The downturn in mood around when Daylight Savings Time ends in early November is like clockwork for many of us. Suddenly, the sun rises after you wake and sets before you leave the office. The wind hurts your face. You seem to be perpetually sick. You feel cold even in your house. Your skin is dry. No one organizes get togethers after the holidays. And simple errands that require going outside feel impossible. There’s a term for this change in mood: seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). But is there a way to fight seasonal depression in winter? And beyond that, is it possible to even enjoy the season? I’ve read and watched a lot of content on this topic over the years, because I…
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Intentional living is something I write about a lot on this blog. Concepts like minimalism and essentialism feed into the same goal: a more purposeful life. As I’ve discussed before in my Enneagram series, I see personality typology as a powerful tool in creating an intentional life. Knowing your Myers Briggs personality type can help you understand what motivates you and what is fulfilling to you, personally. Generic advice about creating a meaningful life doesn’t work, because it’s a different journey for each personality type. In this post, we’ll focus on the personality type INFJ. If you’re not familiar with the Myers Briggs (MBTI) system, you can read the basics at Simply Psychology. It’s based on a theory of cognitive functions put forth by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. To find your type, you…
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On this site, I share a lot of advice for decluttering your physical space. Tips for getting rid of things you’ve accumulated that you no longer have use for. The same principle goes for our minds. We can collect “psychic clutter” – old habits and beliefs that helped us thrive in childhood but currently hinder us. For more about the concept of psychic clutter, check out my Enneagram 1 post. This post focuses on the Enneagram 9. The Enneagram is a personality typology system that outlines 9 types, each defined by a core fear and core motivation. To learn more, check out this list of Enneagram books, which highlights the best options for beginners. You can also refer to online sources like the Enneagram Institute. Free online tests are available, but don’t take the result as gospel. Read about the top 3 types your answers…
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I’ve shared plenty of tips about how to declutter your physical space. But our minds also collect clutter. This clutter consists of habits, beliefs, and thought patterns accumulated in our youth that no longer serve us. While clearing physical clutter can be empowering, clearing mental clutter is life changing. This series on the Enneagram addresses how each type can declutter their minds. I’m writing individual posts on each type, because each type has unique psychic clutter. For more context, check out the introduction to my first post about the Enneagram 1. This post focuses on the Enneagram 8. I want to first address how I see personality typology as a useful tool when for intentional living. Systems like the Enneagram show how differently people’s individual psyches can operate, proving that…
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Inspired Essentialism is about helping us discover what is most important to us in order to live more intentional lives. Personality typology is a theme I touch on often because it’s such a useful tool for each of us as individuals to narrow down our purpose. These systems give us a framework for analyzing our motivations and gaining the self-knowledge required to sort out what’s important to us versus what others have told us is important. The Enneagram is one of those tools. I’ve written about the Enneagram types through the lens of minimalism and essentialism before. But you may be wondering what books about the enneagram you should read to learn more. To summarize, the Enneagram describes nine personality types, each based on a core fear and…
