Episode 190: Subconscious Capacity & Listening to My Splenic Authority
Back in Episode 179, I was joined by Nadia Gabrielle for a conversation on Subconscious Capacity building. Nadia shared how 5% of what we do is in our conscious, but 95% of what we do is from our subconscious. The episode had me observing what’s sitting in my subconscious and how can I expand its capacity to meet my conscious self.
This exercise in observation led me to recognize how my Splenic Authority had been nudging me for months to shift the scope of my work, and how I’d been ignoring it.
In this episode, I take you behind the scenes for a candid conversation on:
How I’m shifting my work
The backstory behind how it came about
What happened when I ignored my Splenic Authority, then finally followed it
What my service offerings are today
Listen to the Episode:
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Mentioned in the Episode:
Episode 179: Subconscious Capacity Building with Nadia Gabrielle
Episode 153: Integrating My Human Design Type As A Projector
Episode 177: Wardrobe as Wellness with Jenny Wirt of Sartorevi
FREE GUIDE: Get to Know Your Human Design + 15% off a Human Design Reading
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Read the Transcript:
Hello, my friend and welcome back to The Live Fab Life Podcast. I'm your host, Naomi Nakamura.
Today I’m going to peel back the curtain and share a bit of behind the scenes of some things that have come up for me over the past few months. And with that an update about some changes that are happening over here.
Back at the end of July, which, gosh, by the time this episode airs will be close to three months ago, I interviewed Nadia Gabrielle in Episode 179 for a conversation on Subconscious Capacity Building.
If you haven’t listened to it yet, I’ll link to the show notes because I highly recommend you do.
At a high level, subconscious capacity building is about ways in which we might be unknowingly limiting ourselves and holding us back from reaching our full potential or whatever it is we truly desire.
Nadia talked about how much of what we strategize and plan for happens in our conscious mind because the conscious mind is where we’re capable of entertaining the possibilities, comparing different possible outcomes, calculating, and planning. But our conscious minds only have about a 5% impact on our actual daily behavior.
We’re actually being driven by our subconscious and so it's really the subconscious that will get to wherever it is we want to be.
But if we’re not there yet, then to level up, we need to expand our capacity.
As I was having this conversation with Nadia, literally as we were recording the episode, my mind started to think about how I might be limiting my capacity. Was it in the stories that I’ve been telling myself? In ways that I’ve been conditioned? In adhering to cultural and societal norms?
Did I believe that I could actually get to where I wanted to be?
And then, as we were recording, I realized that I didn’t have a clear picture of where it was that I wanted to be. Where was I going?
Six years ago, back in 2015, I felt a strong call to help people, so I went back to nutrition school and got my health coaching certification. Did I want to do it as a side hustle, or full time? In truth, I didn’t see how it was possible to do it full time, that I wouldn’t be able to match or exceed the full compensation package that my full-time job provided.
But that was the mind talking. Did I want to do it full-time? I never allowed myself to even entertain that thought realistically.
So, my first takeaway from that interview was to get clear on what it is that I truly wanted? What do I want to do?
My second takeaway came in acknowledging how much I’ve grown in a number of ways over the past six years, but then realizing, “OMG, I’m still limiting myself, and there’s so much more growth to be made!”
When I first started my health coaching practice, I was SO AFRAID to put myself out there. I was so worried about what people would think of me, which I found a little odd because normally I really didn’t care what anyone thought of me. At least that’s what I told myself but thinking about what someone thinks about me doesn’t keep me up at night.
One of the ways I really struggled with putting myself out there was on social media. Using social media as a regular consumer is one thing. It actually felt really easy to me because there wasn’t any pressure. At least, I didn’t feel any.
But when using social media more purposefully, whether it be to attract clients, invite listeners to your podcast, or to read a blog post, whatever it is that you’re doing, there’s a different energy behind it.
It was really, really hard for me to make that mental shift. And while I feel like I’ve developed leaps and bounds, in some ways, I still struggle with it today. I’ve come to realize that despite the progress that I’ve made, I do have a subconscious capacity about being seen – about being visible.
Slowly I started seeing all the ways that I was subconsciously, holding myself back, or rather, wasn’t expanding my subconscious capacity to level up for the next step.
It felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was thrown on me because I realized that I have so much more growth work to do.
Listen, I know that it’s not like there’s a place that we reach where we can say, “I’ve reached my peak, all my growth work is done.” It’s a lifelong journey, but during that interview, I realized how much MORE work I had to do.
It was like I had plateaued in certain areas and in order to reach the next step, my capacity needs to be expanded.
Above all else, what I realized is that I needed to get clear on what that next step is. I had to have some really honest conversation about this with myself. What is it that I want to do? Where do I want to go?
I found myself reflecting back to the end of last year, early this year, so about the December-January timeframe when I was ramping up with Human Design.
During that time, I had a thought come to mind that it was time to shift from health coaching.
What that flash of inspiration was my Splenic Authority.
If you’re not yet familiar with Authorities in Human Design, listen to Episode 184. Your Human Design Authority is your intuitive guide of how you can best make decisions. It’s your inner guidance system and when you honor it, it directs you to make correct decisions according to the timing and direction of your current life experiences.
The Spleen “speaks” so to say, in quick and quiet moments. It whispers flashes of discernment and really needs to be paid attention to. As quickly as those moments come, they go.
So back in December/January, as I started ramping up my Human Design offerings, a thought came to my head that it was time to let go of health coaching, that it was time to move on from offering 21-Day Sugar Detoxes and Functional Nutrition coaching.
As you can probably guess, resistance set in and I quickly shut that idea down though it came through very, very clearly. I thought, “Gosh, there's no way that I could do that! I've spent six years doing this work that I'm so passionate about, four years of talking about it on this show! I’ve created programs and resources and put a lot of blood sweat and tears into this!
But the reality is that doing work in the way that I had been doing it doesn't light me up anymore. I'm in a different place mentally, emotionally, and physically, in my own health.
Now, I’m much more interested in taking my work to deeper levels of coaching. Yes, use nutrition and lifestyle to manage and reduce stress and burnout, but what’s at the deeper core of why you’re stressed and burnt out. This is what lights me up, what I'm passionate about now.
If we’re connected on social media, specifically Instagram because that’s pretty much the only place on social media where I spend any time, you probably have noticed I’ve been less vocal about my health coaching work, less vocal about my sugar detox programs, and just less active there.
That’s because it’s felt like a struggle to even try. I just haven’t felt excited to talk about those things.
I’m not one to pretend, I literally can’t do it. Just yesterday a friend told me, “Boy you sure tell it like it is.” And it’s true – I don’t know how to be any other way. And if I'm not excited about something, I can't show up and talk about it. And beyond that, if you’re part of my email community, I’m sorry. I haven't emailed you in probably well over a year, maybe even two years, consistently. I just couldn’t muster up the energy to show up and talk about these things. And if you notice, I haven’t here on the podcast for months.
Now I realize that I need to let go of doing that work because subconsciously it’s limiting my capacity to take the next step – whatever that may be.
I had to come to grasp that just because I’m good at something, and worked really hard at it, doesn’t mean I need to keep doing it.
What’s helped me come to terms with that is knowing that I don’t need to completely move on from talking about the topics that I did in a health coaching capacity. Now, I’ll just talk about them through the lens of Human Design.
It’s the same thing as Functional Nutrition, in a way, right? Looking at the big picture for the root cause.
Why does one struggle with stress? Why is someone suffering from fatigue?
When u take your shovel and start digging really deep, more often than not, at the root of those issues is low self-esteem, lack of self-trust, lack of awareness in the mind, body, and spirit, all of which are rooted in a lack of self-love. Not loving ourselves.
This is the deeply personal work I’ve been doing for the past year and a half. For me, this was the gift of the pandemic. It gave me the time and forced me to tackle those issues within myself, to take a hard look at where I was. How much did I love and appreciate myself?
And Human Design has been pivotal in helping me wrap my brain around a lot of this, in helping me understand myself, and giving me a framework to work in.
And this is where my passions now lie. is what lights me up. This is what I want to talk about. This is how I want to help people.
For the past nine months, I’ve been ignoring my Splenic Authority – the quiet voice in me pointing me to the decision that makes sense for me.
