Strategy and Authority: Your Two-Step Recipe for Life Decisions
Sarah had been a chronic overthinker her entire life. Should she take the promotion? Move cities? Break up with her boyfriend? She’d make endless pro-and-con lists, poll her friends, research online forums, and still feel paralyzed. Decision-making felt like torture.
Then she discovered her Human Design Strategy and Authority. Within six months, her decision-making transformed. Not because she learned some new technique, but because she finally understood how she was actually designed to make decisions. The mental gymnastics stopped. The second-guessing disappeared. Life started flowing.
If you’ve ever felt like decision-making is harder than it should be, you’re probably fighting against your natural design. Human Design gives you a personalized decision-making process that works with your energy instead of against it.
The Foundation: Strategy First, Authority Second
Think of Strategy and Authority as a two-step dance:
Strategy = How you interact with the world to create opportunities
Authority = How you make decisions when opportunities arise
You can’t skip Strategy and go straight to Authority. Strategy creates the right conditions for good decisions. Authority helps you choose correctly within those conditions.
Most people have this backwards. They try to make decisions (Authority) about opportunities they’ve forced or initiated incorrectly (wrong Strategy). It’s like trying to choose the best route when you started from the wrong address.
The Five Strategies: Your Interaction Operating System
Manifestor Strategy: Inform Before You Act
What it looks like: You get urges to start new things, then you inform people who will be impacted before taking action.
Why it works: Your energy can feel sudden and unpredictable to others. Informing creates cooperation instead of resistance.
Common mistakes:
- Asking permission instead of informing (you don’t need permission)
- Not informing because it feels like extra work
- Initiating without any communication
Real-world example: David, a Manifestor CEO, used to just announce major company changes in all-hands meetings. Employees felt blindsided and resistant. Now he gives department heads a heads-up first: “We’re restructuring the sales team next quarter. Here’s why and what to expect.” Same decisions, zero resistance.
Your informing checklist:
- Who will be directly impacted by this action?
- What do they need to know (not approve)?
- When is the best time to inform them?
- How much detail do they actually need?
Generator Strategy: Wait to Respond
What it looks like: Instead of initiating, you put yourself in environments where opportunities can find you, then respond to what shows up.
Why it works: Your energy is magnetic when you’re lit up by something. Forcing or initiating depletes this magnetic quality.
Common mistakes:
- Initiating instead of responding (leads to frustration)
- Waiting passively without putting yourself in opportunity-rich environments
- Saying yes to things that don’t generate a gut response
Real-world example: Jessica, a Generator marketing director, stopped cold-pitching new clients and instead focused on speaking at industry events and creating valuable content. Now potential clients approach her regularly, and her “yes” response to their inquiries creates much better working relationships.
Your responding practice:
- Where can you place yourself to encounter opportunities?
- What activities naturally generate opportunities in your field?
- How can you be more visible to the right people?
- What does your gut “yes” vs. “no” actually feel like?
Manifesting Generator Strategy: Wait to Respond, Then Inform
What it looks like: Like Generators, you wait for things to respond to, but once you respond, you inform others about your actions since you tend to move quickly.
Why it works: You have Generator magnetic energy plus Manifestor speed. Without informing, people can’t keep up with your pivots and changes.
Common mistakes:
- Moving so fast you leave people behind
- Not informing about direction changes
- Initiating instead of responding to avoid the “waiting” part
Real-world example: Lisa, a Manifesting Generator consultant, gets excited about new service offerings based on client requests (responding). She now tells her team: “Based on client feedback, I’m developing a new workshop series. I’ll need design support in two weeks.” Her quick pivots became team strengths instead of team confusion.
Your respond-then-inform flow:
- What am I responding to right now?
- How quickly am I moving on this?
- Who needs to know about this direction?
- What support do I need for this pivot?
Projector Strategy: Wait for the Invitation
What it looks like: You focus on mastering your expertise and positioning yourself to be seen, then wait for invitations to share your guidance or take on leadership roles.
Why it works: Your gift is seeing into systems and people, but this wisdom is only valued when people are ready to receive it.
Common mistakes:
- Jumping in with unsolicited advice
- Forcing your way into leadership positions
- Waiting passively without developing expertise or visibility
Real-world example: Mark, a Projector consultant, stopped sending cold outreach emails with his brilliant insights. Instead, he focused on writing thoughtful industry analysis and speaking at conferences. Now companies invite him to solve their exact problems, and his advice is implemented immediately.
Your invitation cultivation:
- What expertise am I developing and known for?
- How am I making myself visible to the right people?
- What does a real invitation feel like vs. just being polite?
