Episode 224: When To Follow Your Human Design Strategy
In this episode, I answer a listener's question on when to follow your Human Design Strategy versus when not to.
You’ll hear me share:
What does Strategy mean in Human Design
What are the Strategies for each Human Design Type
When to follow it (examples included!)
Listen to the Episode:
Mentioned in the Episode:
Coming soon - Be the first to know about new service offerings for Projectors!
Episode 182: Human Design Non-Sacral Types and Their Strategies
Episode 202: On Being A Reflector & Following A Lunar Authority with Tanya Reyes
Connect with Naomi:
Share the Episode:
“If you can anticipate when you might encounter a situation where you might feel your Not-Self emotions, use that discernment to decide that this is a time to follow your Strategy.”
Read the Transcript:
Hello there and welcome back to The Live Fab Life Podcast. I'm your host Naomi Nakamura.
Before I jump into today’s episode, I have a few updates for you!
In addition to readings on the fundaments of your Human Design, I’ve now added readings on your Human Design Variables. Listen to Episode 197, as well as the episodes following that one on the different Variables.
Next, I thought I was done with health coaching, but my own recent struggles with severe atopic dermatitis aka eczema have brought me back to why I first became a health coach, to begin with, and I feel that I still have something to offer there. So I’ve brought back offering Functional Nutrition Assessments and a follow-up health coaching option, but this time, health coaching through the lens of Human Design. Thirdly, I’ve also brought back my self-paced 21-Day Sugar Detox program. This is a program based on the 21-Day Sugar Detox, which I’m a certified coach for, but I’ve modified it to be focused on those who deal with digestive issues and Leaky Gut. Why this program? I believe it educates you on the basics of what is real food. If you think about it, Human Design is about transformation. The Human Design Fundamentals are where you start, and the Human Design Variables are your next-level transformation. But if your body and brain are addicted to sugar and other foods that don’t nourish your body, those transformations can be impeded. This is not meant to be a long-term program, but as a jump start to wherever it is you want to go.
And lastly, I’m planning to create some offerings for Projectors and those who want to understand Projectors. If you’d like to be notified as these become available, you can sign-up to be notified by email. These folks will be notified first, before the rest of my email and social media community, and may even be invited to test out some of these new service offerings at a discounted rate before anyone else.
You can find information on all of these things on the show notes at www.livefablife.com/224 for Episode 224, or go to the Services page on my website.
Whew – that was a lot!
Today I’m answering a question that I received from one of you about Human Design Strategies. While the last couple of episodes have been Projector-focused, what we’re talking about today applies to all Human Design Types.
The question asked was, “When does our Strategy apply in our life versus when does it not?”
I’m going to answer this question in three parts:
What is Strategy in Human Design A recap of the Strategies for each Type – I’ve done past episodes on this, but you may not have listened to them, so we’ll do a recap When do we use our Strategy?
So, let's start with Part 1 - What is Strategy and Human Design?
Well, your Strategy is based on what your Human Design Type is.
If you’re a Manifestor, and I’m a Projector, we have different strategies. So, your Strategy is always tied to what your Human Design Type is. All Manifestors have the same Strategy, all Manifesting Generators and Generators have the same Strategy, all Projectors – no matter what kind of Projector you are, you have the same Strategy, and all Reflectors have the same Strategy.
I talked more about Types and Strategies in Episodes 182 and 183, so, if you haven’t listened to those episodes yet, please do so. Episode 182 is on the Types and Strategies of non-Sacral beings – Manifestors, Projectors, and Reflectors, and Episode 182 is on Sacral beings – Manifesting Generators and Generators.
Essentially, your Strategy is how you maximize the energy that's available to you - maximizing your energy potential. So, when you hear people talk about how their Human Design has shown them how to move through life with ease, with less resistance, and with more flow, a large part of this is following their Strategy, because Strategy is the best way for us to move through life with the least amount of resistance, maximizing the energy that's available to us, according to our Type.
When we don't follow our Strategy when can we encounter resistance - that’s when what’s called the “Not-Self” emerges.
Moving on to Part 2, what are the Strategies for each Type?
If you’re a Manifestor, your Human Design Strategy is to “Inform and Initiate,” and you're Not-Self, so what you feel when you don't follow that Strategy, is Anger.
If you’re a Generator or Manifesting Generator, your Strategy is “To Respond” to things, and when you don't follow your Strategy, your Not-Self is Frustration. For Projectors, our Strategy is to “Wait for Invitations” and when we don't wait for invitations, we feel Bitter.
