Your Gifts Feel Too Easy. That's the Point.
Back when I was consulting, I'd work 12-hour shifts. I always ended the day feeling exhausted, drained, and wondering why I'd even signed up for this job (hint: it was the money). I had one coworker who I once watched deal with a day that was nothing but putting out fires like it was nothing, and then go out for drinks afterwards. Me? I was home in bed, eyes closed, before my head even hit the pillow.
Times like that always had me wondering why I consistently needed to step back. Reassess. Slow down.
I felt like being me wasn't enough. Like I was missing some big secret everyone else had figured out.
Later, when I learned about Human Design, I discovered something interesting. There are things called Channels. There's even one called the Channel of Struggle, and I don't have it.
I'm literally not designed to fight through resistance the way some people are. I have tenacity, yes. I'll keep pushing. But I also need to know when to let go. When to call in support.
All those times I thought I was failing? I was actually living up to my design.
What You Need to Know
In Human Design, your channels show you where your gifts naturally flow. These are the areas where you're wired to excel. Where energy moves through you consistently and reliably.
So what channel do I have? The Channel of Synthesis. Revolution and engagement. I'm meant to challenge the status quo and push up against societal norms. But never to struggle and go it alone the way the Channel of Struggle requires.
What most people do? They look at what OTHER people are good at and try to replicate it. They see someone with natural persistence and think, "I should be a warrior too." They see someone with perfect timing and think, "I need to trust my intuition more."
Meanwhile, they're ignoring the gifts they actually have. The nuance of their own design.
You're out there grinding, trying to build something from scratch, when you already came equipped with tools someone else wishes they had.
The channels in your chart show you your true purpose.
But because these gifts feel easy, or come naturally, or are non-standard, you've convinced yourself they don't matter. That you need to work on your "weaknesses" instead.
The Real Cost
When you're constantly trying to be someone you're not, you exhaust yourself mastering skills that will never feel natural. You're fighting your design instead of flowing with it. Trying to hone a gift that was never yours.
And you miss the entire point. Your channels show you what's already there. The work isn't to build from scratch. The work is to trust and use what you came here with.
The Gifts You're Dismissing
Let me show you what I mean.
If you have the Channel of Recognition (gates 30 to 41), you see what's possible before anyone else does. You envision future experiences so vividly it borders on psychic. You light that vision up in others just by talking about it.
You've probably been told you're a dreamer. Unrealistic. You brush off compliments about how you "paint the picture" because it doesn't feel like a skill. It's just... how you see.
The Channel of Rhythm (gates 5 to 15) is different. It's quieter. You know when to move and when to wait. People get frustrated with your pace. They want you to speed up, make a decision, stop pausing.
But your timing is always right. That's the thing. It's always right.
And if you have the Channel of Struggle (gates 28 to 38)? You're built to fight for what matters. You have the energy to push through resistance when the cause is worth it. People call it stubbornness. Something to tone down.
It's not. It's your design doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
The Shift
Once I understood I wasn't meant to struggle the way some others do, I stopped. Although not all at once. But I remember the first time I let myself pause in the middle of a project without the spiral. Without the "what's wrong with me" story.
I just... stopped. Took a breath and gave myself time to breathe.
Nothing fell apart.
I stopped feeling guilty about needing support. Stopped comparing my capacity to people wired completely differently than me.
That's when I stopped grinding against my design and started using it.
The work didn't disappear. But suddenly, I was doing work I was actually designed to do.
Try This: The Channel Audit
Look at your Human Design chart this week. Find your active channels, the fully colored pathways connecting two gates, then ask yourself: Am I using these gifts or ignoring them because they feel too easy?
Notice where you've been dismissing your natural talents because they don't feel like "work."
Notice where you've been trying to develop skills someone else was designed to have.
Then make one shift. Start honoring the energy of your channels. Notice how you use it daily.
What Happens When You Trust Your Design
You'll feel exposed at first. Using your natural gifts means being seen for who you actually are, not who you think you should be. (I constantly feel like I'm challenging norms. But that's okay. That's my design.)
You might face resistance from people used to you operating differently. They won't understand why you're suddenly confident. Why you're doing things your way.
You'll question whether it's "allowed" to be this good, this loud, this weird. We've been taught that if it feels easy or different, it doesn't count.
But the work you do from your channels will be better. More impactful. More you.
The opportunities that come will actually fit who you are.
And you'll stop second-guessing your value because you'll be standing in gifts that are undeniably yours.
The Gift You've Been Ignoring
You don't always need to build skills you don't have.
You don't need to become someone you're not.
Those things that feel too easy or different? That's your design working exactly as it should.
You were born with specific, wonderful, unique gifts.
Stop acting like they don't count just because they feel natural.
What's Next?
If you're ready to understand your channels and use them to build a business that actually works with your energy:
Run your Aligned Business Blueprint: Get your complete Human Design chart with all your channels explained and how to use them in your business.
About the Author:
Matalya Onuoha is a Human Design Strategist and Clarity-to-Prosperity Guide for Women & Teams. She helps women transform confusion into clarity and purpose into prosperity using Human Design, NLP, and somatic techniques. Host of the Worthy of Wealth podcast.
