Enneagram EIGHT Spiritual Practices

Develop and enhance your natural gifts: confrontation, clarity, authority

Work on your main problem area: trying to force or control your life

 

 

 

 

 

  • hold yourself accountable for your extreme behaviours;

  • when speaking to someone, notice the level and intensity of your voice; what level and intensity would suffice?

  • discover one area in your life where you do not have to be tough;

  • befriend your inner child;

  • avoid black and white thinking;

  • share your heart, with at least one person you trust;

  • curb impulsive acts;

  • be aware you can easily be intimidating;

  • be open to other sources of truth;

  • when you feel challenged to compete, ask yourself why you are compelled to pick up the challenge;

  • ask yourself often why you do what you do, the way you do it;

  • are there other ways of getting people to follow your lead than ordering or browbeating?

  • don’t always be the rebel;

  • be aware that aggression can hide vulnerability.

  • spiritual practice:

    • Follow Jesus as challenger of injustice

    • As an EIGHT you believe that the world can be a hard and unjust place where the powerful take advantage of others. To gain respect, EIGHTs assert themselves with strong personal power. Matt 5:38-42, Offer the other cheek etc. yet don’t be a doormat, use the court system; the soldier can be sued. Forgiveness is the best way to handle injustice.

    • Gospel contemplation: the centurion who believes in Jesus

    • Gospel Contemplation: Jesus washes the feet of his disciples

    • explore the notion of “servant leadership”

    • follow the life of Peter

    • Lectio Divina: read the Beatitudes carefully and see what they might suggest to you

  • watch out for warning signs that you are too stressed as a EIGHT:

    • you have feelings of being betrayed by “your people”

    • you find yourself increasingly isolated

    • others tell you you are callous and hard-hearted

    • you experience episodes of rage and violence

    • you find yourself plotting vengeance and retaliation against your “enemies”

    • you experience episodes of striking back at society

Examples to emulate: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Barbara Walters, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, John Wayne