Below I look at how each Human Design Type is designed to WAIT in some form (and why that’s so hard sometimes!). But first I want to share a story.

When I was growing up, my mom always had an African Violet plant or two growing on the kitchen window sill above the sink. I remember being fascinated by their firm but soft and fuzzy leaves, and their delicate and intensely purple little flowers. Sometimes she had ones with blue or pink flowers.

About a year ago, I finally decided to buy my first African Violet plant and put it on the window sill above my kitchen sink, to remind me of my mom. I really miss her (she passed in 2008) and liked the idea of seeing that plant on a daily basis.

It had no flowers, and the leaves were very limp at first as it adjusted to its new home. [continue reading…]

It’s easy for me to talk about the power of using Type and Strategy in our lives (I’m a bit biased, of course!), but it makes the most sense when we can hear how it really impacts other people in their lives.

So I thought I’d share a quick story with you about Karen and Sergio and how they used their Types and Strategies to improve their marriage (of 27 years) and their business.

When Karen came to me for a Reading, she was struggling. She and her husband run a gallery together… he is the artist and she manages the business.

• She was worn out from the daily operations of being at the gallery every day
• She wasn’t using her true brilliance for strategically increasing their business
• They were irritated with each other from the whole process

First, we focused on her. She is a Manifestor so she is designed to initiate things and get the ball rolling, but not to do all the work of implementing and follow through.

As Karen learned her Type and Strategy, she realized that it wasn’t correct for her, energetically, to work “in” the gallery and she was much more effective (and happier) when she worked “on” the gallery with her innovative ideas.

So she started delegating more to their employee and spending less time there. And her husband, the artist, started spending more time in the gallery which felt good to him and the customers loved being able to meet and talk with the artist himself.

Their pattern for implementing ideas to grow the gallery’s business had been that she would enthusiastically share a new idea with him (maybe a new painting style, new subject matter, or different arrangement of the gallery), and he would begin the process of shifting his work and moving things around to implement her idea.

But within no time, she would have several new ideas and be eager to implement those instead. She’s a Manifestor so that approach of “throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks” is correct for her. She’s designed to have lots of ideas and start things.

But Sergio, who is a Projector, was exhausted from trying to keep up with her ideas. He had energetic whiplash from the speed of her frequent changes in direction! And it was a source of friction and frustration for both of them.

As they understood the dynamics of their different Types and Strategies, they realized that he could simply wait until some of her ideas “stuck to the wall” before he began implementing. And she agreed to “invite” him to implement an idea only when she felt good and clear about pursuing that particular idea.

They were so excited (and grateful) to have simple and sensible solutions to their issues. Their respective Types and Strategies were honored. And above all, the solutions felt inherently right to both of them.

Also, by her own admission, Karen said that the core Manifestor strategy of “informing before acting” had literally changed her life!

Now, they did both have personal Readings with me, plus a Relationship Reading, but here’s the point I want to drive home:

What had the greatest impact for them was simply knowing their basic Type and Strategy… which is ALL explained in my Success by TYPE courses.

You can learn more about the Courses here:
https://www.humandesignforsuccess.com/sbt-info

P.S.  We’re not all meant to succeed in the same way.  What works for one person won’t work for another.  Learn more

I love Human Design and the extraordinary knowledge, wisdom and structures that it offers to help us live happier, healthier, more productive, more successful, and more aligned lives.

The top-most tool (in my opinion) that it gives us is our personalized decision-making strategy and authority.

Decisions and actions are the levers that give us access to changing the experiences and the outcomes of our lives.

What I’ve learned, however, in my ten-plus years of experimenting with my own design and strategy (1/3 Projector with Splenic Authority) and helping hundreds of my clients with theirs, is that it’s useful to add a little extra tweaking to our process… as we learn and refine how it all works best for us.

So I wanted to share my process and my “extra tweaking” with you.

First, I’ve improved my process of actually following my strategy and authority: I’ve learned to recognize that instant splenic “hit” I get about things from my lovely Defined Spleen Center. Before, it was easy for that subtle awareness to get lost amid the hype, noise and busy-ness of everyday life.

But now I feel it more clearly when it happens. And I’m learning (it’s a process!) to trust it and not to second-guess it (which my Defined Ajna loves to try to do for me). And of course, as a Projector, I’ve learned to wait for and recognize invitations and only accept the ones that feel really great.

