181. Using Your Enneagram Type to Maximize Your Planner

Episode Transcript

Courtney Baker:
Hey guys, today I have a really special guest. Terrie Power is joining me today, and you may find that I’m about to nerd out more than any episode, a focus on this, ever. But before I get into nerding out, I want to say hi to Terrie. Hey Terrie.

Terrie Power:
Hey, how are you?

Courtney Baker:
Good. So, the reason that I have Terrie on the show with me today is she is a Full Focus Planner Certified Pro. When it comes to the planner, she knows the ins and outs of it, but she is also a coach for the Enneagram. And so, she’s going to be sharing a little bit about how the Full Focus system and the Enneagram can work together, maybe some obstacles you might find, based on your Enneagram type. So Terrie, tell everybody just a quick who you are and maybe when you started using the Full Focus Planner.

Terrie Power:
Okay. So, my name is Terrie Power and I am a Certified Pro and an Enneagram coach, life coach. And I started using the planner probably about a year before COVID started, as I started my coaching business. And so, I’ve been using it since then. Started all because of this podcast. My husband had tried to talk me into it. He is a Five, all about the data. I’m a Nine. I was like, “Nope, not going in there. Don’t want someone to tie me down.” I need a planner that I can change, which I have to say, I’m beyond excited about the Loose Leaf Planner now, but that was why I didn’t want to use the planner. So, y’all just solved that problem. And so, I listened to the program and saw how it was so flexible, but it was a good system. So, that’s how I got involved.

Courtney Baker:
And for everybody listening right now that is like, “Nine, Five. What are these numbers?” Don’t worry. We’re going to give you a quick overview of the Enneagram, so we’ll do that in just a moment. Can I do the show welcome now?

Nick Jaworski:
Ooh, that was so good, Courtney. That transition into the theme is really nice. I’m trying to say, great job.

Courtney Baker:
Thanks, Nick.
Welcome to another episode of Focus On This, the most productive podcast on the internet, so you can banish distractions, get the right stuff done, and finally start loving Mondays. I’m Courtney Baker, here with Certified Pro, Terrie Power. Hey Terry, happy Monday.

Terrie Power:
Happy Monday to you.

Courtney Baker:
So Terrie, I kind of told everybody, if you’ve never heard of the Enneagram, I’m not sure how you did that over the past few years, but if you’ve never heard of it, Terrie, can you just give everybody a quick overview of what the Enneagram is and what the nine numbers are?

Terrie Power:
Yeah. So, the Enneagram is just a tool, it’s a personality tool. It goes into basic nine numbers. Ennea means nine, and gram. So, it’s just a simple, there’s a diagram that has nine numbers on it. It goes simple, just understanding your number, down into the weeds of extremely detailed. We’ll definitely stay surfaced today as we’re introing it, but it really just helps you figure out what your motivations are, what your fears are, and kind of what motivates you to move in life.

Courtney Baker:
Do you want to just give everybody kind of a, if they’re like, “Okay, so how do I?” Maybe what each one of the numbers are. I know you mentioned you’re a Nine, your husband’s a Five. Nick on this podcast is a Four, I’m a Three. So, what are those numbers, just at a high level?

