Typology

Dr. Julia DiGangi, an expert in the integration of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, talks about living in alignment. They discuss the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral structure of the personality and the fullest expression of a human being. They also explore the physical sensations of shame, the power of emotions in personal growth, and the importance of resilience and self-awareness.

Sixes have excellent analytical minds, are great strategists, troubleshooters, problem-solvers, and of course, see worst-case scenarios that other people don't see. The passion of the Six is fear which is often experienced as anxiety…anxiety that the unexpected could happen at any time. But once they launch a mental narrative in their head of all that could go wrong, these fictional stories can take on lives of their own and can grow and crowd out what’s actually happening.   Today, we revisit my conversation with Jeff Chu to explore the complexities of The Loyalist, and how knowing his Enneagram type has allowed him to identify those aspects of his personality that are responses to things he's been through in the past and work through them.     ---------------- Jeff Chu is a writer, reporter, Editor-at-large at Travel + Leisure, and Teacher in residence at Crosspointe Church. His reporting and writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Travel+Leisure, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Modern Farmer. When big publishers were still starting magazines and pouring millions of dollars into them, Jeff was an editor on the launch team of the now-defunct Conde Nast Portfolio. And before that, he spent seven years at Time magazine, where he really received his journalistic education. Jeff was a London-based web producer and staff writer. In 2021, Jeff helped turn Rachel Held Evans’ latest work-in-progress into a finished book titled, “Wholehearted Faith.”  He wove the words of her partial manuscript with other unpublished writings to create a rich collection of essays that ask candid questions about the stories we’ve been told—and the stories we tell—about our faith, our selves, and our world.   

Guest Jason Adam Miller, an Enneagram 5w4, discusses the internal struggle of balancing intellect and emotions. They explore trauma's impact on personality styles, debate Mark Zuckerberg's Enneagram type, and delve into the concept of embracing unreserved creativity. Miller shares a personal experience of visiting their hero's grave and the unexpected emotional connection.

Burnout is more common than you think and the rates continue to rise. So, what constitutes burnout and how do we combat it?  First, we need to understand the stressors that lead to burnout in the first place.  According to physician, executive coach, and speaker Dr. Neha Sangwan, “burnout is due to prolonged stress and an ongoing net drain of energy on one or more of five levels: physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. When we burn out, our productivity suffers, our health declines, and we’re more reactive in our relationships.” In today’s episode, Dr. Sangwan shares the story of her own wake-up call, breaks down the phases of burnout, and provides examples from her new book, Powered by Me: From Burned Out to Fully Charged at Work and in Life, of how to assess the five levels of burnout so you can take practical steps to replenish your energy and heal.  To learn more about Dr. Sangwan, visit her website or grab a copy of her book on Amazon.  

Functional medicine expert Dr. Will Cole discusses the gut-brain connection and how nutrition can heal our bodies. He also shares how the Enneagram has helped him educate and empower others. The podcast explores communication abilities of Enneagram type 4 wings, behaviors of Enneagram 5s in different states, challenges faced by Enneagram 5s in relationships, self-development reflections, and the transformative power of diet and practices.

To be human is to suffer. Most people try to bypass suffering or live with it in isolation. But true healing happens when you acknowlege its presence, learn to be with it, and allow others to come alongside you in your pain.  “Suffering is this whole notion of my perception that, 'I’m alone with my pain.’ So suffering is a direct function of the degree to which I am isolated with my pain,” explains Dr. Curt Thompson. “If I practice allowing others to be with me, it changes the nature of how I practice anticipating the future. And this is how ‘I’ don’t form hope for me…’we’ form hope for me.” In today’s episode, Dr. Curt Thompson returns to discuss his incredible new book, The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope. We explore the intersection of faith and neuroscience, unraveling the profound impact of suffering and the formation of hope.  To learn more about Dr. Curt Thompson, visit his website or grab a copy of his new book.  

