We need to know and understand ourselves deeply. If you don’t understand YOU, then who else will?
30-year-old Memphian, Milton Stewart, wants to help us build the best version of ourselves with the Enneagram, a model of nine personality types.
He is a certified Enneagram coach and co-founded Enneagram901, an online social community for Memphians who want to use the system to grow personally and professionally.
He also provides executive Enneagram coaching through his company Kaizen Careers and hosts a weekly podcast, Do It For The Gram, that explores all things Enneagram.
Stewart says the Enneagram, unlike other personality tests like the Meyers-Briggs, helps you to not only understand who you are as a person but also your motivations, desires and trigger points.
“The Enneagram doesn’t just tell you WHO you are,” Stewart said. “The Enneagram tells you the WHY about what you do.”
The history of the Enneagram is a little hazy. It’s not quite clear when it got started — Google seems to think it got its origin sometime in the 4th century.
But lately, it’s been growing in popularity and I can understand why. It’s downright eerie how accurate it is!
The nine personality types are all interconnected and have a particular response to stress and growth. Each person also has a “wing” type, usually one of the numbers on either side of their core personality type. (For example, I am an 8 Type, with a 9 wing.)
Stewart, a Type 7, said the Enneagram transformed his life and he hopes to expose more communities to the concept, especially communities of color. Usually, workshops on the Enneagram can be pricey but he hosts events for free or at a discount.
“Often communities of color don’t have access to sessions that help them use a growth tool like the Enneagram,” Stewart said. “We don’t always have opportunities where we can get help with our mental, emotional and spiritual growth.”
When he’s not Enneagram coaching, he serves as a Data and Technology Manager for a local charter school. He hopes to eventually use the Enneagram in schools across the city to help teachers, staff, students — and even parents — manage the stress that comes with the day-to-day grind.
“One of the most important things for schools is making sure that their teachers and staff are healthy,” said Stewart. “If we’re healthy, we can be much better for kids.”
Stewart thinks that if we can personally grow, then our communities and the city of Memphis can grow.
“If you become better, everything around you becomes better,” Stewart said.
If you want to learn more about yourself and the Enneagram, check out his next session, The Foundations of the Enneagram, on February 8th. Use discount code: Choose901 for a 15% discount.
Want to join the Enneagram901 community? Follow on Instagram.
Want to listen to Do It For the Gram? You can download it here.
Need Enneagram coaching? Sign up here.
Guest post by Ashley Davis Executive Director of Kifani Press
