17 Signs That You Might Be An Enneagram Type 8

1. Having to rely on others has always made you feel uncomfortable. You are highly aware that everyone has his or her own best interests at heart and you know that nobody will ever provide or advocate for you as well as you can provide and advocate for yourself.

2. You have always found yourself naturally falling into leadership roles – sometimes intentionally, other times completely unintentionally. Something about your personality seems to naturally compel others to follow your lead.

3. When you’re up against a problem, your first instinct is to tackle it single-handedly and head on. Asking for help often doesn’t even occur to you.

4. You’re incredibly aware of power dynamics at all times – in every relationship, conversation or situation you enter into. The moment you feel as though the power dynamic tips against you, you experience an almost visceral impulse to reverse it or at the least to level it out.

5. You have a great deal of respect for those who show courage, perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity. You believe that one’s character almost always has the power to overcome one’s conditions.

6. You refuse to enable self-pity or self-sabotage in the people you love. You want to see your loved ones thrive, even if that means you have to be the one who doles out some tough love.

7. As frustrated as others can get with your no-nonsense attitude, they also know that if they’re ever in trouble or in need of help, you’re the first person they can count on to be there for them.

8. Though you aren’t always quick to express it, nothing gives you quite as much joy as watching the people you’ve taken under your wing thrive and prosper in life.

9. It’s not that you’re opposed to criticism – it’s just that you usually aren’t interested in doing things someone else’s way. Unless the criticism can help you achieve your own goal more effectively, it isn’t of interest to you.

10. You abhor being controlled or manipulated in any way. As soon as you get the sense that someone else is trying to bend or manipulate you to concede to something, you resist his or her influence on principle alone.

11. You aren’t one to bend over backwards trying to please people – you are fair and just in your decision-making, but you also know that you can’t please everyone all of the time.

12. It is almost physically painful for you to be genuinely vulnerable with others. Even when you are emotionally intimate with someone else, you only really release information that couldn’t possibly be used to hurt you.

13. You exercise firm boundaries within your personal relationships. It’s important for you to feel as though you’d still be in control of every other aspect of your life should the relationship come to an end.

14. You are acutely aware that life isn’t fair – and that it’s the people who expect it to be who are usually the first to get trampled.

15. You don’t necessarily like confrontation, but you see it as a necessary evil. You know that the world is quick to take advantage of anyone who does not stand up for him or herself.

16. You’re looking out for number one in life, but you’re also looking out for the people you love – you feel an inherent need to protect and provide for them at all costs.

17. Though your attitude can come off as intimidating or abrasive to others, you know that the world absolutely needs people like you – and that in a crisis situation, you’re the first person everyone would want by his or her side.