It’s no wonder I’ve felt like I’ve been stuck in this stagnant place, feeling a lot of angst, putting pressure on myself, and feeling guilty for showing up, and putting myself out there to help those that are seeking it.
I've come to realize that when I hold myself back, I'm actually holding myself back from helping someone who needs help, who needs to hear what I have to share.
It took this conversation with Nadia in Episode that gave me the courage, and really the permission to make this shift. Remember, I'm a Projector, and so my Strategy is to wait for invitations, and when I got external validation that this is the direction I should move it, it felt like that was the invitation that I needed. I'm very protective about who I seek advice from, but I'll share with you two people who helped me with this situation.
Back in Episode 177, I was joined by Jenny Wirt for a chat on Wardrobe As Wellness. I had been wanting a refresh of my visual brand, so while Jenny is a stylist, she's also a creative director and so I reached out to her to ask her if she could help me with a new color palette and ideas around refreshing my website and whatnot.
Energy work is a big part of the work that Jenny does, and without having any prior discussion, or her having any knowledge of this idea that had been floating around in my head for months, she brought up the subject and laid it open on the table so to speak.
I took it as a possible invitation that as crazy as it felt, it was the direction to go.
I also ran it by my friend Diane, who was a guest in Episode 068. She’s a true embodiment of a Human Design Manifestor. I value her opinion and shared with her what I’d been contemplating and confirmed my instincts that this is a good direction for me to shift to.
Once I made the definitive choice in my mind that I was going to restructure my services and retire my health coaching offerings and strictly focus on Human Design, well it was like the started energy flowing again.
The idea started coming - of topics to talk about on this show, of things to share on social media, that I want to start engaging with my email community again! The enthusiasm returned; things don’t feel forced anymore. I feel excited to start sharing again.
So, if we are connected on social media, and you've noticed that I've taken a bit of a hiatus, this is why. I needed time and space to clear my mind, to take the pressure off, to get to work revamping my service offerings, refreshing my website, putting together some ideas of things to talk about here on this podcast for future episodes.
And as I’ve made this energetic shift, clients have started coming - I don't even know how they found me. Past clients have been returning for more. And it feels good. My energy is flowing once again!
Now you might be wondering, “Well, what does this mean for this show?” It really doesn't mean anything different than what it's been for much of this year.
This show will have the same focus of helping all of us, including myself, manage stress, fatigue, and burnout. it’ll just be in the context of Human Design, which has pretty much been the case for a few months now because I really wanted to lay that groundwork.
And while this might seem like, “Well, you've been talking about this for ages now…” on the outside, it may appear that way but this internal shift of energetically letting go of offering the 21-Day Sugar Detox, of letting go of offering Functional Nutrition Coaching. It's a mindset release, an energetic release that I needed because this is a big shift for me.
So, hopefully, you're still with me and I hope you continue to stay with me on this journey!
And, if you are new to Human Design, one of the things I’ve been mulling on is, how can I help introduce Human Design to people who want to learn more.
So, I created a 27-ish page guide to help you discover your Human Design. It walks you through how to find your chart, how to find out the foundational pieces of it, what they mean, then helping you understand different parts of it - all at a very high level.
I cover much of the things in this guide in my readings, but if you aren’t quite ready for a reading yet, this guides a great precursor for it.
And then once you sign up for the guide, it’ll be emailed to you, and you'll also receive a code for 15% off of a reading with me.
So, wrapping things up here, I hope giving you this little peek into some of the goings-on behind the scenes has been insightful for you.
Maybe now you might be inspired to explore what things may be lurking subconsciously for you?
For me, the biggest thing was taking a pause and getting clear on what it was that I really wanted. It’s taken a while to really get honest and have that clear vision of what that is. In some ways, the vision is still coming together.
But the feelings of what I want are very clear, and now it feels like I’m moving in that direction.
So as always, thank you so much for listening. I appreciate your time and attention.
And if there's a topic that you’re interested in hearing more about through the lens of Human Design, please reach and I’ll definitely consider it for a future episode!
Have a great week and I’ll see you right back here again next time – bye for now!