If you´ve been following this blog for some time, you will have seen me using IT related concepts every now and then. This is partially due to my professional bias: it´s a world that I´m pretty familiar with, having studied Computer Engineering at college, and having worked for many years as a software developer and systems analyst.
But also, I believe that comparing the human mind with a computer (or a mobile phone, which is probably easier to understand) is a really useful metaphor, keeping in mind the differences, of course.
A couple of years ago I wrote a post talking about the concept of version history, which is used for applications and operating systems, and how it can be applied to people as a self reflection exercise that can turn out to be really interesting. It helps us to realize how much we have changed along the years, and above all and most importantly, it reminds us of everything we have achieved.
And the best part is that we can keep it up to date as we overcome new challenges and achieve new goals (my updated version history is available in the about page).
Today I´m adding a new version, one that I feel really proud of: during the past few months, I´ve been training in enneagram, a tool for studying human personality that I´ve found simply amazing; and one that´s been incredibly helpful in getting me to understand myself much better and begin to understand others as well. It´s a very interesting and practical tool, it fits well as a complement to other self-discovery and personal development disciplines, and it can also be applied to a workplace environment. What attracted me, in particular, was its potential in combination with coaching, to facilitate much more personalized coaching processes according to the client´s enneatype.
Pero eso sí, el eneagrama es muy importante aprenderlo bien, y por desgracia hay mucha confusión y muchos malentendidos con este tema, bien por quedarse en la parte más superficial y fijarse sólo en comportamientos externos, o por no llegar a entender bien las claves que caracterizan a cada eneatipo. Yo misma me pasé dos años mal identificada, creyendo que era de un eneatipo cuando en realidad era de otro… Y no soy la única ni mucho menos, es una historia que se repite muy a menudo.
Resulta muy tentador coger un atajo (o como se dice en mi tierra, atrochar) y hacer un test que nos diga de qué eneatipo somos, pero es que en realidad así no vamos a aprender nada, saldremos de ahí con un numerito sin saber lo que significa… Como siempre en el mundo del desarrollo personal, el aprendizaje viene poco a poco, a lo largo del camino. Y es un trabajo que nadie puede hacer por nosotros. Así que, si os ha picado la curiosidad y queréis empezar a aprender de eneagrama, os animo a buscar material de Alberto Peña Chavarino (en español) o de Mario Sikora (en inglés).
And if you decide to give the version history exercise a try, feel free to let me know how it went 🙂