Things I Wish I Was Told About Being a Generator
I learned about Human Design in 2018, in a moment in time when my life was at a critical crossroads. I was going through a major separation, living in a new country away from my support system, moving month to month between various sublets and housesits, wondering when my time and luck would run out. I was struggling creatively, financially, personally — you name it, I was in it. All my biggest fears had come true. It was a huge rock bottom.
One evening, during a late-night internet spiral—probably searching for answers to the meaning of my life—I came across an article that explained Human Design and the five different energy types. I have always been open-minded and curious about esoteric and spiritual things, but also skeptical, so I didn’t immediately buy in. But the article intrigued me, and as I read about Generators, it felt like something was tugging at my heart: “That feels like me...” I looked up my Human Design Chart, and lo and behold—that’s what I was.
What is a Generator?
Generators are defined by abundant, creative life force energy. When we use that energy in pursuit of our passions, we become magical, enthusiastic beings that sparkle. However, Generators are not initiators. We have an internal guidance system that requires us to respond to life, rather than initiate. Our sacral center provides a visceral "uh-huh" (yes) or "uh-uh" (no) response when making decisions or choosing opportunities. Life constantly presents options, and the more Generators follow what truly excites them, the more we thrive and feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Our energy types in Human Design provide us with a strategy and authority for our decision making. The strategy for Generators is to “wait to respond” (rather than initiate), and our authority is our sacral (gut).
I will never forget the feeling of relief and excitement that washed over me, immediately followed by a deep, unexpected grief.
The relief was a sense of feeling seen and validated: “This makes so much sense, this is how I’ve always felt…this is how I’ve always wanted to be…”
The grief was: “…But how? How is it possible that anything can ever come to me if I am not initiating?”
"Initiating" was all I knew. I was the quintessential go-getter, the queen of getting shit done! I didn’t trust that life would just deliver the right opportunities to me — at all. I had big dreams, and sitting around waiting for them to magically materialize seemed absurd. My entire existence had been a gruelling marathon of hard work, desperation, and stress—constantly pushing, always trying to bend the universe to my will. Okay, sure, all of this cost me my health and sanity and wasn’t actually working, but it was all I knew. I was scared to do it differently.
But something still resonated. And it was enough of a spark to begin experimenting with my strategy and authority for a week. And that experiment turned into a few months, and then years. And one day I woke up and realized I was in a completely new life; one that I never could have previously imagined for myself: I had attracted a whole new community of friendships that were deeply authentic and aligned. I had unlocked gifts and abilities I didn’t know I had. I was invited onto an unexpected career path that gave me a deep sense of purpose and fulfillment. Life became more uncertain and unpredictable, but also more expansive and limitless.
And the evidence was undeniably clear: none of the best things that occurred during that time came from initiating. All I was doing was responding.
When I discovered Human Design, there was very little written about it anywhere. So I went down a deep rabbit hole, devouring every obscure text, book, and video I could source to try to understand my chart. I never went to a reader myself, and I had no one to guide me. Since then, Human Design entered the zeitgeist—and I’m happy for all of us that it’s become more mainstream. But here are some things that I didn’t learn from books and social media posts—that I only came to understand from living it myself:
1. Life is Just a Series of Decisions
This applies to everyone, not just generators—and while this seems so, duh, obvious, it took time for me to understand the significance of this. Our lives are made up of millions of tiny micro decisions, and yet, for most of us, the majority of them are made on unconscious auto-pilot.
If we continue to rely on our thinking minds, where we hold our most conditioned and limiting beliefs, or make knee-jerk emotional or reactive decisions—our lives will reflect that. If we make decisions from a place of consciousness, integrity, authenticity, joy, and trust, our lives will reflect that too.
The quality of our lives is a reflection of the quality of our decision making, and yet rarely are we taught how to make decisions that reflect our authentic desires.
The truth is: if you change how you make decisions, your life will change. And our brains are wired to resist even good change. Our strategy and authority is what catalyzes our de-conditioning, so initially it can feel scary and destabilizing. It takes courage to dismantle the parts of our lives that don’t feel true to us, and we need to be gentle with ourselves in the process.
2. There Will be Fear
From an early age, the majority of us are talked out of our inner knowing. We're conditioned to trust our heads over our bodies, to prioritize logic over instinct. We learn to make "safe" decisions that appease our rational minds, while ignoring the whispers (or sometimes shouts) of our intuition urging us towards the wild unknown. Our intuition rarely aligns with what seems rational, and so our certainty-craving minds mistrust it.
When I first began listening to my gut, I felt a whole range of feelings from fear to guilt to grief. In certain situations, I panicked. I struggled to trust what my body was communicating to me, especially if I couldn’t intellectually justify it. A lot of my conditioning oriented me to prioritize other people’s happiness over my own, and I felt debilitated each time my gut suggested I pass on an invitation or request that I simply didn’t have energy for. It took time and consistency to see that the world didn’t end when I disappointed someone.
