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I’ve shared plenty of tips here for how to declutter your physical space. Most of us have experienced a cluttered home. Things piled up in our living space because we didn’t take time to decide what is worth keeping. This series on the Enneagram offers similar advice for our minds. Each Enneagram type tends to hoard unique “psychic clutter” – unhelpful beliefs and habits that hold us back. For more context, see the introduction to my first post about the Enneagram 1. Here, we’ll focus on the Enneagram 7.
How can personality typology help us with mental decluttering? Well, systems like the Enneagram and MBTI help us identify destructive patterns that tend to go together. Identifying your personality type doesn’t tell you everything about who you are. But it can show you some common pitfalls to look out for. While some people struggle because they’re too impulsive, others overthink so much they never act. One-size-fits-all advice won’t work for clearing psychic clutter.
The Enneagram lays out 9 personality types, each with a core fear and a core motivation. And that’s a great place to start when figuring out what is cluttering your mind. If you don’t know your Enneagram type, you can read about all the types on sites like the Enneagram Institute. You can also take an free online test, but don’t assume the result is the final answer. The test can help you narrow down the options, but only you can determine your type.
In this post, I’ll start with a quick description of the Enneagram 7. If it resonates with you, read on below for suggestions about what psychic clutter you can clear to make room for personal growth.
Who is the Enneagram 7?
The Enneagram 7 is nicknamed “The Enthusiast” or “The Epicure” because of their zest for life and taste for enjoyable experiences. 7s are active, fun, joyful, spontaneous, and often scattered. Their core motivation is to be happy and have their needs met. This includes having freedom, experiencing everything life has to offer, and staying upbeat and positive. This motivation counters their core fear of being deprived and feeling emotional pain.
Their strengths lie in their optimism, mental agility, energy to initiate projects, quick learning, and their breadth of interests. The Enneagram 7 tends to have a great sense of humor and be very likeable. Their enthusiasm is infectious.
However, like others in the “Head Triad” (5s and 6s), they tend to overthink. This separates them from their inner guidance and creates anxiety. 5s cope with anxiety by learning as much as they can, and 6s cope by constantly testing others and preparing for worst-case scenarios. But 7s stay busy to keep the fear at bay. One way to do this is to keep their minds busy with daydreams about the future. Unlike 6s, who often ruminate about possible negative future outcomes, 7s prefer positive fantasies that stoke excitement for the future. They want to stay stimulated, because they fear if they have too much downtime, they’ll be at the mercy of their anxious or negative thoughts.
Because the Enneagram 7 isn’t in touch with their inner guidance, they aren’t sure what they want. They figure they should experience as much as they can in order to find it. In other words, “FOMO” defines this type. This isn’t necessarily negative, but they can end up passing by good things in their endless search for something better.
What Do You Need to Let Go as an Enneagram 7?
If the description above sounded like you, the tips below will help you figure out what thought patterns and habits you can “declutter” in order to live a fuller life.
1. Distractions
The Enneagram 7 prefers to be busy and mentally stimulated at all times. They love to have a full schedule of activities lined up, plus intellectual pursuits to keep their minds occupied. Think of the person with social events every evening and an Internet browser with 80 open tabs.
If you’re being honest with yourself, you’ll recognize that many of these pursuits are distractions. Because you fear pain and negative emotions, you prefer to stay occupied with things that will keep you in an emotionally positive space. And what’s wrong with that, you may ask? Well, this habit scatters your attention, so you struggle to focus on one thing long enough to really follow through. Also, the more you avoid your feelings, the scarier they become. This creates a feedback loop where you need more and more distractions as you flee from certain thoughts.
Try out short periods of solitude, with no TV, Internet, or other distractions. It’s true that when things are quiet, difficult emotions you’ve been suppressing may arise. But here’s the thing: If you allow yourself to feel negative emotions, you’ll realize they’re not as bad as you feared. In fact, there’s beauty and lessons to learn even in painful experiences. Getting deeper with your own feelings will also deepen your relationships with others. As long as you avoid going deep with yourself, you won’t be able to get past the superficial in relationship with anyone else.
2. Your Impulsiveness
If you’re an Enneagram 7, you’ve likely been labeled “impulsive” before. While everyone has a desire for instant gratification, this type is more often overwhelmed by it than any other. When a 7 learns of something new and interesting, they want it – now. That could be an object, an experience, or a person. And the 7’s ability to go after what they want without hesitation is admirable in a way.
This habit becomes an issue when the Type 7 grabs things that frankly aren’t good for them. This could mean overspending, overindulging, or harming relationships through a lack of commitment and follow-through. If your friend asks if you want to visit Japan with them next week and you immediately buy a ticket, neither your employer nor your significant other is going to be very happy with you.
As a personal growth exercise, recognize when this urge for instant gratification arises. And consciously let it go. Remind yourself that opportunities aren’t going to disappear if you don’t seize them immediately. Instead of reacting immediately, hold back and think about what you really want. Will what you’re moving toward really gratify you, or will you likely be bored of it soon? If you respond immediately to everything that sounds interesting, you’ll never have the time to discern what truly fulfills you.
3. Your Focus on Quantity Over Quality
The Enneagram 7 is called “The Enthusiast” for a reason. They get excited about new things, and they want whatever captures their interest right away. This can go for objects, which leads to clutter, budget stretching, and stress. Or it can go for experiences –social events, concerts, relationships, travel. The Type 7 sees that life is short, and they want to experience as much as they can.
Again, enthusiasm and zeal are positive qualities. We could all learn from 7s how to enjoy our lives more. But like any positive quality, there’s a dark side. All the enthusiasm for the new leads to a focus on quantity rather than quality.
When something captures your interest and you go for it immediately, you’re not being intentional. You may think that more experiences give you more information about what you truly want. But jumping from one experience to the next doesn’t give you time to reflect and figure out what you really value.
Adopting some of the principles of minimalism and essentialism could greatly improve your life. As a 7, you’re not likely to identify as a minimalist. And you don’t need to. However, those philosophies demonstrate the value of discernment. More is not always better. And in fact, it can become a distraction to what you really want. So, when the temptation to buy something new arises, think about whether it would really add value to your life or if it would quickly become clutter that you need to manage. And when you’re tempted to sign up for a new activity or commitment, consider if it might actually distract your time and energy from what you care about most.
Releasing your desire for quantity will free your mind to better discern what you truly value.
4. Your Focus on the Future
While some level of planning for the future is undoubtedly a good idea, the Enneagram 7 exists too much in the future. They’re not fully comfortable in the present and prefer to always be planning head. While a Type 6 may plan ahead to avoid worst-case scenarios, a 7 is more often thinking about future activities and making plans to have fun. Although the 6’s strategy is more obviously based in anxiety, the 7’s actually has the same root. Since the Enneagram 7 worries about having to feel negative emotions, they always want to stay busy. And that requires staying one step ahead – always having the next activity lined up.
But you’ll appreciate the experiences you’re having more if you can stay present and really engage with them. In order to do that, you need to let go of the fear that you’ll have nothing lined up next. Going back to #1 and trying out a short period without distractions will help to teach you that boredom is nothing to fear. When you start to think about the next thing you want to do or experience, pull yourself back into the present moment and fully engage with it.
Similarly, when let go of your thoughts about the future and focus on the task at hand, you’ll be able to finish the projects that you start. Type 7s are often labeled as scattered and inconsistent because of their tendency to jump to the next best thing. But once you release your thoughts about future possibilities, you’ll actually follow through on the projects you start.
What Do You Think?
Are you an Enneagram 7? Or do you have a loved one who is? What do you think about the tips above? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments!
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