5 Ingredients for Projector Success
When I first discovered Human Design nearly three years ago, the aspect of my chart that was the most surprising and mystifying to me was the Projector Energy Type.
For months, I devoured everything I could get my hands on about Projectors. Having lived most of my life doing a pretty good job pretending to be a (Manifesting) Generator Type, it was quite jarring to learn that I’m not really here to do as much as I am here to guide energy.
I had so many questions - what was a typical Projector day supposed to look like? What’s all this talk on Instagram about the Projector “work while lying down” trend? If I’m not here to “do”… how am I supposed to spend my time every day? Am I supposed to just lounge around? Lounging all day did not sound very appealing to my athletic, energetic, vibrant, go-getter self!
Over the last three years of my personal Human Design experiment, I have finally answered some of my own questions about what it means to be a Projector in this wild world. I’ve come up with five ingredients for Projector success - the five things that every Projectors should include in their days (and probably does already, perhaps without realizing it!) to live a healthy, aligned, and thriving life.
For reference, I am a 6/2 Emotional Projector, quad-right, 32 years old, channels 13-33 and 19-49. Please note that this blog is written from my own personal experiences and understanding of the Human Design System. Always check in with your Authority when discerning what is right for you, and book a session with a trusted practitioner to dive deeper into the specifics of your unique chart.
Ok, let’s get to it!
The Five Ingredients for Projector Success:
Studying
This is an activity that, if you are a Projector, you probably engage in a lot more than you realize. Studying is something that comes so naturally to us and it can take many different forms. Projectors are gifted at mastering systems and at seeing things other don’t. When we give ourselves the time to study what is interesting to us, we build up our knowledge base which we call upon when it is time to guide others. Every Projector I have ever met is a very wise being, often completely unconscious of the truth-bombs and wisdom they drop on a regular basis in their area of expertise!
This process of “studying” can vary Projector-to-Projector depending on your unique preferences and areas of interest. For example, a Projector who is an athletic coach may “study” by watching footage of the sport that they coach. A Projector who is a counsellor may spend time reading books that interest them, which in turn provides them with wisdom to share with their clients. “Studying” can take the form of interesting conversations, or even watching movies and TV shows.
In general, I find myself engaged in some form of studying almost every day. Sometimes, it’s more intentional time that I carve out to read a book about a certain psychology topic or Human Design/Gene Keys. Other times, this “studying” comes through reading a novel, interacting with a friend or family member and then reflecting on it afterwards, or reading Instagram posts, newsletters, and blogs from people that I tend to learn a lot from. Whichever form studying takes, recognize that it is part of what makes you the incredibly wise guide that you are. Projectors aren’t here to “do” a lot of work output, but we are definitely here to learn and take in wisdom that we later draw upon to guide others.
Guiding
This is the obvious ingredient of Projector success: We are natural guides, and this is a major part of our purpose on Earth. We have the gift of seeing deeply into the energy of another person, and of guiding that energy in a way that is most supportive to them. The way that a Projector guides energy can vary significantly Projector-to-Projector. For example, a Projector can be a musician, where the music they create is what guides the energy of their audience. A Projector could be an athletic coach who guides the energy of their athletes, or a business coach who guides the energy of their clients. It’s not so much the job title that matters - it’s more about the energy the Projector brings of seeing deeply into the core of another person/group of people, and providing guidance to assist them along their journey. In my own life, my guiding energy comes into play in my 1:1 work with clients. This energy shows up both in preparation for my sessions, where I’m already tapping into the client’s energy, and in the sessions themselves. This guiding energy also shows up in all of my relationships - it’s simply how my aura works! My guiding energy is showing up right now in writing this blog, because my intention with these words is that they will help to guide you more deeply into alignment with your beautiful Projector self.
Resting
Ah, resting! Another Projector-ism that gets a lot of airtime on social media. This is honestly the aspect of being a Projector that I was the most confused about at the beginning of my journey. Since I was a young child, I have been quite an energetic person. According to my mom, I completely refused to take naps, and as a baby in my crib I insisted on staying up past my bedtime every night while my parents read me story after story (the Projector “studying” begins at a very early age!). As a child, teenager, and adult, I was a competitive athlete in a variety of different sports and while I did burn out and get injured several times during my athletic career, I also was quite talented in this area and did well when I set my mind to achieving my goals (hello, six planets in Capricorn!).
That being said, at the point in my life where I learned I was a Projector, I was very burnt-out physically and recognized on a soul-deep level that I was exhausted and needed more rest than I had previously been allowing myself. However, I also did not resonate with needing A TON of rest, lying around all day, and feeling exhausted even at the thought of moving my body (which are all things I’ve heard spoken about in the Instagram Human Design world). Again, while I can’t say I’ve found the perfect formula with this, I have learned a thing or two over the last three years. I will start by saying that, since discovering Human Design, getting back in touch with my body, and integrating more rest into my life, I have not been sick once. This is huge for me to be able to say, because all of my life I’ve been the person that goes and goes and goes until an illness forces me to take some down time. Now that I am more in tune with my body and my unique energetic needs as a Projector, I am able to integrate rest into my life in a more regular way, which has allowed me to stay healthy and thriving.
