I Lost Three Hours Going Down Another Rabbit Hole

"Follow the white rabbit."

A line from one of my favorite movies, The Matrix. Because on the daily, I am diving down rabbit holes. I used to think it was a flaw—oh Sam, you're so easily distracted. But then I learned about something that changed everything.

Do you remember that moment in The Matrix when Neo suddenly just... knows? When all that downloaded information clicks into place and he looks up with complete certainty and says, "I know kung fu"?

That's what it felt like when I first learned about human design.

Not the slow, gradual shift of changing habits or mindset work. Not the careful reframing of weaknesses into strengths. Something much more immediate and profound.

It was like someone cut the ties that bind.

The Punishment Stops Here

For years, I'd been punishing myself for things that were never actually problems. How I need hermit time to go deep before I emerge with something worth sharing. The way I respond instantly when something lights up my sacral, but then need to retreat to process between projects. How I can move incredibly fast once I get that gut "yes," but the world kept giving me mixed messages—speed up, but not too fast, be decisive, but think it through more.

Come on, what did they want from me?

I thought these were character flaws to overcome. Personal development projects to work on. Evidence that I wasn't built for business success.

But human design didn't ask me to fix myself. It asked me to understand myself.

And understanding myself was freeing in a way I didn't expect.

It wasn't "here's how to work around your limitations." It was "here's how you're actually designed to work." It wasn't about becoming someone else. It was about finally being myself, but strategically.

The Operating System Upgrade

You know how frustrating it is when you're trying to run Mac software on a PC? Everything's slow, nothing works right, you're constantly fighting the system just to get basic things done.

That's what I'd been doing with my business. Running someone else's operating system on my hardware.

I'm a 6/2 Generator in human design—a Role Model/Hermit. Which means I need time alone to process and figure things out (hermit), but once something lights up my gut with a clear "yes," I move fast (generator). And whether I like it or not, people are watching what I do (role model).

For years, I'd been trying to initiate everything instead of responding. Forcing myself to network constantly instead of honoring my hermit need for retreat and reflection. Starting projects from my head instead of waiting for that sacral "hell yes."

But human design showed me my actual operating system. And suddenly, everything clicked into place.

Permission to Be Human

The relief was immediate. I stopped trying to initiate everything and started responding to what lit me up. I stopped apologizing for needing hermit time to process and think. I stopped forcing myself into constant visibility and started trusting that when I had something worth sharing, people would pay attention.

Instead, I gave myself permission to retreat when I needed to. To wait for that gut response before saying yes. To move fast when something felt right instead of second-guessing my speed.

I designed my business around my actual energy—hermit time for deep work and strategy, generator response for decision-making, role model visibility when I had something worth modeling.

As The Oracle said: "You're not here to make the choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it."

I'd already chosen to honor my design. I just needed to understand why that choice would change everything.

And then someone fired the starter's pistol.

Everything Accelerates

Here's what nobody tells you about working with your design instead of against it: everything accelerates.

And I mean everything. But it wasn't just about me working with my design—it was about Steph and I using our human design charts to completely overhaul our business, our collaboration, everything.

We looked at our charts and suddenly understood why certain projects drained us and others energized us. Why some collaborations felt effortless and others felt like swimming upstream. Why we'd been burning out instead of thriving.

So we used our designs to leverage our actual strengths and divide up the work so we were each operating in our zone of genius. I handle what lights up my generator sacral. Steph takes what aligns with her design. We stopped trying to be everything to everyone and started being exactly who we are, strategically.

We used our charts to design programs that excited us and sustained us instead of burning us out. Every offer, every collaboration, every business decision gets run through the filter of "does this work with our designs or against them?"

The acceleration has been undeniable. I look back at all the business interactions we went through before this—the struggle, the misalignment, the constant pivoting—and then I see the expedience with which we've pulled everything together once we started running it through our human design.

It's not just personal development. It's the most practical business strategy we've ever implemented.

The Blueprint Was Always There

The strangest part is realizing the blueprint was always there. Your design, your strengths, your natural way of operating—none of it was hidden. You just didn't have the language to see it clearly.

You thought you were struggling because you work differently. But you weren't failing. You were just using the wrong manual.

Human design gave me the right manual. Not just for life, but for business. For understanding how I make decisions, how I best communicate, how I naturally build relationships, how I create sustainable energy instead of burning it all up.

Why This Matters for Your Business

This isn't just personal development. This is business strategy at its most practical.

When Steph and I started using human design as our business blueprint, everything changed. Our marketing stopped feeling like performance because we were finally communicating from our actual strengths. Our offers started reflecting what genuinely excited us to deliver because we understood what energized versus drained us. Our collaboration became effortless because we divided work according to our actual designs, not arbitrary job descriptions.

You stop trying to build someone else's business and start building yours. With your actual energy patterns, your real decision-making process, your genuine strengths.

And that's when people start paying attention. Not because you're finally good enough, but because you're finally authentically operating from your design. And your authentic design, it turns out, is exactly what your right people have been looking for.

The Download Is Complete

I know kung fu.

Not because I learned to be someone else, but because I finally learned to be myself. Strategically, intentionally, unapologetically myself.

Neo didn't become The One by trying harder to be Agent Smith. He became The One by downloading his actual program and running it without apology.

But as Morpheus reminds us: "There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."

I could know my human design all day long. But until I actually started building my business around it, walking that path instead of just knowing about it, nothing changed.

Your design is already there. Your blueprint is already downloaded. You just need to stop running someone else's code and start walking your actual path.

Red Pill, Blue Pill

So here's your choice.

Blue pill: Keep believing you just need to try harder at being someone you're not. Keep forcing yourself into networking events that drain you. Keep starting projects from your head instead of your gut. Keep burning out trying to build someone else's version of success.

It's comfortable, in a way. The familiar struggle. The story that you're just not built for this, so you have to work twice as hard to make up for your "flaws."

Red pill: See how deep the rabbit hole goes. Discover your actual design and what happens when you build with it instead of against it. Find out what your business looks like when it's designed around your real energy, your actual strengths, your genuine way of operating.

But here's the thing about the red pill—once you see your design, you can't unsee it. Once you understand how you're meant to work, you can't go back to fighting yourself.

The choice is yours.

But if you're ready to stop trying to hack the Matrix and start writing your own code... if you're ready to see what happens when you build a business around your actual design instead of against it...

Welcome to The Brand.

This is your invitation to cut the ties that bind.