Over the last few years, I’ve built a thriving Human Design centered business that has generated multiple six-figures and helped thousands of people.
And today I want to share with you my top 3 secrets that I don’t really talk about very much - hence why they’re “secrets” - that give you a peek behind the scenes of being a Human Design reader and entrepreneur.
I hope what I talk about here will help you become a better reader, have more confidence as an entrepreneur, and also just help you feel less alone in this entrepreneurial journey.
Secret #1. I use notes during my readings
I use notes all the time! And if you’re a newer reader, then I want you to hear me when I say “It is OKAY to use notes during your readings.”
This isn’t something I really viewed as a “secret” for a while, until I started hearing this come up from my clients.
Ultimately, as I started training more people to become Human Design readers, I heard so many people say the same thing, which was:
“I’m worried I’m going to forget something during a reading.”
And it occurred to me that people were trying to MEMORIZE every last thing about Human Design.
Human Design has SO many layers and components.
And while I believe you should have a thorough understanding of each part of the bodygraph so that you can give seamless and comprehensive readings, you don’t have to have everything MEMORIZED.
For example, I know each of the gates and channels in the Human Design chart.
But I also have notes that I pull up during readings and refer to if I feel like maybe I’m forgetting a key part of a gate or I’m blanking out on the name of a channel.
The way I have my setup is I have two monitors. I have my Zoom call with my client on it on one screen, and on my second screen I have their chart and my notes.
So I will often tell people at the beginning of a call that I have their chart and my notes on the screen off to the side, so if they see me looking that way, they know that’s what I’m looking at and that I’m not distracted during our reading.
I once had a client who was starting to offer Human Design readings tell me that she was worried that having notes would make her seem unprofessional - like she didn’t know what she was talking about.
And I think this is a really common fear for anyone who is an entrepreneur - but especially in the Human Design world.
We have this unrealistic expectation of ourselves that we have to be PERFECT.
But the truth is, I’ve never had anyone complain about my use of notes.
I don’t think it makes me look incompetent. In fact, I think it makes me a more confident and well-prepared reader.
In fact, in that conversation with my client who was afraid of using notes - I had started that call off by saying “Let me just pull up the notes I made for your chart before we dive in.”
And so when she expressed her fear of using notes, I asked her “When we started this call and I told you I was pulling up the notes I’d made about your chart, did you think I was unprofessional?”
She immediately chuckled and said “No, actually it made me feel special. Like oh, she took time to look at my chart beforehand and she’s so prepared.”
So please, if you want to, use notes. Don’t just lean on them the whole reading and just read them word for word to your clients. But if it helps you give better readings, there’s nothing wrong with it!
Secret #2. I used to spend way too long preparing for readings
Earlier on in my Human Design career, I used to spend HOURS preparing for each reading I did.
My prep time for readings used to be longer than the actual readings themselves.
I would extensively study each clients’ chart days before our reading and make pages and pages of notes. Most of which we didn’t even cover during a reading. But I wanted to be prepared for whatever might come up during our session.
And at first, as I was still finding my footing as a new reader, I think this was a good thing for me to do.
It was excessive, but it helped me really deepen my understanding of Human Design and hone my skills as a reader.
And it helped me feel confident when I showed up for the calls.
But - this is where the “secret” part comes in - I over prepared for readings WAY longer than I needed to.
Like, even a year into having my fully booked out reading practice, I was still spending way too much time preparing notes for each session.
After I did a few readings where I forgot to even refer to that person’s notes at all, I realized I was wasting way too much time on preparing for these readings.
A huge part of this was because I had imposter syndrome and I was so worried what people would think about me.
And also, people were paying a few hundred bucks for these readings, I didn’t want to disappoint them or blank out and not be able to deliver a powerful reading.
This is a large part of why I created the Ultimate Human Design Reader Resource - which is my reader training program, which comes with a vault of hundreds of PDF cheat sheets that make it super quick to compile notes for readings. (I also created a free checklist to help you prepare for and structure your readings, which you can grab here.)
Like I said in the previous secret - I still use notes in my readings, but they’re compiled in about 10 minutes or so using the cheat sheets in the Ultimate HD Reader Resource. Most of the time I don’t even refer to the notes, but I always have them open on my second screen just in case I want to use them. And I think that’s a much healthier & sustainable approach to giving readings.
So if you’re newer to HD, give yourself permission to spend a lot of time preparing for a reading. It’ll help you really hone your skills as a reader overall.
But if you have been giving readings for a while, make sure you aren’t giving into that imposter syndrome and letting it rob you of your time. You likely know enough and have developed your reading style enough to not need tons of notes and prep time.
Secret #3. I still doubt myself as a reader sometimes
This is something I’ve talked about with my audience before in terms of general entrepreneurship - because I think it’s important to know that no matter how successful you will still have moments of self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
This is true for pretty much everyone in every industry out there. As you grow in business, you will outgrow old doubts, but adopt new doubts. Or see old doubts playing out on new levels or in new ways.
But I want to talk about this specifically in the context of Human Design readings.
Because Human Design is this weird mix of being VERY specific with the system and the miniscule details of the bodygraph and very open to interpretation.
This creates a prime environment for readers to doubt themselves.
To feel like they don’t know enough, no matter how much they know.
Or to feel like they don’t know how to give a reading that will actually help people.
Because the truth is that we all have different skills and different strengths - because, we all have our unique designs - and that means that no two people will give readings in the same way or have the same reading style.
So what I want to communicate to other readers here is that it’s normal to have some level of self-doubt, or imposter syndrome, or to worry whether people will be happy with the reading you give them.
But you can’t let yourself reside in that self-doubt for too long.
What I do when I feel this self-doubt is two things:
I look at my own Human Design chart and remind myself of MY gifts and what I bring to the table as a reader (so basically, I validate the hell out of myself and pump myself up).
I look at past reviews that clients have written about the readings I’ve done for them. I remind myself of the amazing results people get from my readings and from the impact I have.
The truth is that not everyone will love your readings.
Occasionally, you’ll have a dissatisfied customer. That’s the nature of business. Because once you reach a wide enough audience and work with enough people, just statistically, you’re going to encounter people who don’t love the way YOU do things and the way YOU give readings.
You get to use those experiences to help you grow and improve where you can, but you also don’t have to give those experiences more weight than all the positive experiences you have with giving readings. And you don’t have to be afraid of those experiences.
Because you will not be for everyone.
You just won’t be.
And because of that, that self-doubt never fully goes away.
BUT, you do have to make your peace with both not being for everyone and with having some level of self-doubt pop up every now and then.
Over time, you start getting better at recognizing that self-doubt when it pops up and not giving your power away to it.
I always like to look at it like your self-doubt is showing you your edges. It’s showing you where you can heal your own inner-wounds, where you can grow, and where you can uplevel.
And also, since we all have self-doubt, exploring and making friends with yours will make you an even more powerful HD reader and guide - because I guarantee, no matter what niche you’re in or who you’re doing readings for - your clients will have self-doubt or imposter syndrome in some area that you get to help them move through.
So that’s it! Those are my 3 secrets as a Human Design reader.
I hope they have given you some encouragement and food for thought.
If you want more blog posts with tips for Human Design readers, check out the following posts:
4 Step Strategy to Sell Human Design Readings
The 9 Systems I Use to Run a Multiple Six-Figure Online HD Business
Why You Don’t Need a Certificate to be a Human Design Reader
5 Tips for Giving Powerful HD Readings
Looking for more resources for Human Design readers?
Grab the free HD Reader checklist.
And take a look at The Ultimate Human Design Reader Resource if you’re looking for an in-depth HD reader training program at a ridiculously affordable price!