Stress refers to the feeling of physical or emotional tension. It can arise from any thought or event that makes an individual suffer from frustration, anger, or nervousness. Like any other person, an Enneagram 7 personality type individual also goes through similar phases in their life. Therefore, recognizing the stress triggers of enneagram 7 can help them in managing stress better. This recognition can happen if one is aware of their personality type.
Various factors cause stress among different personality types belonging to the Enneagram model. They drain out the mental and physical energies of individuals. Enneagram 7s feel stressed when they fear circumstances, which make them experience negative emotions.
In this post, we will discuss the factors that put Enneagram 7s under stress and different ways to cope with them.
Stress Triggers of Enneagram 7
The stress triggers of enneagram 7 point toward all those factors that result in tension, anxiety, and stress among these individuals while undertaking various responsibilities in their personal and professional lives. They cause an adverse impact on their overall well-being.
An Enneagram 7 person is full of enthusiasm, adventure, and spontaneity in their behavioral patterns. They love looking out for fresh experiences in life. These individuals love being around people and building new relationships. Their core motivations come from these activities and from avoiding feelings of boredom or sadness. Sevens are thoughtful people. They keep their eyes wide open and focus on all the good stuff they are all set to experience.
Due to this logical mindset, these people do not entertain illogical people or irrelevant things around them. Even if minor issues develop with others, an Enneagram Seven will suffer from irritation. Then, everything seems like a nuisance to them. When we create a link between Enneagram 7s and Myers Briggs types, they can correlate quite strongly with Extraverted Intuitive personalities like ENTP and ENFP with Extraverted Sensing ones like ESTP and ESFP.
There are two sides to a coin. Similarly, Enneagram 7s also showcase contrasting styles in their behavioral patterns. Their quick and energetic minds make them acquire information and learn various manual skills. Thus, they possess high-level coordination between mind and body. On the other hand, these qualities can also become a source of their problems in life.
It is now time to discuss how an Enneagram Seven responds to stress, which hampers their personal and professional lives –
1. When They Have to Follow Rules and Schedules
One of the main stress triggers of enneagram 7 is when they have to abide by rules in their life. Enneagram 7 personality type individuals are the ones who love to explore using their enthusiastic and adventurous nature. As they are extroverted, they love making new connections and leading life with complete freedom and independence. In other words, they want to formulate set rules and follow them with complete freedom. They wish to experience the same in their work life as well.
Problems arise when they enter an environment where they must follow stringent rules and regulations. Abiding by a strict routine is the last thing that one can expect from Sevens. They start feeling as if these environments are limiting their imaginative abilities. Hence, these people start exploring the opportunities that life provides them now.
2. Requiring to Tackle Several Responsibilities
People with enneagram seven personality types showcase creativity and carry the ability to think spontaneously. These traits help in completing tasks with full efficiency and precision. Hence, they fulfill all other responsibilities as per expectations. Sevens face issues when they come under the burden of tackling several duties.
Under those circumstances, they cannot come to terms with all the ways to help them streamline their work. Due to this reason, they get stressed out and suffer from unwanted anger and tension. An Enneagram Seven will feel comfortable only if they can handle one task at a time and not multiple things.
3. People Around Them Spreading Negativity
Modern life is full of complexities. It is because people must deal with various kinds of challenges, which keep increasing day by day. Hence, individuals of different enneagram personality types must focus on spending time with people who inspire them and fill their lives with positive vibes. It is even more applicable for Enneagram 7s. They exude positivity in life. These people even love being with people carrying similar mentalities.
Thus, these individuals hate surrounding themselves with those who adopt a pessimistic approach in their life. Any negativity around them is sufficient to cause stress and tension in an enneagram seven. Therefore, it is also one of the major stress triggers of enneagram 7. They consider it a barrier that does not allow full utilization of their resources for exploring possibilities.
4. Having to Spend Too Much Time Alone
Enneagram 7s are extroverts. Hence, their natural tendency is to spend maximum time interacting and working with people. They feel comfortable and gain a lot of energy from doing so. It allows them to share their ideas with others. Therefore, they get to accumulate information on life’s unknown elements.
These people shudder to think of situations where they have to spend a lot of time alone. They feel awkward and cannot understand how to lead their life. It becomes impossible for them to figure out what they want from life. Sevens yearn to express their thoughts to any individual and hence come under stress. It happens to be one of the most critical stress triggers of enneagram 7.
5. Lack of Genuine Friends
Enneagram 7s are known as Enthusiasts. They show their enthusiasm to make friendships with all those genuine people who can become a part of their unconstrained pursuits. These enthusiastic personalities want such individuals as integral parts of their lives, with whom they can share similar excitement levels. It plays a massive role in ensuring that an enneagram gets the best out of life.
If an Enneagram 7 often comes across those individuals who turn out to be treacherous and insincere, they will invariably suffer from extreme stress. They will always live under the threat of facing adverse impacts on life from being with bogus people posing as friends.
