Episode 264: 10 Ways My Human Design Boosts My Confidence
We often lack confidence in various areas, as discussed in recent episodes. Human Design can be a powerful tool to release and change the self-limiting stories we tell ourselves
In this episode, I share ten ways that my Human Design has boosted my confidence and helped me reframe some of the narratives I’d developed about myself.
Listen to the Episode:
“Being aware of my design and putting it into action has helped me release and reframe some of the narratives and stories I developed about myself.”
Read the Transcript:
Hello there, my friend. Welcome to The Live FAB Life Podcast. I’m your host, Naomi Nakamura.
So, today's episode is actually not what I originally planned. I had a different topic planned for this episode. Still, as I was preparing, putting together my thoughts and notes for it, I had another thought come into my head - an unexplainable feeling that I needed to table that topic and have an episode of confidence.
See, I have a Splenic Authority, and we know that the Spleen speaks; it’s in the moment, and it’s not always logical or explainable. It just happens, and this is how those of us with a Splenic Authority are meant to make decisions.
When I get these Splenic hits, I jot down the ideas and save them for a future episode. But this time, I couldn’t let go of the need to do this now. So, I diverted, and here we are, following my Splenic Authority.
Today, I’m sharing how I’ve found confidence through my Human Design to illuminate how you can find confidence in yours.
There's no shortage of ways that we can lack confidence. I touched on some of them in Episode 263, which was on the Dangers of Comparisonitis, and how we compare ourselves to others.
Yet, there are so many ways that I’ve found confidence through my Human Design. Being aware of my design and putting it into action has helped me release and reframe some of the narratives and stories I developed about myself.
But for this conversation, I’ve made a list of 10, so I share this list of my personal experiences, speaking from my 3rd Profile Line. And as I share this, I’d like for you to think about how your Human Design has boosted your confidence, maybe in ways you haven’t realized, because understanding and realizing that some of those aspects are actually gifts to be embraced, not things to be self-conscious or ashamed of, and how you’re meant to contribute to the world, is incredibly validating.
First up on my list is my Type - learning that I’m a Projector and what that means.
Learning that Projectors see things differently, in ways that others can't, that we have an x-ray vision for reading people and situations and can see the big picture, and because of that, bring efficiency - well, learning this felt like my entire existence was validated!
It was a confidence boost because, first of all, in my full-time job as a Program Manager, I bring people together to move toward the common goal. I'm not necessarily someone who does the heavy lifting, but I offer insight and try to improve efficiency with processes and communication.
For a long time, I devalued myself and my contributions. I even remember telling my manager then that I couldn't believe I got paid for doing this because I didn’t feel like I contributed much. But she made me understand that not everyone has the skills I have to do, and my skills are needed to make things move forward. That was the start of understanding the value that I provide. Still, learning that I'm a Projector and this is actually my gift to the world has been a game changer, helping me sink into my Program Manager role and here, as a coach.
Knowing that I see things in ways that others don’t and can offer perspectives and insights on better ways to do things is empowering and makes me feel good. I never saw myself as a natural leader, but that’s what Projectors are, and the more that I lean into my Projector energy, the more I am comfortable in my own skin and with what I have to offer.
The second is Strategy. Projectors’ strategy is to “Wait for Invitations.” Our Strategy is how we can create opportunities for ourselves. Having coaching practice and other side hustles, sales, and marketing are required. I had been going about it in traditional ways, trying to hustle.
But Projectors are meant to do things differently. And waiting for the invitation almost seems like the antithesis of traditional sales because cold calling is literally the opposite of waiting for invitations. But Projectors’ Strategy is to go about it differently because if we don’t, it’ll feel like salmon swimming upstream.
As I've experimented with this Strategy and reflected on it, my most successful moments, not just in Sales and Marketing but in interactions with others, both professionally and personally, the most fulfilling and successful engagements have been when an invitation was offered. I’d even say that some of my more successful social media efforts happened when I responded to a question or when someone asked me to share more about something - when an invitation was extended.
Again as I'm going through my list, I want you to be thinking about how learning about your Type, Strategy or any of the other things I’m going to talk about helped you feel more confident in yourself. How did learning that you’re a Reflector, Manifestor, Generator, or Manifesting Generator uplift and validate you?
The same thing with your Strategy. If you’ve experimented with your Strategy of Waiting for Invitations, Following the Lunar Cycle, Informing, or Responding, how has it removed obstacles you might have faced? And as a direct result, how has it helped you to feel about yourself because things are moving forward, and you’re making progress with less friction and opposition?
Third is Authority, which is our intuition. There are a number of different ways that our intuition comes through - the seven different authorities - and for me, having a Splenic Authority is having a knowing that I can't always explain, but I know deep in my core it’s the right thing to do - like the trajectory to for this episode.
Learning about my Splenic Authority has built my confidence to trust my instincts, even though I can't always explain it. I don't feel like I'm crazy anymore. I don't need to justify my decisions to anyone or have logical explanations for everything. This has helped me trust my decision-making and make sound judgments. It’s been a confidence booster.
The fourth and the fifth ways are through my Profile Lines. Profile Lines are our personalities and learning styles, and we have two.
