There is an Art to Responding: How I Transformed My Business as a Human Design Generator
When I first discovered Human Design in 2015 I didn’t take it very seriously. I knew my energy type was a Generator, and that my strategy was to 'wait to respond,' but I had no idea what that meant for me or my business.
Fast forward to today, applying the strategy of responding to business and marketing is second nature to me. I hardly notice that I'm even doing it. And it’s the reason behind why I’ve been able to create a successful online business — without burnout.
In this article I’ll share why and how I went from being vaguely interested in Human Design, to now being a true believer and way-shower of how to apply this body of knowledge to business.
— In this article —
The Awakening
As a newbie service based solopreneur, I worked day and night on my business and spent countless hours online trying attract clients. It was hard work and I didn’t have much to show for all the effort I was putting in.
And then, Human Design enters my life and I learn that as a Generator, I’m here to be one of the ‘worker bees’. This just did not resonate. I felt totally burnt out and what I needed was more rest, not more work!
So you can see why I wasn’t a huge fan of Human Design. Perhaps you had a similar experience? Let me know in the comments if you did.
The turning point came when I began contemplating more deeply why some of my coaching offerings had succeeded and sold easily, while others totally flopped and had zero of very few sales.
As I reverse-engineered each product and service I had put out into the marketplace, and their background stories, I noticed a specific pattern emerge with the ones that had sold so quickly.
What I soon realised is that on those occasions, with those offerings, I had unknowingly followed my Human Design strategy and activated what I now call ‘the responding sequence’.
This revelation both shocked and excited me!
I promptly started a new Google Document and carefully typed out the nature and flow of events that seemed to be working like a charm, so I could ‘consciously’ repeat them, and hopefully have similar results.
It didn’t take long before I indeed started seeing the same level of ease with sales that I had experienced with my reverse-engineered offerings.
What a relief this was!
Finally, after Human Design seeming so irrelevant to me, it was now making a real difference to my business.
Shifting Perspectives
One of the big shifts I needed to make was to break the habit of ‘initiating’ all the time -- because this approach to business is the exact opposite of ‘responding’.
But the habit of initiating dies hard, very hard!
Most of us have been raised in a world where initiating is highly valued and rewarded, and it’s also promoted as an essential skill in female entrepreneur communities.
Because of this, ‘responding’ can be perceived as ‘less than’ or too passive. Which is uncanny, because don’t we also desire ‘passive’ income, so that we have the time and space to live our best lives?
I think it can be helpful to exchange the term ‘responding’ with ‘being turned on’ to take action. Because who doesn’t like to feel turned on?
Unlocking the Waiting Game
Responding is not about sitting on our hands waiting for someone to tap us on the shoulder and give us something to respond to.
The key is to create an environment of response in our business, this is what unlocks and minimises the waiting game.
One of the ways I have done this in my business is by automating the collection of market research information.
Often that takes the form of a brief intake or enrolment questionnaire that client and student complete when they purchase something from me.
The responses are then automatically sent over to a Google Sheet where I can view them all in one space, and this makes identifying what I can respond to very quick and easy.
I share my complete system for creating an environment of response here.
It’s Not ‘How’ You Market Yourself
In my first few years of coaching, I was fully indoctrinated and practised many of the predictable marketing strategies that we get taught and ended up believing it was the only path to success.
But the truth is that it’s not ‘how’ we market, it’s not the strategy that creates success, it’s who we are (how turned on we are), when we do it.
When I started approaching marketing as a form of ‘art’, that’s when I really felt that the cogs of Human Design started turning so smoothly in my business.
I stopped trying to follow the so-called rules, I didn’t bother myself with trends, I just did what felt true for me day to day.
What marketing looks like for me today is that there are times when I don’t say or share anything for a little while. And then when I do feel turned on to make-art, those shares are so potent and often result in people going to my website … all on their own, without any call to action.
Go forth and do ‘your’ art. Make your only metric to be fully self expressed. Do it for you!
Share what is inspiring you, what you are up to, what you are musing about. Share in response to what irritates or unsettles you, this is your Sacral seeking to be expressed!
Allow The Tide To Turn Towards You
Learning the art of responding has allowed the tide to turn and the flow of energy to recalibrate in the right direction -- towards me.
Before, with all that initiating and not understanding how to respond, I was disrupting the energetic field, which is why everything felt so strenuous.
Today I have the six-figure business that I used to dream of because I follow my Human Design strategy. A I’ve done this free from hustle and exhaustion, and with my wellbeing very much intact. This is my wish for you as well.
In closing…
As a Human Design Generator, implementing the strategy of responding in your business could be the jigsaw piece that you need to complete the vision you have for your level of impact and income.
If you are feeling activated to embark on this empowering journey and delve deeper into the Human Design strategy and techniques that I’ve been practising, I've condensed all of my discoveries and ongoing insights into a transformative short course called The Art of Responding.
Danielle Gardner
The Quiet Marketer
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