My goal for this series on what each Enneagram type can let go is to apply minimalist and essentialist principles to personal development. On this blog, I share a lot of decluttering tips and minimalist inspiration related to material possessions. But it’s not only physical things that pile up and distract us from what’s important. Our minds are also cluttered with outdated beliefs and habits that may have served us well in our childhood, but now do more harm than good. This “psychic clutter” collects over time and crowds out our ability to explore new perspectives and improve ourselves. For more context, please see the introduction to my post about the…
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I think all of us can admit that we have relationships with our phones that are…not the healthiest. In his book, Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport refers to the concept of a “cell phone as a vital appendage.” This definitely used to be true for me – I rarely even walked from one room to another without my phone. Catherine Price, in her book, How to Break Up with Your Phone, quotes a variety of alarming statistics. Americans spend an average of 4 ours per day on their phones, which amounts to 56 full days per year. They check their phones about 47 times per day, and that number shoots up to…
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In this Enneagram series, I discuss how we can use the principles of minimalism to clear clutter beyond the physical. I’m referring to “psychic clutter”- beliefs, habits, and thought patterns we’ve clung to for too long which hold us back. For more context on the Enneagram and how understanding your personality in systems like this one can help you live a more intentional life, please refer to my first post on the Enneagram 1. In this post, we’ll focus on the Enneagram 4. Enneagram theory holds that 9 fundamental personality types exist among humans, each based on a core fear and a core motivation to counter that fear. Understanding your…
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I’ve written before about Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism and how it changed my mindset toward life goals and more. McKeown urges us to recognize time and energy as limited resources, and to be intentional about how we spend them. Just as minimalists recommend clearing physical clutter, McKeown endorses clearing the things that clutter our daily schedules and our minds. He delivers the harsh but powerful truth that we cannot do everything we want to do. Rather, we have to choose what we value most and consciously discard those things that don’t support our highest priorities. I had already been dabbling in minimalism when I encountered this book. Its message that…
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In this post, we’re going to explore the Enneagram 3. For more information about the Enneagram and how personality typology can help us choose meaningful goals and live a more intentional life, please check out my first post on the Enneagram 1. My intention with this series on what the Enneagram types need to let go is to demonstrate how our minds collect “psychic clutter” – unhelpful beliefs, habits, and thought patterns. I write a lot about minimalism and clearing material clutter on this site. But it’s even more important to clear this mental and emotional clutter. If you don’t know your Enneagram type, you can take a test. However,…