Here is the one ADDED tweak that I’ve also come to trust (through my 3rd line experimenting, no doubt!).

Even though I’m designed to make spontaneous decisions without waiting (my Solar Plexus Center is Open), I sometimes find myself going down rabbit holes that end up feeling (and being) not correct for me.

And I’ve realized that it has a LOT to do with my Open G Center. The G is the center for our sense of self, our identity, and our direction in life.

With my Open G, I take in the identity and direction of others and feel it deep down to my soul.

Sometimes I feel like I AM them, while I’m with them. And I’ve discovered this happens even when I’m simply watching their videos or reading things they’ve written… like sales copy!

I can get so excited and pumped up reading about someone’s product or service that it feels like I must have it. It’s like they are speaking directly to ME and it’s absolutely what I NEED right here and now.

What I’ve learned to do is to WAIT before pressing that Buy Now button.

Because I know I’m being influenced by them through my Open G. Influenced by who THEY are and THEIR direction in life and business, which may not be relevant or correct for ME.

I wait and see if it still remember about that gotta-have-it product or service the next day. Or, if I’ve already forgotten about it.

If I’ve forgotten about it, I realize I was just caught up in THEIR passion and their soul’s investment in their product or service.

But if it keeps coming back into MY awareness—if I think about it and keep “trying it on” in my mind—and if it keeps feeling “good” to me, then I know that it’s probably part of my personal path and my soul is nudging me to take that next step.

So, if you have an Open G Center (white diamond in center of chart), I invite you to experiment with waiting until you are outside of the aura of others before you make important decisions. The Open G is easily caught up in the energy of another person. Clear your energetic space first (which includes stepping away from someone else’s sales page or free webinar!), take a little time break and focus on something else, THEN apply the decision strategy and authority that your personal Human Design chart indicates.

And let me know (in the comments below) how it goes!!

In our recent article How to Tell If You’re Living Your NOT-SELF — Part 1, we began an exploration of the useful and revealing Human Design concept of the NOT-SELF by looking at Generator and Projector Types.

Here in Part 2, we complete the topic by looking at Manifestor, Manifesting Generator, and Reflector Types.

