The Reading That Changed How I Work
And How I Think About Myself
I recently joined a mastermind group. It's been a rewarding experience. I’ve learnt so much from the community and the support is invaluable. Last week there was a bonus session with Cat Skreiner, an expert in Human Design. What is Human Design you ask? Before the session, I honestly had no idea but figured I’d tune in to see what it's all about.
Doing a quick Google before the session, GOOP told me Human Design is, “Human Design shows you where and how to access your body’s consciousness as a decision-making tool, and ultimately, how to live as your true self.” It also told me Human Design was a combo of The I Ching, astrology, Kabbalah, Hindu-Brahmin chakra system, and quantum physics and your Human Design Chart is calculated using your birth date, time and place.
Sure, it sounded a little bat shit crazy, but anything that says it can tell me how to live out my real purpose in life seems worth a look.
Now, I've done the Myers Briggs test. All the questions were based on a scale of “agree” to “disagree”, then a result was punched out and I was like “meh yeah, that could be me I guess”. For those interested, I got The Executive (ESTJ). “The Executive possesses great fortitude, emphatically following their own sensible judgment. They often serve as a stabilizing force among others, able to offer solid direction amid adversity.” I read the information and promptly moved on with my life, never thinking about it again.
So when asked to fill in the questions for the Human Design test, I wasn’t expecting much. I filled in my name, email, date of birth, time of birth, location of birth then submitted thinking a bunch more questions were to come. But no, that was it.
Now, at first, I was utterly confused as to what I was reading. Numbers, symbols, an outline of a human torso with areas all coloured in or not, with lines joining areas also coloured or not coloured in. It looked like something I'd seen in my Year 12 Biology exam.
Enter Cat Skreiner and her explanation of what I was looking at, and, as it turned out, an explanation of me.
As each part of my graph’s meaning was revealed, I was left saying “stop, that's bang on”. She was very literally laying out my personality in every possible way, without ever meeting me.
This is what it told me: I'm a Projector (2/4). Approximately making up 22% of the population, a projector (in a nutshell) needs recognition, time to unwind daily, alone time mixed with people time, reminders to slow down, set boundaries and choice (I'm not for everyone), space to study and to learn and is a listening friend. All very me.
Our strengths are being able to deeply understand others, to clearly see the big picture and to organise resources and put a plan into action. We wait to be invited, keeping ourselves occupied with study, relaxation and showing the world who we are. Our desire for success drives us, in everything we do. Again, very true.
On the flip side, we’re triggered when things don't go our way or when our efforts are not appreciated, and we get bitter. A toxic emotion, and in business we must learn to acknowledge it, process it, and then forge forward.
The “2/4” in my profile relates to a personality categorised by the old terminology as the Hermit (conscious feeling, this is how I see myself) and the Opportunist (subconscious feeling, this is how others see me). In the new terminology, it’s The Naturalist (conscious, how i see myself, i am) and The Networker (subconscious, how others see me). This is really true. I am a hermit, and most things do come relatively naturally to me, and subconsciously I spend a bunch of time networking, whether it's creating new opportunities or just pulling my friendship group together for catch-ups.
The final part of the result is the human outline. It shows where my reactions, emotions and decisions are made and what organs drive me. This part is hard to know because I’ve previously not thought a lot about what organs make my biggest decisions, but it was fascinating stuff.
The more Cat talked through the meanings, honestly, the better I understood myself. There were so many “ah huh” moments. Given my reading, she explained how I should approach my work, how I am best able to process emotional responses or reactions, how I should even structure my time so I'm the most productive version of myself. It was a game-changer!
Based on this reading, I have completely restructured my working days. I've found myself reacting differently to things that might once have ‘triggered’ a certain response from me. I’ve pencilled in time every week for just me, no phone, no work, no people, no chaos, just me. Why? To minimise those times I feel overwhelmed[link to the burnout article], as that I am not an asset to the business. She's no help at all!
Here’s my challenge to you. Take the test {Human Design Test}, read your results (there are a number of online websites or videos to help explain your results), or take it a step further and have an expert read it to you (I’d highly recommend Cat).
Why? It's a game-changer, well for me it was anyway. It helped to solidify what I already knew about myself and explain what I didn't. It's allowed for my work life to be more free-flowing and for the management of the team to improve. My personal life is even reaping the rewards! But most of all it’s allowed me to be more accepting of who I am: why I behave and respond the way I do and what to focus on to better myself and minimise my areas of weakness.