Typology

I've said it before, Sixes are wonderful. They have a strong need for security and consistency. They appreciate order, plans and rules and like the comfort and predictability of laws and guidelines. But Sixes also have a shadow side. Their passion is fear, which is often experienced as anxiety. Anxiety is a vague, free-floating sense of apprehension that arises in response to an unknown or potential threat that may never materialize. So, how do Sixes achieve spiritual growth?

A lot of Sixes think the answer is bravery, but there's never enough bravery to fill the bucket of "this is a scary world and I need support." But in today's episode, Sarah Thebarge shares the difference between bravery and courage and how making that distinction has been helpful for her as an Enneagram Six.

Sarah Thebarge is a speaker, blogger, journalist and author of The Invisible Girls, a memoir that weaves her story of nearly dying of breast cancer in her 20's together with the story of a Somali refugee family she met on a train in Portland, Oregon, as she was recovering from her cancer treatments.

The Invisible Girls is a World Magazine Notable Book and was also chosen as the First Year Experience book by Mississippi State University.

Her current book, THE WELL: Healing Our Beautiful, Broken World from a Hospital in West Africa, is a deeply personal account of what practicing medicine at a hospital in Togo taught Sarah about how each of us can heal the cracks we see in the world around us.

Sarah's blog was featured by MSNBC.com. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic, USA Today, Everyday Health, Relevant Magazine, Christianity Today, Huffington Post, Red Letter Christian and Sojouorneers.

As a speaker, Sarah is a regular at retreats, churches, colleges and conferences. She has spoken at Donald Miller's Storyline Conference and the Jubilee Conference, as well as more than 40 universities and colleges. In addition to speaking to large assemblies, Sarah gives talks on the topics of International Aid, Health Communications and Public Health, and teaches nonfiction writing workshops.

Every type on the Enneagram has misbeliefs and errant unconscious motivations that get us to do and think and feel things that just are not in our best interests. We all have these broken messages in our lives that run like recordings in the background. The hurtful words and experiences from our past often determine what record play in our head as an adult.

In her new book, How to Fix a Broken Record, Amena Brown uses music to help us recognize the negative messages that play on repeat throughout our lives. Think of your soul as one big record collection with a soundtrack for different parts of your life. What broken record runs through your life? And how can you use the Enneagram to recognize these negative messages so you can reclaim your life?

Amena Brown is an author, spoken word poet, speaker, and event host. The author of five spoken word albums and two non-fiction books, Amena performs and speaks at events from coffeehouses to arenas with a mix of poetry, humor, and storytelling. She and her husband, DJ Opdiggy, reside in Atlanta, GA.

She hosts a 10-episode limited edition podcast called, "How to Fix a Broken Record," which unpacks themes from her book with a different guest each episode discussing life, love, faith, and broken records revealing the soundtracks of their lives. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-fix-a-broken-record/id1296534604?mt=2

And she hosts her regular podcast "Here for the Donuts" with her sister-in-law Missi Burgess in which they discuss donuts, cupcakes and navigating life's awkward moments and meeting standards of weird etiquette. https://itunes.apple.com/mt/podcast/here-for-the-donuts-podcast/id1183039922?mt=2

To learn more about Amena visit www.amenabrown.com or order her book at http://amzn.to/2oUg4WA.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go on tour with a band? It sounds exciting, right? You'd hop on a tour bus, travel coast to coast seeing the world, and entertain thousands of people every night.

But, what is it truly like to live on a bus with 11 other people day-in and day-out? Well, when the road manager of Tenth Avenue North reached out to talk about how the Enneagram, and The Road Back to You in particular, has helped their band get along in tight quarters, I was excited to get them in the studio.

There are 12 of them…with 12 bunks…on one tour bus. We weren't sure what would happen as we squeezed into Anthony's studio, but it was great!

Listen as we uncover how the Enneagram has given Tenth Avenue North a new starting place for communicating and facing conflict.

For more about Tenth Avenue North or to catch them on tour, visit their website at www.tenthavenuenorth.com.