The introductory sections are repeated below so you don’t have to read Part 1 to understand Part 2!

~~~~~~~~

Does your path feel a bit bumpy at times? Are you struggling, or seriously lacking “flow” in your life? If so, you may be experiencing your NOT-SELF theme!

“What is a NOT-SELF Theme?”

When you are NOT living according to the decision-making Strategy of your Human Design Type, you are probably living your NOT-SELF.

“So, How Can I Know Who My REAL-SELF Is?”

That’s easy. Your Human Design Type (from your personal chart—if you don’t have yours click here) is the fundamental energy structure you were born with. This structure determines the role in life you are “designed” to play and also gives you the decision-making and action-taking strategy that is specifically correct for your energy.

“Why Is That Important?”

When your choices and actions are in alignment with your natural energetic structure—which they are by using the Strategy for your Type—then you are living true to your real SELF… your Authentic SELF. And that’s when “flow” happens. That’s when synchronicity shows up. That’s when you’re in the right place at the right time, and things start to get easier.

“Feels Like Magic?”

You’ve probably had moments in life like that… when things just fall into place and everything flows smoothly. And it feels like magic. Well, it isn’t exactly magic, it is actually the correct use of energy. Specifically, it’s your actions correctly aligning with your natural energy.

We don’t usually re-create that kind of alignment in our lives easily because we don’t know what we did right! Human Design—with information about YOUR personal Type and Strategy—gives you the understanding and tools to create a lot more of that “magic” in your life.

“How Do I Find MY Type and Strategy?”

There are five Types in Human Design: Manifestors, Generators, Manifesting Generators, Projectors, and Reflectors. Each person is one of those five Types, and each Type has its own Strategy. All you need to provide is your birth date, time and place so your personal chart can be created which shows your Type and Strategy (and much more about you as well!).

“Do I Have to Learn About All the Types?”

Even though four of the Types are not YOUR Type, I recommend that you read about all Types whenever you can. First, you will understand yourself better by knowing who you are NOT, in addition to knowing who you ARE.

Second, you will understand the people in your life better. Simply by knowing and respecting each person’s Type, you can improve your relationships with them dramatically.

To request your own chart and charts of others, gather birth date, time (as accurate as possible) and place for each person, and go to:
www.HumanDesignforSuccess.com/free-human-design-chart/

“So, What’s My NOT-SELF Theme?”

You’ll usually find a one word description of your NOT-SELF Theme (often simply called “Theme”) on your chart—but there’s more to it than that.

Although your Type, in fact your whole chart, does not change over your lifetime what does change is how you express the energies in your chart. There’s a range of expression from high to low for every energy you carry.

When you live your Type and Strategy, you more easily live the high expression of your energies. When you’re not living in alignment with your Type and Strategy, your energies are not aligned, you’re more easily influenced by others, you’re more easily distracted away from your Authentic SELF, and you more readily experience the lower expressions of your energies—this is your NOT-SELF.

In this article (Part 2), we explore the NOT-SELF themes for three of the Human Design Types: Manifestors, Manifesting Generators and Reflectors.

The NOT-SELF Theme of Manifestors

The NOT-SELF theme of the Manifestor is Anger, and it goes both ways. You as a Manifestor may feel angry at yourself or others, AND others may be angry with you. And you may not know why!

Antidote for Anger—INFORM

When you are NOT following your strategy of INFORMING, your theme of anger shows up. Informing means letting people who are in your “impact field” know what you’re up to.

You probably don’t realize how much your actions affect those people. Your energy is designed for “initiating” actions… making things happen. When you are not informing, those around you won’t know what to expect and they may feel uncomfortable or even a little scared of you!

They also feel left out when you single-mindedly head off to do something—hence, their anger and mistrust toward you. When your projects or relationships don’t go as you would like, you may either blame others or yourself—hence, your anger.

You Have Good Reasons

It’s logical that you would be reluctant to inform others about what you are doing:

1) It interrupts your creative flow and slows you down.
2) You don’t want to be told you can’t or shouldn’t do it.
3) They may already be mad at you so you’re not inclined to inform them!

How to Minimize Your Theme of Anger

Follow Strategy: It won’t feel natural or comfortable at first, but make the effort to INFORM. It’s the best way to avoid anger. You have a powerful energetic presence; informing people lets them know what to expect so they won’t feel excluded or resentful any more.

Also, ask for help when you need it. And resist reacting with anger when others offer to help you, even though you haven’t asked for help. They mean well.

The NOT-SELF Theme of Manifesting Generators

Your chart shows your theme as Frustration, but that’s just part of the story. Because you are a Manifesting Generator, you also have some of the Manifestor’s theme of Anger. Often, those two will combine into impatience!

Frustration

