Episode 206: Your Human Design Motivation (and View)
How are you motivated? What compels you to act - to take action?
Continuing our exploration of the Human Design Variables, in this episode, we take a look at Human Design Motivations.
You’ll hear:
What’s Motivation in Human Design
Where Motivation fits into the Human Design variables framework and how it corresponds to the other Variables
The six kinds of Motivations, their Transverse Motivations, and their Trajectories
And we take a brief look at the View Variable
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“As I’ve learned about my Need Motivation, processing how it resonates with me, social media came to mind. Because those with a Need Motivation, don’t need followers. Rather, what we need is to intimately connect and resonate with others. ”
Read the Transcript:
Hello there, and welcome back to The Live Fab Life Podcast. If this is your first time here, I'm your host, Naomi Nakamura, and I'm so glad that you're here joining me today!
Today we’re going to continue our exploration into the Human Design Variables. As a recap, the Variables are the more advanced parts of Human Design. If you are not yet familiar with them, I encourage you to go back and listen to the following episodes on the Variable if you want to learn more.
Start with Episode 197, which is a high-level overview of the Variables, and then go to Episode 198 on Determination, then Episode 199 on Cognition.
Episode 200 is where I share my own personal insights on my own Determination and Cognition from my own Human Design. Episode 204 is on Human Design Environments, and then Episode 205 my reflections on the Environment from my own personal Human Design.
Today we’re talking about the other two Variables, the two arrows on the right-hand side of the Human Design chart – the arrows for Motivation and View.
On the Human Design body graph chart, you want to look at the arrows on the right side of the Head Center. Your Motivation is found in the top right arrow.
And it means exactly what you think it means. Motivation in Human Design is what compels us, what compels you, what motivates you to take action.
And like the other Variables, there are six different kinds of Motivation. But what's unique about the Motivation Variable is that in addition to your kind of Motivation, there is also Transferred Motivation.
So, each one of us has a Motivation and Transferred Motivation Variable. With your Transfer Motivation it’s what compels you to take action, but not from your correct place. What does that mean? Well, it means you're motivated to take action, but if you’re taking action from your Transferred Motivation, the end result is not going to be the correct result for you.
Hopefully, I haven’t confused you so far because the Motivation and View Variables can be very confusing.
In addition to the Motivation and Transferred Motivation, like the other variables, each kind of Motivation has two tones. Remember we talked about the different tones of Determination, Cognition, and Environment? Well, each Motivation also has two tones, but the tones are called “Trajectories.”
The terminologies used for the Trajectories aren’t as straightforward as they are with the other Variables. In fact, they’re a little off-putting.
But remember, some Human Design language has different meanings of words than traditional meanings. For this reason, I'm not going to go too deep into them, but I am going to share what they are because I think it’s helpful just to have an awareness about them.
I also think that just knowing what your Motivation and Transferred Motivation is plenty to know as you're taking in this information for perhaps the first time. I speak from experience when I say it’s a lot to take in and comprehend. So, I'm going to try very hard not to confuse you because I personally felt confused when I first started learning about this.
I’m also going to spend a little bit of time talking about the fourth arrow which is “View”, but I'm not going to go into it in as much detail as I will on Motivation, at least not in this episode - perhaps in a future episode, but not this one.
So, now that all that has been said, let's dive into the six different kinds of Human Design Motivation, their Transferred motivation, and their Trajectories.
The first Motivation is Fear. At first glance, fear may seem like being motivated to act out of fear. However, it’s not quite that and this is where you can see how Human Design’s language doesn’t always have the same meanings a conventional meaning.
Because Fear motivation is about being motivated by having a need to get to the bottom of things; having a need to explore the details of things to feel safe and secure. It’s like having a One Profile Line, but it’s your Motivation.
Fear Motivation is also about feeling afraid of or doubting that something isn’t reliable. Hence, the need to explore the details. When you have details and understand how things work, you start to feel confident, safe, and secure. You feel like you're an expert on something.
So, if you have a Fear Motivation in your Human Design, you might want to ask yourself when it comes to how I’m motivated, “Am I going through the motions and doing what I feel I'm “supposed” to be doing? Are you getting to the bottom of things and being cautious against any potential problems that might come up?”
Now, the Transferred Motivation for Fear is “Need” and Need is about feeling that you must do something out of necessity, so much so that you're willing to overlook exploring all the details and taking all the precautionary measures because something must get done.
Now the Trajectory or the two tones for Fear Motivation are “Communalist” and “Separatists.” This is where the language of Human Design is can feel murky.
If you have a Fear Motivation and your Trajectory is Communalist, this means you started out on the Separatist side but are moving towards the Communalist side. And Communalist means that you need to be independent. You need to find things out for yourself.
Before you can share something with someone else, with a group, or your community, you need to have all the details figured and understand it so that you can determine if it's appropriate and safe for the collective.
