How to Build Systems with Your Enneagram Number

4 days ago

2 min read

If you have ever copied another entrepreneur's perfect morning routine and quit two weeks later, this episode is for you. On Mess to Mission, Linds walks through all nine Enneagram types and the systems that actually fit the way each one is wired, because you did not fail that system. That system failed you.

Listen now: Spotify | Apple Podcasts

In this episode

The Enneagram is a personality framework of nine types that looks at why you do what you do: your fears, desires and patterns under stress. Linds gives a quick Enneagram 101, then goes type by type through natural strengths, where systems tend to fall apart and what to build instead. She closes with a simple three-step challenge to fix one system gap this week.

Key takeaways

Stop copying someone else's system. Build systems for the way you are wired, not the way an influencer is wired.
Know your center. Types 2, 3 and 4 lead with the heart, 5, 6 and 7 with the head, and 8, 9 and 1 with the body.
Every type has a system fix. Twos need boundary-first calendars, threes need maintenance windows, fours need beautiful systems and fives need a "good enough to launch" line.
Sixes, sevens and eights need structure that fits. Sixes do well with decision frameworks, sevens with an idea parking lot and a finisher, and eights with clear communication systems and a 24-hour pause.
Nines and ones need permission. Nines put their own priorities on the calendar first, and ones separate a launch standard from an ideal standard.
Fix one thing. Find your biggest system gap and build one system around who you actually are.

Episode timestamps

0:02 Why copied routines never stick
1:57 What the Enneagram is
2:56 Heart, head and body types
4:54 Type 2, the helper
7:40 Type 3, the achiever
9:56 Type 4, the individualist
12:24 Type 5, the investigator
15:13 Type 6, the loyalist
17:31 Type 7, the enthusiast
19:55 Type 8, the challenger
22:17 Type 9, the peacemaker
25:09 Type 1, the perfectionist
27:34 How to put this into practice
30:56 Your challenge this week

Resources mentioned

The Enneagram Institute, which offers an in-depth paid assessment
ClickUp and Asana for goal tracking that makes systems feel like leveling up
Loom for documenting a process as you go
Habit Stacking for Business Owners, for making new systems stick

Keep listening

This is part one of a series. In the next episode, Linds covers how each Enneagram type replenishes its energy. Browse all Mess to Mission episodes, and share this one with the friend who is always comparing herself to someone else's highlight reel.

Want to build systems that fit you, with a community of women doing the same? Join the Systems Sanctuary waitlist to be first in the door when it opens November 1.