The original version of this article was first published on Natasha Miller's website.

As part of my Health and Wellness Journal, I put together an Enneagram Bullet Journal Setup. But before we can really get into the setup, I’ll rewind a little and tell you what an Enneagram is. I’m sharing a video of the setup where I talk through the various aspects of my Enneagram, which you can check out here. But otherwise, let’s get to it!

What is an Enneagram?

Not to be confused with an enema (which could be a Bullet Journal setup, i guess?!), an Enneagram is a personality test. If you’re like me and rolling your eyes a little, I actually found this test to be fairly valuable for what I’m hoping to achieve. So, as per the Enneagram Personality Test I took on Truity.com, “the Enneagram is a personality system that aims to reveal how emotions drive our lives and how we engage with others in an effort to get what we want and need”. There are 9 personality types that all have defined strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for personal growth. The first goal of the Enneagram is to understand who you are. The second goal is to understand how to change or adjust your patterns to become a more adaptable, well-rounded person.

You can do the test for free, which will give you a brief summary of your Enneagram type. Or you can pay the fee for the full report. Truity.com was $20 USD for the full report.

Why do an Enneagram Bullet Journal Setup?

Before I get too carried away talking about this personality test, I wanted to share why I did it. As I mentioned, this setup is part of my Health and Wellness Journal. I have done a Health and Wellness Journal before, but I found it wasn’t quite what I needed. Dealing with the pandemic and the general fall out from it, I have had a lot of time to reflect. Having a degree in Psychology, I think of myself as being very self-reflective. I’ve learned to be forgiving of what I perceive to be horrible shortcomings, and learning from them.

It was a TikTok video that led me to questions things a bit differently. I was watching a video on ADHD, and the longer the video went on, the lighter I started feeling. They were essentially describing exactly how I have felt over the years, especially growing up. Now, that’s not to say I necessarily have ADHD (it is a TikTok video after all!), but it made me think about some of my personality traits, and even led me to do some research. So the idea for this Health and Wellness Journal was born – a place to write down thoughts and research and reflect.

Enneagram Setup

I thought it would be great to do a Personality Test as a mechanism to do more reading and researching into my particular traits. I’ve seen others in the Bullet Journal community do the Enneagram test, so I thought I would give it a try. A jumping off point to personal growth and development. And the Enneagram report did not disappoint!

The 9 Types of Enneagram

Based on the questionnaire, you are given a percentage score for each Enneagram. The higher the score, the better you match with that particular trait. But it gets more complex as the report goes on. For one, the 9 types of Enneagram (labelled 1 to 9), are each divided into 3 groups – the Head Type, the Body Type, and the Heart Type. Each group has their own driving force centered around intelligence and a core emotion.

• Head types (5, 6, and 7) are “driven by intellect and tend to analyse and rationalize their emotions.” Their decisions are made based on their logic and interpretation. Their core emotion is fear.
• Body types (8, 9, and 1) are driven by instinct. So they rely on their 5 senses to make decisions. Their core emotion is anger.
• Heart types (2, 3, and 4) are “driven by their emotions and their desire to connect with other people”. Their core emotion is sadness.

My primary Enneagram is a 3, so I fall into the heart type. It was eye opening to read about sadness as the core emotion. I definitely thought anger was a core emotion, but I’ve come to realize that I default to anger to avoid sadness and disappointment.

The report goes on to talk about strengths and challenges I have as a 3. Which again, is my primary type – not my whole personality. I summarized this in my setup to have as easy reference. Also summarized are my core weaknesses, beliefs, fears, desires, and traits. It also touches on emotional life, childhood origins, relationships, and work life, but I didn’t find this information to be as valuable to me to include in my journal.

Wings and Arrows

This is where the report gets a bit complicated. Wings and Arrows describe the idea of transformations – transformations that lead to growth and movement. The Enneagram captures personality fluctuations through these wings and arrows. The Enneagram types on either side of your primary type represents the Wings. Your Arrows are the two Enneagram types across from your primary type, kind of like the primary colour triangle formed on a colour wheel.

Wings

While the primary type describes the core of your behaviour, the Wings points to secondary aspects of who you are. They are also a way to think about development. It is easier to shift into behaviours associated with adjacent traits, than traits completely different from your core.

As a 3, my Wings are 2 and 4. I rely heavily on my 2 Wing. The report outlines how your Wings contribute to your primary type. It also describes how to use the Wings more effectively. You can also see these summaries in my Bullet Journal setup.

Arrows

Arrows are a bit trickier to understand. So Arrows are the 2 traits across from your primary type. For me, it’s 6 and 9. Arrows represent a path to development – an Origin point and a growth point. My origin point is 6 meaning, I will grow from this point. My growth point is a 9, meaning I will grow toward that point. You are then given tasks for development through those points.

Moving Forward with the Enneagram Setup

The final sections of the report focus on how to use the Enneagram for personal growth and development. By providing a summary, the report highlights key tasks to help you understand and grow. This is definitely in my setup, as a summary on the dutch door in my journal. I plan to use these are journaling prompts throughout my notebook.

Personality Superpowers and Blind Spots

The final puzzle piece is the concept of personality superpowers and blind spots. The idea is not to overcome all of your flaws, but rather using them to help build you up. For my superpowers, I feel as though they put an incredibly positive spin on what society may consider personality flaws. That is so great to read, especially as a mom whose kiddo has similar, if not the same, “flaws”. The focus is on keeping these superpowers in balance in our lives to use them for good.

Reading about the blind spots is a bit tougher. These traits become distractions that can cause stress or get in the way of achieving your goals. But the idea is that you are aware of them, so you can pivot them into an advantage instead. It all comes down to the idea of balance again, and finding a middle ground where you aren’t sidelined by these flaws.

Final Thoughts

I hope you found this interesting. Instead of floundering and relying on my For You Page on Tiktok, I thought I would put together something more concrete to help guide me in my growth and development. Basically, I’ve been riddled with guilt and anxiety for most of my life and I need to find better coping mechanisms. My current go-to’s are food and spending money – neither of which are particularly healthy. So, I am hoping to move away from that and find a healthier, more positive outlet for me.

Let me know if you decide to do a test. If this has inspired you and you want to setup up a Health and Wellness Journal too. I will be sharing more layouts and journaling, through YouTube and Instagram, as well as here on the blog. My Healthy Eating section has already been shared on my Instagram. Next up, I am working on my physical health section which will be Blackout pages.

Thank you so much for your time today!

About the Author

I have come to enjoy many forms of artistic expression including, stamping, memory keeping, card making, creative planning, doodling, and art journaling. The catalyst for these hobbies has always been the same: lettering! And I love that bullet journaling is such a great vehicle for improving upon my lettering and keeping up with the practice. So now I am taking the time to excel at the art of lettering.