Dear Type: A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead for Each Enneagram Type
Happy New Year! These notes are based on the virtue of each type along with another theme to lean into this year.
If you’re not familiar with the passions and virtues (or if you’d like a refresher), I have a free guide that you can access right here! You can also read more in this Nine Types Co. blog post about the passions and virtues. The passion and virtue are key parts of the Enneagram type structure and central in Enneagram-based inner work.
Like many traditional Enneagram teachings, the passions and virtues have specific meanings that are not always apparent at first glance, which is why it’s helpful to read more about them.
If you’d like to see what others of your type had to say, you can find it on Instagram and join the conversation! I’ll link the posts below!
Dear Type One
For type One, the virtue is serenity, and the theme is ease.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with ease
With the recognition that perhaps you can always find something more to improve
But to be present
With yourself
With this moment
With your imperfections
And everything that seems to be lacking
Is good
Your presence is enough
May you find a sense of wholeness in imperfection
The balance that comes with letting go
Of striving
Of white knuckling
And extraordinary effort
To make space for
Extraordinary calm
Complete peace
Being with all that is good exactly as it is
In the year ahead,
May serenity find you
As you release from the tension
Struggle
And frustration
To find yourself
Good
Whole
Already present
Already deserving
At ease
Find this post for Type One on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Two
For type Two, the virtue is humility, and the theme is spaciousness. For type Twos, humility seems like an odd one, so make sure to check out the guide for more clarity!
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with spaciousness
With the recognition that you deserve your own gentle
Care
Attention
Curiosity
And love
There’s nothing to earn here
Let go of insisting that the crumbs will suffice
Take a seat at the table
Let yourself embrace the generosity available to you
May you embrace your own humanity
By acknowledging that you, too, have needs
Dreams
Desires
And purpose
You are not on this earth solely to serve everyone else
When you show up in your full humanity
You inspire
May humility find you
As you freely give and receive
As you make space for yourself
And offer yourself the generosity
You often reserve for others
As you look around, know
You, too, are beloved
Special
And worth care and appreciation
Just as you are
Find this post for Type Two on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Three
For type Three, the virtue is veracity, and the theme is softness.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with softness
With the understanding that you are defined by who you are
Not what you do
Or what others believe
But your sense of self
The self that breaks free in moments of pure
Love
Enjoyment
Laughter
And delight
The self that is not so concerned with how it all seems
Because this moment is filled with
Magic
Purpose
Heart
And peace
Unattached from all your effort
As impressive as you are on the outside
Who you are on the inside is endlessly fascinating
Because it’s real
May veracity find you in these moments
When you think
Oh
There i am
I see it now
In the slowness
The softness
The openness
All the in-between spaces of life
Where you find
You are worthy
You are enough
You are here
Find this post for Type Three on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Four
For type Four, the virtue is equanimity, and the theme is grounded presence.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with grounded presence
With the steady recognition that life is transitory
And that you are not behind
Or even ahead
You’re right on time
And you are perfectly enough, just as you are
There is something beautiful
About these “little”
In-betweens
These are the moments that make a life
They don’t have to be groundbreaking to be meaningful
Significance is everywhere
And you, dear soul
Are here
You are right on time
Don’t you know?
We’re all just making it up as we go
May equanimity find you
As you embrace the present moment
With mindful gratitude of all the ways
You’ve found yourself
And patient awareness that there could be more
But in this moment
There’s no way for you to be
Missing or
Lacking or
Less or more
You are exactly as you’re meant to be
At one with humanity
Full of everything you need
Find this post for Type Four on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Five
For type Five, the virtue is non-attachment, and the theme is expansion.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with expansion
With the recognition that life ebbs and flows
Like a breath that moves in and out of your lungs
Without conscious effort
No one else sees the way you do
That breath is a precious resource
And sometimes you’d rather hold onto it than be empty
Yet, you know
You can’t hold your breath forever
So perhaps as you open up and exhale,
However unsteadily,
You find that you’re not depleted but that you are opening space for more
May non-attachment find you
In moments when you catch yourself
Fully engrossed in experiencing life
With all the messiness and emotion and fullness it has to offer
In moments when you let a loved one see how truly sensitive you are
And you find
Restoration
Abundance
Interconnectedness
Purpose
Because in opening to exhale and inhale again,
you’ve found
You are continuously regenerating
At ease with the rhythm of life
Find this post for Type Five on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Six
For type Six, the virtue is courage, and the theme is dauntless faith in the face of uncertainty.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with dauntless faith
With the recognition that certainty feels just out of reach
Simply because we’re never truly meant
To hold in our hands
All the little grains
Of assurance we can muster
If it took only
Responsibility
Loyalty
Continual, purposeful action
And a bit of hard work
You’d possess all the certainty of the universe by now
It’s your awareness of uncertainty
That allows you to see
Beyond this ephemeral moment
And each day you move in faith
Strength
Consciousness
And deeply-held inner-truth
May courage find you
Each morning as you rise
As you decide
As you fear
As you wonder
As you see yourself
Stepping into the unknown
With clarity
Heartfelt purpose
Inner authority
And grounded, bold self-belief
Find this post for Type Six on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Seven
For type Seven, the virtue is sobriety, and the theme is contentment. In this context, sobriety is not about substances (though it can be if that’s right for you).
