Type 3 - The Achiever

• Adaptive
• Excelling
• Driven
• Image-Conscious

• They strive to achieve success within their community, believing it to be a measure of their worth.
• This type's pervasive, underlying fear is that they are inherently worthless and undesirable apart from their achievements.
• Therefore, they must accomplish as much as possible to be desired and accepted by others.
• They constantly aim to move away from worthlessness and towards impressive achievements that will earn them the respect and admiration of others.

• To feel valuable and worthwhile.

• The respect and admiration of others.

• You feel inadequate, incompetent, a failure, incapable of taking care our yourself.
• You believe you must be the best to be valued or loved.
• You feel loved only for your accomplishments, not your identity.
• You are focused on success.

• Represses shame as a primary strategy.
• Like 9 have a distaste for their intrinsic anger.
• They are forever running away from their secret fear of having no value or worth.
• They are driven, adaptable, excelling, and image-conscious.

Personality Type Cross-reference

• ENTP - The Debater

• Temperament Type - Choleric
• Animal Type - Lion
• DISC Type - Dominant
• Socio-Communicative Type - Driver
• True Colors - Green
• Color Code - Red
• Personality Compass - North

Center of Intelligence

Traits

Focus of Attention

• Threes focus on tasks and goals to create an image of success in the eyes of others.
• Threes identify with their work, believing they are what they do, and lose touch with who they are.

Patterns of Thinking and Feeling

• For a Three, thinking centers on “doing”—on accomplishing tasks and goals.
• Though a heart type, Threes (unconsciously) avoid their feelings because getting caught up in emotion prevents them from getting things done.
• When they slow down enough for emotions to surface, they may feel a sense of sadness or anxiety related to being recognized for what they do and not for who they are.
• Threes tend to express impatient anger if someone or something gets between them and their goal.

Behavior Patterns

• Threes tend to be fast-paced workaholics.
• They find it difficult to slow down and just “be.”
• They can be highly productive and effective because of their laser-like focus on getting things done and reaching their goals.

Passion—Vanity

• Vanity is a passionate concern for one’s image or “living in the eyes of others.”
• Vanity motivates Threes to present a false impression to others—to shape-shift into whatever image is the right or most successful idea for the context.

Arrows

Wings

Relationships

Addictions

• Over-stressing the body for recognition
• Working out to exhaustion
• Starvation diets
• Workaholism
• Excessive intake of coffee, stimulants, amphetamines, cocaine, steroids
• Excessive surgery for cosmetic improvement

Red Flags

• Compulsive need to achieve
• Excessive fear of loss or failure
• Physical exhaustion and burnout
• Jealousy and unrealistic expectations of success
• Lack of feelings
• Increasing sense of meaninglessness

Interpersonal Coping Style

• Assertive - Take focused action toward success while repressing feelings.

Conflict Style

• Competency – Tries to find an efficient solution and avoid conflict with people deemed too emotional and impersonal to stay on task.

Self-Preservation Subtype

• The self-preservation Three dislikes advertising their strengths and accomplishments overtly and wants to avoid being seen as image-oriented.
• Despite this, they must be recognized for their hard work and excellence.
• This subtype is reliable, efficient, and productive and aspires to do the right thing.
• Their pursuit of security and self-sufficiency through hard work may lead to workaholism.
• They have a sense of vanity for having no vanity.
• This Three also want to be admired by others but avoid openly seeking recognition.
• Not just satisfied with looking good, the Self-Preservation Three strives to be good.
• They are determined to be a good person—to match the perfect model of how a person should be.
• Being the ideal quality model implies virtue, and virtue suggests a lack of vanity.
• They seek security through being good, working hard, and being effective and productive.

Social Subtype

• The Social Three desires influence above all and tend to skillfully read and adjust to the social norms and requirements of teams or organizations.
• Highly competitive, they enjoy being in the spotlight and confidently market their ideas and accomplishments.
• Looking good and successful is critical. They may cut corners or cover up a failure if the finished product makes them and their team look good.
• They are focused on achievement in looking good and getting the job done.
• They act out vanity by wanting to be seen and influenced by people.
• They enjoy being on stage in the spotlight.
• Social Threes know how to climb the social ladder and achieve success.
• These are the most competitive and most aggressive of the Threes.
• They drive to look good and possess a corporate or sales mentality.

