A 5 Year Embodiment Journey of the 5/1 Profile
How many years have you spent hiding from your own potential? For me, I was 36 before I discovered Human Design—and that as a 5/1, hiding wasn’t an option anymore.
In fact, the 5th line in Human Design, along with the 2nd line is a projected profile which means people will ALWAYS see me, even if I am hiding!
Conscious v unconscious
One of the most amazing elements of the boydgraph is that we have the conscious side of our chart and the unconscious. The reason why HD is SO transformative is that it allows your body and your personality to talk to one another and it aligns both sides of you.
This is true for your profile too; the first number of your profile is conscious. This is a trait that when you learn about it, you may very well recognise it in yourself. But the 2nd number… you either know this trait deep down, and HD brings conscious awareness to it, or you are just completely oblivious.
For me, the heretic (line 5) should’ve been the recognisable trait.
And it was, to a certain degree. But the heretical nature of my message I was here to share with the world was deeply buried under layers of conditioning.
“Fit in.”
“Be normal.”
“Don’t share stuff that’s outside the scope of our society.”
Deconditioning with Human Design
They say it takes 7 years for your cells to renew, therefore your reconditioning journey with Human Design also takes a minimum of 7 years. 5 years into my experiment, I simultaneously feel I have embodied my 5/1 profile, but I know there’s so much more to come with it.
Here are some of the deep insights I’ve learnt about the 5/1 over the years, and how I’ve used it to my advantage, stepped out as a leader and appeared on global stages to share my message.
And let’s start there;
speaking on stages
When I read my client’s Human Design charts, I make 5/1s aware that they are destined to be speakers. And as highly conditioned, terrified women, they *hate* this with a passion. And I did too.
In my childhood, I was deeply introverted and was terrified that any spotlight was shone on me at all during my school years. Just standing up in assembly because it was my birthday was terrifying. And I didn’t even have to say anything.
My entire childhood was about hiding, hoping that other people would speak for me.
But as I entered the working world, I started to find my footing and 20 years later, I regularly speak in workshops, on stages and for global online summits. But what changed?
The idea that I am a leader with a unique message to share that is tearing down the norm and rebuilding something new.
And I only found this through Human Design.
When I first started learning HD, my teacher, Laveena Archers, kept saying to me in classes that I was a leader. There were many elements of my chart that depicted leadership and honestly, to start with, I kept brushing it off. Me, a leader? Not possible.
But as with all things in your experiment, it’s important to bring conscious awareness to aspects of your chart you don’t agree with. So I sat down and thought about all the times I led.
Being at the front of ballet class showing the other dancers what to do.
Leading a young enterprise group at school.
Being the go-to person for training new employees at my corporate marketing job.
And yet all these times, I had brushed it off as just normal. I didn’t realise it was leadership.
the low expression of the heretic
I did find, however, that in my 4th year of my experiment, the low expression of my 5th line started coming out. I had a message, I was desperate to share, and Threads had just become a heretic landscape of cultural misfits.
I shared shit.
Stuff that I saw that people were doing, calling them out on their misalignment. Not directly, I wasn’t engaging in arguments (much, although I did have a hissy fit at a spiritual guru who was trying to tell people that if they weren’t vegan, they weren’t spiritual).
Threads was a hotbed of low expression projector truth telling BS. But I burn out on it. It became an emotional roller coaster of dopamine addiction, even when I started using a scheduler to post threads.
I became embroiled in people who were also sitting in their low expression of their charts. Whether they were undefined throat centres of fellow 5th lines (there were a LOT of 5/1s on there!), I’m not sure, but I decided that my emotional system and nervous system was better off without it.
After all, your weird and unique message you have to share with the world doesn’t come from a place of talking AT people, telling them they are wrong or misaligned, or belittling them for not seeing the world as you see it.
The heretic is empowered. It stands strong in the conviction of who it is. It knows it’s worth. It teaches, with the wisdom of the 1st line investigator, what needs to change and why. And if people join your cause, let them follow you. If they don’t, that’s ok.