The opposite Trajectory of Communalist is “Separatist.” Separatists mean you started out as a Communalist but you're moving towards being a Separatist. And being a Separatist means you need distance or space from your group.
You want to get to the bottom of things to feel safe and secure for yourself, but you still need space from your community, while still being a resource for them.
The second kind of Motivation is Hope Motivation. If you have a Hope Motivation you’re motivated by things, or a knowing that you can't explain, it’s kind of like having a Splenic Authority – a knowing that isn’t logical or can’t be explained.
You might feel a knowing that something will happen, but you don't have any logic, justification, or proof to explain it, but you just know, it's coming, and you have to surrender and trust it.
I kind of equate it to having faith, right? It's like, an assuredness – a belief – that something is going to happen. You don’t know how, you can’t explain it, but you just KNOW it’s going to happen.
The Transferred Motivation for Hope Motivation is “Guilt.” This is when you don't trust that something's going to happen, you don't trust that things are going to work out. You feel that you have to control a situation, that you have to fix things, that you have to will or force things to happen.
If you have a Hope Motivation when you do that when you try to fix, force, or will something to happen, the outcome will never be good for you because the action being taken is from your correct Motivation.
The two Trajectories for Hope Motivation are Theist or Anti-Theist. If you have a Theist Trajectory, you began as an Anti-Theist, but you're moving towards Theist. You were a non-believer, but you're moving starting to believe. If you're Trajectory is Anti-Theist, you were a believer, but you're moving towards rejecting what you believed in, becoming an Anti-theist.
Again, this language is really like what?, which is why I want to try and keep this episode as simple as possible.
So, there’s Fear and Hope Motivation. The third Motivation is Desire.
If you have a Desire Motivation, you're motivated by involvement. You’re motivated by a desire to do things that no one else has done before. You want to be a leader, you want to make change happen, and you want to do so by sharing your experiences.
But to lead people you need to have people to lead. So, having followers is important to you because you want to teach - that's how you make change happen.
But what if you have a Desire Motivation but you don’t want to lead? Well, you can still lead by example, sharing and teaching whatever it is you’re good at, and continuing to refine your skills through continuous learning and sharing.
The Transferred Motivation for Desire is Innocence. This is about not being motivated by being a leader. Rather, you just want to do what you want.
So, the Trajectory for Desire Motivation is either Leader or Follower, which sounds straightforward.
If you’re a Leader, you started out as a Follower, but you’re moving towards being a Leader. So, you're starting to figure things out and you're starting to figure out what's right for you, you share about it your learning experiences - that's how you start leading others and that's how you become a leader.
If your Trajectory is a Follower, you started out as a Leader, but you're moving towards becoming a Follower. As you share your experiences while they can be impactful on others, you're the one most affected by them. And so, you come to follow yourself and your own direction, becoming less about leading others.
The fourth motivation is Need. This is my motivation in my personal design.
If you have a Need Motivation, you're motivated to do whatever is necessary, to do what needs to be done.
Once we feel safe and secure, we’re able to look within ourselves and when we do so, we give others the permission and the opportunity to do so too.
You could say that people with a Need Motivation are anchors because when we sense there’s a need for something, we do it – that’s what motivates us. So how do we sense there’s a need for something? By connecting with ourselves and connecting intimately with others.
As I’ve learned about the Need Motivation, processing how it resonates with me, social media came to mind. Because those with a Need Motivation, don’t need followers. Rather, what we need is to intimately connect and resonate with others.
We’re not motivated to collect a mass following – it’s not about numbers. It’s not collecting a mass following or vanity metrics. It's about collecting the right following – people you can connect with – make intimate connections with. It’s about connecting with people, perhaps even just a few people, but those people are who you can have a profound impact on.
I can tell you that follower numbers are the least of my concerns. It’s not what motivates me to be on Instagram. And while it's taken a bit to not get caught up in the vanity metrics like how many likes or shares, I get, what I do pay attention to is how many times was this post saved because if someone saves something that I shared that means it resonated with them.
I pay attention to how many downloads podcast episodes get because listening to someone’s voice is an intimate connection.
For those of us with a Need Motivation, we're not here to get caught up in what's right or what's wrong, but we're here to do what needs to be done - and when we do that. This is how we authentically connect with others.
So, if you think about it, having a Need Motivation is about seeing the big picture. When I think about seeing the big picture, within my own design, I think of my Cognition which is Outer Vision. And if you’re not familiar with Cognition, listen to Episodes 199 and 200.
When we’re motivated to do what needs to be done, we don’t get caught up in the details. It's not about trying to amass a following, it's about connecting with the right people for you, and when you do that, that’s how you have a profound impact.
Now, the Transferred Motivation for Need is Fear, which was the first Motivation.
As a side note, I want to point out how the first and fourth Motivations are each other’s Transferred Motivations. The same will be true for the second and fifth, and the third and sixth.
