I’m sure you know by now that here at Whimsy + Wellness we love learning more about ourselves and the people around us! With our mission to make the world a happier and healthier place it’s so vital to actually understand ourselves and one another so that we can do that, right?
Today’s episode is another one that will fall under that self discovery category and it’s on Human Design! Erin Claire Jones, Human Design guru and coach was our guest for this episode and she walked us through:
- How Erin got into Human design
- What Human Design is
- How we can use the knowledge of our human design type in our lives
- How Human Design differs from the enneagram and other personality typings/tests
- How to find out your Human Design type
- The 5 Human Design Types and an overview of each:
- Manifesting Generator
- Generator
- Projector
- Manifestor
- Reflector
- What our Human Design profile numbers are, what they mean, and a brief overview of each number
- How to support the other Human Design types in our lives
And more!!
You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app OR you can keep reading for our written summary!
Our guest, Erin Claire Jones, and how she got into Human Design
Erin Claire Jones never imagined Human Design Coach and teacher being her career path but she now coaches thousands of individuals and companies step into their work and their lives as their truest selves and to reach their highest potential.
Erin discovered Human Design in 2015. She was working in the startup world and was really interested in entrepreneurship and business and was sitting at a gathering with friends in NYC when a man approached her and told her he wanted to look at her Human Design. She had never heard of the system before but was open to hearing what he had to say.
He gave her a mini reading right there on the spot and she described it as “Resonant but also really confronting! Resonant in that it gave me a language to understand how I operated, in a way that I had never really been able to articulate before and confronting in that I was not. And it was confronting in that it was like, wow that all sounds like me but I also feel so far away from that.”
The man went on to tell her that he thought Erin was meant to do Human Design work and that they were meant to work together. Erin made a point to say right here in the interview that it’s very important to note that human design is not predictive, he wasn’t saying it was written in the stars or something like that he just had a strong feeling about working together.
They quickly began working together and he showed her the many layers of how Human Design can be used not only on an individual level but in partnership, in helping us know how to work better together as teams, parenting, etc. They worked together for two years and then in 2017 Erin started her own practice.
What is Human Design?
Human Design is a system based on your exact time, date, and place of birth which reveals your energetic blueprint to how you’re uniquely wired to thrive in personal life, business, career, relationships, parenting, everything!
Human Design basically gives you a roadmap to you!
There are 5 Human Design types: manifesting generator, generator, projectors, reflectors, and manifestors.
Our type will:
- Reveal how we are best designed to use our energy
- Speak to how to cultivate the most aligned opportunities in our lives
- Help tell us how we are best designed to make decisions
- Shed light on the areas where we can get the most off track (which is very helpful to know because often this is where we have the most to learn)
- Speak to our innate strengths we can draw on
- Speak to how to market ourselves, manifest our purpose
…and all kinds of other things!!
Like I said, you can go very deep with human design and there is so much on our charts to learn and pull from but knowing your type along with your strategy and how you make decisions are incredible places to start!
How is Human Design different from the Enneagram, Myers Briggers, DISC, or other personality typings?
The Enneagram, Myers Briggs, etc. are personality typings, but Human Design is not a personality framework. Human Design is solely based on your date, time, and location of birth!
When I asked how Erin would categorize Human Design compared to other models she responded, “It’s more about our operating system. It’s how we function best! For example, you could have two twins with the same Human Design type but how they actually express that energy and what they’re lit up by could be radically different!” Interesting, right?
Erin has hosted retreats with enneagram coaches and she hasn’t noticed a big correlation between specific enneagram typings and human design typings. All Human Design type can have all different personality types since it’s simply our operating system and how we best function!
How to find out your Human Design type
To find out which Human Design type you are you’ll need to pull your human design chart (this is free!!) Your chart will tell you your type along with the things I mentioned about (your strategy and how you make decisions) along with many other things.
The chart at first will look pretty weird and confusing but the most important thing to take away from your chart when starting out is to see which type you are.
What are the 5 Human Design types?
Let’s walk through the 5 Human Design types. As a reminder, our type speaks to how we best use our energy as well as how we are best designed to create the most aligned opportunities for ourselves.
Manifesting Generators & Generators
Manifesting generators and generators (I’m a generator!) are both the “creative doers”, builders, the ones who really have the energy and life force. As either of these types, you build, create, and make things happen!
If you’re a manifesting generator or generator, the more lit up and satisfied by what you’re doing, the more energy you’ll have! You’re designed to wake up in the morning energized and excited to use up your energy throughout the day in ways that feel satisfying and then drop into bed exhausted just to wake up energized again!
One of the biggest lessons for both manifesting generators and generators is prioritizing your own satisfaction as well as setting and honoring your boundaries, specifically not saying yes to everything so that you can pursue what does light you up and make it happen!
