My Girl Crush: Human Design Expert, Leah McCloud
As we close the chapter on 2022 and enter a new year, fresh with opportunities to become even more aligned with ourselves, we turned to Human Design Expert Leah McCloud of @thedesignofyou to dive into how we can all leverage the practices of Human Design to better understand what makes us “tick”, manifest a life in which we are alignment with ourselves and help elevate every aspect of our lives–from our relationships and friendships to our careers. Let’s get into it!
My Girl: For anyone new to Human Design, how would you best describe what it is, how it works and how it can help you in any and every aspect of your life?
Leah: Human Design is a self awareness system that helps you understand yourself at an energetic level to guide you to living a life as your highest self. It’s a scientific and energetic system based on your time, date, and place of birth that reveals how you’re uniquely wired to operate and thrive in your work, relationships, and life. Human Design reminds you of who you are when you take away all the outside conditioning you’ve hung onto throughout your life and helps you get back to your true nature. It uncovers your strengths, weaknesses, purpose, greatest gifts, and even goes as deep into how you digest food, environments you thrive in, and more. Human Design can help you if…
- You’re feeling stuck or stagnant in your current life, career, job, or relationships.
- You’re on a self-discovery journey and are trying to find your purpose in life.
- You have a major transition or decision coming up in life.
- You want to optimize your daily habits in a way that works with you instead of against you.
- You’re feeling frustrated, bitter, angry, or disappointed often.
- You want to understand your partner on a deeper level.
- You want to manifest something quicker.
My Girl: What are the 5 different Human Design Types and what are each of their “strategies”, strengths and weaknesses?
Leah: The first, most common type are Generators.
Generators make up around 38% of the population. They are the builders, natural do-ers, and have consistent fuel to work through using their gut feelings. They are magnetic and constantly pull things toward them to respond to, so rather than chasing after life, they are meant to just respond to what is coming up for them, whether that's an idea, interaction, or something in front of them.
Strengths:
- Uplifting the energy around them
- Sustaining energy for long periods of time
Weaknesses:
- Overcommitting themselves
- Prioritizing other people’s satisfaction above their own
Manifesting Generators: The second type are Manifesting Generators, which is a hybrid between the Generator and Manifestor. Manifesting Generators make up around 35% of the population. They are the multi-passionate, curious, creative powerhouses that are designed to use their gut when following their creative bursts of energy. Like Generators, they are also magnetic and constantly pulling things toward them to respond to.
Strengths:
- Finding the fastest way to make something happen
- Uplifting the energy around them
Weaknesses:
- Skipping steps in the process
- Trying to do everything
Projectors: Projectors are the third type, making up around 24% of the population. Projectors are our natural guides, leaders, or “seers.” They are designed to penetrate the awareness of the world around them, but must be invited or recognized for their gift of seeing before offering their advice.
Strengths:
- Suggesting a new perspective
- Asking great questions
Weaknesses:
- Judging and projecting onto others
- Comparing themselves to how much others are doing
Manifestors: Manifestors are the fourth type, making up around 10% of the population. Manifestors are the bold trailblazers that get creative urges to go after things. Since they operate in spurts of energy and innovation, they are designed to inform others of what they are doing first before acting. That way, the rest of the world (or those impacted by their decisions) know what they are trailblazing through next.
Strengths:
- Making an impact without trying
- Creating movements
Weaknesses:
- People pleasing
- Trying to fit in
Reflectors: Finally, Reflectors are the rare 1% of the population. They are our gentle, objective, and intuitive observers. They feel the energy of the world around them, whether from people, spaces, or the cosmos. Since they feel into everything, it's best they give themselves around 28 days before making a decision, that way they can feel into their decision through different experiences.
Strengths:
- Offering a fresh perspective
- Wise beyond years
Weaknesses:
- Feeling the energy of everyone and getting lost in who they are
- Trying to be like everyone
My Girl: What is the connection between understanding your Human Design and manifesting what you want for yourself and your future?
Leah: Human Design helps you to get into alignment with your highest self. When we are in alignment to our truest, most authentic, highest self, we attract things meant for us at a faster rate. Therefore, when in alignment to who you were designed to be, you manifest and quantum leap quicker.
My Girl: Before we dive any further, how can the My Girl community get their own Human Design chart? Are there any tips or “things to know” before they get their charts?
Leah: You can look up your chart for free on my website. You need to know your exact birth time for an accurate reading! If you don’t know yours, take an educated guess. The most important thing is your energy type, which stays consistent throughout the entire day (for the most part), so there is so much benefit in knowing that! It can feel overwhelming at first when observing your Human Chart with all the numbers, colors, shapes, and lines. Don’t worry about all that, just focus on your Energy Type, Strategy, Authority, Signature Theme, and Not-Self Theme. That’s where the best transformation comes.
My Girl: When looking at our chart, we will come across what is called our “Inner Authority”. What does that mean and how can we use that information to become in alignment with ourselves?
Leah: Your Inner Authority is a fancy word for your Intuition. Some people’s intuition comes through waiting for emotional clarity (emotional authority), some people have a gut response in the moment (sacral authority), some people have spontaneous instincts that whisper to them quickly (splenic authority), some people have to feel their heart in something or a will towards something (ego authority), some people need to talk it out and listen to their voice (self-projected authority), and some need to feel through decisions in different spaces or with people over time (no inner/outer, mental, environmental authority). Using your Authority in relationship to your Strategy is how you get into alignment with your true self.
My Girl: 70% of the population are considered “Generators”. Can you tell us even more about generators? How do they live in alignment with themselves? Where can they start?
Leah: Generators and Manifesting Generators combined make up around 70% of the population. Oftentimes, these two energy types are called “sacral beings,” which in layman's terms means they have strong, gut feelings and consistent energy fuel to work. Think of the word Generator as a literal generator - when the power goes out, you plug in the generator. Manifesting Generators and Generators have a consistent generator in their bodies, located in their sacral/gut/area below their belly button that gives them the energy to go. Living in alignment with themselves is all about trusting their gut, putting their energy towards things that excite them, and filling up with satisfaction. They can start by taking inventory of what is or is not satisfying them in their current life.
My Girl: Name a few women in the wellness space that add value to your life (a.k.a. who should we all be following)?
Leah:
Holly Owens, aka Wellthy Belly, is my favorite wellness influencer for all things holistic, non-toxic, daily health advice.
Shayna Terese Taylor for healthy recipes and intuitive lifestyle.
Iris Daileyy for modern spirituality.
My Girl: What’s a quote you live by each and every day?
Leah: "What you are afraid to do is an indication of the next thing you should do".
My Girl: How can the My Girl Community connect with you to learn more about their Human Design?
Leah: The first place to start after looking up your chart is to grab your personalized Human Design Guidebook to learn about your entire design in a detailed way! If you want to go deeper, consider booking a reading with me. For free resources, follow me on Instagram or listen to my podcast!