Unlocking your creativity with Human Design

This Creative Life #03: exploring your unique blueprint + tailoring your business strategy with Human Design

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Jun 26, 2024

Welcome back to my new guest series, This Creative Life. This was a previous fixture on my design studio journal, and the articles are slowly finding a home within my Brand Seasons publication alongside the Notelets on Nurture series.

What I love most about curating these pieces is the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity and harness my creativity. Today, I’m sharing the words of

Sarah Lynas

, a qualified Human Design coach and the writer behind quietly courageous
.

Sarah and I first connected at the turn of the year, and I’ve been endlessly fascinated by her work in Human Design. While you can easily download your Human Design chart, I’m learning that it takes time and skill to appreciate how this system of self-discovery can support me in my life and work.

I believe it can help us appreciate how we work best, and I’m looking forward to unpicking my own “blueprint” with Sarah over the summer. This is partly to help me harness my creative energy, and to support me as I edge closer to the Kickstarter launch for my Brand Seasons playdeck and paper.

Are you familiar with your Human Design Type? Initially, I found the idea of being a Projector quite confronting. Most interesting was learning that opportunities unfold more naturally when I await the invitation. For so long, I put pressure on myself to initiate when my knowledge is best shared when I’m asked.

This could be a direct invitation, such as being asked to collaborate or be interviewed. A standing invitation, where I’ve previously been approached to present on a topic or create something. Or a felt invitation, where I sense there’s an opening for my knowledge to be shared.

I’m beginning to notice what these signs look and feel like, and I look forward to sharing my findings. Meanwhile, I’ll hand you over to Sarah who, in today’s contribution to This Creative Life, highlights the Strategy associated with each Human Design Type.

“Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender who you are for what you could become.”

– Reinhold Niebuhr

Using Human Design in your business
with Sarah Lynas

If you’ve ever come across Human Design, you’ll know that it could be described as a personal profiling system or a unique energy blueprint; a guide to understanding your purpose in the world, and a detailed map of your superpowers and gifts. You might also know that it offers clear instructions about how to best connect with others, make great decisions and live a more fulfilling life.

But you might wonder how it could possibly help make your business run more smoothly, feel more easeful and attract more clients.

I wondered that too, when I first discovered Human Design, so I’ve been finding out, experimenting with my own business and supporting clients to do the same. Here I share how your unique profile can support you as a business owner, with some handy hints and tips for each Human Design Type.

The Human Design Types

There are five Types within the Human Design system. They are Manifestors, Generators, Manifesting-Generators, Projectors and Reflectors. These Types work together perfectly when we relax into our own space and quit the exhausting business of trying to be someone else of a different Type!

If you don’t yet know your Human Design profile and you want to play along, you can get a free copy of your Human Design chart.

Of course, within each Type are many nuances and all the juicy details which make each of us unique, but every single person within a Type will have one thing in common; a Strategy. So, once you know your type, you can start to use the Strategy associated with it, and this is where we see some magic start to happen!

How to use your Strategy, by Type

Following your Strategy is how you reduce tension and increase flow. It works with family, friends, health and yes, your business too.

Manifestors

You are here to create change in the world, and your Strategy is “to initiate & inform”.

You likely feel sudden creative urges to change or grow your business, and you want to get straight on and make things happen; this is exactly how you should be! You’re not here to ask permission from your coach or check in with your audience to find out what they think, all that will do is slow you down, make you doubt yourself or lose your flow. However, it will support you to inform others that you are setting off at full speed! This will have the effect of getting them out of your way or encouraging them to come with you and help you make it happen.

Do more: act on your creative impulses & tell others that you’re setting off

Do less: holding yourself back, questioning yourself & asking for permission or validation

What other people want from you: direction and leadership, invitations to help you make the dream happen, content that inspires them to start something new

Should you niche? Yes if you’re inspired to. Just know that you may have an urge to change your niche, type of work or business direction at any time, and if you do, it will be correct to follow that impulse.

Journaling prompt: How can you use your ability to initiate and inform to drive change and growth within your business?

Generators

You are here to be lit up about your work, creating life force energy for the planet as you do what you love.

Your Strategy is “to respond” which means taking note of what your body (not your mind) is telling you about the world around you; when you’re tuned in you’ll be able to feel a yes or a no, noticing yourself pulled towards or retracting away from potential new clients, new collaborators & new hires, you’ll feel what pieces of work are right for you and what isn’t. This feeling comes from your sacral centre. The yes’s are your breadcrumbs to follow and you’ll know you’ve got your business in the right place because you will feel energised and energetic. However, if you let your mind or obligation to other people run your business, you can end up drained, burned out and directionless. If this happens, shift the focus to your body; how do you feel about the people, processes and products in your business? What do you need to let go of?

