Projectors, Money, and Success - Human Design Collective

A New Type Emerges

According to the knowledge transmitted to Ra Uru Hu in his week-long experience with “The Voice”, a new kind of being came into the world in 1781, the “Projector”. This was an energetic type that did not exist in the world before and was part of our evolution from the old 7-Centered human form to the present day 9-Centered bodies that we all have now.

Projectors represent a new type of human being that is here to play an emerging role as in our species which is not based on energetic output, but rather awareness, intelligence, and the ability to truly see and potentially guide others when invited.

In Ra’s own words:

In 1781, something new happened: It’s called Projector. We live in a world where Projectors are truly on the ascendancy, now representing about 1/5 of humanity. And, being non-energy Types, Projectors need an advantage in this life. The world is dominated by energy Types (more than 75% of humanity), and in order for the Projector to compensate they need to have some kind of mastery. Projectors are designed to recognize others, and when they do, they themselves can become recognized and get the success that is part of their nature. So it is important for a Projector to realize that the one thing that matters in life is to find something he or she can master, and it truly doesn’t matter what it is. It is about whether the Projector is invited to it and whether they deal with that invitation correctly. By entering into it correctly they can go deep into whatever it is. The great dilemma for Projectors on this plane is that they’re not given the opportunity to enter into something that is correct for them because they do not know how. To all Projectors: Do not accept anything less than an invitation. Understand that whatever is going to fulfill you, whether it’s the work you do or the love you have, whatever it may be, it must come from invitation. It is through invitation that you are able to find what you will indeed master, and ultimately be recognized for.
– Ra Uru Hu

Not Here To Work

In my Human Design consulting practice and in my network of friends, one of the questions that I hear come up most often with Projectors is about making money and having a career when one is not designed for consistent work output. It’s a real concern for so many Projectors (which make up roughly 22% of the population) as they are simply not built for not here to work 40-50 hours per week jobs like the majority of people on the planet.

We all obviously need money to live and we want to experience success in our lives. At the same time, we’re living in a world where one’s perceived value is often based on what one can do, build, and create. Most jobs and careers are structured around homogenized schedules that require a consistent energetic commitment and often take place in environments that are not suited for the individual. So it’s not surprising that many people seem to be disillusioned with the narratives we’ve been given. The main one being where we go to school, get a job at a company, work hard, and raise a family, and then one day hopefully retire and enjoying whatever is left in our life.

Its also not much of a surprise to see a lot of Projectors interested in becoming “entrepreneurs” and creating a job or career that is of their own making, rather than trying to fit into something that doesn’t work for them. To support this move, there is a plethora of books, courses, workshops, and entrepreneur groups each telling us how to get rich or create the life we want. And how tempting is it to drop one script for another more appealing one?

Getting Attention vs. Being Recognized

While the movement away from outdated narratives and models is encouraging, I still have to wonder if this is the best way forward for Projectors? Or is following some formula to create your dream company, job, or career yet another homogenized template?

Some of these programs suggest that the way to build a business is to attract attention and opportunity by building a “following” in the form of a social media presence. There is absolutely something to be said for putting oneself out there. After all, people have to know that you exist and have a sense of what you’re about before they can invite you.

However, if you are following someone else’s approach of building a business/career and it isn’t a true representation of what your real gifts are, it sets up a situation where there is a risk of unmet expectations or being trapped in a job doing work that isn’t healthy or sustainable for you. A better approach might be to simply be yourself rather than trying to create a persona based on what seems to work for other people. Let your social media presence be an expression of your uniqueness, an invitation in itself.

“Getting attention is not the same thing as being seen”
– Peter Schober

Projectors are here to see and focus on others, not themselves. “Self-focus” in this context is essentially proclaiming what you will do for someone else. That’s a Generator game and orientation. But Projectors are not here for “doing” as much as “being” and “seeing”.

One might imagine a Projector being in a group of people, friends, or co-workers, and sitting silently and noticing what is happening. At some point, people will notice that the Projector is quiet and paying attention. They may ask the Projector what they are seeing or thinking. If correct for the Projector to share their perspective and awareness, it creates a situation where the others are actually listening and interested in what they have to say. This is a very different dynamic than trying to attract attention or get recognition. One where the Projector’s voice and awareness can actually be received and valued.

The other thing is that when we come out and proclaim what we are and what we do, we limit ourselves in a sense. We say that I’m a “coach” or I’m a “web developer”. And while that may be a part of what we do or are, we are also so much more than those words. We may not know what we are truly capable of as Projectors until we are have deconditioned from a mind-based approach to life and living as ourselves in the right relationships and situations.

As part of that deconditioning process, we might also ask why are we doing what we’re doing? Are we trying to prove our worthiness to our peers and families? Are we seeking attention or recognition? Are we holding onto or doing things that are not healthy for us out of a sense of fear or concern about our survival? The mind will get caught up in these and other narratives as it tries to direct and control one’s life, telling us what we should do – often based on what someone else is doing. This can take us down all sorts of roads which may not be in alignment with what is correct for us and what we’re actually here to do in life.

It is so important for Projectors to understand that if they succumb to this fear of not being recognized and force the pace with other people they are not only wasting their precious and limited energy resources but they are also missing the real opportunities. The Projector will never find what is right for them by jumping in and trying to make things happen.
– Ra Uru Hu

Guides and Advisors

In the Human Design System, Projectors are said to have the potential to guide others by developing their own awareness and asking the right questions at the right time. In BG5 (Base Group 5), the application of Human Design to the business world, Projectors are said to be “Advisors”. My understanding of an “advisor” role is that as Projectors, we’re most valuable when we are recognized as subject matter experts (from the study, observation, and experience we’ve accumulated) and can be called in as needed to guide and direct the energy of the group or other.

