In the premiere episode of Thinking Well & Why podcast, Mario, Lee and Creek explore why clear thinking and the Enneagram are inseparable. Our brains are wired for survival in simple environments, not for the complex information landscapes we inhabit today. The hosts discuss how clear thinking applies to the Enneagram, which can become a map of the nine adaptive strategies when used rigorously and with intellectual humility. Mario walks through his framework of clear thinking, listing the five nested obstacles we struggle to see and the five solutions to those obstacles.

“I have just always felt that the ability to think well is the key to living a productive life.” -Mario [07:20]

“We don’t have to agree on everything, but we need to be playing a similar game, at least, of what it means to have a well thought out theory or a well thought idea. Such that in some ways, we can still disagree, but we have both built a case that these are my reasons, my well thought out reasons, trying to avoid as many pitfalls as possible, etc, etc.” -Creek [23:30]

“The Enneagram has helped me see myself more clearly. Helped me see what I do more clearly. It’s given me some patterns to point my inevitable confirmation bias at to recognize myself, and it’s been helpful to see that understanding that can ultimately give me more flexibility in how I choose to behave.” -Lee [29:20]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:01] Intro

[00:55] Meet the hosts

[05:01] A framework of clear thinking

[09:51] Thinking is not that easy

[13:43] Five nested obstacles to clear thinking

[20:01] How clear thinking applies to the Enneagram

[27:24] The Enneagram and the role it plays

[36:11] Final thoughts and takeaways

[41:11] On the next episode

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanHow to Think Well and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide to Clear Thinking by Mario SikoraThe Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper

Connect with us:

Awareness to Action

Mario Sikora:

IG: @mariosikora

TikTok: @mariosikora

Web: mariosikora.com

Pod: Enneagram in a Movie

Pod: The Awareness to Action Enneagram

Lee Fields:

Web: enneagrammatic.com

IG: @enneagrammatic

Seth "Creek" Creekmore:

IG: @_creekmore

Pod: Fathoms | An Enneagram Podcast

Pod: Delusional Optimism

Pod: The Awareness to Action Enneagram

Episode ID: 1000772182642

GUID: d0ab1b2f-11f9-4224-8029-43fe811c60f0

Release Date: 11/06/2026, 10:00:00