Episode 222: What It Means To Have A Projector Aura
There were so many questions submitted for Episode 217: Projectors Rapid Fire Q&A that we simply couldn’t answer them all. So in this episode, I’m answering one of the unanswered questions: “How can I like being a Projector when it sucks to have a penetrating aura?”
You’ll hear me share:
A recap of what the Projector Aura is
The challenges that aura can present (why it might feel like “it sucks”)
Tips to work through those challenges
The episode is the first of many more episodes answering those unanswered Projector questions.
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“Everything about having a Projector aura helping other people - offering your perspective to make things better for others. This can be exhausting if you aren’t recognized for it. While the invitation might be there if you’re not being recognized for your contributions it can be exhausting, frustrating, and disappointing, leaving you feeling bitter.”
Read the Transcript:
Hello there, friends and welcome back to The Live Fab Life Podcast! I'm your host Naomi Nakamura.
As I've mentioned, back in Episode 217, when I did a Projector Q&A episode with my friend Nadia, we have so many wonderful questions and we just didn’t have the time to answer all of them.
So, I’ll be answering those unanswered questions in upcoming episodes, starting today, with one question that I found particularly intriguing:
“How do you like being a Projector when it sucks to have a penetrating aura?”
I have a lot of thoughts on this, but before we get to them, let’s revisit what it means to be a Projector.
I'm sure many of you who are listening are Projectors and are likely already familiar with this, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded about what makes it so awesome to be a Projector - what's so great about you.
And if you’re listening and you aren't a Projector, perhaps you know one, or may meet one in the future, and this can give you some insight into understanding your Projector a little better.
So, what’s so great about the Projector aura?
As a fellow Projector, I can speak about this as “we”, and “we” are people who see things that other people don't. We see things in ways that other people just can't, whether it be reading people or situations like “reading the room.”
We see things differently. We have a natural, innate ability to see the big picture. I recently put out a call on my Instagram story, asking fellow Projectors to share what they love about being a Projector and the overarching most popular answer was that they love being the ability to see the big picture and the gift that we have to be able to see into people and situations with clarity.
So back to the question at hand - I don't know the person who asked this question personally, at least I don’t think that I do, but being able to see other people deeply, read the room and see the big picture is what it means to have a penetrating aura.
And with this comes opportunity because the insight and perspective that we have allows us the opportunity to offer better ways of doing things.
Since we see things that other people don't, since we read people and situations, and have a bird’s eye view, seeing the big picture, we can see how things interact and come together and maybe how they don’t.
And that gives us the opportunity to suggest better ways of doing things, perhaps by better processes or systems to make things more efficient.
So much so that I think we don’t even realize that we’re doing this. It comes so naturally to us. And I think that's pretty awesome.
Another awesome thing, depending on how you look at it, is that we Projectors, we're not here to do the actual work, the heavy lifting. That’s not the best use of our energy, time, and resources.
We leave the creating and building to other people like Generators and Manifesting Generators. We just tell them what’s the best, most efficient way they can go about doing the work, offering them a different perspective than they might’ve already considered.
This offers the opportunity for us to innovate, think outside the box, to do differently because we see differently. It offers the opportunity to refine how things are done and do them in better ways.
Not necessarily to rip everything out and start over, but perhaps to expand upon what’s already there.
Along the lines of improving efficiencies, Projectors also have a gift of showing people how to work smarter, not harder. That we can still be successful doing work in 4 hours, rather than 8, or even better, that we don't need to work 12 hours a day to be successful.
We Projectors know that it's not about, “the harder you work, the more successful you are,” or “no pain, no gain,” it’s about, again, working smarter, not harder.
In my full-time, 9-5 work, I'm a program manager. I work with cross-functional teams made of people from Product Management, Engineering, Marketing, Operations, Customer Support, and Sales – pretty much every function. These teams come together to work toward a common goal of providing the best solutions to address a customer's problem.
A huge “a-ha” moment for me came when learning that I was a Projector because I'm pretty good at leading conversations, asking probing questions, and offering advice – when I’m invited to offer it (you know our whole strategy of waiting for invitations) - putting things into place to will help the team move forward more efficiently, that will perhaps move things along a little bit quicker, or to how we can be more resourceful, maximizing the resources we do have in situations where we do not have as many resources as we need. And I enjoy this work – I really do. But the a-ha moment for me came when I was assigned a hands-on project. Because while I work with these cross-functional groups, I'm not the one actually doing any of the work.
I lead conversations, ask probing questions, and offer my opinions when asked, but for the most part, I’m not responsible for the action items that come out of our discussions.
This was a big “a-ha” for me that I actually had prior to learning about Human Design and being a Projector, but when I did, it validated this observation.
Because, as a coach and having my own coaching practice, I operate as a solopreneur – a one-person shop. And while I’ve had people at different times, here and there, help me with a few things, for the most part, I do the work on my own – the visioning and direction, brand messaging, copywriting, visual branding, setting up operational processes, and the tactical day-to-day stuff that comes with having a podcast, growing an audience, etc.
It involves high-level strategy work, which I love, but also tactical busywork, and I have to tell you, I have a really hard time with it.
