground themselves and create space to reflect – which they don’t often prioritize enough, because they’re always on the move. This can be combined with movement by going for a walk (without a podcast or any distractions!)

Use this mindful time to actually reflect and ask yourself whether this goal really isn’t right for them and it’s time to move on – or if the goal is getting hard and they need to push through the discomfort. And then brainstorm some ways you can push past the feeling of monotony and bring back that feeling of fun.

To keep your interest up in a goal as a 7, you can gamify the process. Keep it interesting along the way by making milestones and creating little victories along the way. As a simple example, if you were training to run a marathon, you could make mini-milestones and keep trying to beat your best time.

Type 8: The Challengers

Enneagram 8s are the “get sh*t done” queens. They’re unstoppable when they want something and will do what it takes to get it done.

The place where eights struggle is with taking on too much and having the tendency to resent other people for not contributing as much as them. Eights don’t want to feel taken advantage of, and often will be suspicious of other people’s intentions.

If your goals involve other people as an eight, be mindful that not everyone has the same capacity and get-things-done mindset that you do. And it doesn’t always mean that they are weak or that they are out to get you. Everyone’s priorities and ways of doing things are different – and that’s okay.

Similar to Enneagram 3s, Eights should assess why they’re going after the goals in the first place. Is it so that you feel independent and are perceived as an unstoppable badass? I think a lot of eights have a hunger and need to show people what they’re made of, but it’s important to consider what you actually want in your life. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone.

Type 9: The Peacemakers

Enneagram 9s are probably the least likely to set goals in the first place, because they can find inner peace without “striving” for anything.

They crave stability and inner peace, and creating an action plan can sometimes feel like a lot to them, especially for Big Picture Goals.

They tend to work best with setting intentions and habits.

With habits, Enneagram 9s should start with one “power habit” that can have a ripple effect across other areas of your life. The simpler the plan, the more likely it is for a Nine to stick and commit to. Focus on the time and place and specifics of where you’re getting it done – or use habit stacking to pair this habit with existing habits you’re already doing.

9s should know that direction is more important than speed. It’s okay if you’re not going at the same pace as other people are. Progress is progress!

Do you resonate with these tips for staying focused on your goals?