Okay, so the Transferred Motivation for Need is Fear which is about everything Need Motivation is not. It’s about being motivated by getting caught up in the details or arguing the rights and wrongs, seeing things only seen black and white versus seeing the big picture.
These things are not correct or in alignment for those with a Need Motivation and when action is taken with this motivation, the outcome will not be correct.
Now, the two different Trajectories for Need Motivation are Novice and Master. If you have a Novice Trajectory, you started out with a mastery of something, but you move towards being a Novice again. You're here to learn something new. Novice is my Trajectory novice. I think of it as spending five years as a health coach, and I think I was, I am, a pretty good one, but then Human Design came along and here I am, learning something new again and having an impact on others as I share about it.
If you have a Master Trajectory, you started out as a Novice and you move towards developing a mastery and becoming an expert, a Master in something.
The fifth motivation is Guilt.
If you have a Guilt Motivation, you're motivated to fix things that are broken. You want to bring people together, make things better, make the world a better place. And so, if you're someone who hopes that someone will come along and fix something for you or that the problem will magically fix itself, remember, your Motivation is that you're here to share and fix things when you see a better way of getting things done.
The Transferred Motivation for Guilt is Hope. If you have a Guilt Motivation, but you act out of the context of the Hope Motivation, you're waiting for someone to fix something or you're waiting for something to fix itself and whatever the outcome of that is, isn’t what’s correct for you.
Now the two Trajectories for Guilt Motivation are Conditioner and Conditioned. If your Trajectory is Conditioner, you started out as being conditioned, but you move toward becoming a Conditioner. You’re strategic and you try to show others your way of getting things done, which will then hopefully, decondition them.
If your Trajectory is Conditioned, you started out as a Conditioner, but you move towards becoming Conditioned. You’re affected by change and people whom you are inspired by influence you to make changes.
The sixth and last Motivation is Innocence. If you have Innocence Motivation, you're motivated to act by doing whatever you want.
You're about being an example, not a leader. You influence when you let the world change you, rather than when you try to change the world. You're not here to push your agenda. You're here to be the change rather than guide the change.
So, if you find yourself wanting to lead change in the world, remember that your correct motivation is to observe and be the one who's changed. That’s how you're influential - when you live and learn from your own experiences without directing other people on theirs.
The Transferred Motivation for Innocence is Desire. And so, if you act out of desire, remember that your agenda is not about others, it's about yourself.
The two Trajectories for the Innocence Motivation are Observer and Observed.
If your Trajectory is Observer, you started out as Observed, but you move towards becoming an Observer. You’re here to be passive - to watch, observe and make things happen for yourself, make change happen within you.
If your Trajectory is Observed, you started out as an Observer, but you move towards becoming Observed. You’re here to be an example for others, to live what you learn, to practice what you preach. Your correct motivation is when you teach through example. So that’s the six different kinds of Motivation in Human Design.
Now the arrow at the bottom right on the Human Design Body Graph chart is View.
As I said at the beginning of this episode, I'm not going to spend much time on View. I thought about dedicating an episode to View like I have for the other Variables, and I might in the future, but not right now.
To briefly touch on View, it’s about your perspective and how you’re designed to view the world.
Much like Motivation and Transferred Motivation, there’s six different kinds of Views and Transferred Views. They are:
- Survival and Wanting
- Possibility and Probability
- Power and Personal
And then we flip it.
- Wanting and Survival
- Probability and Possibility
- Personal and Power
To bring the Variables full circle, “When you’re in your correct Environment it sets up your Perspective so it's easier to be Motivated and Nourish (Determination & Cognition) yourself correctly.” If I’ve completely overwhelmed you, I want you to forget all of this or tuck it away for a future time and go back and focus on your Type, Strategy and Authority because they will always be the foundation of your Human Design.
When I get find myself caught up in my Determination, Cognition, Environment, Motivation, whatever, and I still feel unsettled or unclear I still go back and check-in to see if I’m aligned with my Type as a Projector, my Strategy to Wait for Invitations, and my Splenic Authority.
If this is new for you, I have a free workbook on my website that you can download. It's called, “Your Human Design, Discovered” and it walks you through where to get your Human Design chart. Then, once you have it, it will lead you through how to interpret it and understand what it all means.
Then, if you want to learn more, by downloading the workbook, you'll receive a code for 15% off a live reading with me where we can really dive into the details of your Human Design.
The Human Design Variables are really what prompted me to shift the focus of my work from health coaching to Human Design and I love it so much! I'm so glad I did! Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate your time and your attention, and I'll see you right back here again next time.
Naomi Nakamura is a Health x Human Design coach who’s creating a healthier society through aligned energy.
She blends a bespoke mix of Functional Nutrition and Human Design to help others shift into alignment to leverage and correctly manage their energy to support their body, mind, and spirit.
She believes that when we embrace our authenticity and lean into our bio-individuality, we naturally live a life of freedom, empowerment, and optimal health.
Naomi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and can often be found exploring the area with her puppy girl, Coco Pop!
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