Can Your Core Type Change?

There are two schools of thought when it comes to how you become your Enneagram type. One is that you are born your type; the other is that you pick up your type as a response to wounds in childhood. I personally believe it’s a mixture of these. I believe you are born your type, and troubling experiences you had as a child either cement that type or they change it. 

Either way, as an adult, your core type will not change. You can’t return to your past and erase any words or actions that hurt you when you were young. You cannot change your core Enneagram number. 

However, there are several reasons why we may feel like our personality changes, including: 

• A change in wings, the number on either side of your core type that adds flavor to your personality 
• A season of stress or growth 
• A subtype change 
• Growing in your type 
• Regressing in your type 
• Being influenced into behaviors of other types 
• Shifts in culture 
• God’s changing work in your life