You Are Most Like type 5:
The Investigator
The thinker, the innovator, the observer. Enneagram Type 5 is part of the Head Triad, the one who wants to reveal how the world works and to unveil the mystery of life, but is afraid of the biggest mystery: yourself.
CORE DESIRE:
To be capable or competent
CORE FEAR:
Being incompetent
Enneagram 5: Overview
Welcome, welcome to the Type 5 spectacular home! Type 5s have an amazing spectrum of possibilities. From the deepest place within you, you can gaze at the space and wonder about the highest matters and seek the more complicated answers. The Investigator thinks that the better you know the world around you, the safer it will be. But the truth is that you desire to be an expert in the field of your interest. For Enneagram Fives, doing it right is not enough. You need to go beyond, break the wall, and take a leap into the unknown. This fearless (and thrilling) attitude is exclusive to your thoughts; that’s why you withdraw into your interstellar home and prioritize thinking over doing.
What Motivates you?
Being useful, competent, capable of something great. Leaving your mark. These are the things that keep Enneagram 5s’ sparkle burning. In depth, you hate the idea of being a useless good-for-nothing, and that’s where your unstoppable effort to become an expert in things finds its impetus. Also important is the need to unveil stuff that is buried to anyone else. As a Type 5, you think you are only worth it if you are capable and if you demonstrate how distinctive you are. However, Five’s passion for exploring goes beyond and takes over everything. For most people, it is amazing to reach incredible discoveries and discover new questions, but for Type 5s, it’s your daily engine. The things that happen inside the minds of Enneagram Type 5s would blow other people’s minds, but sometimes you get so deep within yourself that it’s difficult to share and relate with other human beings. This is not to say that Type Fives are reptilian, but it is not saying you aren’t either. (Pssst: if you are a reptilian, feel free to reveal the secret of human evolution. That’s not asking too much, is it?)
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How do you think?
We don’t have a crystal ball, but it is clear that as a Type Five, you are a little detached from your environment, as if you were hanging from a big balloon that keeps you living your adventure up high. It is hard to blame you; it’s a wild world, so withdrawing from it into better and more imaginative places is a great option to preserve the mind. Still, nothing lasts forever, and someday something might pop the Enneagram 5’s balloon, so you had better get your tools to build a home on the ground. Your challenge? To enhance your natural abilities, your genius, and assimilate them into a healthy balance with reality.
90%
very high
INNOVATIVE
You’re genuinely curious and willing to learn new skills
30%
very high
SOCIAL
You need alone time and keep your circle small
65%
very high
OBSERVANT
You enjoy observing others
How do you love?
If for some people love makes them walk on the moon, for Type 5s love is a bridge to reality. In fact, it’s the only way you choose to connect with reality. As a Five, you look for a long lasting love, someone you can really trust, someone special to share your insecurities and eccentricity with. It’s easy as a Five to open your heart to your special someone. You become communicative and loyal. Your strong sexuality encourages you to take a chance and let the other person enter your sacred worlds.
However, when something makes you feel unsafe, you withdraw into your mind and disappear. When this occurs, it can be baffling to your significant others. But, sooner than later—if the relationship is worth it—Type Fives will determine another way to manage that situation.
Enneagram Wings
Enneagram 5 Wing 4:
The Iconoclast
This kind is known for withdrawing entirely into your inner world to make amazing discoveries. You surf brain waves that constantly break onto new knowledge shores. In this wing, as a 4, you freshen up your mood by updating some events related to your feelings and the outer world. You are usually very disconnected from the environment; the 4 wing plays its role by connecting you with reality.
Enneagram 5 Wing 6
The Problem Solver
This subtype is the analytical and curious one who is always questioning and unveiling how things work. Very practical and handy, you use your discipline to get to reliable discoveries. Once focused, you have surgical attention. Don’t get surprised, because your brilliance can open amazing doors and dazzle us.
The Average Five
In the average state, Type 5s are like an old man that scares away kids that are just playing in his front yard. “Get out of here! You’re disturbing me, you lil’ demons!” (Ok, not that antisocial, but you definitely don’t want to be distracted from your thoughts when you’re developing a big idea or project.) As an Enneagram Five, you think people won’t understand things even if you explain them, and explaining takes way too much time, so you just withdraw from the world. Like a crazy scientist, Type 5s keep on persevering and trying different solutions. You study and think of ways to reach your goal more effectively. For you, it’s disturbing how some people can remain attached to old beliefs, so breaking these beliefs every once in a while can be fun. Like Doctor Emmet Brown, the Investigator thinks, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,” and nothing can stop you. There are no pain, limitations, and nos.
The Healthy Five
Brrrr. But…the show must go on! Dark periods are mysteriously necessary. And when as an Enneagram Type 5 you recall how you felt in your golden times, you withstand and find yourself able to push through anything. Full of new and powerful resources, you develop your Valyrian steel to fight against your fears. In other words, Fives have the power to vanish every scary simulation of pain and misgiving. By banishing your insecurities, you are able to see your potential and become more playful with your capabilities. As a result, as an Investigator you reinforce your self-image, relax, and become more participative and social. The interaction flows and nurtures you with useful data to manage yourself. Suddenly, things aren’t as scary as they seemed to be because Type 5s are strong; you can deal with challenges you are faced with, and you can transform them.
