As a Type 1: The Visionary...
You are self-controlled, disciplined, and very purposeful about wanting to make an impact on the world. You color code your bullet journal and map out your calendar months in advance. You probably made to-do lists and schedules as a child, and you’ve never stopped. You have a vision for how you want the world to be and you will do whatever it takes to turn that vision into reality.
Sometimes though, you grasp so tightly to this concept of perfection that you end up planning, and planning, and planning, with nothing to show for it except for meticulously detailed blueprints. Or worse, you push and push and push, until you can’t anymore, and then you burn out in an enormous implosion. When you let go of “perfect” and ship your idea out into the world—when you execute and make it a thing that can be used by others and trust the results to God, resting in His generous provision, then your impact on the world will grow.
When you work in community with others, especially those who force you to lighten up and not take yourself, or your work quite so seriously, then you can become a creative force for change.
The Creative Enneagram Type 1, The Visionary, has both healthy and unhealthy manifestations.
Healthy
You create order out of chaos. You demonstrate that the small things matter. You image our Creator’s control of even the smallest detail in order to realize your vision of the future.
Unhealthy
You don’t share your creation with the world because it’s not perfect (and never will be). You burn yourself out in pursuit of more, and better, and the ever-elusive perfect, instead of resting in the fact that it is our Creator who is holding all things together, not you.
Famous Enneagram Type 1: John Mark Comer
John Mark Comer is tall, unfairly good-looking, and one of those smart, driven people who are successful at seemingly everything they do. A Megachurch pastor in his thirties that grew his congregation by over a thousand people a year for seven years straight? Check. Bestselling author? Easy.
Oh, and does it surprise you he was formerly in a rock band? It shouldn’t. He lives and works in downtown Portland with his wife and three kids, right near Powell’s Books—the epicenter of the Northwest foodie, coffee, and indie music culture scene—so he’s not just evangelical cool, or pastor cool, or Christian cool, but he’s Portland cool. That’s like, really cool. Olympic caliber cool.
Speaking of the Olympics, does it even surprise you by now that he ran an Olympic-qualifying four-minute mile? Well, maybe that part’s not true. But he just started long distance running so… give him a year. He is the highly creative, highly talented kind of person who also happens to regularly be the first one into the office and the last one to leave. That rare five-talent steward shouldering a five-talent workload.
But there was only one problem.
It didn’t last.
It couldn’t last, really. Not at the pace he was going. He remembers teaching six times as part of his regular Sunday schedule. Yes, regular schedule.
“I made it until about talk number four; I don’t remember anything after that. I’m well beyond tired—emotionally, mentally, even spiritually… I got into this thing to teach the way of Jesus. Is this the way of Jesus? Speaking of Jesus, I have this terrifying thought lurking at the back of my mind. This nagging question of conscience that won’t go away. Who am I becoming?”
He looks forward, envisioning himself at age forty. Fifty. Sixty. “I see a man who is ‘successful,’ but by all the wrong metrics: church size, book sales, speaking invites, social stats, etc., and the new American dream—your own Wikipedia page. In spite of all my talk about Jesus, I see a man who is emotionally unhealthy and spiritually shallow.” [1]
Fast forward to today and John Mark Comer is rested, rejuvenated, and flourishing creatively like never before.
The secret?
The ruthless elimination of hurry. The letting go of perfect, of control, of thinking that it all depends on him. The way of Jesus is an easy yoke, and our gentle Savior will not force it on us. When we rest in Him, working and creating within the natural rhythms of life that our Creator has ordained, then even those of us who are driven and perfectionistic, discover that our meager bread and fish has worked miracles, creating for change in the Master’s hands.
[1] John Mark Comer The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World Waterbrook October 2019 p. 24
Nest Steps: Where to go from here...
Did one of the Creative Types immediately resonate with you? While no one is “just one thing”, many people recognize both the healthy and unhealthy characteristics of their Creative Type quickly. Remember though, your personality type, or your Creative Type, is just one part of the amazingly intricate and uniquely created image bearer that you are. Your spiritual giftings, your life circumstances, your habits, your family, and countless other factors all play a part in shaping you into who you are and who you might someday become.
For all you personality test deniers, don’t overlook the patterns woven into you by your Creator. For all you personality test believers—yes, we see you posting your Type on social media—don’t let your type dictate to you who you are or what you are capable of, because God is changing and maturing each of us to be more like Him. So, let Him!
Just be forewarned, change is a process. Sometimes it’s a long and arduous path to understanding your creative calling, and learning your Creative Type is just the first step.
In the Created for Change community, we embark together on the adventure that is The Creator’s Journey.
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