Terrie Power:
Sure. So each number, like I said, has kind of a major desire and major fears, but we’ll go through just the quick numbers real quick. Ones are more of your perfectionist. Purposeful, they’re very ethical, and they often have what they call an inner critic that’s always telling them what they’re doing wrong. So, they’re who you go to if you need advice, if you need things ethical. When you’re looking at Twos, they are our helpers, our people pleasers. They want to help the world be a better place. They always have time for you, and they often don’t have time for themselves. And so, we look at that. Threes are very driven, are competitive, very successful, and when they’re very healthy, they love helping other people be successful and reach their goals, so they’re great at that.
Fours are very expressive, sensitive, thoughtful. Fours love beauty. They like being unique. They do not like being like anyone else, and so they’re always looking for something that separates them from everyone else. Fives are very analytical. They conserve their energy, they’re always learning, and they are great about knowing just about everything. And I always say that they literally know everything, because they’re not going to give you an answer if they’re not 100% sure they’re right. So, you can always trust a Five there. Sixes are the responsible ones. They’re very engaging. They’re always looking at preparing plans or who you want in an emergency. They’re kind of go-to-worst-case-scenario though, and so they can live in fear sometimes as their planning.
Our Sevens are our party people, are fun, adventurous, out there, extremely energetic, extremely goal-driven as well. Want to do everything and anything. Your Eights are our very self-confident, decisive, intense people, but they’re very resilient. There are a lot of leaders. They like to be in control because they don’t want to be betrayed, and so they’re out there leading the way a lot of times. They are very intense at times. They really don’t even know how intense they are, but to the rest of the numbers, Eights can be very intense. And then we have our Nines, which are very laid back, flexible, accommodating. They’re natural mediators. They tend to kind of merge into other people though, because they want peace internally and outside as well.
So, that’s just kind of a quick summary. It goes deeper, but that’s kind of letting people know where people fit in. And you can kind of use other numbers as well along the way.

Courtney Baker:
So, that’s super helpful. And hopefully, for those of you that are listening that maybe have never taken an Enneagram test or never heard of this, you may be able to intuitively know maybe where you would fall. And then I’m sure there are lots of people that are like, they’re a subtype and they’re all the things. And the countertypes, and the-

Terrie Power:
Yeah. Yes.

Courtney Baker:
Okay. If you notice that Terrie’s audio just got way better, it’s because we changed mic, so there you go. Before you even hear Terrie, I’m going to go ahead and tell you. But Terrie, for people that maybe haven’t ever done an assessment for the Enneagram, I would love for you to just share with them why that might be helpful if they’re interested in it.

Terrie Power:
Well, I think the biggest thing with the Enneagram is using it to find out what your strengths are, where your weaknesses are, what your core motivations are. And so, if you figure out what your personality type is, then you can really lean into those portions of the planner. So, if you know what your strengths are, then you’re going to use those section of the planners. But if you have some weaknesses, the planner can support and really help you to grow in those areas as well. So, the importance of understanding too, and you see this on the community a lot, someone’ll ask a question and someone’s like, “Absolutely not. I do it this way.” And other people are like, “No, do it this way.” A lot depends on what your personality type is and where you’re leaning into it. And so, even if you don’t know exactly or don’t find out exactly what your type is, it’s the knowledge that we all see things differently and look through different lenses.
And so, one, you can understand your coworkers or other people in your family that use the planner. You may approach it differently, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong, it just means what works for each person.

Courtney Baker:
Okay, so I think it would be really fun to kind of do the same thing that we just did and kind of go around and talk about each Enneagram number, and then maybe some areas of the planner that they may want to examine further based on their personality type. So Terrie, you want to kick us off and just start at Enneagram One?

Terrie Power:
Sure. Enneagram Ones are great. They’re our perfectionist, and like I said, they’re very hardworking. They are the ones that are afraid to use the planner. They do not want to mark in the planner. They’re so afraid, it’s so pretty and perfect, that I have clients who just are like, “I don’t know.” So, the first thing for Ones is write in it. Just write in it. Just do it. Go for it. Erasable pens; huge, huge thing.

Courtney Baker:
Yeah. I didn’t even think about the erasable pens. Terrie, we had a Certified Pro and I cannot name… do you remember who it was that gave me this hack? And I love it so much. I used it on our onboarding webinar recently, and it was just a turn to a random page and take a pen and just mark in it, because it can’t be perfect anymore. It’s like, we’ve already done that. It’s not going to be perfect from here on out. Do you think that would be helpful for our Enneagram Ones? Kind of like what you just said.

Terrie Power:
They all just cringed greatly when you said just mark all over it. But no, I think it would be great. But if nothing else, a lot of times what I encourage is to go through and write some affirmations or things on pages in the future, even if it’s nicely done, are just to start working on those goals. And again, use erasable, so if you make a mistake, you can cross it out. And I can decide if the new Loose Leaf is going to be the amazing thing for Ones or it’s going to freak them out ’cause they won’t know how to set it up, because it won’t have the right way. But allowing that freedom to do that and not be afraid.
The other thing I think for Ones is task management and going through and using the delegation, understanding how important it is that people don’t always do things the way you do it, and allow other people and stretch that way. So, I think going through those daily task. And your weekly previews, when you’re really looking at what can be delegated, One’s really need to spend time on that, ’cause otherwise, they just want to do everything themselves.

Courtney Baker:
Yeah, that’s great. Really helpful. Okay, so what about Enneagram type Twos?

Terrie Power:
Well, Twos, they would need the planner for several reasons. One, they definitely need the planner to keep up with everything they’ve promised that they will do. You need a place to write it all down, because they’re constantly doing things. But before they do that, they need to go through their goals, and I think the goal detail page is so important, because they need to decide what’s right for them, not for everyone else. And going through those whys are huge. And then they are great with the planner, especially in the newer planner with the large weekly layouts. That’s a great place for them to do meal planning, write down when they’re going to cover this person, when they’re delivering meals. It’s just a great overview. Then when they look at the overview, they can make sure that they have some time for them and their goals in there, because they will promise all their time to everyone else. And so, it’s really important to use the planner for Twos to set some boundaries.

Courtney Baker:
Nick, I’m kind of just like, should I just bounce out of here and just like, Terrie, run… I mean, these are so helpful. Okay, what about my type, Enneagram Threes, using the planner?

Terrie Power:
Well, and I’m sure we’ve heard rumors and I think, isn’t Michael a Three as well?

Courtney Baker:
He is, yes.

Terrie Power:
So, it is a natural fit for Threes. So, we call the planner home for the Threes. I don’t have a lot of client Threes, ’cause they just take the planner and they go with it. But the parts of the planner they tend to like to ignore as where we kind of focus when we’re looking, is using it to make sure you’re balanced; looking at those life domains, making sure that it’s just not about work, that you’re taking time to rest. Weekly previews, looking into those self-care. Threes do not like to do that.

Courtney Baker:
So true. I know that I’ve certainly had to do a lot of work to take the time to say, “Okay, there’s other…” Obviously, now, years in, much easier than it used to be. So, for all the Enneagram Threes out there that are like, “It’s just not possible for my personality type,” I can tell you, it is. It just takes practice and a lot of grace for yourself. But over time, I can certainly attest to those being really helpful. Not always the things I want to lean into, but probably the things I need to lean into. Okay, Terrie, what about Enneagram Fours? Nick. Nick is whoop whooping.

Terrie Power:
Our Fours, they are definitely, they’re our creative, thoughtful. They tend to fight the planner sometimes because they like the six, the pretty planners, the lots of room to draw, bullet kind of things. But I tell them, it’s what they need though is structure, so often. Fours are always wanting to be what other people have. They’re always looking towards someone else. And I’m like, “Well, if you look towards that, look at how you really feel and what you can achieve.” The planner’s the perfect structure for Fours. And so, it allows you to be creative. And I do think the Loose Leaf is going to be great for them because they can add things, do things, move it around so it doesn’t look like anyone else’s. That’s important. And really taking time to go into those goals, set goals for yourself. And the rituals. Rituals for Fours are so, so important. They hate routines and rituals. They want to do whatever they feel like. Nines are right there with them.
So, it’s so important to get into that morning routine, the startups, the shutdowns especially, because they just kind of want to end the day and not think about it, and really prepare for that next day. So, the Fours who fight the planners probably benefit almost… the ones of us that don’t plan as well have such an importance of getting into the planner and using it.

Courtney Baker:
Okay, Nick, I feel like this is your spot. You got to chime in here on, how do those resonate with you?

Nick Jaworski:
Oh, I mean, yeah, I don’t do a lot of drawing in my planner. That’s actually not an issue for me, but the need for structure, to take my brain and go, “What has to happen today,” is very nice. And I do feel a lot of shame around when I fail to complete a big three or something. So, there’s a lot of emotional work that has to go into allowing imperfection in that way. So, that’s a real struggle for me as a Four.