And for Reflectors, their Strategy is to “Follow the Lunar Cycle” - the 28-day moon cycle and when they don't follow the moon cycle, they feel Disappointment.
So, do you know what’s different about one of these Strategies?
Manifestors don't have to wait for anything to happen - they can INITIATE and they're the only Type that has a Strategy where they don't have to respond or wait for something external to them.
The other three Strategies - To Respond for Manifesting Generators and Generators, Waiting for Invitations for Projectors, and Following the Lunar Cycle for Reflectors are all dependent on something outside of them happening.
This is important to understand because we’re told that we just have to go out there and “make things happen.” And yes, we all can do that, but in our own way, by following our Strategy.
So those are the Strategies for each Type, along with it each ones “Not-Self”. If you've done a Human Design reading with me, I talk about the Signature and Not-Self right after covering Type, Strategy, and Authority, because it’s so closely tied to it.
When Manifestors follow their Strategy to Inform and Initiate, they feel Peace and when they don't follow, they feel Anger.
When Manifesting Generators and Generators follow their Strategy and respond, they feel Satisfaction, and when they don’t, they feel Frustration.
When Projectors follow their Strategy by Waiting for Invitations, they experience Success and when they don't, they feel Bitter. Next week's episode is devoted entirely to Invitations because I feel like that’s a confusing topic for Projectors. I'm still experimenting with myself so I'm dedicating all of the next week’s episodes to that.
To round things out when Reflectors follow their Strategy of Following the Lunar Cycle, they feel Surprise and Delight, and if they don't feel Disappointment.
Moving on to Part 3, when to use your Strategy?
I think that the simplest answer is to use your Strategy when whatever it is you're going to do involves or affects others and/or involves some major life decisions.
Let’s dive down into that.
So, if Manifestors are to Inform and Initiate, what exactly does that mean?
It means that when Manifestors want to start something new, they can just do it. However, if it has any impact or influence on someone else, it’s in their best interest to tell them, to inform them, of what they're doing. Because, if they don't inform, others might feel blindsided and taken by surprise. They might complain or resist, and if they do, then Manifestors will encounter resistance, which leads to Anger.
It’s important to understand that it doesn't matter what people’s responses are after informing them, but Manifestors say, “Hey, FYI, this is what I'm going to do,” regardless of what the reaction is, there’s a high probability of feeling Peace versus Anger and resentment.
So, Manifestors, when you're trying to decide when it's appropriate for you to follow your strategy, ask yourself, “Is there a likelihood of people reacting and resisting?” Or, if you’re encountering resistance from others, “Did I inform others of what I am doing before I started it?” Or if you’re feeling angry, “Why am I feeling angry? Did I start something without telling anyone?”
Those are questions for Manifestors to ask themselves when determining when to follow their Strategy or not.
Personally, I think Manifestors have the easiest Strategy because they just have to say what they’re doing, and then they can go and do it.
Generators and Manifesting Generators’ Strategy is “To Respond,” which means they need to wait for something to happen before they can respond to it. It doesn't need to be an invitation, but it does need to be something outside of themselves to happen, a trigger, if you will, so that they can decide how to respond to it.
So, what do they do with that - observe what are the things that they respond to? When they respond versus initiate, it’s a better, more efficient use of their energy. That’s how Generators and Manifesting Generators maximize the energy that’s available to them.
Questions for Manifesting Generators and Generators to ask themselves:
Have I started something that wasn't a response? Is this making me feel satisfied or frustrated?
In differentiating between waiting to respond versus initiating, think of it as letting life come to you. So, when you’ve heard me say that Manifesting Generators and Generators, and for Projectors and Reflectors as well, aren't meant to “make things happen” this is what I’m talking about.
Of course, we can all make things happen but in terms of, how you start things, the energy behind how you started, and what your motivation was, this is what I’m referring to – let things come to you and then use your Authority to decide how you want to respond. Just because something's coming to you, you don't always have to respond with Yes, your response can also be no. So let me ask you this, MG’s and Generators:
When do you feel resistance? Does it feel like you're trying and trying, and things aren’t working out? Have you responded to something, or did you initiate it? If I'm feeling frustrated, what's causing my frustration?
When it comes to Projectors, the idea of waiting for invitations can be really confusing. Do I just sit around and wait for invitations to happen? Can I not do anything until someone invites me?
