Typology

Does your internal world align with your external world? If not, how can the Enneagram help you harness the vast treasures of instinctual insights and inspirations on a regular basis to realize personal and professional success?  Liz Tran, Executive Coach and author of The Karma of Success , joins me for a wonderful conversation about tapping into your inner genius in order to capitalize on what y...

We live in a world where we are faced with profound suffering on the news all day long and we see too much suffering of the world. But how do we take the unexpected things that happen to us and somehow breathe new life into them? Author of The Gift of the Unexpected: Discovering Who You Were Meant to Be When Life Goes Off Plan , Jillian Benfield believes, "No matter what your unexpected circumstan...

We're kicking off Season 7 with a topic I've not yet discussed on the show: Holy Ideas.  Holy Ideas remind us of the powerful spiritual roots of the Enneagram. They are great, universal, spiritual truths that we forgot or lost touch with, as the ego created an overlay of personality. It's a challenging concept, but today's guest, renowned Enneagram teacher Renée Rosario walks us through the Holy I...

As Richard Rohr says, Ones are childlike and full of joy and wonder at the world and creation.  But for Ones, that sense of joy has been lost.  Instead, they suppress their own feelings and focus on being good and doing what is right.  They feel a sense of duty and responsibility and may harbor resentment toward others who don't see things the right way – their way.  But what would it look like if...

Enneagram Threes focus on outstanding performance, being perceived as successful, and avoiding failure at all costs. They believe that love comes from achievement, image, and status and have the tendency to neglect or ignore the personal needs of self and others. But when Threes move toward health, they move to the high side of Six.  When that happens, they no longer need to "drive the bus" or fla...

Have you ever wondered why you like sad music, find comfort or inspiration in a rainy day, or react intensely to music, art, nature, and beauty?   If so, you may identify with the bittersweet state of mind.  Bestselling author Susan Cain joins Anthony and I in a deep exploration of the important topic of bittersweet. She explains that "a s humans, we enter this world with a sense of longing and se...

Some of my favorite interviews on Typology happen when a guest comes on thinking they're one type but they present differently. Today is one of those conversations. We start the show by talking to author, speaker, and social media personality, Carlos Whittaker, exploring how he determined his type and what struck him the most about being an Enneagram 9. Not long into our conversation, we begin to...

When human language can no longer carry the freight of an idea or a spiritual truth, you have to default to metaphor or to another language that can do that job. That language might be sculpture, film, music, or art…whatever medium can express things that discursive analytical language cannot. No other Enneagram type can match the Enneagram Four's creative gift for giving language to ideas others...

Let's face it, relationships are complicated.  But the more you know about yourself and your partner, the easier it is to communicate and navigate conflict. This week, Mike Alexander, Enneagram Six returns along with his wife, Enneagram One, and psychotherapist Cheryl, for a powerful conversation about the dynamics of their relationship and their own journey of healing within their types.  We dig...

Whether we're watching it play out on social media or experiencing it in our relationships and workplaces, all of us know someone who is addicted to drama.  But how do you recognize a drama addiction in yourself or others?  And once you recognize it, how do you break the cycle and live more peacefully? Today on Typology, clinical psychologist Scott Lyons, Ph. D., reveals how he learned to navigate...

What roadblocks keep you from reaching your true potential? How can you shift your mindset to find true inspiration and fulfillment?  CEO of SelfHelp(ful) and host of the SelfHelp(ful) podcast, Kevin Miller believes the key to motivation is understanding what it is that you truly value.  "If it wasn't anybody else, if it was just for you, what do you really want, that you can own?" asks Kevin. For...

Last week David Gungor shared his struggle in determining his type, how he embraces his "chaotic intentionality," and what it means to need others to "get out of his face."  Today we continue the conversation using the Enneagram to help Enneagram Eights grow in self-awareness through spiritual practices and leaning into the people they do trust to gain true intimacy.   David Gungor is a member of...

