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INNER DIRECTEDNESS

WHAT IS INNER DIRECTEDNESS?


Guided by one's own conscience and values rather than exter
nal pressures to conform
Inner-Directed people are those who feel that they largely
determine their destinies by inner characteristics, attitudes,
and resources they develop during their lifetime.

CHARACTERISTICS:
Obviously, this has an impact on how they view their
relationships with others, with their organizations, with their
jobs, and even with themselves. If they continually feel
directed by outside forces with no power over these
relationships, they will take little action to make them better.
On the other hand, feeling more control provides freedom
and responsibility within these relationships. For many
people that may be a bit frightening. If they have that
freedom and responsibility they can't blame others for how
their life turns out. At those times in their life when they
question or regret how their life turned out it would be much
easier to blame outside forces.

The Enneagram of personality is about accepting our


differences. Sometimes the differences between two of the
nine Enneagram types are huge, as with most Helpers and
Observers. Outer directed and inner directed people,
however, are commonly difficult to tell apart. Both tend to be
optimistic, extraverted, charming, busy, and energetic.
The motivation for one's behavior is important in
determining type. Inner directed people are motivated to
explore possibilities. Inner directed people provide their own
approval. Personal experience is the reward for Inner
directed people. "If there's enough pleasure in it theyll give
them permission to do almost anything. Fault, guilt, and
blame don't work on them. Their inner freedom allows me to
make mistakes, commit sins, and otherwise deviate."

Inner directed persons would be keeping part of their mind


on planning the new and exciting things they might be doing
next.

PERKS OF BEING INNER DIRECTED PERSON:

Every human is born with distinct traits. Used well, they are
assets that lead to a rich and rewarding life. Misused or
under-utilized, they can become liabilities that create pain
and struggle.

Inner-directed individuals (introverts, highly sensitive people,


etc.) possess special qualities that set them apart from the
average person. Still, the double-edged sword of asset or
liability exists.

Particular traits

1. Natural Edge:

Your Natural Edge is the combination of all your innate gifts,


talents and strengths. You thrive when you live them actively
every day in everything you do. You struggle when you leave
them behind and try to conform to being like other people,
when you are not.

2. Strength:

While endurance might not be the inner-directed person's


forte, inner strength exists beyond compare. You live your
strength when you combine it with your Natural Edge to
solve life's issues. You suffer when you believe you are weak,
discounting the possibility of being strong.

3. Compassion:

Inner-directed individuals naturally relate to the world from a


place of feeling. Compassion serves you when you use it to
understand others at a deep level so it brings people and
opportunities to you.

It hinders you when you take on others' pains and woes as


your own and bear their burdens instead of staying separate
with objectivity. The difference is an appropriate emotional
boundary.

4. Perception:

It's terrific to "get" others without as much as exchanging a


word. It gives you an extra edge to manage relationships,
whether personal or professional. Like compassion,
perception holds you back when the line between what is
yours or theirs becomes blurred.
5. Self-awareness:

Introspection is becoming more popular. It leads you to


knowing yourself, your tendencies and patterns as well as
opening up a more vigorous appetite of self-development. It
delays you when you look inside and do nothing from it,
forgetting that life is for living.

6. People skills:

The combination of your compassion, perception and self-


awareness yields your exceptional people skills. They bring
you into deeper relationships that can have a profoundly
positive influence on your life. They can stall you when you
over-rely on too few relationships, leaving you feeling alone
or isolated when one breaks.

7. Self-reliance:

Independence is a wonderful thing and something many


pursue. You stand out for your autonomy and ability to
function on your own. However, it can get in your way when
ideas or projects could go further or more easily with select
input from others with complementary talents or viewpoints.

8. Mental abilities:

Most inner-directed individuals have quick minds and stealth


humor, easily seeing connections others miss. You shine
when you offer divergent ideas that move problems by
quantum leaps. You falter when you try to think through all
life's issues, forgetting that feelings and intuition are reliable
guides also.
9. Sensory signals:

Many inner-directed individuals experience sensory input at


a heightened level. Delight comes when those signals soothe
and calm you. Over-stimulation easily develops from too
much exposure to common things, such as noise, fast-moving
visuals, pollution, technology screens and more. Developing
your personalized balance can transform annoyance into
bliss.

10. Creative nature:

This one operates as a gauge of getting all the other ones


attuned. Your creativity can be "over the top" when you build
the equilibrium that best suits you. Fail to do that and life's
events turn into one overwhelm after another.

Every inner-directed individual holds the power to access and


use these magnificent traits. How well you honor them as
assets leads to your rewarding life.

General conclusion:

After the Industrial Revolution in America had succeeded in


developing a middle-class state, institutions that had
flourished within the tradition-directed and the inner-
directed social framework became secondary to daily life.
Instead of living according to traditions, or conforming to the
values of organized religion, of the family, or societal codes,
the new middle class gradually adopted malleability in the
way people lived with each other. The increasing ability to
consume goods and afford material abundance was
accompanied by a shift away from tradition or inner-
directedness.

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