Growing as an Enneagram Three: The AchieverSample

Being Motivated by Worth

As a Three, your main motivation is worth—to have self-worth or add worth or value to the world around you. All Threes want to prove to themselves and others that they add value to the world; this is, in essence, what makes you a type Three.

This unquenchable thirst for value or worth often leads Threes to shed their quirks, becoming more approachable to others to become likable, successful, or even valuable as they try to make an impact. Each Three’s gauge of what success looks like will be different, but the drive to achieve whatever they view as success can be found in all Threes. This is why you might look very different from the other Threes in your life, or how type Threes are described in general.

Some Threes view their worth as being tied to their profession—they want to be the best and excel in their careers. Others want their garden to be the envy of the neighborhood. Still, others will find success and worth in relationships.

Having a Two wing will usually make your success more relationship-focused, while a Four wing will make you want to pursue unique things or be successful in a singular way.

In a Three’s mind, success is equal to worth and value. The momentary high you gain from earning praise is difficult to beat, and when what you do determines your worth, you’re often highly motivated. This is why Threes are often successful in their fields; they have to be, as their identity depends on it. This can look great from the outside, but when you give so much power to what others define as success or achievement, it can cause burnout, depression, and spiritual atrophy on the inside.

Jesus was not a very successful or impressive man by worldly standards, and that certainly didn’t matter. It’s not that He couldn’t have been powerful or wealthy; in fact, people were basically begging Him to become king, and Satan even tempted Him in the desert with power on earth. But Jesus’s eyes were firmly fixed on His Father, and the approval of man couldn’t touch His identity as the Son of God.