Your Inner Compass: An Introduction to Authority in Human Design
authority.
Let’s just say it: decision-making is kind of a sh*tshow for most people.
We agonize. We ask for five people’s opinions. We pull a card. We wait for a sign. We ignore the sign. Then we spiral, Google something irrelevant, and somehow end up wondering if maybe it’s our inner child’s fault or Mercury in retrograde again. (Both? Probably.)
But what if the problem wasn’t that you’re bad at making decisions…
What if you’ve just been taught to use the wrong compass?
Welcome to Authority—aka the part of your Human Design that’s literally built to guide your decisions. Not your brain. Not your pros-and-cons list. Not your trauma-laced people-pleasing reflex. (Oof. I know. I’m calling myself out too.)
Authority is your body's way of saying: “Hey babe, I got this.”
It’s the energetic GPS wired into your chart at birth. And yes, like most sacred things, it’s wildly inconvenient to the modern world. It doesn’t respond to pressure, deadlines, or emotionally manipulative group texts. It doesn’t care if someone’s waiting on an answer. It’s not here for urgency. It’s here for truth.
But first: what exactly is Authority?
In Human Design, your Authority is the unique way you’re meant to make decisions that are correct for you. It’s not about what sounds good, or what looks good—it’s about what feels correct on a cellular level. Like “yep, this is mine,” or “ew, no thanks.”
Depending on your design, this could show up in a few ways. Some of the most common include:
Emotional Authority (wait it out, ride the wave, clarity comes with time)
Sacral Authority (gut “uh-huh” or “uh-uh,” instant body response)
Splenic Authority (intuitive whisper, here once and gone—don’t miss it)
Ego Authority (willpower and desire—“I want this because I want this”)
Self-Projected (you literally speak your truth aloud)
Environmental (Mental Projector) (you need to hear yourself around the right people)
Lunar Authority (hello Reflectors—your cycle is a whole month long)
If this feels overwhelming, let me just say: you don’t have to master it all today.
You don’t even have to trust it yet. But you can start noticing.
Start with small stuff.
The next time someone asks if you want to join something, pause. Don’t default to yes. Don’t scan their face for approval. Just check in with you—your body, your inner compass.
Because the more you override your Authority, the more out of alignment life gets.
The relationships feel “off.” The job you should love starts draining you. Your to-do list gets heavy with obligations that never really felt right in the first place.
And your body knows. Ohhh she always knows.
What learning to follow my Authority actually looked like:
I wish I could say it was a graceful awakening where I just started honoring my gut or my emotional wave and suddenly life bloomed like a Pinterest board.
Nah.
It looked like:
Saying yes to things that felt gross—and learning the hard way
Ignoring my wave and texting back too soon
Talking myself out of what I knew deep down
Crying in the car because I was tired of betraying myself—but still wasn’t sure how to stop
But eventually, I began to hear the whispers.
My body would tighten or expand. My sacral would light up or collapse.
My emotions would teach me that clarity takes time, not pressure.
My nervous system, bless her, finally started getting the memo: we don’t rush truth anymore.
And every single time I honored that?
Peace. Alignment. Weird magic. Relief.
It’s not about making the perfect decision—it’s about making the one that’s yours.
So here’s what I want you to know:
Your inner compass isn’t broken.
It’s just buried under layers of conditioning, people-pleasing, urgency, and fear.
But it’s still there. Waiting for you to come home to it.
Let Human Design be the permission slip to remember what you’ve always known in your bones:
You can trust your body. You can trust your process.
You can trust that you are not lost—you’re just remembering the way.
And Authority? That’s your lighthouse.
Want help finding your Authority and learning how to actually live it? I’ve got resources coming soon—and until then, follow along on Instagram where I’m sharing what this experiment looks like in real life (mom mess, sacral magic, toddler meltdowns and all).
We’re doing it imperfectly. And we’re doing it together. 🖤