The Power of Design
I was introduced to Human Design sometime around 2018/2019. And since then I have been studying and experimenting with understanding my own Design and also diving into learning the science, mechanics, and art of it through courses, programs, and other people’s charts. In this time I have gained so much awareness, acceptance, and freedom. Both of myself and those around me.
In many ways, it has provided me tangible answers to so many questions, doubts, and fears I’ve had of myself, of my direction, and my desires in life. I have a deeper understanding that things I’ve always felt, directions I wanted to go, and ways of operating that feel most natural despite being counter to ‘the way it should be’ or norms are perfectly me. They are in fact laid out in my Design. I can see them on paper. So now, rather than fight and resist against it I can embrace and work with it.
I have found validation that my ‘purpose’, my desires, and what I want to share in the world are also indeed part of me. I didn’t pull these out of thin air, they are part of the design and are revealing themselves beautifully. It’s no wonder that these themes are what consistently pull me forward, get me fired up, and draw out my most energetic self.
There’s massive freedom in knowing and better understanding all of the fears, shadows, hurdles, doubts that I seem to constantly face aren’t abnormal. I can actually now see many of them mechanically in my design so it frees me to simply be me and build practices to face them. Because guess what, the same fears, doubts, worries are going to keep coming and I can now handle and tackle them with ease and quickness. Or so I try!
Like any type of tool, assessment, reading, etc. Human Design provides awareness. It is then up to each of us as individuals to do with that information and awareness what we so desire. I can choose to lean into the learnings and experiment with living true to my Design, or I can resist and continue to fight against it.
Using my design as an example I will share a few of the most powerful things I’ve learned about myself.
Being a Generator means that I have a lot of energy to get things done, I am here to do stuff, to produce, to create, to build. In the simplest of terms for Generators it’s all about doing what you love and loving what you do. This is pure satisfaction with life. The flipside of the coin is frustration. And boy do I know frustration.
This little nugget of satisfaction vs frustration has actually empowered me and given me so much insight. When I feel energized, satisfied, and pulled forward by my work I know it’s aligned and right for me. And when I feel drained, frustrated, or like I’m floundering around I know it’s time to take a pause, step back, and assess. It may not mean that I’m going in the wrong direction, but the frustration is a guidepost to reflect and redirect.
If I don’t use up all my energy each day I can be restless and also frustrated. I do not nap, never have, likely never will unless I’m completely depleted. Even as an elite athlete I never could nap between our twice a day workouts or between sessions at big meets. I love to fall into bed at night totally exhausted and satisfied from all that I did during the day.
I am also designed to be in response to things coming my way - whether that’s people, ideas, insights, etc and it can feel like a waiting game at times with the urge to push forward. The response is a yes/no in the moment to whatever has come my way, subtle or explicit, and I can easily let my mind take over the decision making process with mental gymnastics, over analyzing, and rationalization. If I push to initiate or make decisions from my mind I’m led right back to frustration. Yet if I am patient, listen to my sacral (gut) response, and move forward it’s oh so satisfying.
When I went through the hours and hours of training to become a certified coach it was drilled into us to never ask a closed question, open ended questions only. I struggled with this. Always asking open ended questions, or being on the receiving end of them, felt forced and sometimes there was just nothing there. While I believe we all have the answers in us it sometimes takes guidance, response, a bit of probing to dig it out - especially for me.
Well guess what, as a Generator Yes/No questions are my jam. This is what the Sacral (or gut) responds to. I can ruminate on something over and over in my head or agonize over selecting something without prompts, yet if posed in the form of a yes/no question, bam I can tell you pretty much immediately. The gut response is the sacral response that drives Generator types. So I love yes/no questions that lead to deeper conversation. Start with yes/no and follow with open ended ones.
Another key piece of my Design has to do with being an investigator, always wanting to build a solid foundation before I can fully commit. I cannot tell you how many times from a young age until recently I’ve been told, just go in, figure it out as you go. And yes, we often have to build the plane as we fly it and launch and iterate, yet inherent in my design is the desire to build up some level of comfort and safety before embarking. I like to know generally where something is going, I love to look at restaurant menus ahead of time, I hate surprises, and a simple overview is really helpful before I commit my energy.
Can the research or prep take over and become an endless rabbit hole, yes, but it can also be done in a way that allows me enough foundation to feel steady and build upon it. Not being given the freedom to do this in so many instances left me feeling paralyzed, wrong, and unable to make any progress.
These insights, and so many more, came with the highest initial level of learning about and understanding my Design. They are a few of the many ways in which I now design and live life informed by my Human Design.
Want to experience this for yourself? Schedule a Design Debrief and we’ll dive in together.