Knowing Your Human Design Can Change Your Life, How You Work, and How You Sell

What is Human Design?

It’s similar to your birth chart (which shows where planets were at the time of your birth and how that impacts who you are), but on a different scale. It reveals how different we all are.

Human Design Types:

Projector

Reflector

Manifestor

Generator

Manifesting-Generator

You can find out what your Human Design is by going to https://www.myhumandesign.com/get-your-chart/ and filling in your time, date, and place of birth. That’s it!

So what’s my Human Design?

I’m a Projector.

An Emotional Projector to be exact, which means I need to tune in to my emotions more often and use my emotions to help me make decisions.

To find out what you are specifically, look at the Authority category when you have your Human Design summary.

Mine says: Emotional Solar Plexus, meaning my solar plexus is my authority.

NOTE: This post isn’t meant to teach you everything about Human Design. You can learn more about your Authority by reading your summary and doing extra research by Googling “Solar Plexus Authority.” Of course, substitute the words “solar plexus” for whatever your Authority is.

The first word there for the Authority will indicate what you are. For instance, it may say “mental.”

I’m a Projector. My Authority is Emotional Solar Plexus. Thus, I’m an Emotional Projector.

In a nutshell, Projectors are the visionaries and can see things that others can’t clearly see. They are natural guides, leaders, and teachers.

Now that you know what your Human Design is, I’ll continue. (If you don’t know yet, go find out and then return to this post.)

This whacky chart is like one you’ll receive when you 

find out what your Human Design is. Don’t worry

you don’t have to understand it. This one is mine.

Life Lessons for Projectors

I’m Rejecting Your Projection:

If you’re a Projector, something that will most likely happen is that people will project things on to you.

Projecting is a psychological term. This is when someone projects their own unconscious faults and flaws—anything they may have hidden from themselves or can’t admit to having or haven’t faced and accepted about themselves yet—on to you.

Humans project all the time. That’s our nature. But for Projectors it happens a lot more because we act like mirrors, letting people see things about themselves that they may or may not like. Instead of them understanding what they’re seeing is a reflection of themselves and their own faults, they falsely project it on to us.

This could happen when someone claims you’re judgmental when all they do is judge others. Or they say you’re manipulative when they manipulate others all the time, including you. And so on.

One thing Projectors have to learn and accept is that other people’s projections of us have nothing to do with us but everything to do with them.

Say it with me fellow Projectors: Other people’s projectors of me have nothing to do with me but everything to do with them. It’s not a me problem. It’s a them problem.

Other people’s perceptions of Projectors, regardless of how they created that perception (from what other people told them about you or snippets they see on social media or through limited contact), are not who you really are. That goes for everyone, but especially Projectors.

Trigger Happy:

Another thing that Projectors tend to do is act as a trigger.

Projectors can trigger people with the things we do or say. This isn’t necessary a bad thing, though. When we trigger someone, we’re activating something within them that they may need to hear or see, especially if they experience resistance around it. 

When someone is triggered by a Projector, it may make them uncomfortable. That uncomfortable feeling is an invitation to empower themselves, open their eyes, and get them to expand or act. Other times, they may become angry, which is another invitation to investigate why that is.

I have no doubt that the shift I took with my blog last year where I now post unapologetically from my heart (more than ever before) about things that matter to me—such as diversity and equality in publishing, Indigenous rights, and relevant causes I support—has triggered a lot of people, even people who had once followed me, but this is who I am, this is what matters to me, and this is how I can create change.

I have never felt more aligned with my blog than I do now. I will continue to speak my truth and show up boldly on my blog. My posts may trigger people, and that’s okay. My posts are giving them the opportunity to lean in, to learn and unlearn…if they’re ready to expand. It’s not my responsibility to change what I want to speak passionately about on my blog in order to make other people comfortable. And, as I said, that uncomfortable feeling often indicates something someone needs to encounter. It’s then important for them to ponder their reactions in order to grow.

In life, and every area of life, growing should always be the goal.

****

These are things I learned about myself as a Projector that has helped me in my life.

Whether you’re a Projector, Reflector, Manifestor, Generator, or Manifesting-Generator, you can learn important life lessons by knowing where you fall on the Human Design model.

Now, what about how a Projector should work and sell?

Well, it was truly eye-opening…

A Projector At Work:

Projectors are “non-energy” beings.

No, we’re not lazy. We often work ourselves too hard and hustle too much in order to live up to society’s standards and match Manifestors’ and Generators’ energy levels.

What it means to be a “non-energy being” is that our energy levels aren’t consistent. So, it’s important for us to be wise with our energies, or else we run the risk of burning out.

This explains so much about me and explains why I had suffered from such an extreme case of burnout years ago. I had been working against myself and my inner Projector nature.

Projectors are prone to overworking because we try too hard to work as everyone else does, and because it’s programmed into us through our society and upbringing that we need to be doers. But Projectors shouldn’t be working harder.

