I recently learned about the Enneagram of Personality and discovered I’m the number five personality type. Type five is known as the thinker, observer, investigator—among other similar names. Like the other eight types, it comes with its strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies.

It all began with a library book on the subject. I was then guided to an assessment from the book. I wasn’t entirely swayed by the summary I initially read after receiving my results. Yet the more I read, the more I realized the patterns described have played out similarly in my life.