A few relationships did drop away, but the right ones celebrated my new boundaries—and I soon began to attract even more aligned people into my life.
3. What Do You Have Energy For?
Understanding your gut's language takes time and practice. For big life decisions, you're looking for that head-to-toe tingly "HELL YES!"
But life is also filled with mundane, ordinary things we need to get through. Who feels stoked to do dishes? Or taxes? Or standing in line at the bank?
For smaller, everyday decisions, you might just feel a quiet certainty, a subtle "yep, this feels right to do right now”.
But a great question to ask yourself through the day is: "What do I have energy for?"
That might sound crazy given the size of your to-do list, but you're an energy being. Your sacral center is a powerhouse, constantly guiding you towards how it wants to be used. And yes, sometimes it wants you to just take a nap.
We often prioritize what we "should" do over what energizes us. But trusting your energy flow is often more productive, even if it's not immediately obvious why.
What do you really feel like doing right now? What task feels doable? Trust that. You might be surprised how much you accomplish when you flow with your energy instead of fighting it.
4. Marie Kondo Your Life: "Does This Spark Joy?"
Marie Kondo helped us declutter our spaces by asking, "Does this spark joy?". I think Generators can apply this concept to every aspect of their lives. Take a moment to inventory your commitments, relationships, and daily activities. Ask yourself: Does this spark joy?
Notice what activities or commitments leave you feeling drained, lethargic, or constricted—these are likely areas where you’re not listening to your gut.
But I get it: we can't always immediately drop everything that doesn't bring you joy. Life often requires compromise and responsibility. But, can you put down even one thing?
Perhaps you can:
Delegate or ask for help with one task that consistently drains you
Evaluate your to-do list and note anything that feels like an obligation—is it really?
Decline the next request that feels misaligned with your energy—guilt free!
Put up boundaries in a relationship that consistently leaves you feeling depleted
Even tiny tweaks can spark a joy revolution in your life. As you practice this, pay attention to how your energy shifts. Even if it’s in subtle ways, might find that you have more space and energy for the things that feed your soul.
5. “Waiting To Respond” is Empowerment, Not Passiveness
When I learned the Generator strategy was “waiting to respond”, I was terrified. It seemed passive and unproductive. But in reality, it's one of the most empowering strategies we can embrace.
"Waiting to respond" doesn't mean doing nothing. Life is constantly presenting us with things to respond to. We're simply waiting for that "hell yes" before taking action.
Many of us grab the first opportunity out of fear that nothing better will come along. I get that you’re impatient, but there's immense power in saying no and trusting that what truly aligns with you will come. It’s an invitation to not settle.
Essentially, it’s a fancy way of saying: don’t do something unless you really want to!
6. Follow Your Joy Breadcrumbs
As Generators, we always need something in our external environment to respond to. Our power lies in our ability to make decisions based on our immediate, gut-level response to what life presents. Simply put: we don't know what's right for us until it's right in front of us!
Have you struggled with traditional goal-setting or five-year plans? Or maybe you've followed a plan to the T, only to find it unsatisfying when you got there? This is why. It's not that you can't have an inspiring vision or goal, but our paths are meant to unfold organically, one response at a time. As Generators, we discover in real time what’s right for our souls. We might find ourselves living out our purpose in ways we could never have planned or imagined—often realizing dreams we didn't even know we had.
This is why I see our process as following a trail of joy breadcrumbs. When we listen to our sacral response, it guides us to the next right thing, which then leads us to the next, and so on. Life has a way of supporting us when we follow this path: present, curious, and unattached to outcome.
7. Listen to Your Frustration
For Generators, frustration is a powerful signal and tool for course-correction. It serves as a gentle indication that something might be off in how we're approaching an aspect of our lives.
When I feel frustrated, I've learned to ask myself some key questions:
Am I trying to initiate something rather than responding?
Am I forcing an outcome instead of flowing with what life presents?
Am I ignoring my gut? If so, why? What am I afraid of or resisting?
By paying attention to our frustration, we can identify patterns of misalignment in our lives, reconnect with our strategy of responding rather than initiating, and recognize when we might be overriding our intuition.
Starting Your Generator Experiment
Human Design is an experiment. You don't need to overhaul your life overnight or strive for Generator perfection. Dip your toe in. Get a little messy. Start small.
I began my journey with a one-week experiment. Here is how you can start:
Choose a timeframe—a day or a week, whatever feels manageable.
Pause before initiating anything.
Wait to see what life brings to you.
When opportunities or decisions arise, check your gut response.
Notice any energy surges or sense of contraction.
Keep a journal. Note what surprises you, challenges you, scares you, or feels freeing. What is it revealing to you about your conditioning?