Manifesting generators specifically are often very multi-passionate, they like moving their energy between lots of things at once. Their gift is moving very quickly but not necessarily handling every step along the way.
Generators have this steadfast potential for mastery. There is a committed energy and the ability to really go deep into something and bring an idea to life so beautifully.
It is very important for both manifesting generators and generators to take inventory of your life and ask yourself:
- “What are the aspects of my life and work that are the most energizing and exciting, and how can I do more of those things?”
- “What are the things that are the most draining, depleting, exhausting in my life and work and can I get rid of any of these things from my plate?”
The strategy for both manifesting generators and generators is magnetism.
If you are one of these two types, you are not meant to chase after anything. Life is meant to come to you, and your work is to keep your awareness open and see what shows up in your world that lights you up.
Erin explained that it is very common for manifesting generators and generators to really struggle with focusing on and prioritizing what lights them up and they often feel guilty or selfish for doing so.
However when manifesting generators and generators prioritize their energy and what lights them up, they are able to light up and pour into the world and other people in such a big way.
Remember these types are the energy life force, so as a generator or manifesting generator it’s important to honor and protect your energy so that you can show up how you’re meant to!
Projectors
Projectors, you are here to be the leaders, the guides, the advisors, the teachers. You’re not here to do all the “doing”. Your gift as a projector is in your sensitivity to others; your ability to ask the right questions to help support, lead, guide, advise, and teach.
Projectors find that their energy ebbs and flows and therefore having spaciousness in your days is healthy and important. Projectors you also tend to really love systems; Human Design, Zodiac, Enneagram, Strengthsfinder, etc. anything that helps you better understand people and how they work.
The strategy for projectors is to wait to be recognized and invited in. That often looks like working with people that you feel deeply seen and known by.
Erin shared that she is a projector and when she first started learning about what it meant she felt like “this is a little passive” but she has since learned that so much of being a projector is making yourself visible: sharing with the world who you are and what you’re inspired by and letting the right people resonate and come to you.
Manifestors
If you’re a manifestor, you’re here to be the initiators and the innovators. You’re here to get things started, get the ball rolling. As a manifestor you’re not necessarily here to do all the doing but to get things off the ground.
Manifestors often prioritize freedom of autonomy and control. You’re not here to be told what to do or be managed or guided in any way, you’re here to do things on your own terms and in your own way and in a way that makes you feel free.
It is common for your energy as a manifestor to operate in spurts; you might have creative bursts where you can make a lot happen very quickly and then kind of pull back and take rests and wait for that next burst of energy.
The strategy for manifestors is initiating and trusting the urges that arise within you and then following them!
So much of being a manifestor is having the courage to be different and to walk a path that maybe hasn’t been walked before.
It’s important for you as a manifestor to keep those around you in the loop which isn’t a natural feeling for you but people are so impacted by your energy that if you don’t let people know about your decisions or plans, people can be a bit resistant to you, whereas when you keep people in the loop, they’re able to be much more at ease.
Reflector
Reflectors, you are our collective mirrors. You are deeply sensitive to your physical environment, always taking in and magnifying the energy of their space.
When there is a reflector on a team or in a company or community, Erin explained that you can really get a good sense of the quality of a team, company, community, etc. by how the reflector is showing up.
It’s important if you are a reflector to be a ruthless curator of the spaces you’re spending time in and the people you’re spending time with.
The magic in you as a reflector is in your fluidity! You will have periods where you feel/act like a generator, manifesting generator, projector or manifestor but your job is to never be just one thing or one type or express yourself in just one way, but instead honor whatever feels authentic in that given moment or time. Your gift is so much in the vastness of how you can express yourself and not in a fixedness or consistency.
The strategy for reflectors is really taking your time in decision making as well as being in the right physical space, as that will attract the right opportunities to you.
When reflectors are in a space that doesn’t feel good, whether that is city, home, office, relationships, things feel and become extremely stagnant. On the flip side of that, when your space does feel good, there is so much momentum because you magnify the space that you’re around!
Loving and Supporting Each Human Design Type
It is extremely helpful and valuable both for yourself and your own knowledge but as well as the strength and health of a relationship if you’re able to understand the Human Design Types of those closest to you. Specifically your partner and children if you have them but even your close friends and even co-workers!
Erin shared a few ways we can show up for, hold space, and best support the different types in our lives…
Supporting Generators
If you have a generator in your life, a great way to support them is by helping them prioritize their excitement and if you’re able, taking things off their plate that they’re not excited by. It’s also helpful to ask generators super specific questions and give them options to respond to rather than broad questions or decisions.
For example if you’re planning to have dinner with a generator instead of saying “what do you want to do for dinner” you could ask “do you want to go out for dinner or eat in?” This allows generators to drop into their gut instincts where they best make decisions and know what feels right and what doesn’t.
