Enneagram Type 7

The Enthusiast, Epicure, Entertainer, Optimist, Adventurer

Energetics: Externalization and Projection - Project enthusiasm to harness fear
Hidden Essence: Serene Bliss

Type 7 Subjective

Actor Eddy Murphy

Actress Lisa Kudrow

People with the Seven pattern fixate on excitement in order to feel safe and avoid missing out. They stay positive at all costs and grab exciting experiences desperately.

They love to be the center of attention. They love to entertain, make people laugh, lift moods. If they can’t lift people’s spirits they get bored and leave.

They can be serious, but if the conversation is serious too long they will interject a joke to lighten the mood. They can stay with a deep conversation if it is not negative. Deep is exciting as long as it doesn’t involve feeling personal pain.

They hold expansive ideas and believe they are living them - e.g. they use mindfulness (being present) to run away from painful experiences. They are rarely really present in the moment, as they are always excitedly looking forward to their next adventure.

They love to plan - while having an experience they are enthusiastically planning the next one - planning is more fun than the doing. They fall into the trap of wanting reality to be more than it is - activities are more idyllic as fantasies.

When reality seems dull they think about the next event, fantasize about how to make it better, and/or tweak their mood or consciousness.

They avoid painful emotions especially sadness and fear. They avoid feeling angry, but get angry when they feel trapped. They look to the positive side to pull themselves out of heaviness.

They fear feeling trapped - anything that limits or commits them. They keep options open and agree to things using open ended language. You may walk away from a conversation not knowing if they agreed or not.

Type 7 Objective

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld

They are enjoyable, fun and inspiring - filled with big ideas, possibilities, and enthusiasm.

They are wiry, bouncy, and energetic. They have boundless energy, and their bodies vibrate with excitement. They usually enjoy athletic and physical activities.

Their excitement seems to engulf others and uplift them. Their enthusiasm is intoxicating. They are funny, witty, sarcastic, and upbeat. If you are down their main goal will be to lift you up.

Negativity is uncomfortable for the them. Looking at life in practical terms can seem negative. They have no use for heavy emotions and if someone close to them is in a dark mood for too long they leave.

They are generous, sometimes more generous verbally than in deed. They make offers but wiggle out or renegotiate. They are more affluent (financially and energetically) in their minds than in reality.

They rarely know how they affect others. They love to entertain and don’t realize when they are get obnoxious, tiresome, pushy, or monopolizing.

They can be pushy con-artists - trying to talk others into exciting experiences. It is very hard for them to accept not having an experience of desire. They use strategies to get others to agree - promise things they may not fulfill or try to renegotiate later.

Type 7 Childhood

Actor Robin Williams as Peter Pan in Hook

Children with the Seven pattern feel cut off from the nurturer, causing frustration and anxiety. They feel there was not enough love for them in the family.

Sometimes there is someone needier who requires more attention. Sometimes the nurturer is distracted by emotional pain to give to all the children.

Their role is to be positive, not need much, and help everyone be happier, particularly the nurturer. As adults they often have a close bond with their mothers.

Type 7 Subtypes

Self-Preservation Subtype: The Gifter

They build relationships with people for protection. They are opportunistic people who make good connections for safety. They focus on getting their needs met and they are more energetic and driven.

Actor Ricky Gervais

Social Subtype: The Sacrificer

They postpone gluttony for an ideal and they are conscious of this sacrifice. They want others to see them as good and feel pulled in many directions while trying to please everyone. They are more concerned about missing out then the subtypes with the seven pattern. They don’t “look” like other people with the seven pattern.

Apple Founder Steve Jobs

Sexual/Attraction Subtype: The Love Addict

They are in love with being in love and when the excitement of falling love wears off, they move onto their next love. They often have 2 or 3 lovers at once and one may be primary. They are overly enthusiastic and have a desire for the ideal, not the ordinary.

Actress Sissy Spacek

Type 7 Wings

8 Wing: The Competitor

Workaholic, materialistic, more realistic in relationships less fantasy oriented, more grounded, can be aggressive, more extroverted.

Actor Michael J Fox

6 Wing: The Philosopher

Manic entertainer, very excited, witty, nervous, skittish, easily confused, more introverted.

Television Host Katie Couric

Type 7 Continuum

Lower: Trapped, overwhelmed, manic depressive, explosive, escaping.

Middle: Excessive, wasteful, self centered, distracted disoriented, restless, enthusiastic, entertaining, positive

Higher: Optimistic yet practical, enthusiastic, present, satisfied with this moment, able to commit in relationships, feel all emotions, still ego based.

Liberated: Divine bliss, free from mental activity, is known deeply and they embody serene presence.

Type 7 Essence: Intrinsic Bliss & Serene Presence

The essence of each type is the quality of character - a particular expression - that remains when the fixation softens and releases. While these qualities are human they are not personal and cannot be developed.

The essence is revealed when fixation is recognized and freed through awareness and compassion. We all have the potential to realize the essence of our type - our more subtle authentic nature. This authenticity means living from open, free, wholeness.

The essence of the type Seven is serene bliss.

Each type has a blind spot that creates a unique experience of separation. Each blind spot is directly related to the essential nature of each type. People with the Seven pattern have a blind spot for intrinsic bliss and wisdom.

This blind spot prevents them from perceiving and experiencing authentic beauty and love. All nurturing environments are inadequate to some extent. This inadequacy is experienced personally and interpreted through the enneagram pattern. When this is experienced by the child with the type Seven, they fixate on missing out.