97: Naming Our Fears
Written April 30, 2024
April is coming to a close, which means it’s time to wrap up the discussion of risk-taking. Before we go, there’s one thing left to explore - fear.
As a reminder, the American Psychological Association's definition of risk-taking is:
Accepting a challenging task that simultaneously involves potential for failure as well as for accomplishment or personal benefit. It is often associated with creativity and taking calculated risks in the workplace or in educational settings.
How we perceive failure can greatly impact what type of risk we are willing to take. Essentially, what are we afraid of?
One tool that can help us better understand fears is the Enneagram. It’s an ancient personality typing system that offers wisdom around nine ways people relate to themself, others, and the world at large. Unlike most personality tests that focus on skills and behavior, the Enneagram focuses on motivation. It asks us to look at our basic fears and desires to unlock the patterns or pathways of how we show up in the world.
Reflecting on my fear helped me better understand my relationship with risk-taking. As an Enneagram 8- the challenger- my deepest fear is being controlled. I feel this with a fiery passion in my bones.
Recently, I’ve been overwhelmed by the state of the world. I fear that we are losing collective agency over our lives. Whether it’s the number of hours that people spend on social media mindlessly consuming ads, the over-representation of big oil in climate change discussions, or the lack of action on gun safety reforms, it feels like a desire for profits is controlling our world rather than care for people.
That fear is what motivates my actions. From my perspective, the biggest risk of all is being complacent. How can we just sit by and let corporations control us? Don’t people want to be in charge of their destiny?
Then I remembered the chart. It turns out that fear is uniquely mine. Not everyone experiences life the way I do.
It’s humbling to envision what it might be like to live in the world as a different Enneagram number. What if my basic fear was feeling worthless, like that of the Achiever? Maybe then my biggest risk would be to stop hustling. Or what about being a Loyalist? Imagine how difficult it would be to engage in risks that threatened my sense of safety.
This month we asked everyone to think outside the box and to develop a healthy relationship with the unknown. Maybe the unknown is your fear. We might first need to unpack what’s inside that box in order to take a risk.
P.S. Want to learn more about the Enneagram? This is my favorite place to start.
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ONE of my tools is Fear knocks at the door and Faith answers..!!!
Another great post. I have never rated myself on the Enneagram scale. Years ago Brene Brown deleted a podcast with someone prominent in the Enneagram space. Not because she didn't like the tool but rather she had concerns about the actions of the person she had interviewed and did not want to give voice to this person on her platform. Ironically, it's that decision by Brene and fear that has kept me from pursuing it, even though it was suggested to me by someone I deeply trust. I guess it's time to jump in. Also, thank you for reminding me that we all have different types of fear that drive us. I forget that and struggle mightily with someone important in my life who is constantly worried about what's in the news. I on the other hand have resolved myself that I can only manage what's in front of me and don't have to bandwidth for much of the rest of it and can't change it anyway. I'm working on being content.