Supporting Manifesting Generators
Supporting manifesting generators can look similar to supporting generators; giving them options and things to respond to, prioritizing their excitement and taking things off their plate that doesn’t excite them.
It’s also important to not try to keep up with the manifesting generators in your life. Manifesting generators move fast and so if you’re trying to keep up with them it’ll just burn you out so supporting them at their pace and allowing them to do their own thing is wildly helpful for your relationship.
Supporting Projectors
If you have a projector in your life make them feel very seen, recognized, and invited in, because that is what really fuels them! Focusing on recognition, not expecting them to “keep up”, honoring their time for rest and their time alone.
Supporting Manifestors
Manifestors thrive when they have the freedom to be in their own space without distractions. So a great way to support and honor the manifestors you’re in relationship with would be giving them their space, letting them lead the charge and do what they are inspired to do.
It would also be helpful and encouraging to remind them of their impact and how powerful they are! Having courage to walk their own path plays a huge role in Manifestor’s lives, and so reminding them of how powerful and even brave they are and encouraging them to honor their natural desire to take and forge their own path can be incredibly helpful and supportive.
Supporting Reflectors
If you have a reflector in your life it’s very important to be so honoring of how sensitive this person is to their space.
This can be in very simple ways; if you live together making sure the home feels good, bringing them to coffee shops and restaurants that they love, taking trips to cities or places they enjoy, simple things like that can make a huge impact.
Not expecting or demanding consistency from reflectors is also going to be helpful and honoring in your relationship with the reflector in your life. There may be a week where this person is so energized about something and then a week where they’re not like that and that’s normal for reflectors so supporting them and honoring the ebbs and flows of their energy is very helpful.
Your Human Design Profile (and what that means)
When you pulled your Human Design type, you were told your type from one of the 5 types above but you were also told a profile which looks like “a number / a number”. For example my profile is 4/6. There are six different numbers that make up twelve combinations since each person has two numbers in their profile, again like how I am a 4/6. (Reminder, this has nothing to do with enneagram numbers)
Your Human Design profile tells you how you best manifest your purpose!
Below is a brief highlight / description of each number. You will want to take the description for both of your two numbers in your profile and combine them.
Profiles with a 1
If you have a 1 in your profile it means that you’re an investigator. You’re really here to dive deep into things and build a solid foundation of knowledge underneath you.
Profiles with a 2
If you have a 2 you’re very much a natural hermit but you also bring an innate genius to whatever it is that you do. So often the best things for you to do are the things that come easily and naturally.
Profiles with a 3
If you’re a three you learn through experimentation and trial and error. You bump into things, make mistakes and learn through your mistakes in order to keep growing.
Profiles with a 4
If you have a 4, so many of your opportunities are meant to come through your community and your network and the people that you know. It’s very important to nourish your relationships because they create opportunities for you. It’s also very healthy to be friends with the people you work with, your partner, anyone you spend a lot of time with, justi having a foundation of friendship and warmth because you’re meant to be quite impactful in your community.
Profiles with a 5
If you have a 5 in your profile you are here to be the problem solvers and fixers. You bring an unconventional and integrative solution to things and you’re not necessarily the fixer to all the problems but just the ones you feel excited to solve.
It’s common for other people to tell you, “You could/should do all of these things!” and your job is to know your boundary and know that while they see that, being “all the things” doesn’t usually feel right to you so strong boundaries are key.
Profiles with a 6
And if you have a 6 in your profile, you are a natural role model, natural teacher and authority and you might naturally inspire trust in others. One of your gifts is offering a very objective and optimistic perspective on where things are going.
6s tend to live their life in three phases:
- Age 0 – 30 a phase of a lot of trial and error; you’ll be bumping into things and experiencing and trying new things. This is not a time in your life to figure it all out but rather try it all out and experience as much as you can.
- 30-50 is a time to really integrate all the things you’ve learned, to invest more deeply in the things that really have worked, to embody your wisdom in a deeper and deeper way, and you may start to notice more people coming to you for your wisdom.
- 50-end of life this is your prime! You start to really embody your wisdom in a deeper and deeper way and you really inspire people to be themselves by being so authentic in your own expression.
Sometimes this knowledge for those with a 6 can feel like, “What? I’m ready now, I don’t want to wait until I’m 50!” but Erin encouraged us that there is nothing to wait for, it’s just knowledge that it’s going to continue to get better and better as you age which should bring you peace!
A few other specific questions I had for Erin on Human Design…
What if you don’t know your exact birth time?
The more precisely you know your birth time, the better. There are some aspects of our Human Design chart that could change minute to minute however most of the time the most important aspects of the human design chart remain the same minute to minute so if someone’s birth time was a few minutes off it most likely wouldn’t throw off their Human Design chart that much if at all.
