Personality Plus Options

I read Personality Plus years ago and I think this is a must read book for everyone who wants to understand simple types of personalities and how to deal with them. It classify people under 4 general personality, sanguines, choleric, melancholic, and plagmatis. It listed the strength and weakness of each of them and it's fun to read to start clasifying the people we know under these catagories after I finished reading it.

I most often fall in melancholic area and choleric when at work (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) How about you?

The Enneagram

I have read quite a few of these types of book over the years and I think the most helpful were the Enneagram books.

The Enneagram is a system of understanding personality by categorising the types into nine numbers:

Types:
1 is the Reformer, perfectionist, self-controlled and so on
2 is the Helper, who is generous, people-pleasing etc.
3 is the Achiever who is ambitious and image-conscious
4 si the Creative type, artisitic, emotional and romantic
5 is the Investigator – head-based, appears detached and provocative
6 is the Conventional type who is loyal and reliable.
7 is the Comedian and playful, enthusiastic and can be excessive
8 is the Challenger and is a leader, often confident but dominating
9 is the Peacemaker, highly agreeable but more stubborn than most.

The challenge is to find your own correct number to start it with. We often make mistakes when we try to see who others are and I remember many having me as a certain number and getting it badly wrong! I did the same and I think it is because although the numbering system is good once you are at the correct starting point, if you don't know yourself that well to begin with, you are apt to pick the wrong one and then of course there are the wings - these are the characteristics that overlap with the number next to you on either side; its gets complicated.

There is also the problem of which Enneagram book since some read a little differently to others.

My favourite one at the moment is Understanding the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson since it does cover the misidentification problem by pointing out the similarities between numbers and why someone can be misunderstood in this way.

The interesting thing is that as we our personalities develop, we move through the numbers – this is fascinating to look back on as we age and progress.

I never heard of this book Radiant Star. Adding it to my amazon wishlist. Thanks!