One-to-One Subtype

• This charismatic and enthusiastic Three focuses their competitiveness on supporting others, seeing success in relational terms.
• They tend to believe ‘if those around me achieve success, then I am successful’ which may lead them to mistype as a Two.
• They tend to compete for the attention and affection of those closest to them and may suppress their feelings to make themselves more attractive to others.
• They focus on achievement in terms of personal attractiveness and supporting others.
• In these Three, vanity is not denied (as in the Self-Preservation Three) nor embraced (as in the Social Three) but is somewhere in between. It’s employed to create an attractive image and promote essential others.
• These Threes have a more challenging time talking about themselves and often put the focus on others they want to promote.
• They put a lot of energy into pleasing others and have a family/team mentality.

Dilemma

• Efficiency is the three’s greatest temptation.
• The capitalist system, which dominates the world economy, is based on the dogma: “Those who exert themselves enough can work their way up.”
• The defense mechanism of threes is identification.
• Threes protect themselves from threats by becoming fully involved in their projects. They are reluctant to accept criticism of their group or company.
• Failure is the term that describes three’s avoidance
• Nothing is more tragic than an unsuccessful three because it’s traumatic for a three to deal with failing, falling short, or losing.
• Unredeemed threes avoid, fear, and hate defeat like the plagues.
• Unredeemed threes are capable of immensely overestimating themselves.
• They have been so spoiled by the success that, in the end, they believe that everything they do is good and great.
• The pressure to succeed that threes are under leads to their root sin, untruth, or deceit. To win, threes tend to deal generously with the truth.
• They create an image that looks good, can be sold, and finally will win.
• The bad thing is that you often blindly trust even a truly dishonest three.
• Threes look so self-confident; they seem to know what they are doing.
• The pitfall in which the immature threes are caught is vanity.
• By vanity, we mean that secondary, external things (packaging, clothing, outside impact) are more important than essentials (substance, person, content).
• Threes are trapped in themselves; they live as if they weren’t in their own body and soul but were standing alongside and watching themselves perform.
• Threes find the way to their gifts only when they take the painful path of self-knowledge and look at their life lies, big and little,
• in the face and refuse to gloss over them anymore.
  

Personal Growth

• You need to learn to be alone, a place of silence and seclusion where there is no public feedback, no applause, and no admiration.
• Contemplative, silent mediation is the appropriate “prescription.
• In silence, you must critically encounter yourself and your desire to succeed.
• One of your life tasks is to listen more frequently and carefully to the voice of your feelings instead of doing what promises you recognition from the outside.
  
• For real development, it is essential to be truthful. Be honest with yourself and others about your genuine feelings and needs.
• Likewise, resist the temptation to impress others or inflate your importance.
• You will impress people more deeply by being authentic than by bragging about your successes or exaggerating your accomplishments. 
  
• Develop charity and cooperation in your relationships.
• You can pause to connect with someone you care about during a busy day. Nothing spectacular is required—simply a few moments of quiet appreciation.
• When you do so, you will become a more loving person, a more faithful friend—and a much more desirable individual. You will feel better about yourself. 
• Take breaks. You can drive yourself and others to exhaustion by relentlessly pursuing your goals.
• Ambition and self-development are good qualities but temper them with rest periods in which you reconnect more deeply with yourself.
• Sometimes, taking three to five deep breaths is enough to recharge your battery and improve your outlook. 
• Develop your social awareness.
• You will grow tremendously by getting involved in projects that have nothing to do with your advancement.
• Working cooperatively with others toward goals that transcend personal interests is a powerful way of finding your true value and identity. 
• In your desire to be accepted by others, you adapt so much to the expectations of others that you lose touch with what you are feeling about the situation.
• Develop yourself by resisting doing what is acceptable just to be accepted.
• You must invest time in discovering your core values.

Color

• The color of the three is traffic-light yellow
• Yellow catches the eye; it strikes us as urgent, dynamic and eccentric
• It is radiant