Relinquishing the outcome of whether people follow your voice or not is the most empowering thing a 5/1 can do. It doesn’t convince, cajole or push people into their way. It simply knows that those who hear its voice will become a disciple.
the saviour
alking of disciples, herein lies a new problem. Disciples in themselves are leaders. Yes, they might be following you, but they are also self-led. Empowered enough to stand strong in the conviction of who they are.
However, you will come across disciples who follow you as a 5/1 who are just wanting to be fixed. It comes across as desperation energy. A feeling of being broken, being misaligned, being lost in a world that they don’t fit into.
And as a 5th line, you will want to fix. We are quick fixers; we see the issue, and know what to do to sort it out. As a projector, of course, I am waiting for the invitation before I do this. BUT.
And this is a big BUT.
I learnt in my 3rd year of my experiment, not to take on issues, whether they were friends or clients, where the “fix me” energy was prevalent.
Why? Because you will ALWAYS get projected onto that you haven’t done what you promised to do; fix them. Make them feel like they fit in. Make them feel whole again. Only THEY can do this. It’s not up to you.
Who do I work with instead, and expend my energy on? Those who see that I can empower them to fix their perceived brokenness themselves. Because guess what, the answer is inside all of us all along. I’m just here to facilitate a transformation in YOU.
Why does the 5th line carry the saviour energy? Because of its projection field. So let’s talk about that.
projection field of the 5th line
Whether you like it or not, you will always be seen. Shy as you might be, people will see you. If you’re sitting in your not-self (bitterness, frustration, anger, disappointment), then people will probably move away from you. They will see you, but won’t want to hear your message. So you hide, or try to at least.
So the sweet spot for a 5/1 is to accept visibility. Whether you’re in business or not, you will be seen. Embrace it, when you’re ready. Know that it’s happening. Don’t fear it, because your message is unique, and leads people into a new way of living, being or doing.
If you still think you’re growing and you’re not quite sure what your message is yet, just grow WITH your people. They will follow you, and you’ll all grow together. You may hit your low expression, like I did, but you’ll gain people along the way. And lose them too. Just remember to relinquish all expectations of who follows you and who doesn’t.
More than Just a Friend
In Human Design, it’s often noted that 4th lines are great for business because everything comes from within the network and connections the 4th line can make. You can’t be both 4th and 5th lines, there is no 4/5 or 5/4 profile (complicated mechanics of why this is, of which I won’t bore you).
But for me, the 5th line is easier for business. Whilst a 4th line spends time and energy gladly deepening their connections in the world, the 5th line doesn’t have to expend so much energy in that way. Often, people come to me out of no where, without any prior connection. There’s a leap into my projection field, an exchange of energy, an empowerment of fixing their own issues. Then comes that deep connection. And it’s usually an energetic one, rather than a need to communicate all the time.
As a Clair-empath, I feel deeply connected to all those who work with me, or who experience my aura, but I don’t show it in normal, societal terms like compliments or spending hours chatting. It’s just a connection that’s there. An energy that holds people in spaces that empowers them. So when I haven’t messaged a client in a week asking how they are doing, my ego mind doesn’t worry that I am not supporting them. I just know I am, with energy.
in closing
My last comments I want to make of the 5/1 profile is that it is complicated, hard for your head to get around when you first learn what it is. Sometimes it’s debilitating. I worked with a high profile Projector coach about 2 years ago because it was holding me back.
It became a massive limiting belief of mine, being a 5/1, so my journey with my profile has been fraught with bitterness whilst the rest of my Human Design embodiment has been somewhat fun!
My last tip to you is this; and this applies to all areas of your chart. If you struggle to understand the 5/1, bring conscious awareness to it. Like me, write down all the times you remember leading, being in your low expression, all the times when you were projected on to for not “fixing” people. The only way that Human Design is transformational is through this consciousness.
How do you see the 5/1 playing out with your life? Are you embodying the profile lines, or still stuck in resentment?