The first Profile Line is how we see ourselves, and I have One Line. The One Line is about having an insatiable curiosity for learning things we’re interested in. We go down ratholes and have to learn everything about it.
I’ve always been like this and, for a long time, felt ashamed of my curiosity because I would ask incessant questions that others would get irritated by or make fun of.
Understanding that “Hey, this is who I am; this is part of my personality” has helped me reframe the narrative that I'm a know-it-all. I'm not a know-it-all; I just like to know a lot about the things I'm interested in, and asking questions is very in line with who I am - there’s nothing wrong about it.
For those who know me in real life you know that one of the things I’ve thrown myself into is baseball - I just love it. I grew up in a state that doesn’t have a major league baseball team, and I went to college in a state that doesn’t have a major league team. Even though I went to Spring Training every year, that was more for Spring Break, and I didn’t know much about baseball.
But shortly after moving to the Bay Area, I quickly adopted the San Francisco Giants as my team, but not only did I throw myself into learning about the franchise but also about the sport itself. I’ve read so many books and watched so many documentaries on my team and on the history of the game.
I've gone to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, taken baseball vacations visiting other ballparks, and close friends and family have even commented on my astonishment at becoming such a fan.
Some of the other things that I've had a deep interest in is long-distance running. I've shared that I wasn’t an athlete; heck, I wasn’t even an active person. But then I tried and discovered that I actually liked running. And before I knew it, I discovered that I could run a lot with proper training. I even had a running coach I work with who wrote training plans for me, and I trained for over 20 half marathons and nine marathons. I didn’t finish all of the marathons, mostly due to injury, but I put the work in on a train for them.
For years everything in my life was focused around training - what time I went to sleep, what time I woke up, what I ate when t fit training into my day, and I really ingratiated myself in the running community.
It was the same thing with health. I developed an interest in healthy living, and then I found myself in nutrition school and getting a health coach certification.
And now, here with Human Design, I completely shifted my coaching practice towards it.
I go deep into what interests me, and it's not something I should be ashamed of. It's not a part of myself that I must hide or make small about myself. Understanding that this is part of my DNA, this is part of my Human Design, and is how I'm built has definitely made me feel more comfortable and confident in being me.
Our second Profile Line is how others view us, and I have a 3rd Profile Line, making me a 1 / 3. The 3rd Profile Line is about experimenting and learning through trial and error. It’s about trying things out to see what’s possible. I can't begin to tell you how often I’ve done something just to see what happens.
Every training cycle that I started for the nine marathons, 22 marathons half marathons that I trained for. If I follow my training plan to a tee, can I get that PR that I'm chasing training for?
It was the same thing whenever I tried the Whole 30 program or even the 21-Day Sugar Detox that I can now coach on. It was never about weight loss for me; it was, “What's possible if I try this?”,
The 3rd Profile Line is also about reframing narratives around failure and reframing it because the notion for the 3rd Line is that failure is not an option. I know that's a cliched quote, but it’s really true for 3rd Lines. Failure isn’t an option because we’re designed to gain wisdom from our trial-and-error experiences. I even did a whole episode on this -Episode 251 - On Reframing Failure.
So, understanding this is a part of me has helped me be okay with things that may not turn out the way I expected.
Sixth on my list of ten is having a Defined Throat Center. A Defined Throat Center is about having a consistent way to express myself and being able to influence others through my voice.
Back in 2015, I had a friend who had a podcast. At that time, I wasn’t really into podcasts, but I admired her so much for having a show, and I so desperately wanted to start a podcast myself. It was this deep, deep desire that never went away. It took me a while, but I finally started this show in 2017, and it gives me so much fulfillment and has been an integral part of my healing from hypothyroidism and my personal growth.
The Throat Center is the central hub of nine Human Design energy centers, so having it defined and allowing me to express my voice has been is just transformational for me. This podcast allows me to do that - not just for myself but for others who’s joined me to share their stories. Being able to share my thoughts, ideas, and perspectives has been empowering in speaking up and expressing myself.
We all have a number of active gates in our designs, but one, in particular, is particularly important to me. Seventh on my list is Gate 26.
By the way, friends, before I go on, all of my notes for this episode come from my Human Design Playbook. This Playbook is a newer service that I offer. It’s a PDF that not only explains all the parts of Human Design but also all the parts of your design, including your active gates, incarnation cross, Variables, and more.
I made a PDF of my own design myself, and even though I’m deeply familiar with my design, I still refer to my Playbook all the time. It’s a handy resource to pull out and reference.
Gate 26 is important in my design. In fact, it’s part of my Incarnation Cross and is my Conscious Sun, which is one of the most important gates in our chart.
Gate 26 is in the Heart center and is the gift of knowing how to message things. In practical terms, it’s the marketing energy, something I never saw someone remotely good at. I just never saw myself that way.
But learning that this is such an important part of my design, and frankly, it’s a fundamental part of my well-being, has made me see myself in a different light. I mean, it’s part of my incarnation cross, which means it’s a critical part of my life purpose. When I’m feeling unsure or doubting myself, I remember that I have Gate 26. It boosts my confidence to know how to share who I am, what I do, and how I can help you, which can feel so counterintuitive to Waiting for Invitation or even the 48-16 channel, which is the only channel that I have in my Human Design.
