What works for others may not work for you

Human Design is a way of bringing you back to yourself by letting go of the illusion that what works for others should work for you

We live in a homogenised world. And even when you’re open to change it is often nearly impossible to escape the homogenised solutions that are offered, so we move from one prison to the next. From the prison of incapability to the promise of freedom and success but that promise is built upon homogenised strategies that may work for you or not, based on your design.

In 1781, according to the voice that channeled Human Design in 1987, a mutation happened, which changed humanity to the core. We moved from 7-centered humans (look at the ancient chakra system as a reference) to 9-centered humans (look at the Human Design Bodygraph as a reference). We changed from a species that became roughly 40 years old, that was rather short and muscled to a species that became roughly 85 years old and was slender built and less muscled.

But most importantly we changed from a species that was purely strategic and was here to use their mind to make strategies to survive and do whatever it took to do so. The only thing that held us in place and prevented us from killing each other was our religion which forced us to consider that we were part of something bigger than ourselves, an authority outside of ourselves. Our king, which had godlike features at the time and ultimately God. There was no healthcare, apart from some widows in the forest, that were seen both as heaven and as witches at the same time. There was no democracy, there was no big industry.

But with that mutation everything changed. From a people that was only focused on survival no matter what it took, we changed to a people that was here to trust in life by living who they are so they could share their unique view and enrich each other doing that. We changed from having an outer authority (God, the king, our boss, our parents, the government etc) that we connected to through our mind to an inner authority in our body as the navigation tool on would we could rely completely. Problem was that nobody seemed to notice up until this day. So most of us still believe we should rely on our mind to make decisions listening to an outer authority. Hence the chaos in this world. Most of us believe we are just like our far ancestors, here to be busy to survive. Not trust but do anything in our power to survive by not living ourselves, not by being unique, but by perfecting our ways of trying to be exactly the same as everybody else. No matter if we thereby loose ourselves in the process.

Apart from some role models like artists, musicians and succesful entrepeneurs, we rarely truly appreciate the uniqueness of our fellow men and women. Survival means adaptation. And adaptation in our world usually means try to adapt by being as much adapted to the homogenised ways of the world as possible. But who we are, what makes us unique, gets lost in the process.

We all have been raised, which means homogenised. First by our parents. Then by our schools. Then by our friends and family. And later on by our sports club, our bosses, our governments and our media. On the one side they say: “Be yourself” but on the other side it is not particularly appreciated when you move too far away from the homogenised standards and political correctness in society. If you do, then we re-educate you, prescribe you medicine or simply isolate you from society. Preferably we seduce or press you into doing so, but if that doesn’t work we use force. Anything to make sure you walk in line just with everybody else.

As long as we’re talking rules and regulations, although potentially unpleasant, we still understand that there should be rules to prevent chaos and all that. But the moment you look for help to get stronger, wiser and more effective in society, something funny happens. The very people that say that they bumped their noses trying to survive society’s rules and invented their own survival tools and tricks over time to deal with life, tell you that they were misfits once, but now they found their own way and if they can do it, so can you. That’s about the most used slogan in self help schooling of the past 20 years in my experience.

Problem is, it is not true. If you were a misfit and you found your way to be succesful in a new way, that does not mean that I can be succesful as well using your methods. Since we are not the same. No matter how hard I try. So a funny way of frustrating miscommunication pops up, where people that are willing to change their ways pay for methods invented by other people finding their own way, propagating that if you do exactly what they have done, you will experience the same success they have had doing so.

Human Design reveals, amongst approximately around a few zillion traits which makes each of us unique and totally different from anyone else, Variables. It shows that we, people born after 1781, are no longer a hundred percent strategic and focused like our ancestors. Some of us are, but the majority of us are a combination of strategic and focused and receptive and peripheral.

Strategic in Human Design language is called Left and means being focused and active. In old Asian language we could call this Yang. It is an active focused energy that sees one thing very sharp and is blind to the rest. It’s about developing strategies of what you think you want and making sure you are getting what you think you need. When asked, you know what you know and you know where you can find it in your brain. You lead and are pro-active. Also called male or masculine in our societies.

Receptive in Human Design language is called Right and means taking in everything and being passive. In old Asian language we could call this Yin. It is a force that takes in everything. There is no focus. You take in everything and you don’t know what you know. What comes out of you depends on who you’re with and who you’re talking to. It is a potentially very deep and wise energy, but it responds, it does not initiate. Also called female in our societies.

In short that’s what they mean. Of course there’s a lot more to say about these forces. But these descriptions should be clear enough for this short overview. Most people have a combination of the two. In different variations.

For example some people may have a Right view and a Right environment but a Left Mind and a Left brain. They are focused and are able to make strategic decisions, get what they think they want based on their strategies and know where they can get the information they need to get there. But they have a Right environment, which means that they are relaxed in their body. When they enter a room, the first thing they think is: “Where can I sit?” They have a Right view, so they see a world of possibilities, a peripheral world of possibilities and depth where anything is possible.

Other people may have a Left view and a Left environment and a Right Mind and a Right brain. They take in everything, so they have all the information. But their handicap is that they don’t know what they know, they are the source but they have no conscious access to it. They depend on the people around them to take out what they need from them, so they will always be surprised about what comes out when people talk to them. And because they are dependent on who takes what out of their endless source of wisdom and information, they are totally dependent on who is in their life. If they live in a poor neighbourhood with a lot of aggression and frustration, that’s what they take in, so that is what will come out of them. But if they live in a rich environment of intelligent and happy people, that is what will take in and that is what will come out of them.

Hence the importance of correctly as yourself, so you live in an environment that is correct for you. Which may be a poor and frustrating environment by the way. It all depends on our design and our process that we are here to fulfil in this life. But it has to be the right life for us specifically. What may be right for me may be a horror show for you, because it is not right for you. We all have our own purpose and direction in life. No matter what we think about what life we think we should be living. That’s the magic of Strategy & Authority. That it magically brings us the life we are here to live, no matter what we or anyone else thinks we should be living. It all depends on the Magnetic Monopole, the tiny piece of black matter that has been residing in our sternum since our 6th month as a foetus in the womb and is here to direct us to our own unique purpose in life so we get our unique experience and share our unique view to entertain the other with that.

But most of those quick fix strategies that you find online and elsewhere promise strategies to make your life better: “Just do what I did and you will get the success I got. Because once I was exactly like you so if I can do it you can.”
Right. Not.

A Right person can’t use strategies, because for a strategy to work you need to be focused and if you’re not, it’s not gonna work. They will think you’re unwilling and lazy. And you will think you’re bad and a loser and you will never get it. But it never was for you. It was their way and their solution and it was never meant for you.
If it works, great! If it doesn’t, pick what serves you and leave the rest. Because it is their story. Not yours. Nor will it ever be yours. Because it is not your trip. It is theirs. And their job is to entertain you with their trip. Not pretend that their trip should be yours.

You’re unique and that’s it.

(Jan Groot, March 11 2023)