Enneagram Eights are called The Challenger for a good reason.  Eights don't like to feel controlled and avoid any appearance of vulnerability.  They are naturally confrontational and their combative energy can feel intimidating to others.  But what feels like intimidation to others actually feels like connection to an Eight.  Eights express their anger freely, are fueled by high levels of stimulat...

The Enneagram is complex and dynamic and is itself, this act of self-curiousity, a portal to growth. With that in mind, how do we use it in an intentional way to achieve more integration and balance in our lives? In today's episode, we dial into the importance of Stances with Enneagram master Dr. Jerome Wagner. Stances are a way that we move through the world in order to get our needs met, but "th...

Discovering the Enneagram was the key to helping Kelli Thompson get out of her head, move through doubt and rumination, and take action.  "It was really just a journey of how do you bring your life back into alignment with your values, learn to trust your heart and your gut, and that they have just as much merit as your brain, and then how do you use that to speak up and set boundaries, and take n...

Are an Enneagram 4 and an Enneagram 8 compatible? While both bring a fierce intensity to the world, they each bring different gifts to the table.   Helen Palmer describes their match up, as "a partnership of intensity acted out by fight, flight fascination, and flare. Each feels somewhat awed by the other. Eights feel themselves to be coarse and blunt in comparison with the elegant and socially ad...

What is an Instinctual Stack? Do you know yours? We all have three instincts. None of us are absent one. However, one does tend to be dominant.  But what are instincts and how do they influence how each type shows up in the world?  Today's guest, Elan Benami, creator of the EnneaApp and author of  Enneagram Patterns & Poetics, provides a great overview of Instincts, Subtypes, and the Instinctual S...

How has your past uniquely prepared you to experience more joy? In today's replay of one of my favorite episodes, Dr. Dan Allender and I explore this question in an insightful conversation about healing the heart from trauma, rewriting the broken stories we adopt as children, and the overlap with the Enneagram.   Professor of counseling psychology at The Seattle School and founder of The Allender...

Research has shown that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one of the biggest predictors of personal and professional success.  But how do you develop it?   Today's guest, expert in global leadership and organizational development and co-host of The Evolving Leader Podcast, Scott Allender joins Ian to discuss what emotional intelligence actually is, how the Enneagram aligns with the five essential ski...

This week, my dear friend and gifted songwriter, Cindy Morgan, joins me for a great conversation about Enneagram Fours, including the push-pull dance of fours in relationships, the well of suffering we can get trapped in, and the importance of authenticity. We also discuss the story behind her debut novel, The Year of Jubilee, and explore how she integrated the Enneagram into the main characters'...

As the New York Times bestselling author of 23 books and lead pastor of National Community Church, Mark Batterson believes that the foundation of all healthy relationships and successful careers stems from our proficiency in these three words: Please. Sorry. Thanks.   All three of these words require a posture of humility. All three of these words unlock the law of reciprocity and foster connectio...

When Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she was forced to grapple with the cultural scripts that box us into a tidy story about how we "earn our lives and get what we deserve," and that "anything is possible." But what if those scripts aren't true?  She joins me for an open conversation about her chronic sadness, suffering, and pain, and invites us to be honest about the lives that ca...

What actually makes a fulfilling and meaningful life?  Today, Dr. Robert Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development , reveals the key to real happiness is the strength of our connections and relationships with others.  "The people who stay happiest, healthiest, and live the longest have the warmest relationships with other people, "explains Dr. Waldinger. Dr. Waldinger shares th...

What are your parenting goals?  What does a "win" look like for you?  Andy and Sandra Stanley determined years ago that their primary goal as parents was to build strong, healthy relationships with their children that continue into their adulthood. "Our legacy is the relationships, the health of the relationships, and the healthy people in the relationships we leave behind," says Sandra. "We wante...

Several years ago we had Lysa TerKeurst on our show and discussed not confusing the desire for peace with the disease to please. Today, Lysa joins us again for a deep conversation about learning to set good boundaries and where she notices her struggle to maintain them.   "It's not that I don't want to be clear," Lysa says, "it's that sometimes I care so much about what the other person is feeling...