What Were You Born To Do? Here's How To Find Out Using Your Human Design Chart
I think the glorification of entrepreneurship might’ve reached a fever pitch with Sophia Amoroso’s book, Girlboss.
Amoroso was the CEO and founder at the helm of Nasty Gal, a direct-to-consumer clothing company that served up trendy looks at a pretty affordable budget to millennial-aged women. On the cover of the Pepto-pink book stood Amoroso, hands on her hips in a defiant power stance. The pages inside detailed her meteoric rise, with choice lines like, “Just be your own idol,” and “Race balls-out toward the extraordinary life that you’ve always dreamed of, or still haven’t had the time to dream up.”
What she laid out sounded awesome in theory — become your own boss, hustle your ass off, don’t give a shit what other people think, do whatever you need to to get to the top, and you’ll be happy once you get there. But then again, Communism sounds pretty good on paper, too.
Behind the scenes Amoroso’s own company was about to file for bankruptcy. Nasty Gal’s employee turnover rate was monstrous. And anyone — Amoroso herself — would agree that her leadership was categorically terrible.
Again, things seem a lot more simple on paper than they do IRL.
But #Girlboss represented a revolution — a sea-change of people wanting to be in their purpose, and as a result turning to entrepreneurship as a way to act on that impulse.
Here’s the thing: Entrepreneurship isn’t that cool. It’s not a badge of honor. It definitely isn’t a sure bet for making you “financially abundant.” It’s certainly not for everyone, and there’s NOTHING wrong with that. In fact, it doesn’t necessarily represent embodying your purpose. I know many, many business owners who feel completely disconnected from their Soul’s true path.
But, I really understand the trend of entrepreneurship. As humans, we want to feel like we’re living up to our Soul’s potential. And we’ve been marketed the idea by society at large that being your own boss is the best way to do that.
Depending on what you’re here to do, though, you might not find purpose in entrepreneurship — or even have a primary purpose in your work or day job. (You might! But you also might not. It doesn’t mean you’re better or worse than anyone else) Instead, what if we looked at creating personal fulfillment before jerryrigging our self-worth to a professional identity? Maybe if we began by examining how we want our lives to feel, it would be easier to back up into the tight parking spot of our “Soul’s Purpose.”
I think that’s where Human Design, astrology, and other esoteric methods come in. They give us permission to lean into the feeling of a thing, rather than the logistics. Your Human Design Chart doesn’t show your your ONE AND ONLY PATH to fulfilling your purpose — rather, it shows you a dozen different variables that could be used the equation of your choosing to equal a purpose that feels correct for you.
Permission is really important. You Human Design Chart kind of says, “Hey, you might naturally really be drawn to this thing. And for your whole life, you might’ve been told it was dumb or wrong to like this thing, so you ran in the opposite direction of it. But, like, it might not be such a bad thing for you to lean into. In fact, it might bring you great joy.” Your chart — an inanimate object! — holds space and allows for many potential outcomes. There is no one right answer for us. And of course, there’s no one place you should look in your Chart to find your penultimate purpose.
“When analyzing someone's Human Design Chart, I look at the totality of someone's design to deliver a holistic perspective that's unique to each person. Human Design is so layered but my goal is to provide practical solutions that someone can use right away,” says Human Design reader and Projector Shaadi Oreyzi.
using human design to get aligned with your purpose
your type — how to express your innate talents
First, start by looking at your type, Oreyzi says. “Type is the overarching factor to consider when weighing all the advice here. Understanding your Type and how to best express your gifts and talents is key.”
Your Type won’t necessarily tell you your Soul’s purpose (again … nothing tells you EXACTLY your soul’s purpose) but it can point you in the direction of areas where you thrive and excel.
Human Design reader and Manifesting Generator Amanda Green agrees: “Your Type will also tell you a lot about your natural levels of working energy, how you would best lead others, and what your place would be on a team.”
And if you want clues to how you can best make money as an entrepreneur, or on how you can sell yourself in an interview, “look at where you are undefined,” says Green. “For example, if you have an undefined head, you can do well selling inspiration.”
your incarnation cross — how to live your archetype and life’s mission
The next place to look to discover purpose is your Incarnation Cross. When context with your Type, the Incarnation Cross is said to define your purpose on earth. Remember, in Human Design, it’s believed that your Soul chose the time and place to be incarnated, so you’ve sort of picked your purpose before entering this body. Kinda cool, kinda trippy. You can also think of your Incarnation Cross as the archetype that you embody.
“The Incarnation Cross can be a tricky one because it takes a few astrological milestones to pass before you can fully embody this energy, so you may not completely relate to it at first. It’s good to have the awareness of your IC so that you can use it as your guide while you’re finding your way,” says Green.
You can look up your Incarnation Cross online, or check out the excellent book “The Book Of Destinies” to get a more in-depth look.
profile — how to embody your core essence
Your Profile, or the numbers on the top right hand side of your MyBodyGraph chart, makes up about 70% of who you are and how to fulfill your Life's Work. “I start with the first number on the top right, which is your Core Essence. You can gain so much insight by understanding this one aspect of your chart and not get overwhelmed by the rest,” says Shaadi.
In MyBodyGraph charts, you can learn more about the decimal number in the top right position by clicking on it. To find your profile, take the second number in from the top right and the second number in the top left side of your chart. For example, if the number in the top right is 37.4 and number in the top left is 9.6, your profile would be 4/6.
Check out Profiles 1-3 here, and 4-6 here.
definition — how to craft your environment
“I love to talk to clients about are their Diet and Environment. Human Design is an experiment, and these two parts of the chart seem to be the most fun and approachable to play around with,” says Green.
Understanding which environments could make you feel most comfortable, creative, inspired, and like yourself is helpful on so many levels — especially if you’re thinking about how to utilize your innate gifts and talents in the world.
“Environment Style is something that most people may be surprised that Human Design can address. It's an area that most people may not even consider when looking for a job and possibly an underlying reason why you thrive in certain scenarios and struggle in others,”says Shaadi.
Maybe you feel like the only way to have the freedom you crave in your work is by leaving your workplace and working for yourself — but really, the dissatisfaction you’re feeling has nothing to do with your boss or actual work, and everything to do with the office environment you’re in. Instead of starting a whole new endeavor, maybe all you need is to switch to a work-from-home schedule … just sayin’, we don’t need to make life more difficult for ourselves.
You can find more information about your ideal surroundings by checking out your definition. There are four different types of definitions in HD: Single, Split, Triple Split and Quad Split.
Single Definitions “may prefer to work Solo and Independently because they process information quickly,” says Shaadi.
Split Definitions work well with a partner who can meet them where they need help, otherwise they end up wasting valuable time and energy.
Triple Split and Quad Splits “will do best if they have freedom to come and go and can interact with different groups, otherwise they will feel constricted and uncomfortable over long periods of time if they are with the same people, doing the same thing, day in and day out.”
conclusion
When you’re using your Human Design chart to get a temperature reading on your purpose and how it might manifest itself professionally (or not!), remember that you’re more building a sentence than building a math equation.
Of course, you need nouns and verbs and modifiers and punctuation to make sure the sentence is cogent. But when you understand what you’re broadly trying to say, you can begin to experiment with sentence structure, syntax, and word choice. The choices you make don’t necessarily change the meaning of what you’re trying to say, but your edits can make your message more clear and specific.
At the end of the day though, you can essentially say the same thing in a succinct, plain sentence or with long, flowery prose. There are a million ways to say the same thing — and it’s totally up to you.