Enneagram 7
PLEASURE
Welcome to Your Comprehensive Enneagram Guide
Get ready to dive into clear, practical insights for each Enneagram type. Whether you want to understand yourself, strengthen your team, or boost your leadership, you’ll find valuable information beyond the basics. Discover key traits, motivations, challenges, and actionable tips to make impactful decisions and foster growth.
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PLEASURE can be used to enjoy life and all it has to offer, try new things, create, explore and innovate! It helps you see the positive aspects of a situation, engage in social interactions and connect with others.
PLEASURE can be used to build unrealistic expectations for self/others, confusing fantasy with reality. It encourages an avoidance of uncomfortable or negative situations, resulting in shallow or superficial relationships.
An Enneagram 7 might think:
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Love for Adventure: I am energetic, spontaneous and enjoy being in the midst of lively activities. I love dreaming about the future and the next adventure, excitement or new experience.
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Diverse Interests: I have a wide range of interests and I don’t like to feel confined or restricted. Sometimes this means I avoid commitments or long-term plans, I like to keep the options open!
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Quick Thinking and Creativity: I am a quick thinker, creative problem solver and often come up with innovative ideas and solutions.
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Optimistic Outlook: I am known for my positive outlook on life, I am upbeat and enthusiastic. I don’t usually notice when things start to feel bad because I am quick to look for the bright side, why feel bad when you can feel good?
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FOMO: I don’t like to miss out on the fun. Because of this, I can find myself overcommitting to activities, projects or social engagements.
Centre of Intelligence: Mind Type
Mind Types lead with mental reasoning. They use their mental energy to gather facts, knowledge and information. They are driven by strategy and impacted by the dominant emotion of fear.
Enneagram 7s channel their mental intelligence into envisioning possibilities and avoiding pain. They are future-focused, seeking out new experiences and adventures to maintain a positive outlook and keep boredom or discomfort at bay.
Dominant Emotion: Fear
Enneagram 7s experience fear as an avoidance of limitations and negative emotions. This emotion propels them to constantly seek out exciting plans and options, ensuring they stay engaged and optimistic.
Fear can drive preparation and thorough planning but can also stifle creativity, innovation, and necessary risk-taking.
Central Focus:
I focus on opportunity and possibility.
Important Values:
I value support, freedom and positivity.
Danger Zone:
Indulgent Behaviours - the need for pleasurable experiences over everything.
Antidote:
Presence - finding pleasure in simple moments in life.
Distorted Lens: Indulgence
Each Enneagram type has an emotional filter effecting thoughts, feelings and actions. It is automatic and unconscious, created from core fears and desires. In traditional Enneagram language this is referred to as a “passion.” The Passion is our attempt to recreate a version of our true nature when life becomes overwhelming.
The distorted lens for Sevens is Indulgence. Indulgence is the seeking of anything pleasurable in people, groups and experiences without true satisfaction.
True Nature: Sobriety
The true nature of each Enneagram type is referred to as their “virtue.” The virtue is the exact opposite and antidote to our distorted view on the world.
The true nature of Sevens is sobriety. Sobriety is the pleasure found in a moment of joy that is enjoyed all the way through. Sobriety is saying, “I am present.” Sobriety is allowing the world to unfold, understanding that the world is arising endlessly anew. Moments never need to be held longer or avoided, each moves along at its own pace.
At My Best:
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Optimistic: Sevens bring a positive outlook to situations and inspire others with their enthusiasm.
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Adventurous: They thrive on new experiences and are eager to explore different ideas and opportunities.
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Innovative: Creative and resourceful, Sevens are great at generating unique solutions to problems.
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Spontaneous: They embrace spontaneity and adapt well to changing circumstances.
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Fun-Loving: Sevens have a knack for bringing energy and joy to any group or activity.
Under Stress:
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Restless: Under stress, Sevens may become restless and constantly seek new distractions.
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Scattered: They can become unfocused, jumping from one task or idea to another without follow-through.
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Avoidant: Stress may lead them to avoid uncomfortable feelings or responsibilities, seeking out pleasure instead.
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Impulsive: Sevens under pressure may act impulsively, making hasty decisions without considering consequences.
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Frustrated: When plans fall through or boredom sets in, Sevens can become easily frustrated and irritable.
Working with Sevens:
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Leverage Their Enthusiasm: Sevens bring energy and creativity. Use their enthusiasm for brainstorming sessions and dynamic projects.
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Provide Structure: Sevens can become scattered when there’s too much flexibility. Clear timelines and outlines help them stay focused.
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Balance Fun with Follow-Through: While Sevens love new ideas, encourage them to follow through on commitments before jumping to the next project.
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Engage in Open Dialogue: Sevens value freedom and exploration. Ensure they feel heard and understood when discussing ideas or concerns.
