ENNEAGRAM 5 I THE INFORMATION SEEKER. The most iNtuitive of all the Enneagrams, you are on a quest to learn and better understand the world. But your thirst for information can keep you from setting goals and making important decisions in your life. The Enneagram 5 is always looking for the missing puzzle piece. The one piece of information that will bring them clarity. This can lead to overthinking, and the Five is known to stall on important decisions and to spend too long asking questions and troubleshooting an issue. The key emotion in the type Five is anxiety and the Five manages anxiety by withdrawing from problems.
If I would describe the Five in one word it would be “Detached”. The Five spends much time in a world of their own, often avoiding reality. In relationships, the Five is known to linger on what-ifs. People tend to perceive the Five as detached, aloof, and sometimes sheltered because they have little real life experience. Fives often know a lot about a subject, but they prefer to study it from a distance. As a Five, you may think that you will participate or take action later, but that you first need to study and plan ahead.
However, this mindset can cause you to miss out on positive opportunities. There are times when you need to make quick decisions. Recognise that, while learning is healthy, it is not healthy to let anxiety keep you from living and participating more actively in life. Notice when it is anxiety, and not curiosity that is driving your decisions. Let yourself enjoy the process of learning, figuring out mysteries, and understanding the unknown.
The Enneagram 5 Wing 4
The Enneagram 5 wing 4 has, perhaps because of their detached nature, come to develop an eccentric and unusual personality. You enjoy the strange and the bizarre and you reject conventional truths and insights. Your goal is to seek original, new understanding of life and living. Where the Five is rooted in anxiety, the Four may also bring up some shame or a feeling of being an outsider or being different.
You feel that other people don’t understand or think about things the way you do, and that can cause you to feel isolated from other people. As a 5w4, you may feel that other people are angry or upset with you because you refuse to accept conventions. Recognise that sometimes, it can also be that you are projecting your own anger at being an outsider towards the world.
It may be that your goal is to explore new truths and to help people discover new perspectives. But accept that conventional truths also have a purpose for people, and try to make a peace with that other people will not always see things the way you do. As long as your ideas have a value to yourself, that should be enough for you. Convincing other people is just a bonus.
The Enneagram 5 Wing 6
The Enneagram 5 wing 6, or the double-anxiety type, is one that seeks to understand the world mainly as a means of becoming more comfortable. The goal of the Enneagram 5 wing 6 is to find a way to fit in and belong in the world through understanding it fully. You don’t want to be taken by surprise and seek certainty and answers in relationships, life and work.
If you feel that it is hard to fit in in a group, you often try to fit in by demonstrating competence and knowledge. Your hope is that by providing value and insight to the group, you will be more accepted by other people. This may have the wrong effect, however, and some may perceive you as a know-it-all. Still, there are lots of people who respect and admire you for always being one step ahead. Just learn to accept that not everyone will approach a task the same way you do – and there is a strength to being able to improvise too.