How Will Enneagram 7 Cope with Stress?
Whenever an Enneagram 7 personality type individual faces stressful situations, they make these people act differently. Their actions and reactions to various situations become opposite to their usual traits. Sevens make others feel like they are a shadow of themselves.
When Enneagram 7s are at their best, they tend to see links between their areas of expertise and interest. These people make good use of their energy across ventures. They enable them to attain superior benefits than what they originally possessed within themselves. Each experience in their life plays a role in making up the complete personality of an Enneagram 7. The situation changes when stress and tension take over their life of possibilities. It makes these individuals do stuff that they do not do otherwise.
Hence, it is necessary that whoever comes under the adverse effects of stress must know ways to de-stress and relax. People with various personalities adopt different avenues which can make them overcome stressful times and start leading their lives in peace. People with enneagram seven personality types also possess specific ways to handle stress and make their lives peaceful. They can read books and listen to music for quick relief from stress. There are several other ways to ensure the same.
Now, the time has come for us to check out several techniques that these enneagrams can adopt to relieve themselves from stress, resulting in personal growth and development.
1. Focus on Keeping Their Minds Busy
Enneagram 7s always ensure that they keep their minds busy for effectively dealing with stress. They focus on doing what suits them best and fulfills their desire to explore widespread possibilities in life. Gradually things get back on track. It enables the enneagram seven personality type individuals to regain confidence.
Sevens feel that they are at the top of their energy level on the fulfillment of certain conditions in life. One of them is when these individuals can use their adventurous and spontaneous nature to make decisions. Ultimately, they help transform their lives and all those around them.
2. Entertain Positive Thoughts
It is always a trend among people with Enneagram 7 personality types to keep nurturing positive thoughts inside their minds. They all relate to the expectations about the future and its possibilities. It happens due to their goal-oriented nature. Nothing matters more for these individuals than having a chance to look forward to fulfilling their dreams with eagerness.
Once these thoughts and ideas start guiding them in their life, Sevens no longer feel the burden of responsibilities. They start treating them as ways to progress and experience new things in life. Thus, stress level subsides and shifts these people into a mode of relaxation.
3. Having Various Options to Consider
One of the most important things that an Enneagram 7 needs in their life are to have several options for consideration. They come to a great help if any plan does not work out as per expectations. Their confidence level goes up when they have a backup.
It allows them to experiment with ease and freedom. Hence, they do not lose sleep thinking about the adverse effects of any specific plan. These people become more confident in dealing with challenges because of this reason. Sevens will not have to think twice before taking risks in life. They will feel comfortable going for another option.
4. Meeting New People
Enneagram 7s always look toward meeting new people and building trustworthy relationships with them. It is one of the most significant traits of extroverts. They cannot spend time alone. Hence, they remain in search of making new connections. We have already discussed in the previous segment how spending time alone puts them under stress and tension. It seems that being unable to share their curiosity with anyone else makes them feel as if their life lacks purpose.
Therefore, they make sure to reach out to make new connections. They help develop healthy relationships with trustworthy people. These people experience great joy when they can do that. Hence, they relieve themselves from stress.
5. Focus on Exploring Creative Pursuits
Another effective way to let Enneagram 7s deal with stress and overcome the problem is by paying attention to exploring several creative pursuits. These people excel in cooking and photography. Both require individuals to have creative mindsets to fulfill their responsibilities with perfection.
Hence, an Enneagram 7 can shift their attention toward preparing some of their favorite dishes. They can help satisfy their taste buds and of others who are their part of life. Similarly, their keen eye for detail makes them ideally suited for taking photographs. Hence, they keep adding to their wide range of collections.
6. Spend Quality Time Reading Books
Reading is a good habit that takes people’s minds off the hustle and bustle of life and focuses on something better. Enneagram 7s love to read several books and magazines that capture their attention. Hence, it can make them spend quality time. When they get stressed out, these people resort to this favorite activity.
It allows them to widen their knowledge base by gaining extensive information. Once they gather in-depth information from outside sources, Enneagram Seven uses them to share with others and enrich their knowledge further. Thus, they relax and overcome stress very easily.
Final Words
In this article, we have discussed in detail various stress triggers of Enneagram 7 personality type individuals. It has also mentioned effective techniques which make them free from stress and restore peace and happiness in their life.
They must try to slow their pace down and experience whatever life has to offer them at present. It will help them to relax. On top of this, Enneagram 7s should not avoid pain as they will have to bear large-scale consequences later on. Thus, the ideal approach would be to recognize the same and find ways to overcome it.
These people also require to go deeper into the relationships. It will ensure that these individuals know what lies beyond the apparent ones. Hence, their bond becomes strong. Finally, Sevens need to embrace solitude, as it will help them become more aware of themselves.
