# Recommended self-help books for your enneagram type



## Ryosuke93 (Feb 29, 2012)

I just wanted to start this thread as a place the different types can go to recommend self-help books that seemed to really help them in their life. These are books that seem to be written by someone just like them (perhaps the same enneagram type). They don't necessarily have to be a classified "self-help" book, but a book that has helped *you* in some way.

As tempting as it may be, *please be sincere (no jokes)* and recommend based on your own personal growth experiences. *Don't recommend books for other types,* unless you personally know and sincerely believe that they have helped that type.



I believe most self-help books were written based through the author's own enneagram type (conscious or not of their type). It is the author's medicine for themselves that they wish to share with others. It may help others who are of a different enneagram type (since the enneagram types connect in many ways), but I can only imagine how much it will resonate with those who share the same/similar enneagram type as the author. 

This is also why I am very cautious of self-help books. I have read many in the past before knowing about the enneagram. Following the advice for some self-help books has sometimes led me more astray than I have ever been. I see now that those books were not written for someone like me. Also, some of those books were just not well-written and had poor advice for everyone. 

But when I did finally find those special few books that resonate with me, I slowly started changing for the better.

My recommendations as a *Type 4w5*:

-"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl 
(I don't know if he is a 4, but he seems to understand 4's well and his words have really healed some deep wounds of mine and answered my long time unanswered questions. I read this book before knowing about mbti or enneagram).

-"Positive Enneagram" by Susan Rhodes 
(She is a 4w5 herself and offers a perspective of the enneagram that seems to resonate with me more and makes me more aware of how the enneagram theory helps me).

-"The Practice of Loving Kindness: A Guide to Spiritual Fulfillment and Social Harmony" by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero.
(I don't know what the author's type is, but this book helps develop a more healthy Type 2 connection in me, makes me feel more at one with the world versus feeling alone, like I usually do. I read this before I knew what the enneagram was).

-"The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive in a World that Overwhelms You" by Elaine Aron.
(I also don't know what this author's type is, but she sometimes comes across as a 4 or sometimes a deeply integrated 2 or a 6. But anyway, she offers me a _physiological_ explanation for my sensitivity and past failures, which has completely OPENED my eyes and allows me to be kinder to myself.)


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## mushr00m (May 23, 2011)

This sticky has a good selection of books that include self growth. And thanks for the other suggestions.


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