Let’s face it - our world is not built for Projectors. The expectation that we are supposed to engage in work output for 8+ hours per day, exercise, take care of a family and a home, maintain social relationships, and tend to other responsibilities is just insane for a Projector. We certainly can’t keep burning away in a fast and frantic life for days and years in the way we’ve been taught is “normal.” But on the other hand, lounging around all day doesn’t feel right either. So where is the happy medium with this? I can only answer this question for myself, and I encourage you to tune in with your own energy levels and experiment to see what’s right for you.
Where I’ve landed on this for the time being is that there are four different types of rest: Physical rest, mental rest, emotional rest, and spiritual rest. Each of these is important for Projectors to be mindful of, and to ensure that we continuously fill up our cups in each of these important areas. For example, when I was a full-time student and athlete, my physical and mental cups were depleting continuously (too much, as I realize in retrospect!). In my life now, without a set training plan or assignments due every week, it’s much easier for me to take rest in those areas. I find that in my current work, I often need emotional rest and spiritual rest more often than I did previously. After sessions with clients, or even after a several-month spree of intensive personal spiritual growth, emotional and spiritual rest are essential. For me, this rest might look like: physical activity in nature, reading a novel, watching TV, playing board games, or having a bath.. After so many years as an athlete where physical activity was the “work” and everything else is “rest”, this paradigm shift has been a major adjustment for me, and one that definitely did not happen overnight. I truly believe that, with the right energy behind it, physical activity can be a form of mental, emotional, and spiritual rest, while rejuvenating the physical body. The bottom line is that rest can take so many forms. Sometimes it’s a run in the forest - sometimes it’s reading a novel on the couch for hours instead of working.
I encourage you to ask yourself these questions as you reflect upon what rest looks like for you: Which activities truly replenish me? Physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually? Make a list for each category and learn to identify what type of rest you truly need when you start to feel depleted. And, of course, be open to the idea that what is restful one day may not be restful the next - always tune in with your body through its ebbs and flows.
Being Seen
This is the aspect of being a Projector that has been the most challenging for me thus far, but also the most rewarding and essential. Being seen is an essential part of running a business, because if the people who would benefit from working with me don’t know I exist, they will never find me to invite me in to guide their energy. Whether you are an entrepreneur or not, if you are a Projector, one of the ingredients for success is putting yourself in situations where you have the opportunity to be seen by the right people - those on your fractal who are ready to invite you to be their guide. For me, this work of being seen comes into play in my business and specifically my marketing strategies. This is a big part of my work - showing up without attachment to results, allowing myself to be seen, and waiting for those aligned invitations.
Intentional Work
Intentional work where you are “doing” and producing some kind of output is an essential component of anyone’s day, even if you are a Projector! It’s just that, as a Projector, 8+ hours a day of work output is simply too much. Unlike Generators and Manifesting Generators, our contribution to the world is not the work we do, but rather how we see things and how we are able to guide others. The general guideline given in Human Design is that Projectors should be actively engaged in work output for about 3 hours per day. In my experience, this number can vary. In my own business, I typically do about 5 hours of work per day, although some of that time is studying and not strictly work output. Work output, for me, looks like: writing emails, setting up meetings, preparing for sessions, doing sessions, writing copy, creating social media content, writing/editing blogs, etc. While all of this stuff does take time, I’m careful not to do more than 3-5 hours per day for multiple days in a row, otherwise I know I will start to feel the effects in a negative way. Also, I am not productive for more than about 5 hours per day anyways! If I try to work more than 5 hours in a day, the quality of my work decreases drastically.
One of our gifts as Projectors is being about to get a lot done in a relatively short amount of time. For example, today the concept for this blog post “dropped in” while I was out skiing. I thought about it on my ski, contemplated it some more while going about my daily tasks, and when I sat down to actually write it, it took about 1.5 hours. I would not consider the skiing and contemplation time to be a part of the work output time, but they were absolutely essential in the final result of this blog post. I think that’s a perfect example of how we Projectors spend our days. It’s not so much the actual “doing” that fills our time - it’s the studying, contemplation, resting, experiential learning etc. that lead up to clear, intentional actions when it is time to take them.
Deconditioning from a life spent in a 9-5, Monday-Friday, “hard work leads to success” culture, family, and mindset has been a massive journey for me as a Projector. I would not say that I have perfected the formula, but I have come a very long way towards understanding and embodying life as a healthy and thriving Projector being.
Leave me a comment or write me a message if any of this resonates with you - I would love to hear your thoughts on Projector success and how you spend your time as a Projector!