The Enneagram is a fascinating personality typing system that teaches there are nine different personality styles in the world. If you don’t know anything about the enneagram, visit the Enneagram Institute online to learn more. If you are a self-proclaimed “Enneagram-er,” read on! 

Threes are known as the “Achiever” or “Performer.” They are the Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious.

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I am success driven and want to feel valuable.

Grace College has been a great fit because I have been able to bond with other threes who are working their hardest to reach their personal goals. When you have driven people around you, it pushes you to be the best you can be.

I find that I am most successful and efficient at studying for exams when I use hand-written notecards and Quizlet.

I have run track and field all of my years at Grace, and I’ve also been very involved with my friendships on campus. I live in an apartment with three other girls which keeps me busy!

There are so many things to consider while choosing a college, but here are a few factors that might be extra important to consider as a three. 

1. Size of school — When you are deciding on where to go to school, the size is always an important factor to consider. Do you want to be a small fish in a big pond, or a big fish in a small pond. For a three who goes to college with very defined goals, the size could be a huge variable in reaching those goals.
2. Networking Opportunities — If you are someone who is driven by your career opportunities, you will want to consider how the school prepares you and connects you to step into a job after college. Does the school have community connections with large corporations? Do they provide students with networking opportunities? These questions could be crucial to your college decision.

We aren’t saying that these are the only programs that you would fit in, nor are we suggesting that every enneagram three would be good in these fields. However, given your natural tendencies, you might just have a knack for one of these.

1. Public Relations — Threes tend to be very image-concious. Public Relations is a very natural career path for a three because it requires you to protect your company’s brand and it’s public image, and bring its success to the forefront for your audience.
2. Sales — A sales professional must be adaptive and driven in order to be successful. A three could do a great job in this field with their tenacious goal-setting and ability to deliver on those goals.

Again, these are not cookie-cutter placements, but here are some ways that, as a three, you can develop thick skin when you fail and exercise your desire to compete.

Athletics / Intramurals — Can you play a varsity sport in college? If so, this is a great experience for you to channel your driven and competitive tendencies for the good of a team and to represent your school. If you do not desire to be a varsity athlete in college, a great way to stay active and compete in an organized way is through intramurals.

Grace College alumnus gives advice to college students who identify as a three.

Don’t rack up a bunch of acquaintances that just admire you. Make real friends that know your lows and love you in spite of them.

College is better by the lake. Welcome to one of Indiana’s treasures: the combined community of Warsaw and Winona Lake.

Here’s a practical growth step for you during your college experience.

Try something that you’re bad at. No, you will not like it. And yes, you might fail several times over, but it’s important for you to fail and realize that people still love you inspite of that–in fact, they might love you more for it. Your worth is not tied to your success.

Now we’ve covered ones, twos, and threes! Stay tuned for posts about the six other enneagram types! Give us a call and find out how threes thrive at Grace!

1 https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions