Understanding the "Enthusiast" Enneagram 7 Personality Type

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Enneagram Type Seven People are Busy and Fun-Loving

Basic Desire – To be satisfied and content—to fulfill their needs.

Key Motivation – To be happy and confident through many experiences.

Virtue – Sober joy (sobriety)

Ego fixation – Planning

Color – Green

Key Characteristics

Spontaneous
Versatile
Distractible
Scattered

Focus of Attention

Sevens avoid unpleasant feelings by focusing on what feels pleasant and keeping the mood upbeat to reframe negatives into positives.
Fear of being trapped in discomfort fuels quick thinking, creative problem-solving, and a focus on positive future possibilities.

Passion – Gluttony

While we commonly think of gluttony in connection with food and overeating,
In the Enneagram language, gluttony is a passion for pleasure and a desire for more—an excessive indulgence in consuming whatever brings joy.

Core Wounds

You feel deprived and frustrated.
You feel limited nurturing.
You feel an inner emptiness.
You fear that there will not be enough.
You believe the source of satisfaction is outside yourself and need to find it yourself.

Red Flags

Compulsive behavior.
Fixation on upcoming events.
Scattered activity.
They avoid work or responsibilities.

Addictions

Seven’s are most prone to addictions: stimulants (caffeine, cocaine, and amphetamines), ecstasy, psychotropics, narcotics, and alcohol, but tend to avoid other depressants.
Wear your body out with the effort to stay “up.”
Excessive cosmetic surgery, painkillers.

Center of Intelligence

Fear – The Head / Thinking Triad

Internalizes, or experiences, their fear inwardly.
The outside world is fun, but there are dragons inside.
Sevens flee from the inner world and gorge on the outer world of pleasures and possibilities.
They tend to be versatile, acquisitive, spontaneous, and scattered—a total blast to be around—but tricky to pin down.

Fear – of deprivation and pain.

Sevens strive to achieve their wildest desires and find fulfillment.
Their pervasive, underlying fear is that others will not meet their needs and desires, so they must pursue them themselves.
They constantly aim to move away from pain, sadness, and helplessness and towards independence, happiness, and fulfillment.

Traits

Sevens are extraverted, optimistic, versatile, spontaneous, playful, high-spirited, and practical.

They are enthusiastic about almost everything that catches their attention but often have problems with impulsiveness.

Their thinking is anticipatory: they foresee events and generate ideas “on the fly,” favoring activities that stimulate your mind, which causes more things to do and think about.

Sevens are not necessarily intellectual or studious by any standard definition, although they are often intelligent and can be widely read and highly verbal.

Their mind rushes from one idea to the next, making them gifted at brainstorming and synthesizing information.

They cope with this anxiety in two ways:

First, they try to keep their minds busy all the time. As long as they can keep their minds occupied, especially with projects and positive ideas for the future, they can, to some extent, keep anxiety and negative feelings out of conscious awareness.

Likewise, activity stimulates thinking, so they are compelled to stay on the go, moving from one experience to the next, searching for more stimulation.

This is not to say that they are “spinning their wheels.” On the contrary, they generally enjoy being practical and getting things done.

Second, they cope with the loss of essential guidance by using “trial and error”: they try everything to ensure they know what is best.

On an intense level, they cannot find what you want. Therefore, they tend to try everything and may even resort to anything as a substitute for what they are looking for: “If I can’t have what will satisfy me, I’ll enjoy myself anyway. I’ll have all kinds of experiences—that way, I will not feel bad about not getting what I want.”

Sevens can see this in action even in the most trivial areas of their daily life. Unable to decide whether they want vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry ice cream, they will enjoy all three flavors to ensure you don’t miss out on the “right” choice.

Having two weeks for a vacation and a desire to visit Europe brings a similar plight. Which countries and cities to visit? Which sites to see?

Their solution will be to pack as many different countries, cities, and attractions into his vacation as possible.

While they are scrambling after exciting experiences, the real object of their heart’s desire (their personal Rosebud, as it were) may be so deeply buried in their unconscious that they are unaware of precisely what it is.

Furthermore, they speed up your pursuit of whatever seems to offer freedom and satisfaction, they tend to make worse choices, and they are less able to be satisfied because everything is experienced indirectly through the dense filter of their fast-paced mental activity.

Sevens become anxious, frustrated, and enraged, with fewer resources available to them physically, emotionally, or financially. They may ruin your health, relationships, and finances in your search for happiness.

On the positive side, however, they are highly optimistic—exuberant and upbeat.

Sevens are endowed with abundant vitality and a desire to participate fully in daily life. They are naturally cheerful and good-humored, not taking themselves too seriously.

When Healthy	When Unhealthy
Fun-loving Spontaneous Imaginative Productive Enthusiastic Quick Confident Charming Curious	Narcissistic Impulsive Unfocused Rebellious Undisciplined Possessive Manic Self-destructive Restless

Patterns

Thinking and Feeling Patterns

Sevens have quick, synthesizing minds, finding links between the commonalities in different subjects and making rapid mental associations.
Emotionally, Sevens likes happy emotions and dislikes feeling fear, anxiety, sadness, boredom, pain, or discomfort.
Their attitude is, “Why do you feel pain if you can feel happy instead?”

Behavior Patterns

Sevens are energetic, fast-paced, innovative, and active.
They usually have many exciting activities they enthusiastically pursue.
Sevens like planning and maintaining many options to keep their mood up and shift to the most pleasant option if one plan becomes undesirable or untenable.

Arrows

When secure, Sevens move towards the positive side of Type 5 – The Investigator.

Become quieter and more introspective.
Explore subjects in depth.
Value wisdom and self-discipline.
They accept the polarities of life [good and evil, happy and sad].
Become more severe and are taken more seriously.
Get in touch with fears.

When stressed, Sevens move towards the negative side of Type 1 – The Reformer.

Cynical and hypercritical.
Judgmental towards self and others.
Think in terms of black and white.
Blame others for preventing them from having fun.
Obsess an idea or project.
Feel low-level and pervasive irritability.

Wings

Wings add flavor to your personality. Every Enneagram personality type can have either of the two types next to them as their wing.

Type Seven can have a wing Six (Enneagram 7w6) or a wing Eight (Enneagram 7w8).

Enneagram 7w6

On the one hand, Seven is spontaneous, looking for new and exciting experiences in their environment, and quite capable of caring for their needs.

On the other hand, Type 6—The Loyalist is focused and dependent on people to provide them with security, steady and consistent, and quietly good-natured.

So what happens if you add the latter as a wing to the former? You probably get the most friendly and outgoing combination of all types.

These people tremendously enjoy encountering and interacting with people; often, the more, the better.

These Sevens inherit many other great things from their Six Wings, such as discipline, organizational skills, and generosity.

They often become incredibly productive because of their high energy levels and their wing’s steadiness and foresight.

When Healthy	When Unhealthy
They are the most gregarious and outgoing of all the sub-types. They enjoy encountering and interacting with others. They believe in the goodness of life, are highly creative, and are entertaining. They use optimism to connect with others.	They can become nervous and flighty. They can become defensive. They can become impulsive. They can become anxious. They can become insensitive. They can become demanding of others.

Enneagram 7w8

Combining the outgoing Seven type with the strong-willed Type 8 – The Challenger type produces a personality that can only be described as pretty aggressive – in all the good and bad aspects of the phrase.

Taking the assertiveness, the strength of ego, and the will to dominate from the Eight wings, these Sevens are very determined (and capable) to get what they want – and as we know, Sevens have broad tastes.

Sevens with an eight wing are not as concerned with relationships as their counterparts with a six wing; they are more focused on their own experiences and not necessarily on who’s along for the ride.

This combination produces some pretty powerful and often very materially successful people, though they remain their fundamentally playful Seven selves.

When Healthy	When Unhealthy
They are goal-oriented, pragmatic, and ambitious. They are exuberant, enthusiastic, and self-confident. They can overcome obstacles and endure hardships. They can rapidly reorganize internal and external resources to pursue something they want.	They can become antisocial. They can become depleted physically. They can become emotional and financial resources. They engage in risky behaviors. They can become ruthless in their pursuits.

Relationships

When Healthy	When Unhealthy
They are lighthearted, generous, outgoing, caring and fun. They introduce your friends and loved ones to new activities and adventures.	They are often ambivalent about being tied to a relationship and narcissistic. They can become opinionated and defensive.

Styles

Interpersonal Coping Style

Assertive – Take action on as many ideas as possible while avoiding feelings.

Conflict Style

Positive – Put a positive spin on adversity + conflict, become impatient with others they perceive as needy.

Sub-types

Self-Preservation Subtype – Keepers of the Castle

Seven is a great networker, gathering a ‘family’ of close supporters and motivated by wanting the best for everyone.
They love the good things in life.
Sevens may risk becoming self-interested and pleasure-seeking.
This subtype is generally good at getting what they need to have fun and feel safe but may also be good at rationalizing and defending whatever they want to do.
Sevens express gluttony by making alliances and creating opportunities to gain an advantage.
Pragmatic and self-interested, these Sevens find safety through networking and being alert to opportunities that support their survival.
“Keepers of the Castle” refers to establishing a partisan network of allies to create safety and satisfy their needs.
Cheerful and amiable, they love pleasure and tend to get what they want.

This Seven acts against the gluttony that characterizes the Seven, tending to mistype with Enneagram 2.
Sevens have a tremendous and strong desire to be of service and to create a better world.
They will sacrifice their own needs to serve the needs of a group or person they support.
Sevens can be judgmental regarding selfishness in themselves or others and hope to be appreciated for their sacrifice.
Social Sevens go against gluttony as the countertype through conscientious efforts to serve others.
Conscious of wanting to avoid exploiting others, they need to be good and pure and sacrifice their own needs to support the needs of others.
Sevens are passionate about being seen as suitable for sacrificing their desires.
They express an ascetic ideal and make a virtue of getting by on little.
Sevens say idealism and enthusiasm are ways of making themselves feel active and valued in the world.

One-to-One Subtype – Fascination / Suggestibility

The dreamer, the idealist, the romantic… this Seven sees reality through a rose-colored filter, connected to possibility in everything.
Their enthusiasm and optimism may seem unrealistic or naive as they believe in the good in everything and everyone.
Sevens want the world to be more than dreary and dull, may embellish reality, and dislike relationships that have become boring and predictable.
They express gluttony through a need to imagine something better than ordinary reality.
Gluttons for things of a higher world. They are romantic dreamers with a passion for living in their imaginations.
Sevens look at things with the optimism of someone in love; they see the world through rose-colored glasses.
“Suggestibility” refers to being somewhat naive and easy to hypnotize.
Lighthearted and enthusiastic, they focus on exciting possibilities and pleasurable fantasies and believe they can do everything.

Type Comparisons

Type 7 and Type 1

Ones and Sevens have similar styles in many ways.
Both Ones and Sevens are quality-oriented, with Ones displaying this in their attention to attaining high standards in their work and other activities, and Sevens seeking to experience the best of everything, especially recreationally.
Ones and Sevens are both idealistic and visionary.
One wants things to be perfect and works hard to make something fit an internally generated sense of the ideal.
Sevens are optimistic about denying negative feelings and realities and think a lot about future possibilities.
Both Ones and Sevens have a lot of energy.
Ones apply themselves diligently to everything they do, and Sevens dedicate themselves fully to the many activities that interest them.
While both styles can be perfectionistic, Ones are generally more consistently concerned with perfection than Sevens, who can let go of the effort to “do it right” if it becomes too onerous.
Both intellectual and analytical, Ones and Sevens like problem-solving.
Finally, both Ones and Sevens are sensitive to criticism, though the One is likelier to show it than the Seven.
One big difference between Ones and Sevens is that work has to come before play. For Ones and Sevens, planning for sports and engaging in pleasurable activities is more primary.
It’s not that work isn’t essential to Sevens, as Sevens can be very dedicated to their job.
Still, they may approach their job duties by doing work as an enjoyable activity rather than a responsibility.
Although Ones are romantic, they can seem less than optimal because they look for ways to improve things, while Sevens are relentlessly optimistic.
Ones like structure and can work within prescribed limits, while Sevens dislike limitations and may have a more challenging time constraining organizational structure elements.
For instance, Sevens are uncomfortable within a hierarchy and tend to equalize authority, while Ones work well within a defined authority structure.
Further, Ones excel at managing the details of projects and tasks, while Sevens find this kind of work tedious.
Because One naturally pays attention to errors that need correcting, they can seem to the seven to focus too much on the negative. Sevens always want to focus on the positive aspects of things.
Interpersonally, One can, at times, be critical or inflexible.
Still, they are firmly committed to self-improvement, will listen to others’ feedback, and dedicate themselves to working on relationships.
Sevens bring positive energy and fun to relationships but can feel challenged if difficulties must be addressed and worked through with others.

Type 7 and Type 2

Twos and Sevens can look alike.
They both tend to be upbeat, energetic, and fun-loving.
Twos and Sevens tend to be optimistic because they want people to like them (and know they like happy people).
Sevens because they like to be happy and not sad, as they can experience “negative” emotions as threatening and anxiety-provoking.
Twos and Sevens have hedonistic tendencies; both like to have a good time and experience pleasure.
However, the aims behind their pleasure-seeking differ.
Twos want positive experiences with others to build and enjoy relationships and as a way to indulge (or overindulge) themselves in response to deeper feelings of need deprivation.
Sevens habitually seek pleasure as a defensive way of avoiding less positive experiences, including feelings of discomfort, pain, or anxiety.
People of both styles enjoy relating to others.
There are also significant differences between Twos and Sevens.
Twos pay great attention to other people, focusing on their moods and needs to align with them and create positive connections.
In contrast, Sevens focus more on their own needs and wishes, seeking fulfillment of their desires to avert or distract themselves from more negative experiences.
In addition, Twos will often adapt to others and abandon their needs to strengthen their bonds with others. At the same time, Sevens do what they want to do and do not often give up what they need to please someone else (though the Social Seven is an exception to this).
In relating to others, Twos also actively manages their image to attract others by being what they think they want them to be, while Sevens does not focus as much on interpersonal interactions regarding how people perceive their image.
On a fundamental level, Twos are motivated by pleasing others; Sevens are motivated by pleasing themselves.
Twos tend to be more feeling-oriented, having regular contact with their emotions, while Sevens are more mental and more oriented to thinking.
Sevens can have difficulty focusing when completing a task, especially if the job is tedious.
In contrast, Twos have an easier time focusing on completing a job, especially if what they are doing is, in some ways, being seen and evaluated by others.
Sevens like to have many options, and they can feel limited if they don’t, while Twos don’t necessarily need or want more options, as having many choices can make it more difficult for Twos to decide (because they often don’t know what they need).
Social Sevens can look more like Twos than the other two Seven subtypes because Social Sevens are more oriented toward serving others.
Social Sevens may be confused with Twos because, in addition to the commonality of being people-oriented, Social Sevens will sacrifice their own needs, similar to Twos’ style, to support the group’s needs.
This habit of being conscious of the group and what others might need can make the Social Sevens seem like the friendly, outgoing, generous Twos.
However, despite the Social Sevens’ tendency to give or sacrifice their self-interest more than the others, they can still be distinguished from Twos by their knowledge of their needs and wants and movement to avoid complicated feelings.

Type 7 and Type 3

Threes and Sevens can be look-alike types, sharing many characteristics.
Threes and Sevens are energetic and work hard, especially on projects 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.
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 positively and believe in endless possibilities and opportunities to avoid complicated 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 vision.
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 forward 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.

Type 7 and Type 4

Fours and Sevens share some traits that can make them look alike.
Both types are very romantic, with Fours focusing on ideals of love and connection and Sevens focusing more on envisioning the model on a broader array of imaginative realms.
Most notably, Fours and Sevens appreciate and seek out intense and stimulating experiences.
Fours do this because they live from their feelings, appreciate the rich experience of deeply felt emotion and passionate connections with other people, and dislike the mundane experience.
Sevens pursue intensity and stimulation because they want to keep their mood up and their experiences fun and cheerful to move away from less optimistic, less intense, potentially empty, dull, or unpleasant alternatives.
Both types have an aversion to the day, the mundane, and the ordinary, finding this realm of experience potentially empty and thus dull or even anxiety-producing.
Both Fours and Sevens value creativity and self-expression. Fours want to be seen and understood as special and unique and appreciate aesthetics and artistry, and Sevens are natural visionaries who imagine varied future possibilities, have many interests and ideas, and enjoy the vital and exciting aspects of creative expression.
In relating to others, both Fours and Sevens are self-referencing; that is, they focus more on their own experience instead of focusing primarily on others.
When Fours pay attention to their own experience, they usually do so emotionally, focusing on their feelings and moods.
When Sevens focus on themselves, however, they often focus on their thoughts, plans, and desires for amusement and pleasurable experiences.
They look to the outside world for entertainment opportunities.
Both Fours and Sevens can also be sensitive to criticism, with Fours feeling criticism as an extra blow to their already diminished sense of themselves as not good enough, and Sevens experiencing it as a hurtful interruption of their youthful desire to focus on what’s positive.
Fours and Sevens also differ in specific ways.
Although both styles are romantic, Sevens tend to be relentlessly optimistic.
Conversely, fours can be somewhat pessimistic, especially to the outside observer, as Fours draws attention to what is missing.
Also, Fours and Sevens have very different profiles regarding their experience of feelings.
Sevens tend to focus on and dwell in positive feelings and naturally have a very upbeat and happy temperament.
Connected to this, Sevens can struggle with more complex emotions, such as sadness or discomfort.
On the other hand, Fours are more comfortable with a wide range of emotions and tend to feel darker feelings like disappointment or melancholy more regularly and comfortably.
Similarly, Sevens often reframe negatives into positives, while Fours can feel irritated when people tell them to “look on the bright side.”
Instead, fours tend to focus on what is missing or unavailable that they would like to have or be, making them more aware of the negative side of situations, issues, and relationships.
Four’s comfort with feelings makes them good supporters of others experiencing difficulties, while Sevens have a more challenging time being with and empathizing with others in pain.
Dealing with suffering challenges sevens, but they also feel much more comfortable and at ease and focus on positive feelings.
Conversely, Fours can find richness in suffering and see it as a natural and valuable part of the human experience.
Furthermore, Fours seeks deep connections with others based on sharing authentic feelings. In contrast, Sevens can feel hesitant about making commitments and exploring relationships on a deep emotional level because they dislike feeling limited and tend to move away from engaging too profoundly with others sometimes.
Lastly, Fours values authenticity and depth, while Sevens prioritizes charm and a positive, fun-loving presentation (which Fours can find superficial or insincere).

Type 7 and Type 5

Fives and Sevens have several characteristics in common.
Fives and Sevens are mental types, “living” most of the time in their heads (or their thinking function), though they do it differently.
Believing knowledge is power, Fives think about gathering and classifying information, and Sevens think about planning, interrelating, and interconnecting ideas.
Sevens have a nonlinear way of thinking that gives them a talent for finding connections and parallels between different things.
At the same time, Fives prioritize collecting and classifying information, especially about topics they are intensely interested in.
Furthermore, both Sevens and Fives have active imaginations and sincerely enjoy learning new things and pursuing intellectual interests.
Fives and Sevens both guard against becoming too committed in social interactions, Fives because they fear being drained by others’ needs, and Sevens because they like to have many options and dislike feeling limited.
In addition, people of both styles intellectualize; they avoid feelings by going into thinking and analysis and detaching from emotions.
There are also apparent differences between Fives and Sevens.
Sevens live in the future much of the time, in fantasies and plans about pleasurable activities yet to happen, while Fives don’t live in the future or think in terms of planning and play in this same way.
Sevens are relentlessly positive, habitually and automatically reframing negatives into positives, while Fives tend to be more removed and objective in their analysis of situations and events.
Sevens focus attention on having multiple options and limitless opportunities. In contrast, Fives focuses on how to conserve energy and do what they have to do most economically, given their perception that their resources are limited.
They feel at risk of being depleted.
Sevens have difficulty making commitments because having others depend on them makes them feel constrained, limited, and uncomfortable.
Fives are more able to make commitments precisely because they are so good at protecting their private space and pushing boundaries.
While Sevens are often very socially active and gregarious, Fives tend to make social promises much more carefully and to a minimal number of people.
Sevens actively seek excitement and stimulation to avoid frustration, discomfort, and sadness when it comes to feelings.
In contrast, Fives merely detach from emotions, automatically letting them go and focusing instead on thoughts and ideas.
Sevens unconsciously deal with their fear and anxiety by charming and disarming others.
Fives detach and withdraw from others to avoid interactions that might feel intrusive or inspire complicated feelings.

Type 7 and Type 6

Sixes and Sevens have some traits in common.
Both are mental types and primarily thinking-oriented, though they think differently about different topics.
Sevens focus on planning future activities, new and exciting ideas, and interrelating and synthesizing information.
Sixes think about what might go wrong to prepare for it proactively, and they also believe in contrarian terms, questioning ideas and opinions they hear from others to find what’s true or solve problems.
Sixes and Sevens are both quick thinkers but have good imaginations. Sixes tend to imagine worst-case scenarios, while Sevens imagine highly positive ones.
Both types are “fear types,” though they may or may not know their fear.
People of both types can get caught up in thinking too much and not move into action, with Sixes becoming caught up in doubt and Sevens being distracted by new ideas and multiple options or not wanting to commit to (or be limited by) a specific course of action.
Sixes and Sevens also differ in specific ways.
Sevens tend to be very optimistic. At the same time, Sixes, who usually describe themselves as realistic, may look more pessimistic to outside observers when they draw attention to problems or threatening or damaging possibilities.
Sevens have a sunny outlook and frame situations in favorable terms, while Sixes tend to focus on what might go wrong so they can prepare for potential problems.
Sevens and Sixes have different styles of managing fears or concerns.
Sevens move toward the source of fear with charm and pleasantries to disarm the ominous threat with soft power, while Sixes tend to be vigilant and watchful to see the danger coming ahead of time so they can prepare to meet it.
Counterphobic Sixes tend to move toward threatening situations with strength. In contrast, phobic Sixes withdraw from them, and Social Sixes obey one kind of authority or another to cope with anxiety.
Sevens focus on positive possibilities and exciting and fun things to do—they want to maintain good feelings and avoid pain and discomfort.
Sixes can hardly avoid pain and discomfort as they focus on self-doubting, questioning ideas and seeming realities, and detecting potential dangers.
Sixes look for certainty and rarely, if ever, find it, or find it and hang on to it.
Sevens are playful and adventurous, while Sixes are careful and strategic.
Sevens plan for fun, while Sixes prepare to deal with problems.
Sevens sees endless possibilities for exciting activities in an unconscious effort to keep a safe distance from anxiety and discomfort, while Sixes seeks problems to solve to feel secure.
Sixes tend to have problems with authorities—they can be questioning and suspicious of charges and also rebellious and challenging tasks—while Sevens equalize authority and deny hierarchical power relationships, seeing themselves as being on the same level and friendly with superiors and subordinates.
Sevens expect success and have a confident presentation, while Sixes expect things to go wrong and may have a worried, even paranoid expression.
Sevens have difficulty with commitments, as they fear limits, while Sixes are very loyal, dedicated, and committed once they trust someone or something.

