So you just found out you’re a Human Design Projector? Welcome to the club!

Projectors are the newest energy type of all five and are designed to be the new world leaders. I’m a 4/1 self-projected Projector myself, so this is the Energy Type I have personal experience with — and I have a lot to say about what it really means to be a Projector!

In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about being a Human Design Projector, including:

• Your skills and gifts as a Projector
• Potential challenges you might face
• How to manifest as a Projector
• How to recognize an invitation
• Your signposts for alignment as a Projector
• Sleep and exercise as a Human Design Projector
• The 3 different sub-types of Projectors
• Relationships as a Projector
• Running a business as a Projector
• Coaching a Projector client

Are you ready to learn how to live your best, most aligned life as a Projector? Let’s go! 👇

Understanding Human Design Projectors

First, What is Human Design?

Human Design is an incredibly powerful and immensely intricate tool for self-discovery, deconditioning, and living in alignment with your true self.

When you understand and embrace your unique Human Design, which is based off of the place, date, and exact moment of your birth (no personality test required!), it’s like you have a practical energetic roadmap for living your most fulfilling, authentic, and abundant life.

Where did HD come from? Great question. In addition to bringing its own fresh insights, the Human Design system synthesizes elements from four different modalities/ancient wisdoms:

1. The Hindu-Brahmin Chakra System
2. The Chinese I’Ching or Book of Changes
3. Western Astrology (Vedic)
4. The Jewish Kabbalah Tree of Life

But don’t worry — although Human Design has its roots in these four modalities, you don’t need to have any background knowledge of these systems in order to understand your Human Design or to use it to improve your life.

The Human Design Projector Energy Type

There are five Energy Types in the Human Design system:

1. Manifestors
2. Generators
3. Manifesting Generators
4. Projectors
5. Reflectors

Each one of us is born as one of these five energy types, and we remain that energy type until the day that we die (in other words, your Human Design chart is fixed and doesn’t change throughout your life).

Each of these five energy types has special skills and gifts they bring to the world, as well as a unique way in which they’re designed to interact with others and operate in the world. Each energy type is here to play a specific and unique role within the Collective, and we need all five energy types to survive, and to thrive, as a community.

Projectors as a group make up roughly 20% of the world’s population, and the Projector is the newest energy type of all five, only emerging in 1781.

Skills and Gifts of Projectors

Within the Collective, Projectors are here to be guides and mentors for the other four energy types. Rather than working long hours in a hands-on role (e.g., hustling it out at a 9-5 job), Projectors are designed to oversee, guide, and manage the work of others. In a nutshell, as a Projector you are here to be a seer rather than a doer.

Projectors’ biggest gifts are their intuitive insights, depth, and bird’s eye view of what’s happening around them. Projectors are also naturally skilled at recognizing the gifts and energy of other people, as well as identifying that person’s best path forward. This is why Projectors make excellent coaches, consultants, and managers.

Projectors “see” and understand life and other people deeply and clearly. As a Projector, you can see what other people miss, and you often understand other people more clearly than those people even understand themselves.

This high level of insight stems from your focused and penetrating aura. Each energy type has a unique aura, and the Projector aura is designed to penetrate the aura of anyone they come into close contact with, thus allowing the Projector to “taste” the energies of that person — their emotional energy, physical energy, mental energy, etc.

This is why as a Human Design Projector, you probably feel like you know things about other people without necessarily knowing how you know those things. Right? You just know what somebody else is thinking, what they’re feeling, what they’re struggling with. This energetic knowledge is courtesy of your focused and penetrating aura!

Don’t be fooled — 80% of the world does NOT have this same gift, because they don’t have the same aura that you have, and thus they don’t see other people as clearly or to the same depth that you do.

Another beautiful thing about being a Projector is that you’re naturally a very efficient worker. You accomplish things quickly and effectively, streamlining your work with systems and processes, and you can achieve as much in 2-3 hours as a non-Projector would need twice as long to achieve.

To summarize your gifts and skills as a Human Design Projector, you are insightful, energetically intuitive, deep, thoughtful, efficient, and wise.