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with contentment
With the recognition that the satisfaction you’ve been seeking
Is not out there
Or over there
It’s always been right here
Where you are
In simply being
Nothing more, nothing less
May you find space to release yourself
From the pressure of finding the next source of intrigue
Or being the one who keeps things interesting
And make space for all that lives beneath the surface
Waiting to be explored
May you discover a love for languid evening walks
Or the simplicity of paring back
Or even letting yourself get a bit bored
May sobriety find you
As you answer the call to return to yourself
To look inward
With all your curiosity and consideration
No longer feeling pulled every which way
May you find yourself
Peaceful
Settled
Content
Face-to-face with
Your deepest truths with patience
Faith
And the knowledge that this
Single-minded awareness, the ability to stay,
Is a welcome part of the dance
Find this post for Type Seven on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Eight
For type Eight, the virtue is innocence, and the theme is wonder. Many Eights are able to “turn toward innocence with love” when it’s outside themselves (like with children or animals), but inwardly, that’s very difficult. This note is a gentle reminder that this self-nurturing can be protective.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with wonder
With the loving acknowledgement of the part of you
That wants to be free to wander about
Or to be naive or simply not know
That part, that relies on your fierce protection
Also brings lightness
Wide-eyed imagination
And inspiring creativity
It’s this sense of wonder that you fiercely protect
And being so powerful has served you well
Yet perhaps there can be something healing
About seeing all the ways that gentle care and nurturing
Can be self-protection, too
May innocence find you
In moments of pure delight
Awestruck wonder
And childlike joy
When you find yourself impacting the world
As you always do
But also being impacted by it
Taking it all in
Letting your soft heart be deeply affected
Because even now,
When you hate that there’s so much you can’t change or protect
You can turn toward innocence with love
And that’s enough
Find this post for Type Eight on Instagram right here or below!
Dear Type Nine
For type Nine, the virtue is right action, and the theme is vitality.
A Note of Encouragement for The Year Ahead
May the year ahead be filled with vitality
With the recognition that you can expand
In whatever way you need:
Into your breath, your chair, your posture
And most importantly
Into a life that is wholly your own
It’s so beautiful
The way you extend so much love
And support
And acceptance
The way you invite others to take up space
And yet here you are, waiting your turn
Perhaps it’s time to let go of fitting neatly into the margins
Of this book about your life
You are meant to be the hero in this story
And there is plenty of room
To not quite know, and to figure it out page-by-page
To have big ideas, and to freely explore
May right action find you
As you connect to your wise inner-knowing
Moving forward with unshakeable faith in your truth
As you embody your fullest self
Engaged in this beautiful, vibrant, fascinating
Life you’re writing
Holding all the stories of the universe is powerful
And you do it so naturally
But your true power lies here
In returning to yourself
With love, clarity, purpose, and fire
This is the harmony you’ve been searching for all along
This feels like home
Find this post for Type Nine on Instagram right here or below!
What would you add to your encouraging note for the year ahead? Let me know on Instagram.
Want to explore more about your type and how to apply the Enneagram to your everyday life? My book, Enneagram in Real Life, provides you with a step-by-step guide to use the Enneagram as a practical tool for self-discovery, self-awareness, curiosity, and relational wholeness.