Erin has worked with many clients who have a few hour range such as “between 1pm and 5pm” on a certain date and in those cases she’ll pull multiple timed charts and see what resonates with the person.
Do you see patterns and overlaps popping up as far as interests or careers when it comes to each type or profile? Or is there really no overlap and any type and profile can be anything?
“My perspective on Human Design is it’s very much not meant to be this limiting thing where it’s like, only projectors can be coaches and only generators can be creatives.
I don’t think Human Design limits what we can do, I think it just lets us know how we’ll do it best! So any type can be a CEO, a coach, an artist and so on but how a Manifesting Generator leads a team will probably be vastly different from how a Projector leads a team.”
Erin went on to explain that partnership is the same way. She does not believe that it’s very healthy or useful to try and only match up with people based on your type and theirs.
Erin encourages us to trust ourselves and who we’re drawn to and then once we know a connection with someone feels right, that’s the perfect time to dig in and discover their type and how to best show up for one another, but really not using it as a fielding process.
What if someone’s human design description does not resonate with them at all? Does this ever happen and what could it mean?
Often when this happens the person’s information was entered incorrectly so always double check that your date and time of birth is accurate. If the information is all entered in correctly and it’s still not resonating, Erin said that while it’s not common it can happen and she recommends:
“Let the seeds be planted in you, you might find that in a year this information does really land and resonate with you. But also, most times we’re not living our design. And what I mean by that is you might be a manifesting generator and hear that you have all of this creativity and passion and power but not feel any of that.
But if you’re in a job or relationship where you’re really depressed and exhausted and misused or understood and not being lit up by what you’re doing, it’s going to be very hard to access any of it and therefore your type could be unrecognizable. It can be a sign that you’re not in full alignment.”
Erin also encourages us all to just take what feels good and ditch the rest. If it doesn’t resonate and it’s just annoying or frustrating then absolutely don’t spend your energy on it! This is used as a self discovery tool, it doesn’t need to be something we live by, especially if it doesn’t feel right!
Do you think our Human Design type is destined before we were born (which would mean our date and time of birth was also destined) or is it just randomly determined when our mother goes into labor?
“In some ways, because Human Design is so mystical I’ve just stopped trying to explain it. But it is so wild that we can get this level of information just from time, date, and place someone is born is incredible but it’s also still mystical. So while yes, based on conception and when they’re born that is going to impact and inform your design greatly but I have to imagine there are larger forces at play in ways that I cannot explain.”
Rapid fire closing questions with Erin
At the end of each episode I ask all our guests the same set of rapid fire questions! Here are Erin’s responses:
- What would you say is just one way your topic of Human Design can make the world a happier and healthier place?
“You know I just think that when we honor how we are uniquely wired to thrive in terms of how we show up in the world it brings us all closer together and it really allows us to really do the work that we’re meant to in the world and so we all benefit when people lean into who they’re meant to be. Being our most authentic selves is going to make such a positive impact in the world. ”
- What is something you do for yourself each day for the simple fact that it makes you happy?
“Moving my body, cuddling with my partner, and being outside. ”
- What late night snack makes you happiest?
“Honey Mama’s chocolate. It’s at a level where it doesn’t even compare to other chocolates.“
This blew my mind because another guest also said Honey Mamas! I haven’t tried them but now I NEED to! Have you??
- Now that listeners/readers know the intro to Human Design and understand a quick glimpse into their type and their profile, what do you recommend next steps are, how can they continue to learn and implement their Human Design information?
“I offer something called the Blueprint which is a 55+ page written guide to your design and it’s meant to be the book to YOU! It walks you through the information on your chart in empowering and actionable ways. I always recommend buying your Blueprint as the place to get started!”
You can grab your Blueprint HERE and use the discount code WHIMSY for 10% off!
Erin also shares a ton of free information on all the types over on instagram: @erinclairejones
Okay friend, I hope this was a fun episode where you learned something new and feel empowered to live your life as your best self!!
Want to pair some Whimsy with your Human Design type? Here’s what we recommend:
- My Beautiful Life Bottle Set – This is my favorite set!! The colors are beyond beautiful and the different affirmations on each bottle are so inspiring. Now that you’ve learned more about yourself through Human Design grab the My Beautiful Life set and mix up some of your favorite blends inside!
- Crystals for Creativity & Motivation – Now that you know your type and profile, are you ready to get to work and step into becoming your true authentic self? These crystals for creativity & motivation will help you harness just that!
- Our Zodiac Collection – Do you love learning about yourself and others? Then I’m sure you’ll like our zodiac episode and zodiac bottles!!
- Enneagram Roller Set by Type – You probably know by now that we all LOVE the enneagram here at Whimsy, do you?? If so, grab your enneagram roller set!!
Let’s stay in touch! Make sure you’re subscribed to our show and follow Whimsy + Wellness and Whimsy + Wellness Podcast over on Instagram!
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