Motivation, which can be an internal drive or an external stimulus, propels our behavior. It might be toward something we want or, conversely, away from something we don’t want.
Each Enneagram type comes with specific motivators, ones that propel people of that type forward in a specific direction, as well as key demotivators, intense avoidances that also drive their responses and behavior.
The core motivators and demotivators are thought of as 1st level motivators and demotivators for each type. In addition, there are 2nd and 3rd level motivators for each type; 2nd level motivators are type-based improvements, while 3rd level motivators are deeper longings and higher aspirations.
ENNEAGRAM SIXES
Core Motivator: Meaning, certainty, and trust
Sixes are seeking certainty in a volatile world, looking for meaning and wanting to know who and what they can trust. As a result, anything that helps them feel supported, grounded and secure or certain is a key motivator.
Core Demotivator: Negative scenarios
Avoidances are often as strong or stronger than what we search for. Sixes are adverse to negative outcomes. They hope for the best, but plan to keep the worst from occurring.
2nd Level Motivators: To be less reactive and more in control of themselves. To not have to hide their anxieties, which means not feeling anxious so frequently, so there is less to hide.
Sixes can feel that they have insufficient control over their lives, as if things are being done to them. Anything that helps them regain a sense of agency over their present and future propels them forward. When Sixes feel more genuinely confident, they trust themselves more, have less anxiety, and have fewer worries to hide from others.
3rd Level Motivators: To feel more secure, certain, and confident. To be able to truly trust both themselves and others to take care of situations.
Sixes yearn to feel certain and secure, and to do so, they have to sincerely and legitimately trust their own inner authority. Although they may search for this in their minds or mental Centers, this sense of self-trust first starts in the Body Center and then the Heart Center.
Next in this series will be the motivational structure for Enneagram Sevens.
About Ginger
Ginger Lapid-Bogda PhD, author of nine Enneagram books including The Art of Typing, is a speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach. She provides certification programs and training tools for business professionals around the world who want to bring the Enneagram into organizations with high-impact business applications. TheEnneagramInBusiness.com | ginger@theenneagraminbusiness.com
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