We should be working smarter, instead.

There’s actually a joke that Projectors should only work two hours a day. Obviously that’s not realistic if you have a 9-to-5 job, but if you aren’t and you’re your own boss, it’s best to work wisely for two hours (or more if necessary) a day, and then for the remaining part of the day rest, replenish, and recover from work, especially after being around other people.

For a writer that could mean marketing and doing all the career-related tasks for two hours, resting, and then writing when you’re moved to do so. Or it could mean writing for two hours a day and then replenishing your creative well with naps, reading, art, etc.

It’s our job as Projectors to take care of our inconsistent energy levels, pay attention to our bodies, and not overdo anything so we don’t burn ourselves out. 

Again, work smarter, not harder.

Check out your Human Design for insights on how you should work according to your design.

Selling/Marketing Projectors:

Every Human Design has a strategy. This strategy tells us how to go about things in our lives.

A Projector’s strategy is to be invited.

What does that mean exactly…"to be invited"?

Well, we should be waiting for recognition and an invitation to share our magnetic and enormous potential.

Wait…what? 

So, how the hell can Projectors sell and market their services/products if we have to wait for recognition and an invitation?

That’s the thing…we shouldn’t be hard-selling or initiating from our minds.

Just because our strategy is to wait doesn’t mean we’re sitting on our hands doing nothing at all and hoping something will come out of us literally sitting on our hands, though.

Instead we should be elevating ourselves. The key is to make ourselves visible and share who we are and our unique skills in order to attract the right invitations to us that will lead to opportunities and success.

Honestly, when I learned this I had an “aha” moment. I am very knowledgeable in marketing and can teach marketing (I have many blog posts and a free PDF and YouTube videos all about marketing), but doing what other authors do has never worked for me. For years my marketing efforts not working out has caused me a lot of heartache and headaches and depression. It makes sense to me now why my marketing efforts have failed.

I wasn’t working with my Projector strategy.

Looking back, the times when I’ve had success and had opportunities come to me wasn’t from me initiating anything but me simply being me and sharing my knowledge and skills.

For Example: Years ago, I attended a lunch with my publisher and several other local authors. One of the authors, a first-time author, had questions on how to do a specific type of giveaway he planned. No one else had any advice for him, so I shared my knowledge with him. My publisher was paying attention. When we were leaving that lunch, my publisher said to me that she’d love for me to host a paid workshop for their authors. I’d never had such an invitation before. Not only did I do a workshop for them, but I did TWO and heard from my fellow authors that my workshops were the best ones my publisher had hosted up to that point. I didn’t have to hard sell or approach anyone for that opportunity. I was being myself, being helpful, and sharing my marketing skills. In doing so, I received recognition and an invitation.

With that said, this doesn’t mean Projectors should completely stop marketing and promoting our work. Rather, we should look at it from a different angle.

How can we, as Projectors, share ourselves and our skills in a way that can attract recognition and invitations without chasing after clients or readers? 

1. A blog

2. A podcast

3. YouTube videos

4. Instagram videos (IGTV)

5. Newsletters

6. Virtual and in-person presentations 

7. Talks/speeches 

8. Giveaways

9. A free eBook (or PDF relevant to expertise)

10. Writing a book readers want to recommend (or providing a service/product clients want to tell others about)

11. Social media content with a focus on sharing, not selling 

12. Anything people can consume for free 

 

NOTE: Providing something for free, when it feels aligned for you to do so, doesn’t mean you’re not getting paid for that work/content. Rather, your creating connections with people who could become life-long clients or readers, reimbursing you in the future far more for what they will purchase from you than for any content they consumed for free.

 

With a blog or podcast or IGTVs, you are putting content out there for the right people to find. You’re not chasing after them. Even if one person resonates with and engages with your content that is worth celebrating because that one person is the RIGHT person.

All of these options are making you visible as a Projector while you share your gifts/knowledge/unique ways, which in turn opens you up to receive that coveted recognition.

Many of you who visit my blog are bloggers yourself, so the first option on that list seems like a no-brained, but if you’re a Projector, especially, the next step is to evaluate your blog and see if you’re really sharing your full potential there.

- Are you posting enough? (Two to four times a month is a great place to be with posting content to your blog.)

- Are you talking about things you’re passionate about?

- Are you spreading your knowledge on subjects related to your books/services/products?

- Are you hosting people you look up to as mentors/authors/entrepreneurs with guest posts or interviews?

- Are you sharing interesting facts  about your books/services/products? For books that could be excerpts, character profiles, and other fun insights/sneak peeks.

 

While we wait for invitations to pour in, we should be honing our skills, sharing those skills and who we are, and trusting the flow of life as Projectors. 

You can find out your strategy for your specific Human Design and see if your working with or against it here.

SHARE: Go find out what your Human Design is and share it with me. I’d love to know. 

QUESTION: If you discover you’re a Projector did any of this resonate with you, too?