Threes and Ones

Threes and Twos

Threes and Fours

• Threes and Fours can look similar as they have some characteristics in common.
• Both Threes and Fours focus their attention on how others perceive them.
• While Threes pay great attention to creating an image of success and achievement according to external standards in specific contexts, Fours focus on communicating an image based on their unique sense of what they think is important to express.
• Besides focusing on image, both styles belong to the heart triad and are oriented at a fundamental level to feelings and emotional connection.
• Although Threes and Fours are feelings-based styles, Threes tend to avoid emotion to accomplish tasks and get things done more easily. Fours tend to feel their emotions more regularly and can sometimes overidentify with their feelings.
• People of both styles can prioritize relationships and often prioritize approval and recognition.
• Threes and Fours can be intense, creative, hardworking, and competitive.
• Significant differences also exist between Threes and Fours.
• Threes focus on tasks, goals, and work, while Fours emphasize feelings, self-expression, and emotional connections with others.
• When Threes focus on tasks, they usually look for the shortest, most efficient, and fastest path to their goal, while Fours favor a more nonlinear, creative, organic approach to self-expression.
• Threes numb out their feelings to get things done, while Fours believe that all surfaces should be felt and authentically expressed.
• Threes pursue goals to achieve success as defined by the context or group. At the same time, Fours seek to manifest love and emotional depth ideals through creativity, relational connection, and authentic expression to feel special and unique.
• Threes orient themselves to what others define as successful, placing a high value on attaining the material signs of success like nice clothes and cars. At the same time, Fours puts more attention and emphasis on their internal sense of how they feel and what they value.
• Threes focus on specific goals and how to reach them.
• In contrast, Fours focus their attention on what is missing and needed in a given situation.
• When presenting themselves to others, Threes strive to match the image of whatever other people will think is most attractive or admirable, even if it means conforming to appear as something they’re not (and thus losing sight of who they are), while Fours value authentic self-expression.
• In doing this, Threes identify with an image of success (and an idealized self-image), often appearing genuinely confident and competent.
• Fours identify with a poor self-image and usually think they are flawed in some way.
• Threes focuses on competing, winning, and avoiding failure, while Fours focuses most on authentic connection, self-expression, and aesthetics.
• (Although the Sexual Four may be as competitive as a Three, they compete more out of a more emotional sense of trying to prove themselves worthy or superior, which is often motivated by anger or unconscious envy.)

Threes and Fives

• Threes and Fives have some similar characteristics.
• Both types value emotional control and avoid paying attention to their emotions.
• Threes numb out their feelings to prevent emotions from interfering with accomplishing tasks, achieving goals, and maintaining their image, while Fives habitually detach from their feelings and focus more on thinking and analyzing.
• Fives find comfort and safety in the mental realm, and Threes find comfort in doing and performing.
• From the point of view of others who might want to forge a close relationship with them, both Threes and Fives can, at times, seem unavailable and hard to connect with.
• Threes can seem inaccessible because they overidentify with their image and so may not be able to connect to and live from their real self, and Fives because they tend to withdraw from others to reduce uncomfortable and potentially taxing emotional entanglements.
• Related to this, both Threes and Fives value independence and self-sufficiency.
• Significant differences also exist between Threes and Fives.
• Threes tend to depend on others for approval and admiration. In contrast, Fives pride themselves on their independence and objectivity and don’t evaluate themselves based on others’ perceptions.
• Threes pays great attention to creating an image of success that others will admire to feel valued and worthwhile, while Fives do not focus on their image this way.
• In work situations, Threes are primarily oriented toward doing tasks and working toward goals, while Fives prioritize observing, thinking, analyzing, and developing knowledge.
• Threes expend a lot of energy on work—they spend whatever time it takes to achieve their chosen goals, even if it means working overtime—while Fives focus on conserving energy and avoiding tasks and relationships that will drain them of their energy.
• Fives have the sense that they have a limited amount of energy to expend and so engage in continual efforts to be economical when it comes to resources like time, energy, and effort.
• Threes, conversely, can be workaholics, often working without limit and even bringing work on vacations.
• Threes can also be highly competitive in different areas of their lives and can put great energy toward winning at all costs.
• Fives, who can at times seem aloof or above it all, can easily disengage from an effort if they conclude that it is not worth the expenditure of their energy and other resources.