Your Frustration shows up when you try to make things happen, instead of waiting for something to respond to before taking action. Waiting to respond—and responding with your Sacral sounds—is your Strategy. When you don’t wait for the inner guidance of your Sacral energy, things often don’t go well.

You’ve probably had the experience of feeling stuck or that nothing you try seems to work. Following your Sacral’s guidance will get you moving again, in the right directions for YOU!

Verbalize your Sacral’s “gut reaction” with “uh-huh” for yes, and “uhn-uhn” for no, every time life presents you with something to respond to… which is many times daily. If you are emotional by Design (large triangle on lower right of chart is light brown), use your Sacral responses throughout your emotional wave to gain clarity for good decisions.

Anger

Because you process and move quickly, and you’re often in your own private “busy” groove, you don’t like being interrupted or told you can’t do something. You may feel irritated or angered by this. You also don’t like being helped unless you ask for it first.

To avoid anger (from you and from others), inform others of your actions and plans. That won’t feel natural at first, but it saves time and irritated feelings.

How to Minimize Your Themes of Frustration, Anger and Impatience

Follow Strategy: Wait to respond, then inform. When something shows up in your outer reality (not your mind), your Sacral will respond—letting you know whether that thing is correct for you. Then, inform BEFORE you take action.

The NOT-SELF Theme of Reflectors

As a Reflector, your theme is Disappointment. All nine of your energy Centers are “Open” (white). This openness allows you to perceive and experience the full range of human potential and expression.

When you see unfulfilled potential and unexpressed magnificence in those around you, you are understandably saddened and disappointed.

Follow Your Strategy

Your unique decision-making and action-taking strategy is to wait 28 days (full lunar cycle) before making important decisions. During this time, talk to others so you can see the issues reflected back to you. This helps you gain the clarity you need.

If after 28 days the decision feels right, then you are free to take any and all actions to implement it. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t act. You may try waiting another cycle. And keep talking!

Don’t Leap Too Quickly

Another source of disappointment for you is making decisions and taking actions before your 28 days, and then regretting the choice and being stuck with the consequences. Cultivate patience. Your reward is not only decisions that are correct for you, but also deep wisdom about the human experience.

How to Minimize Your Theme of Disappointment

Follow Strategy:  Take your time. Wait at least 28 days for big decisions. Talk to people. Journal about your decisions, issues, and experiences. Surround yourself with a supportive and consistent group of friends and loved ones. Go with the flow. Trust. Feel good where you are—or move to someplace that feels better, but do it by following Strategy.

P.S. If you’re new to Human Design and you found some of this information confusing or unclear, I invite you to learn more through a private Reading with me (which is the best way to learn about yourself and your chart).

Does your path feel a bit bumpy? Are you struggling, or seriously lacking “flow” in your life? If so, you may be experiencing your NOT-SELF theme!

“What is a NOT-SELF Theme?”

When you are NOT living according to the decision-making Strategy of your Human Design Type, you are probably living your NOT-SELF.

“So, How Can I Know Who My REAL-SELF Is?”

That’s easy. Your Human Design Type (from your personal chart—if you don’t have yours click here) is the fundamental energy structure you were born with. This structure determines the role in life you are “designed” to play and also gives you the decision-making and action-taking strategy that is specifically correct for your energy.

“Why Is That Important?”

When your choices and actions are in alignment with your natural energetic structure—which they are by using the Strategy for your Type—then you are living true to your real SELF… your Authentic SELF. And that’s when “flow” happens. That’s when synchronicity shows up. That’s when you’re in the right place at the right time, and things start to get easier.

“Feels Like Magic?”

You’ve probably had moments in life like that… when things just fall into place and everything flows smoothly. And it feels like magic. Well, it isn’t exactly magic, it is actually the correct use of energy. Specifically, it’s your actions correctly aligning with your natural energy.

We don’t usually re-create that kind of alignment in our lives easily because we don’t know what we did right! Human Design—with information about YOUR personal Type and Strategy—gives you the understanding and tools to create a lot more of that “magic” in your life.

“How Do I Find MY Type and Strategy?”

There are five Types in Human Design: Manifestors, Generators, Manifesting Generators, Projectors, and Reflectors. Each person is one of those five Types, and each Type has its own Strategy. All you need to provide is your birth date, time and place so your personal chart can be created which shows your Type and Strategy (and much more about you as well!).

“Do I Have to Learn About All the Types?”

Even though four of the Types are not YOUR Type, I recommend that you read about all Types whenever you can. First, you will understand yourself better by knowing who you are NOT, in addition to knowing who you ARE.

Second, you will understand the people in your life better. Simply by knowing and respecting each person’s Type, you can improve your relationships with them dramatically.

