Typology

How does the Enneagram help you grow spiritually? We've indirectly touched on this on Typology but I've always wanted to specifically explore the Enneagram as a useful tool for profound spiritual formation.

Today, pastor, Enneagram teacher, and author AJ Sherrill joins me to talk about the Enneagram and Spiritualty. With two Master's in Theology and a Doctorate in the area of Spiritual Formation, AJ shares spiritual practices each type can adopt to gain clarity and access to a more virtuous life.

AJ teaches courses on preaching and also the Enneagram at Fuller Theological Seminary, offers workshops on spiritual formation around the world.

Each Enneagram Type occupies a story about who they are and how they think the world works. The Enneagram Nine's story is built around the mistaken belief that they're not really as important as other people, or sometimes it's just that other people just seem to have more energy and investment in their own opinions, preferences, desires, and viewpoints than Nines do. Coupled with their desire to preserve connections with other people and preserve inner and outer peace, Nines adopt a strategy of avoiding conflict and merging with others. The risk of this story is that they can become self-less…without a self.

The healing journey for the Peacemaker is to decouple themselves from that story to rewrite a new one. So, today, one of my favorite singer-songwriters on the planet and long-time student of the Enneagram, Andy Gullahorn joins me in the studio for a conversation about how the Enneagram has helped guide his healing and growth.

In this episode we talk about:

• Character defects or defenses
• Doing Enneagram work in community
• Finding a different relationship with anger, and
• Learning to feel things and form opinions in real-time

He also shares a special Enneagram song during the interview. You're going to love it!

Cheers,

Ian

As you can imagine, when you're in the middle of a book launch, you talk to your publisher quite frequently. One of the things that kept coming up in our conversations was a desire to serve our Typology listeners with some great content from my new book. After batting some ideas back and forth, we finally decided on what I think is a great 'thank you' to our loyal listeners…. and that is to do a bonus episode of Typology where we actually include an entire chapter of the audiobook version of The Story of You.

In this episode, you'll hear the entire first chapter of The Story of You, recorded by yours truly from a beautiful studio here in Nashville. Recording an audiobook is really one of the coolest parts of writing a book, so I'm very excited to be able to share a sneak peek of that with you all!

We'll have another great episode coming your way on Thursday with my friend Andy Gullahorn. Stay tuned for that episode and if you like what you hear of the audiobook, please consider heading over to Audible and picking up an audiobook copy of The Story of You.

In today's episode, Becca Stevens joins me for a conversation about embracing the divine in our everyday ordinary and extraordinary experiences. She recounts her observations of sacredness when she opens her heart and truly listens to the stories of others and shares how redefining and rewriting our own stories leads to lasting transformational healing.

Becca Stevens is a speaker, social entrepreneur, author, priest, founder of 10 justice initiatives, and President of Thistle Farms. She has been featured on PBS NewsHour, The Today Show, CNN, ABC World News, named a CNN Hero, and White House Champion of Change. Drawn from 25 years of leadership in mission-driven work, Becca leads important conversations across the country with an inspiring message that love is the strongest force for change in the world.

Do you long to enjoy your spouse over a lifetime but you don't know how to get there? How do you identify where you want to be in your relationship and what practices can you implement to help you get there?

In today's episode, Chris and Jenni join me for a conversation about the habits and rhythms that shape a strong relationship with your spouse. We explore how understanding the Enneagram can set your marriage up for success and help you awaken to the things we each can do differently to improve our relationships.

Chris and Jenni also explain:

• The 5 core rhythms to help a marriage thrive
• Important ways to support each other through different seasons of growth, and
• How different orientations to time can impact your relationships

This is a first! In five seasons of Typology, we finally have our first pair of siblings….who share the same type!

What better way to explore the inner workings of The Enthusiast than from two siblings who share the same Enneagram number? Raised in a home where creativity and deep thinking were celebrated, Nathan and Joy Clarkson join me for a conversation about all things Seven.

In this episode, we share:

• Tips for raising an Enthusiast from two Sevens
• The communication style of Sevens
• The role orientation to time plays in all our relationships

We also discuss their new, aptly named book, The Clubhouse: Open the Door to Limitless Adventure, where they draw on their own childhood experiences and show that imagination is the best way to play and learn.

Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player then share your feedback on Instagram. We'd love to hear your insights.

The Enneagram provides nine consistent, fairly predictable ways for us to understand and tell our narrative of how we operate in the world and make sense of our lives. It's a tool that helps us enter into a conversation about the recurring themes and patterns of behaviors that are self-defeating or hurtful to others. One theme that operates as a thread in each of our lives is shame. Next to love, I believe shame is the most powerful force in the universe, but in the wrong direction.

In today's profoundly moving, heart-changing replay, author and psychiatrist Dr. Curt Thompson joins me for a deep conversation about shame and how it plays out as a human experience for all nine types.

In this episode you'll learn:

1. What shame does as opposed to what it is

2. How shame manifests in each Enneagram type

3. How we can begin to heal shame through community

We're taking a break to be with family over the holiday so we wanted to replay two topic-based episodes that have gone over extremely well with our listeners.

This week, take another listen to my killer conversation with psychologist, author, and spiritual director Chuck Degroat, about the nine faces of narcissism. We're not talking about people with full-blown narcissistic personality disorder per se. We're talking about narcissism on a continuum and what it looks like when each Enneagram type is manifesting a narcissistic style or type. Each of us is somewhere on that narcissistic spectrum.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What narcissism actually is

• How narcissism shows up in all nine types, and

• What the healing path is for all nines types to keep narcissism in check.

Chuck is the Professor of Counseling and Christian Spirituality at Western Theological Seminary Holland MI, and Co-Founder and a Senior Fellow at Newbigin House of Studies, San Francisco. His latest book is, When Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community From Emotional and Spiritual Abuse. He is a licensed therapist, author, retreat leader, and spiritual director. Chuck has been married to Sara for 25 years and has two daughters.

After spending 10 years as a successful nightclub promoter in New York, Scott Harrison made a huge pivot to volunteer as a photojournalist on a hospital ship off the coast of Liberia, West Africa. That experience changed his life.

Founder of Charity: Water, Scott Harrison returns to Typology to reflect on stories from his childhood and how they've shaped who he is today. We explore his journey of transformation, what he's learned since leaving New York, and get a peek into what's next for him.

Scott has been recognized in Fortune Magazine's list of 40 Under 40, the Forbes' Impact 30 list, and Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business where he earned the #10 spot. He is currently a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and author of the New York Times Bestselling book, Thirst.

Scott recently moved to Franklin, TN with his wife Viktoria, son Jackson and daughter Emma.

In this special episode, Anthony and I drop by the studio to talk about my new book, The Story of You, and what motivated me to write it.

We all craft a story about who we are and how the world works as little people. Then, as we grow older, we think of our lives as a movie we're in that's unfolding in real-time. But the narrative we crafted as children no longer works for us as adults. But how do we change that story?

The Enneagram teaches that there are nine archetypal stories that people tend to inhabit. However, the true gift of the Enneagram is its ability to help us challenge those self-limiting stories and move into a new narrative.

In this episode, I identify the self-limiting story of each type and explain the 4 stage process for transformation so you can become your authentic self.