Give Like You Mean It

A Human Design guide for Giving to Gain on International Women's Day

Hands holding each other forming a circle, with the infinity sign in the middle symbolizing the circular nature of collaboration

Every March 8th, the world is reminded of International Women’s Day.

It’s a celebration of women and their allies especially in the world where the system is rigged for women to participate in their own term without sacrificing a part of themselves.

(Cough capitalism and patriarchy cough).

The theme of this 2026 is Give To Gain, with the aim to encourage a mindset of generosity and collaboration to women’s advancement.

According to the International Women’s Day website (as of March 2026):

Give To Gain emphasizes the power of reciprocity and support.

When people, organizations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase.

Giving is not a subtraction, it’s intentional multiplication.

When women thrive, we all rise.

Sounds great, but how do you “give” exactly?

I propose we use the lens of Human Design to elaborate on this.

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What is Human Design?

Human Design is a fusion of ancient and modern sciences to guide one with their own unique internal navigational system.

On its own, it is not a religion, a belief system, or a cult.

At its core, it’s a metaphysical science that rely on experimentation to discover what’s true for you, instead of relying on authority figures to tell us what’s good and what’s not for us.

The framework acknowledges our personal way to make decision and to process information from the body level.

It goes beyond what your mind think is logical, but acknowledge how our body seems to already know things, even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment.

You determine your Human Design using your birth information (birth date, time and place) into software such as this.

It will then come up with your Human Design information.

What I like from this framework is that it acknowledges our personal way to make decision and to process information from the body level.

It goes beyond what your mind think is logical, but acknowledge how our body seems to already know things, even if it doesn’t make sense at the moment.

(Although usually it will make sense after some time, but there is no way you’d consciously know in that moment).

If you’re new to Human Design, the best entry point would be Types.

Types is useful to know in regards to how we interact with others and how they experience us from the energetic level in the most basic form.

There are 5 types, and how they differ from each other energetically (from Rachel Lieberman’s A Modern Guide to Human Design):

1. Generators: open, magnetic, enveloping

2. Manifesting Generators: enveloping, magnetic, dynamic

3. Manifestors: selective, protective, repelling, closed

4. Projectors: focused, penetrating, probing, absorbing

5. Reflectors: sampling, resilient

Alright, but how is this relevant to IWD?

We’re going to use the Human Design types to determine how we can Give to Gain.

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Let’s Do An Experiment

Whether you identify yourself as a woman or an ally, below is a list of giving activities to inspire you (from International Women’s Day website):

• Give respect

• Give donations

• Give visibility

• Give knowledge

• Give funding

• Give justice

• Give resources

• Give a voice

• Give protection

• Give truth

• Give equal pay

• Give celebration

• Give sponsorship

• Give mentoring

• Give credit

• Give budget

• Give introductions

• Give workshops

• Give opportunities

• Give safety

• Give training

• Give stretch assignments

• Give momentum

• Give role models

• Give growth

• Give access

• Give time

If you know your Human Design type, find your type below and follow the prompt.

If not, feel free to skim through the prompts and follow the one that you feel excited to try.

For Generators & Manifesting Generators

Skim through the above list, select the ones that you feel immediate YES to. The key here is not to overthink it.

Immediate YES can look like an inner “Aw yeah“, an internal “Uh-huh“, or an expansive feeling.

Narrow the list down into 3.

(Optional step: Come back to your list again after a week or a month.

See if you still resonate with them.

If something changes, that’s alright and you can redo the step until you find something that clicks).

For Manifestors

While you are welcome to skim through the list, you might already have your own idea of giving.

Or you might notice something crucial is missing from this list that has not been addressed yet elsewhere that you feel strongly for.

If you feel the call to act on that idea, make sure to inform the parties that would be impacted from your acting on it.

Not to ask for permission, but to reduce possible objections.

For Projectors

As you skim through the list, notice the ones that you feel strongly for or the ones that you already have a sense of inner knowing.

It might also worth to talk through the list with people you trust with, and see what comes up from the conversation.

The key here is to notice how each idea feel like for you as you process the information, even if it takes a split second or a few weeks.

It’d be even better if it’s something you’ve already been recognized for or invited to do in your community.

For Reflectors

Skim through the list, and narrow down the ones you feel interested to do.

Commit to do one or two that can be done in the following month or so, and check how it feels for you throughout the month.

If it makes you feel expansive and it’s something you can do consistently, keep it up!

If it doesn’t, take note on what didn’t work and try a different idea for the next month.

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Hope you enjoyed this exercise, and feel free to write down in the comment what comes up for you.