This is in contrast with the initiating potential of the Manifestor type and the ability to create, produce, and work as a Generator. We’re not here to start things in a vacuum and we’re not here to be available to respond to every little thing that someone asks of us. But, it doesn’t mean that Projectors can never initiate, create, or produce.

Rather, I feel that it comes down to whether this activity and way of moving through the world is in alignment and healthy for us. That is, once we’ve been recognized and invited into a correct role or relationship, we may find that we have access to the energy and resources needed to manifest and create.

They have to be asked to dance, proposed to for marriage, invited to join a club, offered a job without asking for it. Because Projectors instinctively understand the power of invitation, they often end up doing the inviting instead of waiting to be invited.
– Ra Uru Hu

We are given Strategy and Authority in Human Design as practical tools we can use to come into greater alignment with our body and step back from the various forms of mental decision making. It’s said that waiting for recognition and a specific invitation is the correct way of entering into a new job, career, relationship, and place to live. Yet, waiting takes patience and our mind might quickly brush that question aside and say, well, sure, but I have bills to pay now and why can’t I have a life like the people I see on Instagram and Facebook.

What Is Success?

All of this begs the question of what the Projector signature of “success” actually means. Is it the success that others tell us about or that we see out on social and popular media, or is it something more unique and specific to ourselves? I’d offer that one’s definition of success is as unique as the birth chart or BodyGraph. For a Splenic Projector, success might mean the ability to survive and thrive in a Generator world. For a 25-51 Ego Projector like myself, it might be defined as living in an individual and empowered way as myself.

Expanding on that, I can say that I have experienced this type of success when I’ve remained true to myself and refused to compromise what I’ve learned (often through hard lessons of serious health issues and burn out). One such instance was in a client relationship years ago. I had been working with a company on a web project for a few years when the owner approached me and asked if we could set up a retainer agreement. Up to that point, I had been billing on an hourly basis and based on the quality of our working relationship they saw the value of buying my time out each month.

The effect of this agreement was to allow me to better manage my time and energy, saving it for when they really needed my expertise and support – while I continued to get paid a regular monthly rate. This was probably not a situation that I could have initiated and manifested myself. But because they recognized the value of my skills and expertise, they were willing to create a win-win situation for both of us. While this example may not seem like the kind of success some dream about, it was a game-changer for me which opened up quite a few other opportunities for me down the road.

Spiritual Materialism

There seems to be a certain vanity of the mind to think that it knows better than our body and life itself how things should go and what is correct for us. We might be able to attain some of the things that we think we want with a lot effort, but are they actually worth the energetic and physical toll it may ultimately take on us. The truth might also be that we may not know what our lives could be unless we stop trying to force it to be something else.

“There are no half-Projectors.”
– Ra Uru Hu

When people come to systems like Human Design because they think it will make them richer or happier, it starts looking like a type of “spiritual materialism”. We might think that we can game the system in some way, use it to get more of what we want, not realizing that we may in fact “lose” what we thought we were about or wanted in the process. It doesn’t mean that we can’t get rich (if that is the life we’re here to have) nor that our life has to fall apart. But perhaps getting rich or experiencing uninterrupted happiness isn’t the point of all of this. The point as I see it is to be what we are. To love ourselves, honoring who and what we are and living from that place without compromising ourselves more than necessary.

One might ask, well, that’s all great, but how do I pay my rent and eat this month? Sometimes we have to do what we have to do. That is, to get our shit together and address the fundamental realities of our existence. We may have to make a choice between taking a job that we don’t want for a while or getting evicted and sleeping on friends’ couches. Which of those choices is correct will come down to the individual and their unique design and process of Inner Authority. The real risk is when we initiate from the mind or not-self place and take ourselves further away from our path and what is healthy for us. Which can often result in some very real consequences down the road.

Awakened Projectors live a life full of trust. They trust that the right people, the right invitations, the right opportunities will see them, will come to them. It is this trust, this faith, that ultimately gives them the courage not to live a life full of compromise – which is about the worst (and most tempting!) thing a Projector can do.
– Ra Uru Hu

In Closing

I’d like to close this article with some practical guidance for Projectors based on my experiences and what is put forth in the Human Design System:

Projectors are here to guide by recognizing and seeing others and being recognized and seen themselves.
Asking questions is one of the most effective means of guiding other’s awareness.
Projectors have a capacity to see the big picture, recognize the talents and gifts of others, and bring people together.
Relationships are everything to Projectors. Who they are with is at least as important as what they are doing.
Projectors are here to go deep and master systems and technologies which can then be used and leveraged to guide others.
Projectors can be gifted organizers, and masters at understanding how to maximize energy and resources as they see things that others often miss.
Projectors should be compensated for their attention, skills, and intelligence, not their energetic output and “productivity”.
It’s easy for a Projector to pretend they are Generators even though the body is not designed for consistent work.
Knowing when enough is enough can be a challenge for Projectors.
Examples of typical Projector roles are coaches, therapists, consultants, managers, CEOs, mediators, administrators, and other positions where subject matter expertise is recognized and rewarded.

These notes are meant to simply serve as reference points as one experiments with Strategy and Authority, not as dogma or hard and fast rules. If we are going to experience the success of our signature as Projectors, it will be as an expression of our unique design and a result of aligning more deeply with our bodies as a means of navigating our lives.

You may not get everything on your wish list, but you’ll have your health and integrity, knowing that you’re aligned with your path and purpose – instead of compromise, overwork, and the resulting bitterness of not feeling truly seen. The ride can then become more magical and perhaps you may find a deeper sense of trust in yourself and in life to provide you what you need when you need it.