Do more: tune into your body, trust the yes’s, even if they feel scary, and keep on following those breadcrumbs

Do less: people pleasing, acting out of obligation, and keeping going when you feel frustrated; burnout lies that way

What other people want from you: your energy and consistent ability to work on the right things

Should you niche? If you find a niche that lights up your sacral yes, then definitely. At a later time, you might respond to a new niching idea and you should keep following those yes’s!

Journaling prompt: How can you harness your reliable sacral responses to prioritise tasks and projects that maximise growth and sustainability?

Manifesting Generators (ManGen or MG)

You are also here to create the life force energy for the planet, and you’ll likely be multi-passionate and non-linear.

You are also here to move fast and make mistakes so that you can find better ways to do things. These parts of you might not have been understood in early life or career and it can be a relief to finally embrace them fully. Your Strategy combines the Generator and Manifestor approach; “to respond and inform”. Responding with your sacral yes or no shows you the path to follow, just as for Generators. Informing others of your intention to follow a path helps to keep people out of your way so you can enjoy going at whatever speed feels right for you. Similarly to the Generator, you’ll feel energised when your business is right for you. Frustration indicates that you must change something and realign to your body.

Do more: follow your sacral yes’s, embrace your non-linear nature, remember you need to rest; give someone permission to remind you to stop

Do less: subduing yourself, ignoring your body, trying to stick to one thing

What other people want from you: your energy and your path-finding ability, and know that if others find you ‘too much’, they’re not your people

Should you niche? Just like the Generator, niche down based on your sacral response. You might choose more than one at a time. Change your niches when your response changes.

Journaling prompt: How can you balance your multi-passionate nature with strategic planning to ensure you stay aligned within your work and explore new pathways?

Projectors

You are here to read the energy of others and be a guide in the correct and most efficient use of their energy through sharing your wisdom.

Your Strategy is to “wait for the invitation” to share that wisdom. Acting without an invitation can lead to not being heard and not feeling valued. However, the waiting is not ‘doing nothing’. As you wait, you will be present in the places you have been invited to so that you are ready to be seen. The real key though, to being seen and attracting invitations into your business, is to look after yourself first and do the internal work, creating deep self-esteem. This might feel selfish and counter-intuitive, but it will mean you become noticed by the right people and invited to do the work that aligns for you. The added benefit is that you will save time that you might have previously spent trying to help people who weren’t ready for your wise words. When you release this habit it can feel like a big exhale.

Do more: taking care of yourself, noticing and enjoying how it feels to simply wait

Do less: sharing your opinions without invitation

What other people want from you: your unrivalled wisdom, when they are ready for it

Should you niche? If you’ve been seen and recognised, and you have an invitation to, then go ahead. Also, a new invitation is needed to change your niche, so stick with it until that fresh invite comes your way.

Journaling prompt: How can you position yourself to attract the right invitations that align with your vision?

Reflectors

You are here to sample the energies around you, taking a pulse if you like, and seeing the energy shifts that are coming in for people and the planet.

Your role is also to reflect back and amplify what feels good and ‘correct’ for the new paradigm that we’re currently building. Your Strategy is to “wait a lunar cycle” because it’s important for you to take your time when making decisions, and noticing how people, places and experiences make you feel over those four weeks or longer. Because of the way you sense energy, you’ll probably feel like the more people you’re around the more you’re inspired to do all the things they are doing, but know that anything that is not right for you will fall away during that period. Be willing to let go.

Do more: focusing on how things make you feel over time, let go, allow joy and surprise to find you

Do less: quick decision-making, comparing yourself to others

What other people want from you: your bigger picture energy reflection

Should you niche? If, over time, it feels correct for you

Journaling prompt: How can you use your unique ability to reflect the energy of your environment to guide long-term decisions, and remain adaptive?

Thank you for reading my new series, This Creative Life. This post is public so feel free to share it.

How else can my human design support my business?

Within your human design chart you’ll find a wealth of clues you can explore to support you and your work, for example;

what you are here to focus on (and not)
how you naturally attract clients
the key problem your ideal client is facing
how you’re different to others in your niche
how and what to share to attract the right people
what keeps you physically healthy
know when you’re out of alignment

As a qualified human design coach, I work with values-led business owners like you to explore how your unique design can support you in your business, so do get in touch when you’re ready to find out more about yourself!

Have you considered your Human Design Type? How does it play out in your business or creative practice?