In this episode of Around the Circle, Jeff sits down with a panel of Enneagram Twos—Amy, Sarah, and Jennifer—for a candid conversation about how Twos experience the Head, Heart, and Body Centers. They talk about thinking through relationships, the deep drive toward connection, and the challenge of knowing when helping becomes overstepping: “Is this mine to do?”

This time, the conversation moves into rejection, relational rupture, emotional intelligence, and the complicated relationship Twos can have with their own needs and bodies. The panel considers the Heart Center as a “bonding center”—an intelligence constantly tracking connection and the state of relationships.

Lastly, they explore the Two’s movement toward Eight: the power and agency it can provide, but also the temptation toward control when vulnerability feels threatening. What does growth look like when a Two can care deeply for others without taking responsibility for everyone—and can trust that connection doesn’t have to be earned?

#Enneagram #Enneagram2 #EnneagramTwo #PersonalGrowth #Relationships

In this episode of Around the Circle, Jeff continues through Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, looking at the places we go when life is good: joy, happiness, calm, contentment, gratitude, relief, and tranquility. Along the way, he asks a bigger philosophical question: What if these emotions don’t simply describe how we feel, but offer clues about what human beings are made for?

This time, Jeff brings Brown into conversation with Aristotle, Socrates, Jesus, Aquinas, and C.S. Lewis, contrasting momentary pleasure with a much richer vision of happiness as human flourishing. Aristotle’s eudaimonia, Aquinas’s union with the highest good, and the Beatitudes all point toward happiness as something deeper than favorable circumstances.

Lastly, we turn toward gratitude, foreboding joy, and tranquility—and the practices that help us build a life characterized by wisdom, moderation, virtue, and joy. What habits spiral us upward? And what if the best life isn’t simply one that feels good, but one in which our character truly flourishes?

#AtlasOfTheHeart #BreneBrown #Enneagram #Happiness #AroundTheCircle

What does it actually mean when someone says the Enneagram is “scientifically validated” - or, on the flip side, that there’s “no evidence” for it at all?

In this episode, we break down some of the basic building blocks of scientific evidence - observation, correlation, reliability, validity, replication, and predictive value - and apply them to common Enneagram claims.

You’ll also hear why:

• Evidence for one part of a theory doesn't validate the whole system
• Reliability and validity are not the same thing
• Correlation does not automatically prove an Enneagram explanation
• “Supported,” “Plausible,” and “Speculative” are useful ways to think about different claims
• One study may be interesting, but it is not scientific consensus

The goal isn't to prove or disprove the Enneagram as a whole, but to ask a better question:

Which claims have earned which level of confidence?

Find more at @scientificenneagram on Instagram.