To request your own chart and charts of others, gather the birth date, time (as accurate as possible) and place for each person, and go to:
www.HumanDesignforSuccess.com/free-human-design-chart/

“So, What’s My NOT-SELF Theme?”

You’ll usually find a one or two word description of your NOT-SELF Theme (often simply called “Theme” or “Life Theme”) on your chart—but there’s more to it than that.

Although your Type, in fact your whole chart, does not change over your lifetime what does change is how you express the energies in your chart. There’s a range of expression from high to low for every energy you carry.

When you live your Type and Strategy, you more easily live the high expression of your energies. When you’re not living in alignment with your Type and Strategy, your energies are not aligned, you’re more easily influenced by others, you’re more easily distracted away from your Authentic SELF, and you more readily experience the lower expressions of your energies—this is your NOT-SELF.

In this article (Part 1) we’ll explore the NOT-SELF themes for two of the Human Design Types: Generators and Projectors. In Part 2 we will look at the remaining three Types.

The NOT-SELF Theme of Generators

As a Generator your NOT-SELF theme is Frustration, but this does not mean you are doomed to a life of pushing a rock up a hill.

Nature of Frustration

Your Frustration shows up when you try to make things happen, instead of waiting for something to respond to before taking action. Waiting to respond—and responding with your Sacral sounds—is YOUR Strategy, and Strategy is your antidote to frustration. When you wait for the inner guidance of your Sacral, you will minimize frustration.

Say out loud “uh-huh” for yes, and “uhn-uhn” for no, every time life presents you with something to respond to… which is many times daily. If you are emotional by Design (large triangle on lower right of chart is light brown), use Sacral responses throughout your emotional wave for clarity.

Stair-Step Learning

Like the Manifesting Generator, you learn in bursts of mastery followed by plateaus of no improvement, despite great effort.

You may want to quit when frustrated by your lack of progress. Use your Sacral response to know if quitting is correct for you. If not, stay with it—mastery will come!

How to Minimize Your Theme of Frustration

Follow Strategy: Wait to respond, then act when response is positive. Understand that a little frustration is part of your learning process.

The NOT-SELF Theme of Projectors

As a Projector your NOT-SELF theme is Bitterness. When your well-intentioned advice meets with resistance or worse, or your life just seems harder than everyone else’s, you may (understandably) feel resentful and even bitter.

Pearls of Wisdom

Your role in life is to manage, guide and direct the energies of others through innate knowing and valuable accumulated wisdom.

Your decision and action strategy is to WAIT TO BE INVITED OR RECOGNIZED. It’s best to be personally invited into big things in life, like love and marriage, career and jobs, where you live, and moving. If you offer advice, opinions or direction without being asked, you’ll likely be ignored or misunderstood. And you may be perceived as bossy, controlling, or irritating.

It’s Not FAIR!

It can be easy for Projectors to veer toward resentment or bitterness because:

1. Invitations to big things in life (career, love, where you live) don’t come often
2. You don’t have sustainable energy (and may even be called lazy!)
3. It’s not correct for you to initiate
4. Feeling rejected or not valued breaks your heart
5. Bitterness keeps new invitations away, which results in more bitterness

How to Minimize Your Theme of Bitterness

Wait for the right timing—via invitations (in other words: follow Strategy). Wait to be recognized or asked BEFORE speaking. If you wait, the right people will ask for and appreciate your wisdom, and the right invitations will come. Cultivate patience. Don’t take things personally.

P.S. If you’re new to Human Design and you found some of this information confusing or unclear, I invite you to learn more through a private Reading with me (which is the best way to learn about yourself and your chart).

Read Part 2 of this article here>>

Living Your Strategy is the KEY to unlocking all of your potential and unfolding all of your natural magnificence.

• If your decisions and actions are not lined up with your in-born energy patterns…
• If you are struggling and working hard yet not producing the results you want (and that you know you’re capable of)…
• If life seems hard and unfair and you feel angry, frustrated, impatient, bitter, or disappointed much of the time…

THEN you are NOT living your Strategy. Only by following your Strategy can all of your amazing energies, themes, and purpose be fully expressed by you.

Human Design Strategy – Back to Basics

How to Make Decisions and Take Actions that Align with Your Authentic Self

Having a how-to manual for your life would be great, wouldn’t it!

• Knowing when to zig and when to zag
• Knowing the best way to approach and influence people
• Making big decisions with confidence
• Knowing when you are on-path to fulfill your soul’s purpose, and how to get back on track when you’ve strayed

This is the core of how your Human Design Strategy can help you. It’s the User’s Manual we’ve all been hoping for!

Even if you already know your Strategy, you will get value from reviewing these basics.

All About Energy Alignment

Here are the fundamentals of using Strategy to help you live a happy and successful life.

