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Dear Beautiful, Amazing You,
Have you seen yourself reflected in the motivations we’ve been discussing? Have you noticed how while you are more than your type, you might be driven by desire, run by fear, and manipulated by longing? Have you taken time to pause and inquire within how the type you lead with might be leading you instead?
I hope so, because the more you observe, the more you can choose your actions, thoughts, and feelings with more freedom and clarity. And the journey is not over yet. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of this map – there are so many more mile markers to guide you on your path to living freely as one who is fully known and fully loved.
Today we’re talking about something that is observable and actionable this very second. Meet the Focus of Attention.
The idea here is that our attention naturally follows a pattern and has a place it repeatedly returns to when not specifically directed.
As conscious, sentient beings, our attention is everything. Ideally, we attend to what is important, to what truly matters, to what we care about. But there are literally millions of data points and sensory experiences vying for our attention every day and our brains are overloaded and tired. The type structure recognizes this and attempts to make this easier. It forms a path of least resistance and sends our attention in that direction. This direction becomes habitual and begins to feel like “the most important thing.” The Focus of Attention serves our motivations because it seeks out information connected to our desires, fears, and longings, and filters everything else out.
And it works. Until it doesn’t.
Helen Palmer teaches, “Energy follows attention.” Where we place our attention is where our energy goes as well. We define what is important to us by focusing on it and then we solidify its importance by acting on it.
What’s tricky here is that where we focus our attention isn’t always what’s truly important to us. Because it is so habitual, it can make us feel alive and “in the zone” when our energy goes this way. But this habit can also become a blind spot as it shuts out experiences and opportunities that don’t make it through the filter. And like any strength overplayed, it can become a liability when tension arises between habitual focus and true priority.
Suddenly we find this constant habit of attention exhausting, and yet it relentlessly pushes us forward.
You are more than your focus of attention, but it will direct your energy if you aren’t consciously attending to it.
Pause a second. Where has your attention been going? When you aren’t intentionally placing it somewhere, what do you consistently come back to? What do you wake up thinking about? When someone interrupts your “zone,” where are you pulled from? What have been the consequences of your attention directing your energy?
Our Focus of Attention is a gift that allows us to share a different viewpoint. Not everyone sees what you see, and your contribution of perspective can be a superpower. It can be a place we gather energy as well as expend it. That path of least resistance allows you to hold onto more energy rather than exert too much effort, and any experience that makes you come alive only adds to the store of energy.
We need to be aware of how our habitual focus of attention might be depriving us of the very freedom we desire and blocking others from the opportunity to fully know and love us as we truly are.
And honestly, this is a freeing thought, because when we remember that we’re all drawn to focus on something and our energies are simply following, we can extend extra compassion and grace to ourselves and others. We can catch ourselves in the moment of automatic habit and choose to place our attention on what (and who) we care about. We can choose to take off the blinders and find life in all the spaces we typically ignore.
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Focus of Attention (that energizes and exhausts us) by Enneagram Type
One: “What’s wrong? What’s incorrect?” Energized and exhausted by making things better.
Two: “What do you need? How can I help?” Energized and exhausted by meeting the needs of others.
Three: “What needs to get done? What can I do?” Energized and exhausted by tasks and goals.
Four: “What’s missing? What does it mean?” Energized and exhausted by creating or finding meaning.
Five: “What are the facts? What don’t I know?” Energized and exhausted by gathering and protecting resources and information.
Six: “What could go wrong? What am I missing?” Energized and exhausted by testing and preparation.
Seven: “What’s next? What’s new and exciting?” Energized and exhausted by distraction and living life to the full.
Eight: “Who’s in control? Where’s the justice?” Energized and exhausted by taking action.
Nine: “What do you want? What’s going on here?” Energized and exhausted by maintaining peace with others and comfort in the external environment.
There are so many tactics and strategies that these foci of attention generate. While you may not see your focus of attention exercised in the same way another person of your type, it will always come back to a focus on __________ in order to serve our motivations.
Keep observing. Keep asking why. And then ask yourself, “Is this really what it will take for me to be fully known and fully loved?” The more we sit with it, the more we feel the Focus of Attention’s grip loosen.
One step closer to freedom.