Potential Challenges as a Human Design Projector

As amazing as Projectors are, being a Projector is not without its potential challenges and pitfalls. Here are some challenges you might face (or may have already faced) as a Projector.

Challenge #1. Trying to hustle like a Generator

Projectors by nature do not have a lot of physical energy. This is because they have an undefined Sacral Center in their BodyGraph (one of the mechanical characteristics that makes a Projector a Projector).

For this reason, Projectors are not supposed to work long hours. In fact, the ideal schedule for you as a Projector is to work just 2 or 3 hours per day, and then use the rest of the day to rest, relax, study, and play.

However, most Projectors grow up surrounded by Generators and Manifesting Generators, who combined account for more than 70% of the world’s population. In contrast to Projectors, Generators and Manifesting Generators are designed to work 8+ hours a day, and they have the energetic capacity to do so.

So although it might seem “normal” to have a 40-hour work week—because that’s been the standard and norm in Western society—it’s not normal, natural, or aligned for you as a Projector. This is why many Projectors, upon discovering their energy type and what it means, end up starting their own businesses so they can dictate when and how much they work.

2. Sharing their insights without being invited to do so

Projectors should avoid sharing their wisdom, guidance, gifts, or insights with another person unless that person has specifically asked them to do so. Sharing your gifts and energy without invited goes against the Projector’s Strategy of “waiting for the invitation”, which we’ll discuss in more detail coming up in the next section below.

You’ll find that if you share unsolicited advice, or if you talk about what you see and know to be true, WITHOUT being invited to do so, you will usually be ignored, rebutted, or made to feel wrong for sharing, which can lead to resentment, bitterness, or disappointment.

3. Trying to initiate like a Manifestor

If the Projector energy type is the Guide of the Collective, the Manifestor energy type is the Initiator. Manifestors are the only energy type out of all five who are designed to move into action as soon as they feel inspired to do something, without having to wait for something external to happen first (for example, without waiting for an invitation, like Projectors are designed to do).

However, most of us in Western society have grown up surrounded by mantras like, “Go out and make it happen!” and, “If you want something, you have to go out and get it!” While these sentiments are great for the Manifestors of the world (who, it should be noted, make up only 10% of the population), they are not aligned with the Projector’s designed way of life.

With that said, Projectors can initiate in some situations, so you don’t always need to wait for an invitation. Any action that you feel guided or called to take that doesn’t involve another person besides yourself, and isn’t a major life change, is fine for you to move forward without waiting to be invited. For example, if you feel like taking yourself out for dinner tonight, you can do that without needing anybody to invite you.

Projector Strategy: Wait for the Invitation

Your Human Design Strategy is how you are designed to manifest your desires with ease. Each of the five energy types has a corresponding Strategy, and when you live in alignment with your Strategy, you’re able to move forward in life and reach your goals more easily and with less resistance.

As a Human Design Projector, your Strategy is to Wait for the Invitation.

As we discussed above, this means that you should not share your:

• Wisdom
• Advice
• Insights
• Guidance
• Energy
• Gifts

…With another person (or with one specific group of people) until you have been invited to do so.

You should also wait to be invited before making any big life changes that involve:

1. Your primary relationships — e.g., love, dating, marriage, etc.
2. Your job or career
3. Your location/where you live or move to
4. Groups or organizations you belong to

But what exactly is an invitation, and how do you know when you’ve received one?

How to Recognize an Invitation as a Projector

Invitations can fall into many categories, and while some invitations are very tangible (e.g., a marriage proposal, a new job offer) some might exist solely on the energetic or emotional plane.

When being invited, it’s so important that you feel seen, understood, and recognized for your gifts and magic. Once you feel recognized and valued, you can discern whether there is a clear invitation being issued to you, and what that invitation involves. If there is a clear invitation issued, you then get to decide whether to accept or decline that invitation.

Here are some examples of invitations you might receive:

• A job offer
• Being asked out on a date
• Being invited to attend or speak at an event
• Being asked to share more details about a particular topic
• Being asked for your advice or input
• Entering into a mentorship/coaching relationship with a client (who is therefore inviting you to share guidance and feedback with them)
• A marriage proposal or relationship invitation of some sort

It’s important to note that NOT all invitations will be correct for you to accept. In other words, just because you receive an invitation, that doesn’t mean you have to say YES to it.