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Support Reflection: Encourage Sevens to pause and reflect, helping them develop deeper insights and complete tasks with greater attention to detail.
Subtypes: Different Ways of "Keeping Options Open"
Each of the three subtypes below are slightly different ways Enneagram 7's keep options open. These subtypes are created when we combine the distorted lens of the type, indulgence, and an “overdoing” of one of the natural human survival instincts for self-preservation, social safety and one-to-one bonding and relationship.
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Self-Preservation 7's keep their options open by collecting people and opportunities.
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Social 7's help to keep options open for others and work to ensure freedom and choice for all.
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One-to-One 7's keep their options open by being enthusiastic and optimistic - the dreamer, idealist, seeing the world with rose-coloured glasses.
Read through the descriptions below and consider which subtype description fits best - you may see characteristics of yourself in more than one.
Keeping Connections Open
You'll notice SP7's by their practical approach to creating possibilities. They're skilled at building connections and knowing exactly where to find what they need when they need it. While they might think they're just being resourceful, there's usually an underlying pattern of making sure they've got multiple backup plans to avoid feeling trapped. They get noticeably antsy when their options for comfort or escape start feeling limited.
Self-Preservation
Keeping Options Open for Others
SO7's channel their energy into supporting others and social causes. They're often the ones generating ideas for the group and keeping things upbeat - though they might not realize how much they use helping others as a way to avoid their own discomfort. While they might think they're just being generous, they're often unconsciously staying busy with others' needs to keep their own restlessness at bay. You'll spot them being surprisingly critical of what they see as others' selfish behaviour.
​*This is the counter-type: a subtype driven by the same motivation but expressing it in seemingly opposing ways.
Social
Keeping Possibilities Open
In close relationships, OT7's bring an almost magical quality to everyday experiences. They're quick to spot exciting possibilities and can be remarkably enthusiastic about sharing their latest passions - though they might not notice how they tend to idealize new connections. While they think they're just being optimistic, there's often an unconscious pattern of embellishing reality to keep things interesting. Can come across as unrealistic, but it's actually their way of making sure life never feels boring or limiting.
One-to-One
Wing 6:
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FULL PICTURE: Sevens can use this wing to see the half empty glass of water. This wing helps them see a more full picture of circumstances, including what may feel negative.
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PUSH BACK: With this wing, Sevens become more aware of the way they push back against people who limit their freedom. They own their anti-authoritarian potential.
Using Your Wings
The numbers on either side of your Enneagram number are referred to as your wings. These two adjacent numbers flavour your main number and add to your growth and development.
Wing 8:
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DIRECT: Sevens can use this wing to get straight to the point of what needs to change. They approach potential conflict zones with confidence.
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TAKE ACTION: With this wing, Sevens tune into the reality that future possibilities only happen with present action. They become more practical and put dreams and vision into operation.
Point 5:
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GO INSIDE: Sevens can use this arrow point to turn their attention from outside stimuli to their inner world. They become less distracted and able to engage in slower moving activities.
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GOING DEEPER: With this arrow point, Sevens become interested in a specialized point of view. They engage with topics beyond what feels exciting.
Using Your Arrows
The inner lines connecting your Enneagram number to other numbers around the circle are referred to as your arrow points. These two numbers can be incorporated into your self-development work for significant and lasting change.
Point 1:
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FOCUS: Sevens can use this arrow point to create discipline, slowing down their processes and articulating the steps that can be enjoyed in the implementation stage.
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GROUNDED: With this arrow point, Sevens engage with their bodies. They enjoy moments more deeply as a full body experience instead of the pressing need to move to the next fun thing.
To The Sevens:
Can we get a “WOO HOO” for the Sevens??? Sevens are fun embodied. We love it. We can’t get enough of it. We need you! But we also want a bit more ... we know there are other layers going on inside. We want to be with you through all those layers and come out the other side and celebrate! We would actually love to share our layers with you too. The tricky part about chasing fun is, it starts to feel less fun when the pressure to avoid keeps growing. So let’s enjoy fun together without fleeing the tough stuff, embracing who we are, layers and all, because who we are is the definition of fun itself!
Embrace Your Path to Growth
The Enneagram is more than just a tool—it’s a roadmap to exceptional personal and professional awareness. Explore the intricacies of your type to elevate your leadership, strengthen team cohesion, and foster authentic growth.
Why the Enneagram:
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Pinpoints the motivations that fuel your decisions
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Uncovers hidden obstacles limiting progress
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Equips you with targeted strategies to amplify strengths
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Enhances communication for greater influence and connection
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Don’t stop at surface-level understanding. Harness the Enneagram’s depth to uncover the best version of yourself and inspire those around you.