Again, next week's episode is going to be fully dedicated to the Projectors’ Strategy and invitations because I have a lot of thoughts on it, but for today, let me just say that I see invitations as recognition. Invitations don’t have to be literal, “Come to my party!” It can be, but it's not always.
To me, invitations are recognition and receptive energy. It's when someone sees you and welcomes your input and advice because remember Projectors are here to improve guide others and improve efficiencies, which really is giving advice.
So, when it comes to invitations, Projectors, who's asking you to guide them? Who's asking for your help? For advice?
What it really comes down to is learning to discern when there's receptive energy and an openness to receiving. It may not be the literal words, “Please come and guide me.”
It's an energetic receptivity and Projectors need to be able to discern and recognize when that energy is in play.
So, Projectors, think about a time when you offered unsolicited advice. How did that go over? If it didn’t go over well, how did that leave you feeling?
The other side of that question is, “Why am I feeling bitter?” Did I try to offer my advice without someone asking?” In hindsight, I've done this so many times in my life. There are so many times that I tried to start something, to initiate, and it fell flat because the invitation wasn’t there. I was working outside of my Projector Strategy, and yeah, when it fell flat and didn’t work out, I felt bitter and resentful.
So, when Projectors are wondering when to use their Strategy, assess if you feel there’s receptivity.
When don’t you need to use your Strategy?
I think if you're moving to a new place, I don't think you need an invitation unless you're going to be living with someone else - again when someone else is involved.
Or if you're deciding what kind of work you want to do, I don't think you need an invitation for that. But you do need an invitation to work with someone. And of course, who you work with is dependent on a company extending you an offer letter or someone hiring you to work with them.
But if you think about it in a different context, the first thing that came to my mind is cold calling, in sales. I’ve tried cold calling and it’s never worked for me and now I understand why.
Cold calling is the epitome of no invitation, right? You're literally calling on somebody without any type of opening or receptivity - it's just not there. You have no idea before reaching out if there is a receptivity because it is a cold call - not a warm call, not a hot call. It's a cold call.
So, Projectors, when you're trying to differentiate between when to use the strategy and when not think about if someone already is or will be receptive to what it is that you're sharing.
If there isn’t, then you need to wait for that energy shift to open. And again, we’ll get into all of this next week and do a deep dive into what are invitations and how to make invitations happen.
And then lastly, for Reflectors, your Strategy, and I feel bad I feel like whenever I’m talking about all the Human Design Types, Reflectors are always at the end. Maybe next time I'll start with Reflectors at the beginning but that’s neither here nor there.
For Reflectors, your Strategy is to Follow the Lunar Cycle. That means following the moon cycle when you're making major decisions. And you get to decide what’s a major decision means for you.
A major decision for me, might not be major for you. Only you know what that is for you and you decide if something's a major decision - follow your lunar cycle when making your decision.
Back in Episode 202, I was joined by my friend and fellow Human Design coach, Tanya Reyes, who is a Reflector.
One of the things I asked her about is how she follows the lunar cycle. I specifically asked her if she actually opened up her calendar to look at the moon cycle. And she said, Yes, she has dates on her calendar to mark the moon cycle if she’s trying to make a big decision. She said keeps track of how she feels over the course of the 28-day cycle and if she feels the same way at the end of the cycle as she did at the beginning of it.
The takeaway here is that spontaneity is not for Reflectors. and it's also really important that Reflectors have people in their lives who understand that they need that time to make decisions.
So, to recap, when does strategy apply in our life versus not?
I say that it applies when you're making major decisions and you get to decide what those major decisions are.
It applies when your decisions have an impact or influence on others and when it's when you're feeling the emotions of your Not-Self. For Manifestors when they feel Anger, for Manifesting Generators and Generators when they feel Frustration, for Projectors when they feel bitter, and for Reflectors, when they feel disappointed. When you feel these emotions, it’s time to ask yourself, “Did I follow my Strategy?”
If you can anticipate when you might encounter a situation where you might feel your Not-Self emotions, use that discernment to decide that this is a time to follow your Strategy.
That's my two cents on when Strategy applies versus when it doesn't.
If you're a Projector or if you have a Projector in your life who you're trying to understand a little bit better, stay tuned next week for an episode on invitations.
If you have any questions, and it makes me so happy to receive questions because it’s receptivity, and openness for me to share my insight and offer guidance, come on over and find me on the show notes for this episode at www.livefablife.com/224 for Episode 224, or find me on Instagram at @livefablifewithnaomi.
Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you all back here again next time!
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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