When you receive an invitation, you should refer to your Human Design Authority (which, as a Projector, will be either Emotional, Self, Mental, Ego, or Splenic) to see if that invitation and opportunity is aligned for you.

How to Open Yourself Up to Be Invited

Focus on embodying your gifts and magic, showing up authentically and powerfully in your life, career, and relationships, and deeply recognizing your OWN worth and what you bring to the table.

If you can do that, the most incredible invitations will start coming your way, usually arriving in such quick succession that you have to get really good at discerning which invitations are aligned for you and which are not, because you simply don’t have the time and energy to say yes to everything!

Bitterness & Success as a Projector

Let’s talk about two interesting words you might’ve noticed next to your BodyGraph when you first downloaded your Human Design chart: “Success” and “Bitterness”.

Success and Bitterness are the Projector Signature and the Projector Not-Self Theme, respectively. Each of the five energy types has what’s called a Signature and a Not-Self Theme. These essentially act as guides or signposts that signal to you when you’re living in alignment with your energy type and strategy (Signature), and when you’re not (Not-Self).

As a Projector, if you find yourself feeling bitter or resentful, this is a sign that something in your life and/or energy is out of alignment. When this happens, think of it as like a flashing warning light telling you to slow down, take a step back, and evaluate what needs to change.

What does bitterness actually look like? Well, maybe you find yourself hyper-focusing on everything that’s going wrong in your life/career/relationship, instead of focusing on what’s going right. Or maybe you find yourself thinking things like, “Why is it always me? Why do bad things always seem to happen to me? Why can’t I catch a break?”

Again, these are all signs that something is misaligned. Perhaps you need to do some mindset work to shift your thought patterns around a certain area of your life. Or maybe you need to make a change in your career or romantic relationship. Or maybe you simply need to take a good hard look at your life and figure out where you’ve been taking action without waiting for an invitation, or where you’ve overstayed a previous invitation.

On the flip side, when you’re living in alignment with your energy type and Strategy as a Projector, you’ll experience the Projector Signature of Success. When this happens, your life feels fun and enjoyable, your projects and relationships are thriving, you’re getting recognized and promoted in your career, your business is taking off… and overall, you feel a deep sense of success.

Of course, the definition of “success” is a personal thing and there’s no one right definition. For one person it might mean having a well-paying job with a high-rise corner office; for another it might mean getting to stay at home and raise their children; for others, it might mean jet-setting around the world.

As a Projector, it’s incredibly important for you to get super clear on what “success” means and looks like to YOU, so that you can recognize it when it comes. When you experience your version of success, you can rest assured that you’re living in alignment with your design.

Projector Sleep and Exercise

Because Projectors do not have a defined Sacral Center in their BodyGraph, they are known as “non-energy beings” in Human Design.

As non-energy beings, Projectors need ample time to wind down before falling asleep at night, which is why it’s recommended that Projectors get into bed roughly one hour before they want to be asleep. This one-hour chunk of time is for the Projector to release any foreign energies they’ve picked up from other people that day via their penetrating aura, and to return home to their own energy.

Exercise needs as a Projector will vary from person to person. “Energy Projectors” (explained in the next section below) may enjoy more regular or vigorous exercise than Classic and/or Mental Projectors, but that’s not always the case.

There are several other pieces of your Human Design BodyGraph that can shed insight into the types of exercise and the fitness routines that may be best suited to you, including your composition of defined and undefined energy centers, as well as your presentation of the four variables (the four arrows near the top of your HD chart).

3 Sub-Types of Human Design Projectors

The Human Design Projector energy type can be further divided into three sub-types of Projectors:

1. Energy Projectors – those who have at least one defined Motor Center in their BodyGraph (Root, Solar Plexus, and/or Heart)
2. Mental Projectors – those who have no defined energy centers underneath the Throat Center
3. Classic Projectors – all other Projectors who don’t meet either of the above criteria

(BodyGraphs courtesy of mybodygraph.com)

Energy Projectors, as you might guess, generally have more physical energy than Classic Projectors and Mental Projectors. This is because they have one or more defined Motor Centers in their BodyGraph. (Click here to learn more about the different energies of each of the nine Centers.)