There are five energy Types in Human Design—each has a different energetic structure.

The five Types are called: Manifestor, Generator, Manifesting Generator, Projector, and Reflector. You learn which Type you are from your personal Human Design chart. Click here if you don’t have yours yet.

Each energy Type has a specific decision-making and action-taking Strategy.

When you make decisions and take actions using the Strategy for your Type, you align with your natural energetic structure. That alignment allows for “flow” because you’re working with your natural energy, rather than against it. It’s like turning your canoe around and floating easily downstream after having paddled upstream so hard for so long.

Your Type is the PERSONAL energy configuration you were born with-—it does not change over time. The only thing that does change is how you express the energies you carry. That is addressed during a one-on-one Human Design Reading.

Your Role in Life and Your Human Design Strategy

The correct Role for you in life is directly associated with your Human Design Type. This makes it so much easier to choose the right career and work opportunities!

Some of us are designed to work, some are designed to guide and direct, and some are here to initiate work and relationships. A few of us are here to be a mirror for everyone else.

For most of us (~92%!), our correct Strategy is to wait—even if only for a split second—before making decisions and taking actions. But there is much more to it than that.

Below are the basic Roles and Strategies for each Type. In a Full Human Design Reading with me, we would spend 30 minutes or so talking about YOUR Role and Strategy, so you completely get it and know how to use it. But the summary below will give you enough to get started.

From this list you’ll also begin to understand the ways in which others are different from you.

Manifestor Role

• You are here to make things happen; you are the only Type designed to initiate action directly from ideas.
• You have a “motorized” Throat Center enabling you to impact people and be more easily heard than other Types.

Manifestor Strategy

• Inform those in your ‘impact field’ before you take action; wait only for your own sense of timing.
• We informally call it the “throw the spaghetti against the wall and see if it sticks” Strategy since you need to actually start things before you know if they are correct for you.

Generator Role

• Generators are the workforce of the world, with sustainable life force energy for working a job, raising children, etc.
• Your Defined Sacral Center gives you internal guidance on decisions and actions that are correct for you.

Generator Strategy

• Wait to respond with your Sacral sounds (uh-huh is yes, uhn-uhn is no) before making decisions/taking action.
• This means having a gut/Sacral response to everything and anything around you, which is your indicator of whether something is correct for you to take action on.

Manifesting Generator Role

• You are also the workforce of the world, with sustainable life force energy for working a job, raising children, etc.
• You are the busiest of the five Types, and may skip steps in your hurry.
• Your Defined Sacral Center gives you internal guidance for making correct decisions; your “motorized” Throat gives you impact and effectiveness.

Manifesting Generator Strategy

• Wait to respond with your Sacral sounds (uh-huh is yes, uhn-uhn is no), then inform those in your ‘impact field’ before making decisions/taking action.
• This means having a gut/Sacral response to everything and anything around you, which is your indicator of whether something is correct for you to take action on (though you may need to start something for final confirmation, and then not continue doing it if it no longer feels correct).

Projector Role

• You are here to manage, guide and direct others and their activities.
• You are not designed to work a regular 9-5 job; your energy is powerful when used correctly but it isn’t sustainable. You need to manage your energy deliberately.

Projector Strategy

• Wait to be invited into major choices in life (jobs/career, marriage, moving, etc.); wait to be recognized or asked before sharing your wisdom, advice or opinion.
• When you wait, the right people will invite you to the right opportunities. But only accept invitations that feel “delicious” to you!

Reflector Role

• You are here to reflect the well-being of your community, family, etc., and be an early warning signal of any problems.
• You are here to be wise about human potential and the human experience.

Reflector Strategy

• Wait 29 days before making important decisions, then take all action needed.
• Surround yourself with good friends and family, and talk about your decisions.
• It may be challenging for you to find the best path for you—go with what feels good.

“Is This Your Final Decision?”

There is another factor that influences our correct decision-making—it is called Authority. It could be the subject of an entire article, but for now I’ll simply say that if your Authority (shown on your personal Human Design chart) has the word “emotional” in it, you need to wait at least a day or two after your initial response before making a decision, to see if your initial answer changes. You are not designed for spontaneous decisions! (You can learn more about how to apply your Authority in a personal Reading.)

I wrote a related article on Human Design Strategy which you can read here.

I would love to read your comments on what you’ve just learned about yourself and your Human Design Strategy, or the results you’ve had if you’re already applying your Strategy in your life. Also, feel free to share this information with your friends. (I’m happy to run charts for them too!)

