Rewriting The Story Of You Through The Enneagram With Ian Morgan Cron
Pages by pages, chapter by chapter — we write a story that aligns with our memories and scars. As we brave through our life experiences, it frames a sense of who we are as people. We are fortunate if life seems to sail through smoothly, leaving us with a great understanding of who we are.
But have you ever wondered — what if you're living the wrong story? How can you break free from the worn-out script you have been telling yourself all your life?
In this episode of Radically Loved, Ian Morgan Cron introduces the nine Enneagram personality types. He discusses the importance of self-inquiry and self-knowledge in forming better relationships with ourselves and other people. Then, he highlights the premise of his new book, The Story of You, and how it can help you write a story of your life. Finally, he emphasizes that we own the power to rewrite the old and broken story we had told ourselves in the past.
If you want to learn more about yourself and start rewriting your story, this episode is for you!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
Learn about the nine Enneagram personality types.
Discover the significance of your Enneagram personality type to your story.
Find out why you should rewrite your old story.
Resources
Purchase Ian Cron’s books:
Purchase Wired for Story by Lisa Cron
More links to other books and resources:
Take your iEQ9 Enneagram Assessment
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Episode Highlights
[02:20] What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system that recognizes nine basic personality types.
It allows you to understand your inner architecture, as well as gives a small picture of other people's interior worlds.
The Enneagram fosters compassion, empathy, and the ability to communicate better.
The system is accurate, accessible, and you can immediately begin to work with it.
[03:54] Ian: "The power of learning about how different people see the world is a game-changer." — Click Here to Tweet This
[04:25] Find Out Your Enneagram Personality Type
To find out your Enneagram personality type, you may read Ian’s Enneagram introductory book, The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery.
You can also take online assessments, such as the one on Ian’s website.
[05:00] The 9 Enneagram Personality Types
The nine Enneagram Personality Types include the improvers, helpers, performers, romantics, individualists, loyalists, enthusiasts, challengers, and peacemakers.
We embody all nine personality types. But there’s one that’s more of default to you than the other eight.
Tune in to the full episode to gain a more comprehensive view of each personality type!
[11:43] Doing Self-Inquiry
Determining your personality type involves listening to your unconscious needs or motivations.
It’s challenging to move in the world, carrying real emotional or spiritual knowledge apart from self-knowledge.
People who are in the trance of self live life on autopilot. They're not in control of their patterns of acting, thinking, and feeling.
Self-knowledge and self-awareness are key predictors of success in relationships.
[11:49] Ian: “You contain all nine [Enneagram] types, and that's why you will resonate with something about each of those numbers as you hear it. However, there's one that's more like you than the other eight.”— Click Here to Tweet This
[15:34] What’s Next for Us?
Ian wants the world to become a healthier, safer, and more beautiful experience for his children.
[16:44] Ian: “I do have the ability to work on myself. And if I do that first, then I'm more capable of addressing the problems in the world around me. So that's where I start.” — Click Here to Tweet This
He believes that the best gift he can bring to the world is the highest expression of himself.
By working on yourself first, you can be more capable of addressing the world's problems.
[17:15] Making Sense of the World Through the Enneagram
People inhabit narratives or stories to make sense of the world.
Young children unconsciously craft tales about who they are and how the world works.
The broken elements of our early stories include false beliefs and perceived messages from our environment that we’ve internalized.
The broken stories we make up help us survive childhood, but they begin to work against us when we drag them into adulthood.
The book and the Enneagram can help you identify one story among the nine that you identify with.
[22:31] Creating a New Narrative for Ourselves
We become the stories we tell ourselves.
We’re all recovering children.
Reauthoring your story would be a lot easier with the help of the book, The Story of You. Ian wishes it existed when he was dealing with addiction and alcoholism.
You are not stuck with your old story. You have the agency, power, and privilege to create a narrative that deeply aligns with your values.
Ian has created a process to help people craft their new stories.
[22:42] Ian: “Our whole identity, our personality, our way of moving to the world is organized around the story we tell ourselves about who we are, who we think other people are, how we think the world works.”— Click Here to Tweet This
[26:06] Ian’s Journey to Healing
His life crashed when he was 28.
Ian's first sponsor was a 70-year-old union analyst and Episcopal priest. Tune in to the full episode to hear the eye-opening question he asked Ian!
Be grateful for the old story, but know when it's time to create a new one.
[27:23] Ian: “Do you ever wonder if you’re living in the wrong story?”— Click Here to Tweet This
[29:07] To Those Who Don’t Want to Leave the Old Story Behind
Ian has met many people who have unconsciously given up on themselves. These people feel an existential malaise.
You don’t have to give up on yourself. You just need to give up the old story.
You’re not the problem; the story is. Leave that wrong story.
The journey of rewriting your story is a lifelong exercise, and it begins with awareness.
[32:08] Ian’s Prayer for His Wife and Children
He prays for his wife and children to know that they are fundamentally beautiful and broken creatures.
Owning and integrating both your sides — the good and the bad — will help you find healing.
Healing begins with rigorous self-honesty, self-compassion, and the ability to own the fullness of who you are.
Ian yearns that his prayer reaches his family because it took him a long time to get it.
[36:28] How Ian Feels Radically Loved
He practices unconditional self-friendship. The feeling of being radically loved can be from an internal source.
Ian gets in touch with the radical interconnectedness of all things in nature. He feels profoundly loved outdoors.
About Ian
Ian Morgan Cron is the bestselling author of the Enneagram books, The Road Back to You and The Story of You. He is also a trained psychotherapist, Episcopal priest, Enneagram teacher, and a pioneer of the contemporary Enneagram movement. He is a nationally sought-after speaker and advisor to major corporate boardrooms and large conferences.
Ian is also the host of Typology Podcast — a podcast show that explores the human personality and introduces how to use the Enneagram to become our most authentic selves.
You can reach out to Ian through his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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To feeling radically loved,
Rosie