Enneagram Type 3:
Performer, Motivator, Achiever, Producer or Status Seeker
Overview
You want to be competent, productive, accomplished and dynamic. More importantly, you want to be good at what you do and to look good doing it. You see yourself as ambitious, competitive and industrious. You would like others to see you as a winner with all the trappings of success. Your idealized image is that you are triumphant and victorious.
You are goal oriented - someone who lives by the motto “Why do when you can overdo!” To say that you are self-confident, ambitious and motivated may be an understatement. You want to be seen as the very example of the person who has it all together and is on the way to the top. You take great pleasure in crossing tasks off your ‘to do’ lists after quickly finishing them. You may even write down a task on your list that is already completed just so you can enjoy the sense of accomplishment you feel when you cross it off.
Concerned about having prestige and status, you quickly adapt to whatever role is expected of you. Seeking success through appearances, you are likely to place continuous pressure on yourself to maintain an enviable image. You do this by controlling your emotions, being efficient and maintaining a focused single-minded attitude. A natural born performer, you try to do your best and to be an ‘all star’ at what ever you attempt.
Continuously seeking attention and admiration, like a strutting peacock, you aren’t afraid to showcase or promote your talents and ambitions. As there is no second best for you, you keep trying until you reach your goal. You strive for and often develop finesse. Your high level of self-confidence, enthusiasm and energy tends to rub off on everyone around you. Your positive attitude is often motivating to others. Always on the go and energized by starting new projects, you can achieve a great deal but are also at risk of burning out. As soon as you reach one goal, you are on to the next.
Need
You need to be the best at whatever you do. You love the sound of applause and the accolades that are given for a job well done. You also need people to praise and acknowledge your achievements. Looking successful in someone else’s eyes is what motivates you to push yourself harder and accomplish more. Always one to seek attention through your personal achievements, it is difficult for you to relax, stop being the peacock and become part of the herd.
Avoid
You avoid failure, nothingness, being second best or appearing like you cannot accomplish what is expected of you.You may repress or swallow your emotions, seeing them as speed bumps that slow you down on the way to reaching your goals. This can cause your emotions to come up and surprise you at unexpected times. Because you have a tendency to mistake what you do for who you are, you can become a human “doing” instead of a human being. You can become anxious and fearful that your carefully crafted image of the successful, on the go, efficient ‘doer’ might be unmasked.
Virtue
A true taskmaster, your virtue is your veracity and sense of industry. Self-confident, energetic, positive and enthusiastic, you generally excel at and reach whatever goal you set. Your efficiency makes you an overachiever who can accomplish a great deal. Often you are the model of success, and you have a natural ability to motivate and charm others. You love the natural high that the feeling of success can give and enjoy teaching others how to thrive and achieve their own goals. You are able to help others see what they need to do to polish their image and put their best foot forward.
Vice
Your vice is vanity. You have a tendency to be overly self-promoting. You can confuse your image with who you really are, engaging in a form self-deception. As you push harder and harder to complete tasks, you may even appear robot-like because you have begun treating yourself like a machine. Trying to stand out and be number one can be exhausting for you. It can also be hard to ask for help or pay attention to your deeper feelings. You may feel like you always have to greet the world with a smile so that people will smile at you. You also want others to admire you and tell you that you have done a good job.
Attention
Your attention goes to performance, prestige and seeking status for approval. Hyper focused on your audience, you adapt to the expectations of others. You want to be the very image of success where ever you are and whatever you do.
Spiritual Path
Your spiritual journey is to reclaim your sense of honesty and restore your hope. Remember that everyone loves a performer– while they are performing– but this is not the kind of love that lasts. Your spiritual growth will come when you learn to be authentic and be true to the moment.
Mantra
You are a human being, not a human doing, and you are loved for yourself and not for your accomplishments. Remember that when you feel efficient and robotic, you have lost touch with your heart.
Wing
If you are the Enneagram Type 3 with the 2 Wing, you desire to appear as dazzling. You see yourself as flashy, supportive, caring, cheerful, fun and friendly.
If you are the Enneagram Type 3 with the 4 Wing, you desire for others to see you as professional. You see yourself as elegant, polished, fun and (at times) moody and quiet.
Famous 3s
James Baker, Joseph Biden, David Bowie, Dick Clark, Johnnie Cochran, David Copperfield, Corporate America, Courtney Cox, Cindy Crawford, Tom Cruise, Nora Ephron, Werner Erhard, Mrs.‘Debbi’ Fields, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bryant Gumbel, Mark Harmon, Jesse Jackson, Modern Japan, Michael Jordan, Henry Kissinger, Carl Lewis, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Vince Lombardi, Rob Lowe, Joan Lunden, Ali MacGraw, Elle MacPherson, Reba McEntire, Demi Moore, Queen Noor, Oliver North, Elvis Presley, Burt Reynolds, Anthony Robbins, Diane Sawyer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, William Shatner, Cybill Shepherd, O.J. Simpson, Duchess of Windsor-Wallis Simpson, Will Smith, Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Kathleen Turner, Jean-Claude Van Damme, George Washington, Raquel Welch, Vanessa Williams, Marianne Williamson, Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Wood, Tiger Woods.