If you would like to learn more about a Full Human Design Reading with me, click here.

Decision-Making Advice for Defined Sacrals

Your Human Design chart shows YOUR configuration of the nine energy centers—the triangles, squares and diamond shape on your bodygraph. Usually, they are a mix of some colored in and some white.

Those centers represent the different types of energies we process as human beings, including communication energy, emotional energy, and life force energy.

Of the nine centers four are MOTORS, which provide energy for taking action.

Of those four motor centers, the SACRAL CENTER (second square up from the bottom) is the most powerful. It provides sustainable life force and workforce energy when it is colored red. It is designed to RESPOND to life.

Only Generators and Manifesting Generators have a colored (“Defined”) Sacral Center. Their correct decision-making Strategy is to wait for things to show up in life and then respond to them. Their response lets them know whether to take action or not.

Using Sacral Sounds

The Sacral Center is the internal navigational tool that allows Generators and Manifesting Generators to make powerful life choices with clarity and correctness.

Just like a car needs a key to turn it on, the Sacral Motor is turned on by two sounds. These are sounds that many of us made instinctively but were trained away from—especially if we were raised in the South—because the sounds are not considered “polite.” The sounds are “uh-huh” (indicating “yes”) and “uhn-uhn” (indicating “no”).  

These two sounds allow the Defined Sacral Types (Generators and Manifesting Generators) to access their inner truth.

Imagine two young generator children having a fight. If you were listening, you would probably hear a lot of:

“Uh-HUH!”

“Uhn-UHN!”

“Uh-HUH!”

“Uhn-UHN!”

Now imagine these same two children fighting and saying “yes” and “no” instead. The words “yes” and “no” do not carry the same degree of power as the sounds “uh-huh” and “uhn-uhn.”

The Truth

Generators and Manifesting Generators lose their power when they don’t use their Sacral sounds, and instead try to make decisions from their mind.

Through responding with their sounds, Generators and Manifesting Generators can reach a deep level of self-awareness and truth about themselves in that moment. Their responses let them know exactly what is correct for them and what is not. Those responses are their life force energy rising to engage in specific opportunities (un-huh) or not wanting to engage (uhn-uhn).

The Sacral response never lies, and sometimes it reveals answers that may be disconcerting. The Sacral response is always true in the present moment though it can sometimes change its response at a later time or as a person’s life circumstances evolve.

If the Generator or Manifesting Generator has a Defined Emotional Center (large triangle on right side of chart, colored brown/gold), they must wait through their emotional wave and access their Sacral “truth” at various points on their wave in order to make correct decisions. These people are not designed for spontaneous decision-making.

Accessing Decision-Making Guidance – for Defined Sacrals

As Generators and Manifesting Generators, you have two ways to access your Sacral guidance. You can respond to everything and anything in your “outer reality,” and you can answer “yes or no” questions.

You are natural responders and are always responding to everything around you. When you consciously tap into your Sacral sounds to access those responses, you have ever-ready inner guidance about what is correct for you to pursue and what is not.

A more focused way for you to reach clarity is simply to have someone ask you “yes or no” questions. By using Sacral sounds in response to these questions, you learn the truth about yourself, your life, and any opportunities you may be considering. It is an amazing process that can cut right through confusion and complexity and get right to what is specifically correct for YOU right NOW.

Whether the question is “Do you want to go to a movie?” or “Will you marry me?”, your Sacral response will reveal YOUR truth. With skillful questioning by someone else, you can even access what the correct timing would be for you—with everything from health and relationships to career, prosperity, and personal fulfillment.

How to Ask Sacral Questions – for Open Sacrals

This section is addressed to Open Sacral people (Manifestors, Projectors, and Reflectors) and anyone who wants to help a Defined Sacral person make better decisions.

When asking “yes or no” questions to the Defined Sacral person, remind them to leave their mind out of the process. You might suggest that they pretend their head isn’t attached to their body and they can just let their body respond—without any thinking or judgment.

Sacral sounds come from their “gut” and not just from their throat.

If they are not able to make a clear “un-huh” or “uhn-uhn” sound in response to one of your questions, then that question is probably not specific enough.

The Sacral is very literal, so the wording of questions is important. For example, “do you want to do ____?” is different from “would you be willing to do ____?”

Start with simple questions, like “do you like coffee?” and “do you like brussel sprouts?” Once they experience what their Sacral response feels like, then progress to more significant questions.

Choose your next questions on the same subject based on their responses, and “drill down” to get to the heart of the issue and the correct timing for it.

It’s okay for them to give you questions they want you to ask, but change the wording, mix the questions up a bit, and ask specific follow up questions based on their answers and your sense of where to go next with each topic.

