ENNEAGRAM 7: THE ENTHUSIASTIC VISIONARY AND THE INNER IMPOSTOR

Being a 7, I know exactly where my inner impostor shows up: a deep fear that I might not be able to follow through, so I don’t even start. This can happen a lot with bigger projects, where a 7 is less likely to take a risk. On the smaller stuff, though, I am all in.

I had a look on the net, and here are some examples of famous 7s. I am in good company being in the same bracket as Elton John, JFK and Steven Spielberg.

• Elton John

• John F. Kennedy

• Miley Cyrus

• Britney Spears

• Russell Brand

• Katy Perry

• Sacha Baron Cohen

• Robin Williams

• Jim Carrey

• Cameron Diaz

• Eddie Murphy

• Richard Branson

• Steven Spielberg

• Conan O'Brien

• Andy Samberg

• Ted Danson

My big problem is I don’t like negative feedback. I am always looking to avoid pain, and I remember over the years accumulating hundreds of brilliant Tripadvisor reviews for PG Tops, mostly excellent. See, if we knew a tour didn’t go too well, we wouldn’t ask for a review. Not even one in private.

If I was really serious about customer service, I would ask for feedback regardless. And if I did, I would have made some changes for the better of the business way earlier. I am working on being better at this…but it has been a journey.

And remember what I said about the fear of taking on high risk. It’s because I know myself – and I get easily distracted, chasing the next beautiful butterfly that comes along and forgetting to keep focus on what I was doing. A way I mitigate this is by bringing in more grounded and focused people around me to keep the ship steering in the right direction.

I don’t like the pain of letting people down. This means taking on projects where things are bound to not be 100% in my sweet spot…I lean heavily into my line to the 1 where the Strict Perfectionist dictates I cross my t’s and dot my I’s.

So I suppose the 7 is a bit of a dichotomy- enthusiastic, will get things moving, and a wonderful person to start projects with. But they need to be kept on course by a quiet specialist and an active controller I reckon…

Next week: The Active Controller. Should be a goodie…