In honor of Independence Day, I’ve brought in a theme here… 

After a full year without a blog, I felt a spark under me this weekend to address my resistance. 

Not only am I writing, but I’m writing about why I haven’t been writing.

I’m declaring my independence from avoiding things I find boring and dumb because that tendency doesn’t serve me. It’s not working, and I’m going to tell you why. 

In 1773, after the American Colonists dumped British tea in the harbor, the British retaliated by closing Boston Harbor to the Colonists. This is what is known as the Boston Tea Party. 

Here’s the irony: this act, meant to punish the Colonists, ultimately punished the British. The 13 colonies responded by starting the Revolutionary War.

And we all know how that turned out.

In this Independence Day metaphor, at least in the beginning, I’m a Brit. 

A little under a year ago, I wrote a newsletter, intending to share it with my email list {shameless plug: if you’d like to join my email list, you can do so here}.

When I tried to do so, my software yelled (because that’s how I hear any message I don’t like, and messages about technology always fit in that category): 

“YOU NEED TO AUTHENTICATE YOUR DOMAIN!” 

Since I had already done this once in this software (and that was a day), I was annoyed that I was being told I had to do it again and yelled back, 

“I’M NOT GONNA DO THAT! IT WILL TAKE TOO LONG!” 

The yelling was all in my head, and I definitely didn’t authenticate my domain.

If you’re reading this, thinking I was being short-sighted, you’re absolutely correct. I’m generally short-sighted about things that fit into the Preserving Domain. 

There are different schools of thought about the Enneagram and the Instinctual Biases, and each takes a slightly different approach. In the broadest interpretation, each Instinctual Bias focuses on the same cluster of activities, even though different Enneagram lineages refer to them with different names. The specific language I’m using here comes from the Awareness to Action Program.

Back to being short-sighted. 

I don’t naturally pay attention to the tasks that keep the world running: time, energy, money, sleep, repairs, and, in this case, technology maintenance. You might say these tasks sit in a blind spot in my brain. I’m indifferent to them – I find them boring and a PITA – and when I do become aware that something needs to happen, I’ll procrastinate that task.

This is something I’ve come to learn about myself. I used to feel some shame or embarrassment about it, which is probably why I hear a lot of yelling about them when I know something has to be done, but these days, I try to offer myself grace and rally around the task that needs to be done. In other words, when I become aware that something that fits in this category must be done, I stop judging it and myself and move forward. 

And believe me, I expect a full parade from my family and anyone else I can enlist when I do something in this area. You’d be shocked at how many people know that I’ve fixed a computer problem or dropped my dry cleaning off at the cleaners. 

I offer this because, as you read ahead, you might have some feelings about one of these Domains. That might be the one that sits in your Zone of Indifference (like the Preserving Domain sits for me). You might feel shame or embarrassment because the tasks in each of these Domains are, in fact, essential. If it isn’t getting done by you or someone you’ve outsourced it to, some area of your life is likely suffering. This is all good to notice because it isn’t until you can objectively observe these things that you can exercise agency over them. 

The Preserving Domain

If you focus on Preserving tasks more than the other two Domains, you’d be called a Preserver (and you’d be the opposite of me). 

(See? I have no judgment of you or of myself. Preservers are safe with me, even though I’m definitely not one.)

Those focused on Preserving tasks do so to create safety and security for themselves and whoever they consider their “people” to be.

“If we have what we need, we’ll be ok.” 

Preservers want to have have enough people in their life to feel safe and supported, but not too many that they’ll lose track of them. Preservers see themselves as the ones who keep their people safe, so keeping their relationships reasonable in number helps them do this well.

Preservers generally avoid risk and discomfort, opting to explicitly manage risks and maintain a comfortable environment both internally and externally.

They pay attention to time, energy, finances, supplies, and repairs because they know they feel safer when these things are attended to. 

As I said, my wiring and conditioning place my focus on the other two Instinctual Domains: the Transmitting Domain and the Navigating Domain. I focus on these two Instinctual areas more than the Preserving Domain, but I focus on them differently. 

I’ll say more about what those differences look like in my next blog (now that I’ve authenticated my domain, the sky’s the limit! Also, don’t be confused by the number of times I’m using the word “domain” – one is in relation to my technology and the other describes the cluster of behaviors and attention given to each of the three Instinctual Biases.)

