Overview of Enneagram Type 3: The Performer, Achiever, Motivator

If you are an Enneagram Type 3, you enjoy projecting the image of success. You place focus on goals, efficiency and checking off your to-do lists. Ambitious, you are driven by your desire for personal accomplishments. As a high functioning Type 3, you are confident, with the ability to harness your strengths and to motivate others to greater heights.

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough. We must do.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

You like being the star, the center of attraction and to be admired. At the same time, others are drawn to you because you are popular, charismatic and well dressed. You are frequently voted to be the leader in a group due to your success qualities. Others aspire to be more like you because they see you as a winner in life.

Having prestige is particularly important to you. For some Type 3s, success is measured by external indicators – such as, materialistic accomplishments and social status. Others measure success by academic qualifications. Yet, others by social values that are deemed valued in their community. Whatever your definition of success is, you experience the great need to be a somebody in society.

With a Type 3 core, you frequently go into self-promotion. You relish being the performer. You are apt to perform in ways that will help you garner attention and approval. You are acutely aware of worthiness as a basic human need. Your deepest fear is about being rejected because you are a “nobody”.

Type 3 famous personalities include Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Tony Blair, Deepak Chopra, Tom Cruise, Michael Jordan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elvis Presley, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Cindy Crawford, and Richard Gere.

The Shadow Side of Enneagram Type 3: Status Seeker, The Peacock

“Vanity is the flatterer of the soul.” – Edward Counsel

Your drive to success may just bring about your downfall. You are likely to place excessive pressure on the self to succeed at all cost. You do this by being single-minded, controlling your emotions and setting grandiose expectations. With the need to be the best, you have the tendency to become a relentless workaholic. Looking successful in the eyes of others motivates you to push yourself even harder.

Excessive self-promotion can result in you adopting the archetype of a vain peacock, strutting to showcase your accomplishments. You crave for attention and the praise that you have done a good job. However, your constant need for applause can eventually turn people off. The praise that you are hoping to seek dwindles off.

While a Type 3 is part of the feeling triad (comprising of Enneagrams Types 2, 3 and 4), you tend to cut off your feelings. Cutting off your feelings allow you to get the job done. You innately believe that feelings get in the way of your performance. To hide your insecurity, you may project the image of confidence and on the extreme, arrogance and lavishness. Your motto is “fake it till you make it.”

There is the compulsion to be always in action. By constantly doing, you can avoid addressing what is truly bothering you. However, where you have pushed yourself to the extreme, you find yourself going into “burn out” and becoming unmotivated, passive and avoidant (like an low functioning Type 9 as indicated by the grid line).

Ultimately, in the mad rush to look accomplished, you may get confused that the perfect image you have painstakingly crafted for the public is not who you really are. By putting up false appearances, you have become out of touch with the true heart of your soul. Consumed by vanity, you no longer know yourself.

It is ironic that in your unconscious search for value, you have forgotten that you are already intrinsically valuable. You fall into temptations that reflect your disconnection from within. Eventually, you are likely to discover that deception never pays and that the more falseness you built into your persona, the harder you are going to fall.

Opportunities for Growth

Your spiritual path is to reclaim your true self. It helps to recognize that while everyone may be drawn to the performer on the stage, being worshipped for a false image is not true love. You evolve when you realize that you do not need to put up a mask in order to garner unconditional love. You are loved for yourself and not your accomplishments.

You find strength by opening up to vulnerability and exploring your own emotions. You are authentic from within. Opportunities for growth arises in areas that do not involve having a successful image. Hence, find more of such activities to do.

Success does not rest on the shoulders of one person alone. In fact, you need the support from everyone else. Thus, instead of being totally self-reliant, you are more willing to develop a team, delegate to others and give credit when due. To embody team spirit is to move along the grid line to a 6.

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” – Oprah Winfey

It is important to remember to practice balance, and to value the needs of your partner and loved ones. In the drive to success, it is easy for you to neglect your family and friends. Failure to practice balance can cause the collapse of your personal life; and in turn, threaten your crafted image of having it all together.

The high functioning Type 3s is a model for success and inspiration. At your best, you are able to harness your strengths to create influence and impact on the world. You understand that there is no shortcut to success. You are prepared to do what is necessary rather than go for quick solutions. Not only do you learn about pacing yourself, you also give yourself the opportunity to relax and take a break. Growth happens when you recognize that you are not a human doing but a human being.

“Enlightened leadership is spiritual if we understand spirituality not as some kind of religious dogma or ideology but as the domain of awareness where we experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, love and compassion, and also intuition, creativity, insight and focused attention.” – Deepak Chopra

“The highest levels of performance come to people who are centered, intuitive, creative, and reflective – people who know to see a problem as an opportunity.” – Deepak Chopra

Positive Affirmations for Enneagram Type 3

I am worthy, regardless of my accomplishments.
I am ready to acknowledge the efforts from my team.
I celebrate the accomplishments of others.
I am authentic.
I embrace myself despite my mistakes and imperfections.
I am aligned with my true self.
I am loved by others who appreciate me as I am.
I am open to acknowledging my feelings.
I give myself the opportunity to breathe and relax.
I am ready to learn from my mistakes as they are part of my journey.
I set reasonable expectations for myself and others.
I am enough.
I draw on the spiritual power of my influence for the good of everyone.
I embrace leadership that is centered on truth, integrity and compassion.
I inspire leadership in others.

Round-The-Enneagram Series

I am on a Round-The-Enneagram tour, covering all 9 Enneagram Types in turn. Over the course of 9 weeks, I will be laying out positive affirmations aimed at serving the path of growth for each Enneagram Type. Here are the links to the previous two articles:

Enneagram Quiz: How would You Cross the River?

Enneagram Type 1: Positive Affirmations for Path of Growth

Enneagram Type 2: Positive Affirmations for Path of Growth

The Enneagram is a tool for transcendence. Through the grid of the Enneagram, you learn about integrating your highest values and embracing your shadow side. By releasing ego attachments and affirming the path of growth, you are on the way to gaining spiritual wholeness.

Love and Abundance Always,

Enneagram Executive Coach

P.S. Which Enneagram Type are you? Does this post reflect your attributes as a Type 3? Share more about your attributes in the comment section below if you are a Enneagram Type 3!!

P.S.S. Please share this post on social media to promote awareness in the personality self.

by EVELYN on November 2, 2015

First, let me introduce myself. My vision is to turn dreams into reality through self awareness, inspiring others to do the same. The various roles I play in the school of life include being a life coach, mother, wife, ex-Banker, Singaporean, and an internet entrepreneur. In terms of qualifications, I am also a Certified Emotional Freedom Technique Practitioner, an Intuitive Consultant, and Vision Board Counselor. On this blog, I share about the various personal insights I have gained, my successes and challenges. I have since published books and programs such as Abundance Alchemy: Journey of Gold,Self-Love Secrets and Life Vision Mastery.

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