Terrie Power:
So true. I work with a lot of my Fours, and it’s about, instead of asking, what did you accomplish this week? Especially on the weekly preview, we talk about listing your wins and then, how did you feel about it? And how can you lean towards feeling more successful? Ones have to do the same thing; how to look at partial achievement as success, because Fours dream way too big, which is awesome. They dream really big, but then they get disappointed when they can’t do it. And so yes, in journaling, journal, journal, journal. Use it as a journal. Get the journal that works well for Fours to think through that and to stick with it. Finding accountability helps too.

Courtney Baker:
Okay, what about Enneagram Fives?

Terrie Power:
So, Fives are our analytical thinkers. They’re always researching, so they have to be really careful as they’ll set their goals, then they’ll spend all their time researching and setting the planner up and not taking steps. So, it’s very important, I think the goal detail page, to go through those next steps, is very important for them. And using the SMARTER goal framework to make sure their goals are clear and defined; otherwise, they’ll get really scattered and kind of go all over the place looking at reasons to do it. And then, I guess, the last thing for them is the ideal week. I think it’s so important to block out times because they need time to energize, and they’re ones… my husband’s a Five, and we used to recommend put all your meetings at once, and one time a day, but sometimes that overwhelms them. So, really looking at how you block things for your energy.

Courtney Baker:
All right. What about Enneagram Six?

Terrie Power:
Sixes are amazing, but they like goals, but they like small goals. They have a really hard time when you try to ask them to do annual goals. I have clients who still will only do monthly. They won’t even do quarterly with me, hardly. And it’s really important-

Courtney Baker:
Wow, that’s fascinating.

Terrie Power:
… to take that time. Yeah, it’s hard on them because they’re afraid they’ll do something wrong or they don’t have the backup plan for it. So, really going through your best year ever, really starting in the beginning of the year, taking time to set those yearly goals for Sixes is very important. And using weekly big threes and daily big threes to take small steps towards it so that they will keep moving and not get paralyzed with fear. And routines, they love routines, so that’s the first thing I have Sixes do when I introduce them to the planner, is making sure they’re using those daily routines because they love it.

Courtney Baker:
That’s awesome. Okay, what about the life of the party, Enneagram Sevens?

Terrie Power:
Sevens, they’re opposite. You can’t stop them from making 27, 30 goals. I’m like, “Okay, guys, really. Pick out one or two. That’s all we need.” But they’re like, “I can’t…” And they probably can do it all. They have so much energy, but they get easily distracted. So, rituals is good for them, but to slow down and reflect. Oh, quarterly previews and weekly previews are essential for Sevens, because you have to be realistic. You have to review what you’re doing. Otherwise, you get distracted by all the fun stuff around. “This would be more fun than what is in front of me.” So, I think really leaning in, celebrate your wins as Sevens. And then they’re one of the few people on SMARTER goals that I say, “Be careful about the word risky.” Everyone else defines risky… A Nine’s risky, the Sevens would laugh at, versus a Seven’s risky as like what… they really need reasonable. So, Sevens really need to look at the reasonable part of goals too, as don’t go so risky that you’re not going to be able to achieve, you know?

Courtney Baker:
Yeah.

Terrie Power:
And like I said, 1,000 goals this year.

Courtney Baker:
Right. It’s like they want to push into that delusional zone. And to them, they’re like, “No, that’s so realistic,” but the rest of us, we’ll be like, “No, that’s delusional.” That’s a good word for Enneagram Sevens. Sort of like, maybe run this by your friend that’s an Enneagram Six and see what they think of it. Yeah. That’s great. Okay, what about Enneagram Eights?

Terrie Power:
Eights are great. They love goals. They’re amazing leaders. They push hard. So, one thing about it is making sure you go through your goals, making sure that how the goals affect the people around you, and that if you’re on a team or a leader, that you’re not taking off with your own goals and not aware of where your team or your family is going. The other thing that’s really good to use, the delegation with them as well. They don’t like to delegate. Trust your instincts and stay with your goals. Quarterly goal review is great for them, but a lot of times, they’ll try to start new goals every quarter because they just get overly excited about whatever they’re in in the moment. They have a little bit of that Seven too, an element. So, really staying focused and answering those questions, going through what worked, the after action review, and slowing down is so important for the Eights.

