Finding Freedom in Human Design: A Teacher's Journey from Frustration to Alignment

"There is beauty to be found in letting people discover their own way."

This quote perfectly encapsulates not just the philosophy behind Human Design, but the transformative journey I've been on for the past seven years. As a Generator with a 3-5 profile and sacral authority, discovering Human Design didn't just give me new information—it gave me permission to trust what I already knew deep in my gut.

When Everything Changed

It was the winter of 2018 that shifted everything. I was teaching at a small rural public school in Kansas, doing work I loved, connecting deeply with my students. Then on an ordinary Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., we received devastating news: we'd lost one of our students tragically.

As teachers, we know loss is possible. But we always think it happens elsewhere, to other people. Not in our small community. Not to us.

The grief changed me in ways I didn't immediately understand. When I returned that fall, I came back with a mission: I had to save all 250 of my students. I started clubs, redesigned my entire curriculum, introduced mindfulness practices—I did all the things. And I did them alone.

Looking back now through the lens of Human Design, I can see what was happening. My open emotional center made me incredibly sensitive to the collective grief around me. I absorbed it, took it on as my responsibility, and tried to force solutions that my students didn't ask for and frankly didn't want.

The result? Frustration. Daily, relentless frustration—the hallmark "not-self" emotion for Generators like me.

Discovering a New Language

In 2019, I listened to a podcast featuring Erin Claire Jones, founder of Human Design Blueprint. She spoke about Human Design in a way that was immediately accessible, and I was hooked. I generated my chart right away and dove into learning about my type, strategy, and authority.

Those three core principles became my foundation:

Type: Generator — I have abundant energy when I'm lit up by what I'm doing. When I'm not? That frustration tells me something's off.

Strategy: Wait to Respond — This was initially hard to accept. It felt passive. I thought, "I just have to wait for something to show up in my world that inspires me?" But it turned out to be the opposite of passive—it was liberating. I didn't have to sit alone in a room trying to solve the world's problems. I could let myself be inspired by what already existed around me.

Authority: Sacral (Gut) — My decision-making center is visceral. It's a yes or a no, a pulling toward or pushing away. But here's what I realized: I didn't trust it. Even when my gut said yes, my mind would jump in with "but what if" and "there are already a million people doing that."

The Permission We All Need

I had a coaching call with Erin during this time, and I asked her the question weighing on me: "I'm not leaving teaching anytime soon, and I'm not lit up by it right now. What do I do?"

Her answer changed my perspective: "What else can you do that lights you up and balances it out?"

That simple reframe gave me permission to stop trying to make every aspect of my life perfect simultaneously. Work-life balance is a myth, especially when you have competing demands. The goal isn't to be lit up in every single area all the time—it's to find places where you can access that energy and satisfaction.

So I started saying yes to things that excited me:

• Attending women's conferences outside of education

• Joining a coworking group

• Learning about coaching and enrolling in training

• Creating video content

• Networking and presenting about my emerging business

• Building what would become Ashley Watkins Coaching

This wasn't a quick pivot. It was a three-year journey from that first podcast in 2019 to leaving the classroom in 2022. Honoring my sacral authority didn't mean quitting my job immediately—it meant following the yes/no guidance step by step, even when the timeline wasn't what my mind thought it "should" be.

What Human Design Gave Me

Looking back at my life before Human Design, I can see evidence of my design everywhere—I just didn't have the language for it. I was fortunate to have parents, grandparents, and teachers who let me explore what lit me up: reading, theater, music, journalism. I chose my college major because "I just liked it." I left the convent after three months because it wasn't for me (sorry, Mom and Dad). I became a teacher because it felt right in my gut.

My 3-5 profile means I'm here to try things, share my experiences, and be a leader and clear communicator. That line 3 energy? It showed up when I quit college to join a religious community, only to discover three months later it wasn't my path. Not a mistake—just the experiential learning that's core to who I am.

Human Design gave me:

• Language for things I already knew but couldn't quite articulate

• Permission to trust my gut over endless pro/con lists

• Understanding of my frustration as a signal, not a failure

• Freedom from thinking I had to generate all the ideas myself

• Compassion for my sensitivity through my open emotional center

A Note on Trusting Your Authority

Here's something I'm curious about, especially for the women reading this: Does it resonate that none of our Human Design authorities involve "think about it real hard and write down a bunch of pros and cons"?

Instead, our authorities are:

• Sleep on it

• Feel into calm clarity

• Lean into your intuition

• Talk it out with someone you trust

They're soft. They're intuitive. They're not how the world tells us we should make decisions. And that's exactly why I've come to love and trust this system.

Still Learning, Still Growing

I want to be honest: I'm still learning to honor my sacral authority. I still question it. I still encounter opportunities that seem like they "should" be right on paper, and I have to check back in with my gut.

What I can say with certainty is that when I disregard that inner knowing, things don't necessarily go disastrously—but they don't feel aligned. And after years of teaching myself to override my instincts, I'm finally learning that alignment matters more than I was taught to believe.

My strategy of waiting to respond continues to set me free from the pressure of coming up with the perfect idea. Instead, I surround myself with people, books, podcasts, places, conferences, and learning opportunities that spark something in me. Then I respond to what lights me up.

Your Invitation

If you haven't explored your Human Design chart yet, I encourage you to generate it and start with those three core principles: type, strategy, and authority. You can create your chart at humandesignblueprint.com.

My goal with this work is to open a window into the application of Human Design—what it looks like in real life, in the messy middle of career transitions and grief and daily decisions. Not just the theory, but the practice.

Because there truly is beauty to be found in letting people discover their own way. And for me, Human Design has been the framework that helped me trust my way was valid all along.

Ashley Watkins is a Human Design coach, former high school teacher, and 3-5 Generator based in Kansas. She helps people apply Human Design principles to create more aligned, satisfying lives. Connect with her on Instagram or send questions to ashleywatkinscoaching@gmail.com.