I bet you pay attention to all three Instinctual Biases in different ways, amounts, and levels of intensity, too. 

The Transmitting Domain

If you focus on Transmitting more than Preserving or Navigating, you’d be called a Transmitter. 

If this describes you, you likely focus on transmitting something about yourself or something important to you into the world. When looking at a crowd, you’re putting energy into the group and noticing who in the crowd is returning that gaze or attention.

You spend time and energy clearing a path between you and the people and places you want to pour energy into.

Your focus is on the goal and what it takes to get you there, with less attention on the rules or risks involved. You are happy to bring people along with you, but you aren’t putting tons of energy into gathering people together to do so. If they share your goal or vision, you enthusiastically lead them there (if they can keep up!).

The Navigating Domain

If you focus on Navigating more than Preserving or Transmitting, you’d be called a Navigator.

If this describes you, your attention is on navigating relationships and social groups. You know the explicit and implicit norms and rules, including who is in charge and who should yield to those in charge.

You know what information has to be disseminated among individuals and who needs to be at the table when decisions are made. You focus on inclusivity and consideration.

If you’re good at Navigating, you can walk into a room and know the mood of the room, communicate with other Navigators through a facial expression or glance, and spend time observing the social dynamics of the rooms you’re in. 

Let’s take a real-life example: me and my newsletter debacle.

When writing a newsletter, Preservers focus on Preserving tasks more than Transmitting or Navigating tasks. 

If you’re a Preserver, you might pay attention to some of these things: 

• • Putting aside time to write and paying attention to how long it will take

• • Planning what to write and making sure it follows an order

• • Making sure your computer is working and the software is updated

• • Managing your energy
    
    • • Do I have enough energy to write this now? 
    • • Am I using it as a break or something to replenish energy from my other daily tasks?

• • When will I take a break to eat or pee?

• • Do I have water available to me?

• Do I trust the reader enough to understand what I’m saying?

Transmitters focus on Transmitting tasks more than Preserving or Navigating tasks.

If you’re a Transmitter, you might pay attention to some of these things: 

• • Writing to be seen and having your audience receive what you’re transmitting

• • Drawing an audience towards you and your work; you want to share yourself through your writing

• • Leaving your mark on the world; creating a legacy

• • Having a specific reason for writing – a goal – and making it happen

• • Casting a wide net into the world (you want a large following!), and you’ll follow up and be intentional about responding to those who show interest

Navigators focus on Navigating tasks more than Preserving or Transmitting tasks

If you’re a Navigator, you might pay attention to some of these things:

• • Communicating well and in a way that respects your audience, their time, and what you think they want from you

• • Offering resources to your audience, contributing something meaningful that will serve them well

• • Inviting them into a shared experience with a warm welcome

• • Navigating the needs of the group through your writing and making it inclusive of all your readers

• • Reciprocity
    
    • • Who will read it? Who will respond? What will you get back from your readers? How will it help them? What feedback do you want?

• • Who needs to know what information?
    
    • • How do you meet the needs of everyone who reads it while still communicating something meaningful?

You can probably tell in this example that every well-executed task requires some of each aspect of the Instinctual Biases. The outcome depends on how much attention you pay to any one of them. It’s one of the things that makes humans interesting. 

In my example, the newsletter wasn’t written a year ago because I didn’t want to complete the tasks required; they seemed laborious, boring, and frankly, stupid. I could have outsourced them, asked for help, or done them myself. I did none of that. I willfully refused. What I didn’t account for is that the short-term efforts were small compared to the long-term consequences. I suffered for a year thinking about how I was going to get that stupid authentication done. Had I just done the Preserving task then, I could have Navigated through a year of newsletters and programming to my heart’s content. 

The Instinctual Biases and YOU

If you’re wondering about this for yourself, take a look back at the arc of your life. 

• • What patterns do you notice? 

• • What were you paying attention to? 

• • How about now? 

• • What do you feel when you read about the three Instinctual Biases? 

• • Does one annoy you more than the others? 

The goal is to create a conscious relationship with each of them. Know what you lean into and what you lean away from. This will make your ability to work with them not only possible, but easier. 

In the meantime, join me for office hours or sign up for a course. I have cohorts starting in late August with two scheduled office hours before then.