Enneagram Type 6: Positive Affirmations for Path of Growth

Overview of the Enneagram Type 6: The Loyalist, The Guardian, Security-Seeker

If you are an Enneagram Type 6, you are faithful, friendly and conservative. You enjoy certainty and security. You are a protector, keeping yourself and your loved ones safe from harm.

As an excellent troubleshooter, you place attention on worst-case scenarios. You are on the lookout for danger signs. Your core belief is that the world is a dangerous place. Thus, you avoid taking risks. You strive to put systems in place that keep people safe.

“Better encounter a danger than live in continual fear.”- William H Browne

Loyalty is also a quality that stands out. Out of all the 9 personality types, you are the most loyal. You can be loyal to the same organization for more than 10 years. Consequently, you play a vital role in an organization or group setting. You are a great team player. You also like others to see you as someone who is dedicated, reliable and supportive.

Famous personalities include Krishnamurti, Mark Twain, JRR Tolkien, Robert F Kennedy, Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Dustin Huffman, Oliver Stone, Ben Affleck, Ellen Degeneres and Robert De Niro.

The Shadow Side of Enneagram Type 6: Paranoid, The Doubter, Skeptic

“Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.” – Edmund Burke

Your constant search for security is really to cover your personal insecurities. The external search for security leads you to trying to find them in structures, beliefs and allies. However, even after finding them, your self-doubt does not go away.

Your fixation is fundamentally existential. You have deep issues with trust. Anxiety is something that you grapple with. Even though you belong to the Thinking Triad and make decisions from the head, you have little confidence in your own judgement. You have the tendency to second guess yourself. Often struggling to find firm ground, you end up in excessive worry and find it hard to make a decision.

“Fear is faith that it won’t work out.” – Proverbs

While loyalty is a great trait, you can hang on to relationships that have expired for far longer than necessary. You also cling on to ideas or belief systems even though they may already be outdated or no longer serve you. It does not mean that you are loyal to authorities. You may be anti-authoritarian but what’s important to you is being fiercely loyal to a group or system.

Once you have established something as trustworthy, you no longer question it. Neither do you like others to question your convictions. If others start to raise doubts, you become defensive. You fight for causes or community more fervently than defending yourself. You can become rather obstinate.

At unconscious levels, you are one of contradictions. You can sway from end-to-end – trusting and distrusting, defensive and offensive, cooperative and stubborn, passive and aggressive, wary and courageous etc. Feeling persecuted, you lash out easily at others. Others find your behavior erratic and confusing, and face difficulty understanding you. On the extreme, you become highly suspicious of everyone around and develop paranoia about your environment.

Opportunities for Growth

“You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.” – Dale Carnegie

The spiritual path for an Enneagram Type 6 lies in letting go of fear. While you seek to allay fear, you realize that you tend to attract it. You are thinking fear all the time. By virtue of the law of attraction, you attract what you think.

Under stress and according to the grid of the Enneagram, you adopt the unhealthy traits of a Type 3. You become rather competitive and image conscious or when you become anxious, you become overly attached to belief systems.

However, where you learn to relax (like a Type 9), you attain a level of peace and serenity. It is when you feel supported by the universe. No longer living in the head, you are able to let go. One great way of taking your mind off too much thinking is to exercise regularly. You become more in your body.

Learn to trust and find your own inner guidance. Finding inner guidance helps you in your ability to cope with change, hold your ground rather than sink into confusion as well as to overcome the problem of indecisiveness. Your internal stability is no longer dependent on external environment. You are able to resolve your emotional insecurities in a world where change is constant. You become more accepting of life’s ups and downs.

Practicing balance is key to managing your tendency to oscillate. You learn that you cannot emphasize on one side and ignore the other side. For instance, you are able to be trusting and distrusting appropriately. You are able to embrace both parts of yourself for healthy functioning and are able to rest your mind in the present moment.

“What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.” — J. Krishnamurti

With the core energy of an Enneagram Type 6, you are stable and offer a steady presence. You add value by building strong foundations. Foundations that are built on rock-solid ground lend the space for accomplishments. You are able to champion a cause, gathering and inspiring people to it. A community leader, you are able to forge strong alliances and bonds. You bring about cooperation.

Positive Affirmations for Enneagram Type 6

I choose to trust my own inner guidance.
I am calm, centered and present to myself.
My core is strong.
I am grounded in my being.
I trust myself.
I make independent and clear decisions for myself.
I choose to place more attention on my dreams than my doubts.
I am well-supported by my team members.
I am loyal, lovable and dedicated.
My inner counsel is wise.
I am in control of my life.
The world is a safe place.
The universe supports me in my highest path and purpose.

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

Enneagram Type 3: Positive Affirmations for Path of Growth

Enneagram Type 4: Positive Affirmations for Path of Growth

Enneagram Type 5: 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. Does this post reflect your attributes as a Enneagram Type 6? Share more about your attributes in the comment section below if you are a Enneagram Type 6!!

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