Courtney Baker:
I love that. It’s like relevance, that relevance piece in the SMARTER goal framework, as being really important. That’s awesome. Okay, last number, Enneagram Nines, which Terrie, I would love for you to share about, but also share, because you’re an Enneagram Nine, your hesitancy to use the Full Focus Planner. If you would share a little bit about your own story too.

Terrie Power:
Yes. Oh, I will. My husband, who like I said is a Five, introduced me to the planner, and I saw it and I was like, “No, this isn’t a binder. I can’t change it. I can’t add my own stuff. I can’t get distracted with a lot of things,” which is what I like to do as a Nine. Nines are really laid back. We tend to merge into what other people want. We are extremely productive. We will move, I call it the roller coaster. We get going and we go downhill and we move at speed, but if something blocks us and we don’t have the energy to go back up, we get stuck. And so, using the planner, I was hesitant. My husband finally introduced me to this podcast and the community, which showed that you can use different styles, and so I was willing to try it. And what I found out is, as Nines, we need something to keep us going. And so, using the planner, first of all, the life kind of review or setting goals, finding out what you really want, which most Nines don’t know what they want, really helps.
And setting goals for yourself. For years, I wanted to start a business and I just didn’t think I had the energy, but using the planner really helped to set out those goals. Listing the wins is so important. Keeping weekly big three in front of you. I put my weekly big three on a Post-it Note and it goes to every single day, so that when I’m doing my daily big three, I don’t even have to turn back in the planner. It’s right there. So, Nines have to keep goals in front of them, on the wall, around the place, ’cause we get easily distracted. We are a little bit, it’s like Sevens; we want to have fun, and we’re afraid to move. So, those daily big threes are so important, but when you have a list, if you can’t decide what to do, randomly pick something. Just move. Nines just need to move. And so, it makes such a difference to have the planner there to help you keep going.

Courtney Baker:
That is so helpful. And I think for everybody listening, hopefully, if you know your Enneagram type, hopefully, there were some nuggets of how you can best use it or maybe some areas that you just have never utilized, maybe rituals or, that you can say, “Hey, I want to try that out,” because maybe it’s not the thing that you intuitively or naturally, your personality wouldn’t be drawn to. So, I think that’s really exciting. And then again, if you’ve never taken the Enneagram test, maybe that’s something you want to try, and then come back and listen to this episode and think through some ways to kind of maybe challenge your planner usage a little bit, or give you some fresh ways to think about it in light of your personality.
Terrie, this has been so fun. It’s so thought-provoking with how you use the Enneagram in the Full Focus system. Any final thought for our listeners today?

Terrie Power:
I think the biggest thing is just realizing that the Full Focus Planner is a fit for every personality type. And the key is, or if you use the planner and you don’t know your personality type, digging into how you work, how you think. Self-awareness is so important, as just achieving goals, leadership. So, take both types. Learn your personality type, and then figure out what part of that planner works, and then challenge yourself, as you said, to use other areas that might help you grow in what’s not natural for you.

Courtney Baker:
I’ll also just add to that, if you have somebody in your life that you’ve been trying to get to use the planner and you’ve just been unsuccessful, this might be a great episode to have them listen to so that they can hear Terrie talk about these different areas and where they might find a win for their personality.
Well, Terrie, thank you so much for being with us today. If you are listening and you’re like, “Hey, how do I work with a certified, a Full Focus Certified Pro like Terrie, you can always find them at fullfocus.co/directory. Make sure that you’re searching earners. You also can find Terrie and our other pros in our Full Focus Planner community on Facebook. They are in there answering questions. There’s so much knowledge that you can find in that group. We’ll also include how to find and connect with Terrie in today’s show notes.
Terrie, thanks again for joining us. This has been just a fantastic, thought-provoking episode. I’ll be back next week with another episode of Focus On This. This is the most productive podcast on the internet, so share it with your friends. And don’t forget to join us over on the Full Focus Planner community on Facebook. I’ll be back next week with another great episode. Until then, stay-

Terrie Power:
Stay focused.

Courtney Baker:
… focused. It’s really hard when we’re delayed. Trust me.

Nick Jaworski:
Yeah.