- How am I positioning myself as the go-to person for my specialty?
Reflector Strategy: Wait a Lunar Cycle (28 days)
What it looks like: For major decisions, you wait a full lunar cycle, experiencing the decision through different environments and lunar phases before choosing.
Why it works: You’re designed to sample all perspectives before knowing what’s correct. Quick decisions often lead to disappointment.
Common mistakes:
- Making quick decisions to keep up with other types
- Not tracking your experience through the full cycle
- Isolating during the decision period instead of experiencing different environments
Real-world example: Angela, a Reflector organizational consultant, was offered a major contract. Instead of her usual quick “yes,” she said, “I need a month to fully consider this.” She tracked her feelings through different work environments and social situations. By day 28, she knew with certainty it wasn’t right—and six months later learned the company culture was toxic.
Your lunar cycle process:
- Week 1: Notice initial excitement or resistance
- Week 2: Pay attention to doubts or concerns that arise
- Week 3: Seek different perspectives and environments
- Week 4: Allow clarity to emerge naturally
The Seven Authorities: Your Decision-Making GPS
Once your Strategy creates the right opportunities, Authority tells you which ones are correct for you.
Emotional Authority: Wait for Emotional Clarity
Who has it: People with a defined Solar Plexus Center
How it works: Your emotions move in waves. You need to experience the full wave before making important decisions.
What it looks like: When an opportunity arises, you feel excited, then maybe doubtful, then confident, then uncertain again. You wait for emotional clarity—not emotional flatness, but knowing that transcends the wave.
Common mistakes:
- Making decisions from emotional highs or lows
- Thinking you need to feel “flat” to decide
- Rushing decisions to avoid the emotional process
Real-world example: Tom has Emotional Authority and was offered his dream job while feeling extremely excited. His old pattern would have been to say yes immediately. Instead, he asked for a week to consider. Day 3, he felt anxious about the commute. Day 5, he was excited again. Day 7, he had clear knowing it was right, regardless of the emotional weather.
Your emotional decision process:
- What does this opportunity feel like when I’m in an emotional high?
- How about when I’m in an emotional low?
- What’s my knowing when I step back from both extremes?
- Have I given this enough time for clarity to emerge?
Sacral Authority: Trust Your Gut Response
Who has it: Generators and Manifesting Generators with no defined Solar Plexus
How it works: Your sacral center gives you immediate gut responses—”uh-huh” (yes) or “unh-uh” (no).
What it looks like: When someone asks if you want to do something or an opportunity arises, you get an immediate body response before your mind kicks in.
Common mistakes:
- Overthinking the gut response
- Saying yes because you think you “should”
- Not distinguishing between sacral response and mental analysis
Real-world example: Mike has Sacral Authority. When his boss asked if he wanted to lead the new project, his immediate gut response was “unh-uh” (no). His mind immediately jumped in with reasons why he should say yes (good for career, more money). He’s learned to trust the first response—and every time he’s ignored it, he’s regretted it.
Your sacral decision practice:
- What’s my immediate gut response before my mind starts analyzing?
- Does this feel expansive (uh-huh) or contractive (unh-uh)?
- Am I saying yes because I think I should, or because my energy is actually available?
- How do I distinguish between fear-based “no” and sacral “no”?
Splenic Authority: Trust Your Intuitive Knowing
Who has it: People with defined Spleen and no defined Solar Plexus or Sacral
How it works: You get quiet, intuitive hits about what’s healthy and correct for you in the moment.
What it looks like: A subtle knowing that something is right or wrong for you, often related to safety, health, or survival instincts.
Common mistakes:
- Second-guessing the quiet splenic voice
- Expecting dramatic signs instead of subtle knowing
- Letting fear override genuine splenic wisdom
Real-world example: Rachel has Splenic Authority. When house hunting, she’d get subtle “no” feelings about certain neighborhoods that she couldn’t logically explain. She almost ignored it for a “better” house on paper, but trusted her splenic knowing. Later discovered the area had ongoing flooding issues.
Your splenic decision practice:
- What’s my first, quiet instinct about this?
- Does this feel healthy and safe for me?
- Am I trying to think my way into ignoring my splenic knowing?
- What is my body telling me that my mind might be overriding?
Heart Authority (Ego): What Does Your Heart Want?
Who has it: People with defined Heart Center connected to Throat, with no higher authorities
How it works: You make decisions based on what your heart truly wants and what you’re willing to commit to.
What it looks like: Asking yourself “What do I want?” and “Am I willing to make this commitment?” then trusting that response.