Does your internal world align with your external world? If not, how can the Enneagram help you harness the vast treasures of instinctual insights and inspirations on a regular basis to realize personal and professional success?  Liz Tran, Executive Coach and author of The Karma of Success, joins me for a wonderful conversation about tapping into your inner genius in order to capitalize on what you’re truly capable of. She shares the four spiritual strategies that foster reflection and help you infuse intuition and creativity into a career of purpose and joy.  ---------- Liz Tran is the founder of Reset, an executive coaching company to CEOs and founders. Before founding Reset, Liz spent over a decade working in the tech industry, most recently as the only female executive at a leading venture capital firm. She is a trained meditation teacher and Reiki Master and studied yoga at the Samyak Ashram. She lives in New York City and Norfolk, Connecticut with her husband, Dev, and their dog, Grover.  To learn more about Liz Tran and The Karma of Success, visit her website or follow her on Instagram. 

We live in a world where we are faced with profound suffering on the news all day long and we see too much suffering of the world. But how do we take the unexpected things that happen to us and somehow breathe new life into them? Author of The Gift of the Unexpected: Discovering Who You Were Meant to Be When Life Goes Off Plan, Jillian Benfield believes, “No matter what your unexpected circumstance is–you don’t have to classify it as good–but I do think that good can come out of it and that [good] is that we can change through our unexpected circumstances if we’re willing to go all the way through it.”  Listen as Jillian shares the unexpected gift that helped shift her perspective and find true self-worth.  -----------------  Jillian Benfield is a former journalist and news anchor. She holds a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Georgia. As a freelance writer, her essays about living an unexpected life have appeared on sites such as TODAY, Good Morning America, Yahoo! News, and ABC News. Jillian regularly advocates for the full inclusion of people with disabilities in her writings, community, and as part of the National Down Syndrom Congress’s National Down Syndrom Advocacy Coalition. Jillian and her husband, Andy, and their three children make their home on Florida’s Space Coast.   

We’re kicking off Season 7 with a topic I’ve not yet discussed on the show: Holy Ideas.  Holy Ideas remind us of the powerful spiritual roots of the Enneagram. They are great, universal, spiritual truths that we forgot or lost touch with, as the ego created an overlay of personality. It’s a challenging concept, but today’s guest, renowned Enneagram teacher Renée Rosario walks us through the Holy Ideas for each type and reminds us to “relax with awareness into this idea that there is a power greater than us, that is actually taking care of all the things we think we have to take care of in our type.” Renée Rosario is a Core Faculty member of The Narrative Enneagram and a transpersonal, body-centered psychotherapist in Boulder, CO. She has facilitated workshops and classes for over 20 years and loves to work in the Narrative Tradition where all are students and teachers of one another. Renée has been a mindfulness instructor at Naropa University and a peacemaker trained in contemplative social action through the Peacemaker Institute. Her upcoming two classes, Narrative Enneagram Intensive Part 1 and Narrative Enneagram Learning Community will take place on August 4-6 in Menlo Park, CA or you can attend online.  Learn more at www.narrativeenneagram.org.    

As Richard Rohr says, Ones are childlike and full of joy and wonder at the world and creation.  But for Ones, that sense of joy has been lost.  Instead, they suppress their own feelings and focus on being good and doing what is right.  They feel a sense of duty and responsibility and may harbor resentment toward others who don’t see things the right way – their way.  But what would it look like if Ones reclaimed their childlike wonder? When Ones move toward health, they begin to let judgments go and become more at ease with imperfection. They begin to truly quiet that inner critic and turn it into an inner encourager. Our guest today, Julianne Cusick, shares how her journey toward self-awareness and self-knowledge as an Enneagram One has allowed her to prioritize relationships over perfection and has given her permission to have fun dancing in the kitchen. Julianne Cusick is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Certified EMDR Therapist (Maiberger Institute), and an AANE Certified Neurodiverse Couples Coach. She thrives on personal and professional growth. A dynamic and engaging communicator, Julianne speaks to Christian organizations, women’s groups, and retreats – all from the voice of hope and her own story of healing and redemption. She is a mother of two who enjoys gardening, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. For more about Julianne or Restoring the Soul, visit www.restoringthesoul.com.