Transparently, more often than not, even though I get the edited podcast episodes back on Thursdays, I usually wait until the last minute, Monday night (because new episodes come out at 2 am on Tuesday, to publish it. I just procrastinate and drag my feet about it, till I’m stressing on Monday night, writing the summary, creating the Canva graphics for the show notes and social media, and pulling the transcript and quotes together.
And so, when I learned that I’m a Projector and Projectors are here to guide rather than do, well that was an “a-ha” that made me understand myself better – that I’m not great at tactical, day-to-day stuff because it just doesn’t interest me – and that’s ok!
There’s even been a couple of situations where I, in fact, did have some action items I took on, because there wasn’t anyone else to do so, and it would take me FOREVER to do. My manager would ask me what was going on because it was so unlike me, and I realized it’s because I’m not usually the doer!
Us Projectors are usually the ones telling people how to do things!
And so, this was a huge exercise in self-observation with non-judgment.
There are times when we Projectors do need to be the doers, but we need to be mindful of how we go about managing our energy as we’re doing that “doing.”.
So, all that being said, the Projectors’ gift to the world is our ability not just our perspective but also the context around it.
To sum it up, as a Projector, having a penetrating aura means that we're insightful, intuitive, wise with wisdom, resourceful, and likely sensitive which offers an opportunity for compassion, empathy, and the ability to connect with others. And I think these are wonderful gifts to have.
However, I think there’s a tendency that we all have, whether you’re a Projector or not, to take your unique gifts for granted because we don’t realize that not everyone is like you and has those same gifts. We take for granted our unique qualities because we don’t know any different – what it’s like not to have them.
So, coming back to the question, “How to like being a Projector when it sucks to have a penetrating aura?” I think it’s pretty obvious that I feel that all the things that make us have a penetrating aura are gifts that I love and embrace having because I’ve come to recognize that not everyone has insightfulness, intuition, wisdom, and resourcefulness, in a way that Projectors do.
And these are the things that make us valuable to others.
I do want to spend a few moments reflecting on what this person feels that it sucks to have a penetrating aura. Let's talk about that for a little bit.
Back in Episode 189, I talked about what it was like growing up as a Projector surrounded by Generators and Manifesting Generators.
I think this is a struggle that a lot of Projectors have, especially as they’re first introduced to Human Design, learning what it means to be a Projector because we’ve been conditioned to operate as Generators, Manifesting Generators, and even Manifestors for our entire lives.
It’s only natural to compare ourselves to those Type and their auras – going out and initiating or responding without invitations, the idea that if we hustle and work hard enough, we’ll make things happen. The reality is that when Projectors try those strategies and approaches, we struggle to keep up the pace. We can for a time, but eventually, we run out of energy, and we burn ourselves out, leaving us feeling bad and judging ourselves for it.
We can't initiate things like Manifestors, and we don't have the Sacral energy to keep up with Manifesting Generators and Generators.
We need to understand that that's not how Projectors are built and that's not how we contribute to the world.
And with Projector’s strategy is to wait for invitations, it requires patience. But we live in a world of instant gratification, where we take the bull by the horns, where the belief is, that if you hustle and grind, you’ll make things happen.
But being a Projectors requires patience and if we’re impatient and don't follow our strategy, 1) we're going to become bitter, and 2) we’re going to burn ourselves out.
I also want to tap into the part of the question that said, “it sucks to have a penetrating aura.”
Everything that I said about having this penetrating Projector aura helping other people, right?
Offering your perspective to make things better for others.
This can be exhausting if you’re helping other people all the time, especially if you aren't recognized for it.
The invitations might be there and we’re happy helping others to make things better, yet you’re not being recognized for your contributions, and that can be exhausting.
And if you’re offering your energy and advice to others without invitations, this too can be exhausting –frustrating, and disappointing, leaving you feeling bitter.
And so perhaps this is where boundaries can be helpful, and if you haven’t listened to my episodes on boundaries, give Episodes 219 and 220 a listen.
It’s important for Projectors to also be mindful of how much they’re giving out, how much of your energy you’re offering to others, and carve out time for yourself to rest, recharge and rejuvenate. This is so critical for Projectors.
Another boundary that you might want to consider for yourself is tempering what you take in - energy, information - and then what you do with it. There’s a lot of opportunity for self-observation with non-judgment here.
To wrap things up, I think it's pretty special for Projectors to have the gift of insightfulness, intuitiveness, wisdom, and resourcefulness, and to see things in ways that others don't. In fact, I think it’s pretty damn special and I think we Projectors are pretty damn special.
And when you recognize that about yourself, perhaps that penetrating aura won’t suck as much, and more invitations will come your way.
I have a bunch of more Projector episodes planned so, if you’re a Projector or you’re trying to understand the Projector in your life better, I hope this has been helpful.
That's all that I have for today. Thank you so much for listening. As always. I appreciate your time and your attention, and I’ll see you right back here again next time. Bye!
Naomi Nakamura is a Health x Human Design coach who’s creating a healthier society through aligned energy.
She blends a bespoke mix of Functional Nutrition and Human Design to help others shift into alignment to leverage and correctly manage their energy to support their body, mind, and spirit.
She believes that when we embrace our authenticity and lean into our bio-individuality, we naturally live a life of freedom, empowerment, and optimal health.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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