It's been a lot for me to work through - conditioning around Gate 26, Waiting for Invitations, and the 48-16 channel (more on this in Episode 210). I have had a lot of narratives that I had built out in my head about myself, and I cannot tell you how much of a boost to my confidence learning about Gate 26 has been.
Related to this, and eighth on my list, is my Incarnation Cross. The Incarnation Cross is our life theme. It's our life purpose that spans the length of our lives and covers all facets of it.
I have the Right Angle Cross of Rulership, which is leadership energy. I never saw myself as a leader, but apparently, it’s my life’s theme. If I can recognize and embrace this life theme with the best intentions, I can connect with people at a soul level.
I never saw myself this way because of the perceptions I had of what leadership looked like. I wasn't the student body president or the captain of something.
But those titles don't define leadership. Rather, it’s how we present ourselves, interact with others, how respectful we are, how empathetic and compassionate we are, and how much we listen to others. These are the things that that leadership is about.
And just understanding that this is part of my design has really helped me have more confidence in my roles. But with this kind of leadership also comes more responsibility. So I'm trying to be more careful about what I say, how I say them, in the words that I use, how I treat others, and how I conduct myself, It’s been a huge growing experience for me.
The ninth part of my Human Design that I found validating is my Outer Vision Cognition.
Cognition is Variable, and our Cognition is our strongest sense. It’s how our brain prioritizes information.
Having an Outer Vision Cognition means that my strongest cognitive sense is through sight. I’m sensitive to what I see, and aesthetics matter to me.
That can seem shallow - that looks matter - but it's not for when you have an Outer Vision Cognition. Seeing things that I find visually pleasing feel good. I notice things that other people don't see.
When I look at something - a situation, person, or photo- I can tell if something is off.
I’ve shared this before, but I’ve always had a knack for looking at a picture or someone's social media posts and can tell just by looking at it if something is off.
I could never explain it before, but now I understand my Outer Vision Cognition and my Projector energy.
You might feel the same way about your Cognition. It's part of our intuition. So when I see the big picture of something or the components involved, I can sequence the order of what needs to be done.
This is also very in line with Projector energy, which is why learning about my Human Design was very, very validating.
Number Ten on my list of ten is my Motivation Variable.
With the Variables in Human Design, Cognition is on the left side of the body graph chart, which is your body, and Motivation is on the right, which is your mind.
Motivation is the best way to use your energy to take action. We each have two types of Motivation - Authentic Motivation and Transferred Motivation.
When partnered with our Cognition, our Motivation inspires us to take action. When we follow our Authentic Motivation, we’re moving on the correct trajectory for us. We act from our Transverse Motivation, things may happen, but it might not be the outcome we wished for, anticipated, or expected.
Having a Need Motivation is knowing exactly what's needed in the given situation, then doing what's necessary to meet the need, and discarding what’s irrelevant doesn’t matter when it comes to meeting the need.
So, I'm not here to get caught up in what's right or wrong. I'm here to do what needs to be done. And so Need Motivation is learning about how to connect with myself so that I can then connect with others to understand what their needs are.
What really resonated with me about having a Need Motivation is that I'm not here to collect followers. Having a large tribe of followers is not motivating to me - it’s not the correct place to act from.
This rings so true because I crave intimate connections. I’m not here for everyone. I'm here for the few who I can have a profound impact and make deep connections with.
As I learned this, the first thing that came to mind is social media - I’m definitely not one to follow all the so-called strategies for gaining followers. It’s just not a priority for me. I’d rather have meaningful connections. I know what the so-called experts teach on how to do social media right, but whenever I try those approaches, they always feel inauthentic.
So, learning about my Need Motivation felt extremely validating. It helped me feel confident in doing things that feel good to me and the way that is correct for me.
So there you have it - ten ways that my Human Design helps me to feel validated, boosts my confidence, and feels comfortable in my own skin with a new sense of appreciation for and trust in myself.
Now, I'm curious to hear from you. If you know about your Human Design, what parts of it have affected boosting your confidence and believing in yourself?
What aspects of your design have helped you release the need to hide or feel small about yourself?
What parts of your design have made you realize that the parts of yourself that you’ve hidden are actually your gifts and what makes you, you?
I want to hear what those things are for you. Maybe it's some of the things we discussed today, or maybe it's something else.
Come on over and find me on the show notes for this episode at www.live fab life.com/264 for Episode 264, or you can find me on Instagram at @livefablifewithnaomi.
And, if you aren’t yet familiar with your Human Design, I invite you to order your Human Design Playbook from me.
You can order just the Playbook by itself, or you can also add on a pre-recorded or live reading.
You can find all the details at www.live fab life.com/services - and I'll also have a link to it in the show notes.
Thank you so much for listening. As I said this, this episode was a last-minute pivot as a result of following my Splenic Authority, so I hope it lands with some of you.
Thank you so much for listening. As always, I appreciate your time, energy, and attention, and I'll see you right back here 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!
Connect with Naomi on: Instagram
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