And don't miss them in Nashville on March 4th!

When Nines are healthy and self-aware, they learn to feel special and important. They get in touch with their own passions and feel secure enough to stand behind their accomplishments. They become assertive and decisive.

But when they switch to autopilot and spiritually fall asleep at the wheel, they doubt themselves and become more pessimistic.

The deadly sin, or the passion of Nines, Sloth, is really about the failure to invest in your own self-development, in your own spiritual maturity, becoming your own person, finding your own voice, and claiming your ground. Nines need to be reminded that they matter. Nines need to do things for themselves, invest in themselves, and not feel like it's a poor investment.

In her book, Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of the Personality Changes Everything, author Anne Bogel talks about being at peace with who you are. And, of course, who doesn't want that? I mean, I don't know anybody who doesn't want peace with themselves, to have a sense of consonance, a sense of integration despite all of their dings and dents. Part of the journey for Nines is learning to take action on their own behalf and invest in themselves.

One helpful way for nines to summon self-compassion and find peace with who they are is to imagine what it would be like for somebody else to experience what you are experiencing. Ask yourself, "What advice would you give someone else?" Then use that to summon the appropriate action for yourself.

Anne Bogel is the creator of the blog Modern Mrs. Darcy, the voice of the top-rated books and reading podcast "What Should I Read Next", and a bona fide personality geek. Her first book, Reading People: How Seeing the World Through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything, combines her loves of literature and personality frameworks.

To learn more about Anne Bogel visit www.modernmrsdarcy.com.

In Enneagram-speak, Enneagram Twos are called The Helpers. They are some of the most loving, kind, supportive, upbeat, and—when healthy—genuinely helpful to other people. Their underlying motivation is to feel loved and needed. But sometimes that need to be needed can lead to burn out.

But, why listen to me talk about The Helper when you can hear it from those who actually live it? In this week's episode of Typology, I brought together a panel of Twos to describe what it's like in the mind of The Helper. So, tune in and listen as the loud-laughing, contentedly uncool mom of three teenagers, Tia Coffey, Vanderbilt University fundraising specialist and stand-up comic, Geoff Little, and singer-songwriter-author, Andrew Greer join me to talk about finding the balance between giving enough and giving to the point of burn out.

Tia Coffey spends her workdays as an executive assistant, her evenings as a student, and her free time drinking wine, hiking, having theological conversations with friends, or hanging with her kids and an anxious chihuahua named Napoleon.

Geoff Little works by day as a fundraising specialist at Vanderbilt University, but after hours he spirals into a whirl of outgoing pursuits. He loves spoken word live performances, including stand-up comedy. He is former co-host of TenX9 Nashville, a critically acclaimed storytelling group. He founded (and still leads) Nashville's Beer & Hymns public singing group phenomenon, which sells out Nashville rock club Mercy Lounge on occasion (don't miss this year's St. Patrick's Day Pub Sing!). He is married to his lovely wife, Tara, and on a good day, she lets him jog with her in the nearby Warner Parks, graciously slowing down her pace.

Andrew Greer is a multiple Dove Award-nominated singer-songwriter and respected author, known for his old soul sound and thoughtful prose. The native Texan-turned-Tennessean's folk-gospel discography displays a deep affection for vintage spiritual songs, instinctively captured on his critically acclaimed Angel Band hymn series—reaching the Top 10 on Amazon and iTunes' mainstream charts upon release.

With a love for facilitating conversations that dig deep, Andrew co-created and co-hosts the video podcast, Dinner Conversations with Mark Lowry and Andrew Greer: Turning the Light on One Question at a Time. The conversations-centered series debuted at #1 on iTunes Religion & Spirituality chart last year, and is now syndicated on television nationwide.

Andrew has also authored two books— Transcending Mysteries: Who is God, and What Does He Want From Us? (Thomas Nelson) co-authored with Ginny Owens, and Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth: Spiritual Conversations Inspired by the Life and Lyrics of Rich Mullins (Worthy Publishing).