Mental Projectors are very intelligent and mentally astute; however, they must learn not to over rely on their mental prowess to move through life or make decisions (decision-making is always best left to your inner authority rather than to logic or a pros and cons list!).

Classic Projectors meet all of the typical descriptors of a Projector, and should follow the general advice and recommendations for Projectors.

Projector Relationships

In romantic relationships, you are naturally insightful and will quickly understand your partner on a very deep level. However, it’s important that as a Projector you always follow your Strategy of waiting to be invited before sharing your opinion, advice, or suggestions with your partner.

Try to avoid giving unsolicited advice to your spouse, partner, or friends unless they’ve invited you to do so. You can always ask someone whether they’re open to hearing your thoughts or insights before you share them, and when you do, you ensure they’ll be receptive to what you have to say and that you won’t be ignored.

Although Projectors are amazing at recognizing the gifts and beauty of other people, the irony is that Projectors often fail to recognize their own gifts, talents, and beauty. For this reason, Projectors may cling to unhealthy or toxic relationships if they don’t feel worthy of something better.

For this reason, Projectors often need to go on a self-love journey where they learn how to appreciate and validate themselves. This is something you can undertake on your own, but you may find it helpful to read relevant books, register for courses, or work with a trained counsellor or therapist to help you in this area.

Running a Business as a Projector

Many Projectors choose to go into business for themselves after realizing that a traditional 9-5 job doesn’t work well for their energy. Because Projectors are only designed to work 2-3 hours/day, a job or career requiring 40+ hours of work every week will inevitably lead to burnout and bitterness.

Additionally, Projectors may become frustrated by what they deem to be the “shortcomings” of their manager or boss, especially if the company isn’t being run well. Because Projectors can naturally see the best ways to accomplish goals and reach targets, as well as determine which person in the company is best suited for which role, it can be hard to stay silent when their manager/boss doesn’t see things the way they do and isn’t managing their team and projects efficiently.

For these reasons, many Projectors decide to strike out on their own and start up a business that honors their energy and lets them take full reins on their work projects, team, and schedule.

When going into business for yourself, it’s important to choose a business model that will support you as a Projector. Passive income products like ebooks, templates, and other digital products are a great addition to your offer suite, as they allow you to “create it once and sell it forever”.

Projectors also make excellent coaches because they know how to ask the right questions and help their clients uncover the best, most aligned path forward for them. However, be wary of over-crowding your schedule with client calls (sticking to the guideline of 2-3 hours of work per day) and ensure you have practices in place to protect your energy going into a client call and release any not-self energy after a call.

Coaching a Projector Client

Now, let’s say you have a client who is a Projector. What’s the best, most effective and powerful way to coach that client?

This is exactly what you’ll learn inside my signature program, Human Design for Coaches.

Piecing together something as complex, intricate, and vast as the Human Design system from a bunch of random podcast episodes and google searches is next to impossible.

You need to see the ENTIRE system all laid out together to really “get” it. And you won’t get that from a blog post or podcast.

This is exactly why I created the Human Design for Coaches program! Not only will you walk away understanding each piece of the HD system and how they all fit together…

You’ll also know exactly how to USE each Human Design tool (Type, Strategy, Authority, Profile, etc.) to coach your clients more effectively and powerfully, based on their unique energetic design.

If you want to dip your toes in, click the image below to download your free guide to coaching the 5 Energy Types 👇

To summarize what it means to be a Human Design Projector…

As a Projector, you are wise, insightful, intuitive, and efficient. You are here to be a Guide for others, rather than a doer, and you should aim to work only 2-3 hours each day. You naturally see and understand other people very deeply, recognizing their skills and gifts even if they can’t see those things within themselves. When you wait to be invited before sharing your energy, insights, or advice with other people, you ensure that those people are open to what you have to share and that you won’t be ignored.