Common mistakes:
- Making decisions based on what others want
- Committing to things you don’t actually want
- Ignoring your heart’s desires as “selfish”
Real-world example: Carlos has Heart Authority. When considering whether to take a corporate job or start his own business, he asked his heart what it wanted. The answer was clear: freedom and the ability to build something his own way. Even though the corporate job was “safer,” his heart authority led him to entrepreneurship.
Your heart decision practice:
- What does my heart actually want in this situation?
- Am I willing to fully commit to this path?
- Am I making this choice based on my desires or others’ expectations?
- What would I choose if I trusted my heart completely?
Self-Projected Authority: What Do You Hear Yourself Say?
Who has it: Projectors with defined G Center connected to Throat
How it works: You need to talk through decisions and listen to what you hear yourself saying to find your truth.
What it looks like: You process decisions by talking them through with others or even talking to yourself, then paying attention to what you consistently say.
Common mistakes:
- Making decisions in your head without talking them through
- Not finding the right people to talk with
- Listening more to others’ responses than to your own words
Real-world example: Maria has Self-Projected Authority. When considering a career change, she talked through the decision with several trusted friends. She noticed that every time she talked about staying in her current job, her voice got flat. When she talked about the new opportunity, her voice became animated and confident.
Your self-projected decision practice:
- Who are the right people for me to talk this through with?
- What do I consistently hear myself saying about this decision?
- How does my voice and energy change when I talk about different options?
- What does my authentic voice sound like vs. my conditioned voice?
Mental Authority: Talk It Through and Listen
Who has it: Some Projectors with specific configurations
How it works: Similar to Self-Projected, but you need to bounce ideas off others and listen to their questions and reflections.
What it looks like: You process decisions through dialogue, using others as sounding boards to clarify your own thinking.
Your mental decision practice:
- Who helps me think most clearly?
- What questions help me get to my truth?
- How do others’ perspectives help me see my own knowing?
- What emerges when I talk through all angles?
Lunar Authority: Wait and Sample
Who has it: Reflectors
How it works: You wait a full lunar cycle, sampling the decision through different environments and perspectives.
What it looks like: Taking 28 days to experience how a decision feels in different contexts, with different people, and through different lunar phases.
Your lunar decision practice:
- How does this decision feel in different environments?
- What perspectives am I gathering throughout the cycle?
- What’s emerging that I couldn’t see at the beginning?
- What’s my knowing after experiencing the full cycle?
Putting Strategy and Authority Together: The Complete Decision-Making System
Here’s how Strategy and Authority work together in real life:
Step 1: Use Your Strategy to create the right conditions for opportunities
Step 2: Use Your Authority to choose correctly among those opportunities
Example – Generator with Emotional Authority:
- Strategy: Instead of cold-pitching clients, Sarah puts herself in environments where potential clients can find her (speaking, networking, content creation)
- Authority: When someone approaches her about a project, she doesn’t say yes immediately. She takes time to feel through her emotional wave and waits for clarity beyond the initial excitement
Example – Projector with Sacral Authority:
- Strategy: Mark builds expertise and positions himself to be seen by the right people
- Authority: When invited to take on a project, he checks his gut response before his mind analyzes whether it’s a “good opportunity”
Common Strategy and Authority Mistakes
Skipping Strategy: Using your Authority to make decisions about opportunities you’ve forced or initiated incorrectly. This leads to choosing between wrong options instead of right ones.
Ignoring Authority: Following your Strategy but then making decisions based on logic, fear, or what others want instead of your Authority.
Wrong Authority: Using someone else’s Authority type because you think it’s “better” or more reliable.
Rushing Authority: Not giving your Authority enough time or space to work (especially common with Emotional and Lunar Authority).
The Transformation: When Strategy and Authority Align
When you consistently follow your Strategy and Authority, several things happen:
Decision-making becomes easier. You’re not fighting against your natural design anymore.
Resistance decreases. You’re creating opportunities correctly and choosing the right ones.
Energy increases. You’re not depleting yourself by forcing wrong decisions.
Relationships improve. You’re interacting with the world in a way that works for everyone.
Life starts flowing. You’re working with your energy instead of against it.
Remember Sarah from our opening? She’s a Generator with Emotional Authority. Once she learned to wait for opportunities to respond to (Strategy) and then take time for emotional clarity (Authority), decision-making stopped being torture. She now trusts her process completely.
Your Strategy and Authority aren’t just concepts—they’re your personalized GPS for navigating life. The more you practice them, the more you’ll trust them. And the more you trust them, the more life starts working with you instead of against you.
Start with one decision this week. Follow your Strategy to create the right conditions, then use your Authority to choose. Notice the difference it makes when you work with your design instead of against it.