This question-asking may feel a bit awkward at first, but with a little practice you’ll master the art of asking great Sacral questions and will provide an invaluable service to your Generator and Manifesting Generator friends and loved ones.

[You can read an updated/expanded version of this article about Human Design Strategy HERE]

Let’s get practical.

Why bother learning all this Human Design stuff about yourself?  What good does it really do?

I could go on and on about the profound impact it makes on my clients’ lives, the life-changing difference it’s made in my life, and how it can literally give you a complete ‘paradigm shift’. (That phrase is bandied about quite a bit… but knowing your Human Design does permanently change the way you see yourself, others, and the world. That is a true paradigm shift.)

But I’m not going to. Instead, we’re going to get really practical.

Knowing your Human Design Type and Strategy gives you a decision-making and action-taking strategy that is specifically correct for YOU. 

It’s not some generic approach. Not something that works for me but probably won’t work for you. Not something based on subjective answers you gave to a bunch of generalized questions.

This is completely specific to you.

It’s YOUR PERSONAL energy configuration. The one you were born with. And it doesn’t change over time. The only thing that does change is your expression of those energies. But that’s a topic for another post.

Decision-Making and Action-Taking

When you make choices and take actions in a way consistent with your personal energy blueprint, it becomes easy to make the right choices and take the right actions. And I don’t mean morally right or wrong… I mean what is specifically and personally right for YOU.

Right for who YOU are and where YOU are going in life. Right for leading you to your personal and unique purpose for being here. Right for helping you fulfill your role, express the best of you, and live life at peace with yourself and the world.

And at a practical, everyday level… it makes things go better and flow better.

Instead of pushing a boulder up a hill trying to make things happen or feeling like you’re constantly paddling upstream, you learn to float downstream and leverage the power of the current to help you get where you want to go, and have what you want to have. You work WITH your energies, not against them.

Roles and Strategies

The only way to KNOW your Role and Strategy is to know your TYPE, which you learn from your Human Design Chart. Click here if you don’t have yours yet.

There are five different Types, and each Type has its own Role and Strategy.

Some people are designed to work, some are designed to guide and direct, some are here to initiate work and relationships. Most of us (92%!) are here to wait—even if only for a split second—before making decisions and taking actions.

When you know exactly how to operate in life for YOUR greatest ease and success… it changes everything!

Below are the basic Roles and Strategies for each Type. In a Human Design Full Reading with me, we would spend 30 minutes or so talking about YOUR Role and Strategy, so you completely get it and know how to use it. But the summary below will give you enough to get started.

From this list you’ll also begin to understand the ways in which some people are so different from you.

If you are a Manifestor…

• You are here to make things happen; you are the only Type designed to initiate action directly from ideas.
• You have a “motorized” Throat Center enabling you to impact people and be more easily heard than other Types.

Manifestor Strategy:

• Inform those in your ‘impact field’ before you take action; wait only for your own sense of timing.

If you are a Generator…

• Generators are the workforce of the world, with sustainable life force energy for working a job, raising children, etc.
• Your Defined Sacral Center gives you internal guidance on decisions and actions that are correct for you.

Generator Strategy:

• Wait to respond with your Sacral sounds (uh-huh is yes, uhn-uhn is no) before making decisions/taking action.

If you are a Manifesting Generator…

• You are also the workforce of the world, with sustainable life force energy for working a job, raising children, etc.
• Your Defined Sacral Center gives you internal guidance for making correct decisions; your “motorized” Throat gives you impact and effectiveness.

Manifesting Generator Strategy:

• Wait to respond with your Sacral sounds (uh-huh is yes, uhn-uhn is no), then inform those in your ‘impact field’ before making decisions/taking action.

If you are a Projector…

• You are here to manage, guide and direct others and their activities.
• You are not designed to work a regular job; you don’t have sustainable energy.

Projector Strategy:

• Wait to be invited into major choices in life (jobs/career, marriage, moving, etc.); wait to be recognized or asked before sharing your wisdom, advice or opinion.

If you are a Reflector…

• You are here to reflect the well-being of your community, family, etc., and be an early warning signal of any trouble.
• Can be very wise about human potential.

Reflector Strategy:

• Wait 29 days before making important decisions, then take all action needed.

I invite you to comment on what you’ve learned about yourself, and/or the results you’ve had if you’ve applied your Strategy in your life. Also, feel free to share this information with your friends. (I’m happy to run charts for them too!)

If you’re intrigued and would like to learn more about a Full Human Design Reading with me, click here.