The 9 Personalities Of The Enneagram: Enneatype 1, The Perfectionist

Enneatype 1 has a personality as complex as it is striking. It is the perfectionist type, a profile that strives almost at all times to be and show itself coherent, well intentioned and always virtuous. It is common, however, that it hides, in a contained way, a certain anger and internal confusion that prevent it from reaching its full potential.

Cláudio Naranjo, in his always interesting book in Spanish “Carácter y neurosis”, shows that enneatype 1 is an “angry virtuoso”. He is someone characterized by a desperate obsession to improve the things that involve him, without realizing that, with this objective, he ends up making his life worse and also that of the people around him.

Now, we shouldn’t see this set of features as something negative or limiting. On the contrary. We have to remember, or learn, that the enneagram – which describes 9 types of personalities – was created precisely as a valuable tool for self-knowledge. It is a way of knowing our masks, of deepening our knowledge of our needs, our deepest instincts, emotions, mental processes, and also our potentials.

Enneatype 1 has in its hands great resources and very interesting abilities that, according to this theory, can be developed to the fullest if there is a deepening of its personal character and its conscience. In this way, these more problematic aspects are worked out. We will cover all the enneatypes in detail in a series of articles, this time we will get to know in depth and as a whole this personality known as “the perfectionist”.

Enneatype 1, the desire to lead a coherent and error-free life

Anyone who has seen the film or read the book ‘will have in their memory one of the most wonderful characters in the history of literature: Atticus Finch. His profile, his will power, his humanity and his balance perfectly symbolize the brightest and most developed Enneatype 1, with no points to be elaborated or mental confusion for working. His vital energy and sense of justice are a perfect representation of the first characteristic of this enneatype.

Now, before putting people with this personality on a pedestal, Enneatype 1 tends to navigate rough seas, complex contradictions, and high frustration scenarios where its aspirations are not always fulfilled. We are going to list below some characteristics that this enneatype usually presents and, for that, we will take as reference the description that the mentioned author Claudio Naranjo makes in his book:

• Obsession for details.
• Need to make lists of almost anything, such as schematics, reminders, etc.
• Every task he performs must be perfect. This need, however, is a source of continual frustration because they are never satisfied. This behavior leads to exhaustion, and it can even affect people close to you, reaching the point of generating tensions and misunderstandings.
• They are meticulous, can be inflexible and rigorous.
• They have a high sense of justice, of what is right and what is wrong (according to themselves), of what is desirable and right.
• In her internal dialogue, words such as “should”, “I have to” and “that’s how” are left over.
• They do not usually delegate tasks to other people, it is costly for them to work as a team and trust others with regard to work, because they doubt that others can be as effective as they are.

• They are very attached to their things, their possessions, their family… it is an often exaggerated attachment.

Furthermore, a detail that Claudio Naranjo mentions about enneatype 1 is that it usually has an emotional background dominated by anger. This dimension is what makes your personality so rigid and causes a lack of spontaneity. This anger is nothing more than the result of so much accumulated personal frustration, and the feeling that your environment is populated by an excess of injustice, softness and bad things that are beyond your control.

What Enneatype 1 Can Work On Itself To Achieve Personal Fullness

When an enneatype works as best it can on the problem areas of itself, the best comes to the fore. In this type, pent-up anger, the need for control, and extreme perfectionism can translate into high insight, wisdom, and good judgment. They can become authentic Atticus Finch capable of inspiring others around them, of guiding and influencing in an enriching way.

Now… how to do this? Becoming aware of your attitudes or most problematic areas. Let’s see below.

• Lowering its lofty idealism a few steps.
• Lower the volume of the internal voice that is so critical, so hypocritical on some occasions and demanding a moral virtue on others that not even an angel could achieve.
• Reduce the “shoulds” and self-impositions that often place us as prisoners, surrounded by so many demands that are so limiting.

• Learn to delegate, to trust others around you.
• Understand that the world, people and many of the things around us cannot always be as we wish. Living is, in the first place, “being and letting be”, and this implies allowing others to act as they wish, without it irritating us and taking our patience, calm or filling us with anger and more frustration.
• The enneatype must get in touch with its emotions and channel and release them. All that pent-up anger must dissolve, all dissatisfaction must be dealt with in such a way that perfectionism is no longer so draining, and that discipline does not lead to burnout.

A healthy and fulfilled Enneatype 1 is, above all, a person free from his or her own mental shackles. In this noble aspiration to make a fairer world and to be more elevated and perfect, there is an intermediate level where it is possible to feel truly fulfilled and useful.

It is a psychological situation where emotions are more adjusted, and where there is a more humble acceptance of reality. Because when someone stops being an internal and external “fault tracker”, they start to live with more calm and satisfaction to show themselves more flexible and have more compassion.

In our next articles, we’ll go deeper into the rest of the 9 enneatypes of this very interesting personal knowledge tool that is the enneagram.