Threes and Sixes

• Threes and Sixes have some traits in common.
• Threes and some Sixes, especially counterphobic, can be hardworking, assertive, and forward-moving.
• Both Threes and Sixes specialize in reading people, though they do this for different reasons.
• Threes scan their audience to determine what others value to create an image of themselves that others will see as successful and admirable.
• Sixes read people to answer an inner sense of threat and protect themselves by looking for hidden agendas and ulterior motives.
• Both styles can be personable and friendly, with Threes looking for approval from others and Sixes wanting to create safety through knowing who their allies are.
• Both can be practical and solution-focused, though Threes focuses on goals and finding the most efficient path to achieve the result. Sixes prioritize anticipating problems and dangers so they can prepare and find fixes proactively.
• Threes and Sixes also differ in specific ways.
• Threes focus on moving quickly and efficiently toward their goals, while Sixes can procrastinate for fear of doing it wrong or because they are looking for problems.
• Threes are skillful at matching an image of success and tend to appear confident in whatever they do, while Sixes can waver through doubting and questioning.
• Sixes can also become stuck in fear or paralyzed by overanalysis and imagining the worst-case scenario.
• When engaging in work tasks and their lives in general, Threes pay attention to doing whatever it takes to achieve success and like to be recognized for their achievements.
• Sixes usually fear success and so may tend to sabotage themselves (sometimes to avoid attracting the attention of others).
• Related to this, while Threes are action-oriented and success-oriented, Sixes often avoid taking action that might lead to success because they fear that success leads to exposure and exposure may lead to being attacked.
• Being very goal-oriented, Threes work toward goals without slowing down long enough to think about what might go wrong, while Sixes almost always think of what could go wrong, which makes them skilled troubleshooters—they naturally think about potential obstacles in the process of accomplishing a particular task so they can prepare and account for them.
• Finally, Threes can usually work well with authorities as long as they don’t interfere with Threes’ progress toward their goals. In contrast, Sixes tend to be suspicious of or rebellious toward authority figures, fearing they will use their power against them in unfair ways.

Threes and Sevens

• Threes and Sevens can be look-alike types, sharing many characteristics.
• Threes and Sevens both have a lot of energy, and they both work hard, especially on projects that they are interested in and invested in.
• Threes and Sevens can be charming, engaging, and attractive.
• Threes employ these qualities to gain people’s approval, admiration, and cooperation. Sevens use charm as a first line of defense, diffuse negativity, and create an upbeat, positive mood when interacting with others.
• Both Threes and Sevens are optimistic and confident about reaching goals, Threes because they want to create an image for others of achievement and success, and Sevens because they habitually view things in a positive light and believe in endless possibilities and opportunities as a way of avoiding difficult feelings.
• Related to this, both styles avoid negative feelings that might slow them down, Threes because difficult emotions interfere with doing and looking good, and Sevens because they fear becoming stuck in uncomfortable experiences, like anxiety or sadness.
• Some traits distinguish Threes from Sevens.
• Threes excel at focusing on and completing tasks, while Sevens can find it more challenging to maintain their focus and finish tasks because they tend to get distracted.
• Threes expend much effort cultivating their image and managing others’ perceptions of them. In contrast, Sevens don’t pay as much attention to gaining others’ approval through achieving a particular image.
• Furthermore, Threes tend to be other-oriented, relying on others’ approval and admiration to affirm their sense of themselves. At the same time, Sevens are self-referencing, meaning they focus more on their internal experience, needs, and desires than on whether or not others approve of them.
• Threes prioritize work, even sometimes bringing work on vacation.
• In contrast, Sevens prioritize pleasure, fun, and recreational experiences over work.
• Threes usually work well within authority structures and workplace limitations as long as they support their progress toward their goals. In contrast, Sevens dislike hierarchical structures and so equalize authority to avoid acknowledging any restrictions that might be put on them.
• Finally, Sevens often focus on planning for the future instead of paying attention to the present, while Threes tend to focus more on the present and what needs to be done today about the immediate tasks in front of them.

Threes and Eights

• Threes and Eights can look very similar, with several common characteristics.
• Threes and Eights are hardworking and energetic for work tasks.
• Both can also overwork, with Threes being driven to finish tasks and reach goals no matter how much effort and time it takes and Eights wanting to accomplish big things and being prone to forgetting their physical needs and limits.
• People of both types can feel and express anger when necessary, but they usually get angry for different reasons.
• Threes often express anger and impatience when others create obstacles between them and their goals, while Eights tend to express anger more frequently and about a more comprehensive array of issues, including when someone hurts someone they feel protective toward when someone impedes their forward progress generally when someone tells them what to do when someone is unfair or unjust, and when others injure them.
• Both Threes and Eights can be direct and assertive in moving tasks and projects forward, and both can be goal- or results-oriented.
• Both types can enjoy leadership positions, with Threes liking to have a say over how things go and appreciating the image-enhancing effects of achieving a high-status position within an authority structure. Eights want to be in control and have the power to set the agenda and move work forward.
• Both Threes and Eights can also have difficulty expressing vulnerable emotions.
• Threes habitually avoid their feelings because they can interfere with doing and progressing toward a goal. Eights deny vulnerable feelings to maintain a sense of strength, power, and control.
• People of both types may also see the expression of vulnerable feelings as a sign of weakness.
• Threes and Eights also differ in particular ways. Threes focus attention on cultivating an image of success to gain the admiration of others, while Eights do not pay much attention to their appearance and how people perceive them.
• Regarding motivation, Threes work to achieve goals and tasks in the service of achieving success and looking good to others. In contrast, Eights are motivated by a desire for power and control and the satisfaction of their physical needs.
• Regarding achieving goals, Threes excels at finding the most efficient way to reach their goals, while Eights can have difficulty knowing how much force to apply in a given situation to move closer to their goal.
• Related to this, Threes are skilled at ascertaining how they will impact others, while Eights have a blind spot concerning how they impact others.
• Threes can work within existing organizational structures if those do not impede their progress toward goals. In contrast, Eights can be rebellious toward authorities and want to break the rules if it suits their purposes.
• Eights value the truth but can have difficulty distinguishing between their truth and the objective truth.
• Threes are good at designing their “truth” according to an image they want to create to match the values of a specific audience.
• In other words, for Eights, truth is what they say it is, and for Threes, whose fixation is “deceit” or “self-deceit,” truth is relative and can be adapted to suit the circumstances.
• Finally, Eights usually know who they are—especially in terms of a general sense of their identity and power and strength—but Threes can be confused about their identity.
• Threes can believe they are their image and not realize that who they are—their true self—is different from the image they create.

Threes and Nines

• Threes and Nines share some characteristics.
• Threes and Nines are optimistic, upbeat, and likable.
• People of both types can be hardworking and practical, though Threes more regularly focus on working excessively hard.
• Threes and Nines also depend on external support for a sense of identity and direction.
• Threes read other people to see what they view as successful and then design their image to match that picture of success to gain the approval and admiration of others.
• Disliking conflict and lacking a clear sense of their inner agenda, Nines references others and then goes along with the wishes and wills of others to find direction and create harmony.
• In addition, both Threes and Nines can sometimes be hard to contact.
• Threes focus a great deal of attention on their lists of things-todo and identify strongly with their image.
• This can make it hard for them to be present and interpersonally aware of a real, solid sense of who they are.
• Similarly, Nines tend to forget themselves and merge with what others want to do to be in harmony with others and avoid conflict.
• Some of the time, however, Nines realize later that they didn’t want to go along with that plan, but they didn’t know it because they tend not to know what they want.
• There are also some critical differences between Threes and Nines.
• On a basic level, Threes focus on accomplishing tasks and reaching goals; conversely, Nines focus more on maintaining comfort and harmony.
• Threes are fast-paced, decisive, and forward-moving.
• Nines move slower and tend to sit on the fence.
• Threes are very work-oriented and can often be workaholics.
• While some Nines can be very hardworking (especially Social Nines), many Nines can have a harder time accomplishing things. They can become caught up in inertia, paralyzed by indecision, or distracted by less essential tasks.
• Threes usually focus very keenly on their goals until they achieve them; in contrast, Nines tend to become easily distracted from their priorities, as their attention tends to get pulled away from their goals and toward supporting others’ goals and agendas.
• Threes can engage in conflict if necessary, especially removing an obstacle to their forward momentum, while Nines usually take great pains to avoid conflict.
• Nines like to stay comfortable, and they tend to avoid moving out of their comfort zone to accomplish tasks they might view as disturbing their peace, like expressing solid opinions in public or confronting someone about something they did incorrectly.
• In contrast, Threes will more readily endure discomfort if it serves their progress toward their goal.
• Finally, Nines have a strong dislike for being the center of attention, while most Threes enjoy being in the spotlight and may even actively seek out situations in which others notice them.

Career Advice

• They can make excellent Politicians, Sales People, Motivational Speakers, Actors, and Entrepreneurs.
• Truly, they can succeed at any enterprise they put their total effort into.
• They are hardworking, goal-oriented, organized, and decisive.
• They are frequently in management or leadership positions in business, law, banking, the computer field, and politics.
• Being in the public eye, as broadcasters and performers, is also common.
• The more helping-oriented threes tend to go into teaching, social services, or health.
• They also become homemakers who put tremendous energy into their responsibilities.