Type 7 and Type 8

Sevens and Eights can look alike.
Both types tend to be visionary thinkers, able to see the big picture and future possibilities.
Both can engage in conflict if necessary, though some Sevens feel more comfortable with confrontation than others.
Sevens and Eights can be uninhibited, indulgent, and excessive when seeking pleasure.
Both styles appreciate intense and stimulating experiences.
In interpersonal interactions, Sevens and Eights dislike being limited or controlled by others.
Individuals of both styles can be rebellious, though Eights will rebel more openly in a straightforward fashion, and Sevens prefer a charm-based, diplomatic approach.
Eights believes the best defense is a good offense.
Sevens oppose potential limitation through soft power and the maintenance of multiple options, with charm as a first line of defense.
Both Sevens and Eights will break the rules if it suits their purposes, and both types can take on a great deal of work and overbook themselves.
For Sevens, overbooking represents a difficulty with saying no to exciting possibilities and engaging activities.
For Eights, overworking can reflect a tendency to want to do everything and forget their physical needs and vulnerability.
Both Eights and Sevens avoid or deny softer, more vulnerable emotions, with Eights regularly denying their vulnerability and Sevens avoiding pain and discomfort.
Significant differences also exist between Sevens and Eights.
While the Eight can be rebellious when someone has authority over them, they can also work with a good source they respect and enjoy being the leader.
In contrast, Sevens equalize authority, make friends with bosses and subordinates, and deny a vertical power structure that might constrain them.
Regarding where their attention goes, Eights focuses on power and control, while Sevens concentrates on planning and play.
While both types have access to their anger, Eights are more likely than Sevens to express rage.
Eights are direct and like to move things forward strongly and forcefully.
Sevens can have difficulty focusing on work tasks and get distracted, especially when the work is tedious or routine.
Eights like to make an order and push projects forward quickly and effectively to their conclusion.
At the same time, Sevens prefer the idea stage to the implementation stage and can have problems following through.
Sevens intellectualize to escape from feeling into thinking, finding complicated feelings uncomfortable, while Eights move into action without thinking things through.
Eights also deny softer feelings or project them onto those they perceive as weaker and then seek to protect.
And finally, when analyzing or evaluating a situation, Sevens reframe negatives into positives.
But, at the same time, Eights aren’t afraid of seeing and dealing with the “negatives” and tend to see issues in terms of “all or nothing” or “black and white” polarities.

Type 7 and Type 9

Sevens and Nines can look alike because they share some common traits.
Both have friendly, optimistic dispositions.
When interacting with others, both have personable, affable styles and like to be around people.
Wanting to be liked, both Sevens and Nines tend to act in ways that make it easy for other people to enjoy them.
Both like to keep things positive and avoid conflict if possible, though many Sevens can do battle if necessary, and most Nines would prefer not to.
Both Sevens and Nines can have difficulty focusing clearly on the job when performing tasks.
Sevens are typically distracted by more exciting things to do and think about.
On the other hand, nines are frequently distracted by others’ agendas and inessential tasks.
Sevens and Nines also differ in several respects.
While both styles are concerned with avoiding uncomfortable feelings, Sevens pursue excitement, self-indulgent activities, and fun things to prevent discomfort. In contrast, Nines neglect themselves and forget their opinions and desires to avoid experiencing anger and pain.
Sevens are fast-paced, high-energy characters, while Nines operate more relaxed, often experiencing inertia and indecision related to decisions and tasks.
When interacting with others, Sevens are self-referencing, focusing their attention mainly on their agenda; in contrast, Nines are other-referencing, paying attention primarily to others and not having a clear or direct experience of their desires.
Nines merge with others and go along with other people’s agendas.
At the same time, Sevens have a clear agenda that usually takes priority over other people’s plans when there is a conflict between them.
It’s usually easy for Sevens to know what they want, while it’s difficult for Nines to know what they want.
For a Nine, it’s easier to know what they don’t want than what they do want.
Nines typically don’t state their preferences—which they often don’t know—and can resent others whose agendas they passively follow when they defer their own, even though they don’t want to.
Sevens have their agendas and don’t let other people deter them from the things they want to do.

Enneagram Type 7 Careers

They can be excellent Comedians, Entertainers, Corporate Visionaries, Physical Therapists, Counselors, and Athletes.
They excel in occupations that require optimism, enthusiasm, and a quick mind.
Many sevens have several careers at once or jobs that require frequent travel: Pilots, Flight attendants, and Photographers.

Enneagram Type 7 Personality Type Cross-reference

Enneagram 7 correlates strongly with EP-dominant extraverted intuition (ENFP, ENTP) and dominant extraverted sensing (ESFP, ESTP).