The Unhealthy Five
As a Type 5, when in an unhealthy state, you think the world is an empty place that has nothing to offer you and you have nothing to give back. You find no place to stay, to be, or to feel like you belong. Withdrawing from the world is just so recurrent that Type 5s would often rather never return to reality. You renounce everything that makes you feel safe but at the same time know there are some remaining fears orbiting your mind as you are in a constant state of alarm. Enneagram Fives feel hopeless and powerless because “the night is dark and full of terrors.” Your mind has entered a harmful cycle that slowly and intensively degrades you; it’s a nightmare from which The Investigator can’t wake up. You can’t discern between what is real and what has been created by your fears. Suffering is the only possible reaction for you in facing such a terrible world. As a Five you willingly withdraw from yourself (black curtains descend).
Tips to Help You Grow:
If you’re going up, remember to leave an anchor. Like it or not, this abstraction is one of the nuances of your genius. Silence, solitude, and isolation help you develop your thought synergy. That’s why it’s important that you help yourself not to lose the path even when you’re down. Build your lighthouse, write down your maritime code, and best of all, respect the immensity of your ocean. As Emily Dickinson wrote: “To multiply the harbors does not reduce the sea.” But, at least you have some places that connect with the mainland. We know more about space than we know about the ocean. If your mind can’t discover something, it will at least imagine what’s beyond it.
Explore, go further, but don’t forget the way home. Perhaps choosing some physical activities that allow you to connect with your feelings and the present can guide you to finding a balance. Try to attach to a few real items that objectively connect you to what is happening around you. And, of course, build a safety backup with those people you really trust. I’ve once learned that a scuba diver’s first rule is “Nobody dives alone.” Maybe it will work for you, too.
Try to attach to a few real items that objectively connect you to what is happening around you. And of course, build a safety back up with those people you really trust. I’ve once learned that scuba diver’s first rule is: “nobody dives alone”. Maybe it will work for you too.
Your Main Challenges: How to address them?
CONNECT
Dedicate at least one hour to do something that involves physical activity to connect with your whole body.
AWARENESS
When a feeling comes up, count to 10 while facing it with scientific curiosity but a compassionate attitude.
HEALTHINESS
Start updating people on your thoughts and ask them about their projects. This will make room for long soul-nurturing chats.
How To Be The Best Version Of The yourself?
What is the best way to act regarding my self-absorption?
Connecting with your body is one of the most important challenges you have ahead. You could spend so much time on your bodily needs that you need to start paying attention to what you are feeling and how it feels. Take note! It may seem bothersome, but it’s a great practice to study yourself and your feelings. Don’t run from them or try to distract yourself with something else. Stay. Just as someone you love would do, be present with yourself when you feel bad. When the connection is done, the intuition will take over. This will give you more confidence to deal with real stuff, developing your leadership. Suddenly, you’ll be turning everything you create in your fruitful private land into reality. We spend most of our lives in airplane mode, letting our personalities guide us. When we are aligned and connected to who we are, we stop chasing rainbows and shadows—we stop running.
How will I know if I’m in tune with my intuition?
Intuition is like activating our already-installed how-to that was never used before because we were too busy trying to write our own instructions. When that happens, you won’t take things personally, since you understand that everyone is reflecting their own inner fiction just as you used to do before your awakening. Compassion is your new language and you know how to face your fears in a functional way. You know that every time you feel the need to withdraw, it just means that something is trespassing your limits, so you learn how to communicate that and take care of your sensitivity.
Why am I so tenacious to achieve that bigger something?
The insatiable thirst of knowledge you have comes from an old memory of abundance and greatness. That’s why you are so determined to track the universe’s wealth hidden in some hidden point in our minds. There is some tragic beauty in your determination to find it as you tend to search in remote places, far from the natural source of your essence. Monumental efforts to fit into this world will drain your energy if you don’t embrace the joys of being who you are.
How can I build my own lighthouses to save me from being adrift in my personal terrors?
Everyone will tell you to get some sleep or to take a walk. But you know that anxiety, when turned on, is an unstoppable radio that keeps on narrating even when you are dying inside. The walls shrink and the roof falls onto your chest. The height and size of the world are pressing upon your lungs and the best thing to do is run away. Fear is contagious and distortive, so it’s easy to get lost in its elusive labyrinths. Anchors, lighthouses, and rituals are some of the keys that open the gate that will bring you back home. But, which of them will work for you? How can you build them? You can do so with the help of memories, smells, photos, specific textures, readings, and whatever evokes in you the same feeling every time and warms up your heart. Come back to your senses, sing a song or play it, and the most important part: don’t be scared of your fear. It’s telling you something that needs to be heard. And it will come back if you don’t embrace it and ask it what it needs. Slowly, with the patience of a flower, you will blossom into your own spring. It might sound cliché, but the darkest time of dawn is right before the sunrise.
Compatibility with Other Types
Find out how is your relationship with others Enneagram Types:
