EP 149: Alignment or Fear? How to Make Decisions That Reflect Your Truth

Have you ever found yourself stuck in decision-making, unsure if you’re being guided by intuition or held back by fear? In this transformative episode, Jessica Read dives deep into the energetics of decision-making, exploring how to distinguish fear from alignment and why this awareness can change the trajectory of your business and life.

You’ll walk away with:

• A clear understanding of how fear often disguises itself as intuition.
• Practical tools to decode your body’s signals and find clarity.
• Insights from Human Design to help you align your decisions with your unique energy type.

Whether you’ve been second-guessing your next big move or want to navigate life with more confidence and flow, this episode is your guide to stepping into clarity and alignment.

Key Takeaways:

1. Fear vs. Intuition: The Energetics of Decision-Making
   • Fear feels urgent and overwhelming, while intuition feels neutral and expansive—even when the path is uncomfortable.
   • Your Human Design authority holds the key to decoding your unique intuitive signals.
2. Your Body as a Compass:
   • Alignment feels light and open; fear feels tight and heavy.
   • Learn how your Not-Self Theme (frustration, bitterness, anger, or disappointment) can reveal where you’re out of alignment.
3. The Power of Emotional Neutrality:
   • Waiting for emotional clarity can prevent reactive decision-making.
   • Discover why urgency is often fear in disguise.
4. Why Alignment Creates Momentum:
   • Decisions rooted in alignment build ease and flow, while fear leads to cycles of doubt and procrastination.

Reflection Questions (from the Episode):

• Where in your life do you feel expansive clarity—and where do you feel tightness or hesitation?
• How can you use your body’s signals to check in with your next big decision?
• What does your Not-Self Theme tell you about where you might be misaligned?

Connect with Jessica:
Did this episode resonate with you? DM Jessica on Instagram @‌jessica.read.ilc with your biggest takeaway or leave a review to share how this episode shifted your perspective.

Transcript

0:01

Are you a soul centered entrepreneur ready to step into your power and create a life and business you love? Welcome to the Alive and Thriving podcast, where host Jessica and industry experts explore how your inner world fuels your outer success. Let's dive in and ignite the embodied leader you were meant to be.

squadcaster-33j8_1_01-10-2025_175048: 0:27

Have you ever felt stuck in decision making? Wondering if you are being guided by your intuition or if you're being held back by fear? Here is how to tell and why knowing the difference actually changes everything for you in your business and in your life. Welcome to Alive and Thriving. This is the space where we blend emotional resilience, intuitive leadership, and personal growth to help you create success that feels deeply aligned. Today, we are diving into a question that comes up for so many of my clients and something that I also really battled with myself for a really long time. And that is the question of, am I making decisions from alignment or from fear? And here is why this matters. When you are making aligned decisions, you move forward with confidence, with clarity, with flow. But when fear is in the driver's seat, when decisions are being made from things that you think you should be doing, or a scarcity mindset, it creates a loop of second guessing, procrastination, or even worse, it can actually lead you on a path to burnout. So by the end of today's episode, you will have practical tools to identify fear versus intuition. We will explore how your human design type and your not self theme can also guide you to clarity around this as well, because that is what I personally use when it comes to my decision making processes. So here is what you are going to learn. In this episode, the truth about fear masquerading as intuition, how to use your body's wisdom and energy signals to find clarity, and why your human design type reveals whether you are on the right path. So let's get started. If we have not met before and you are brand new here, welcome. My name is Jessica Read. I am an intuitive business mentor, alternative therapist, and an advocate for creating businesses that align with your authentic energy. My 17 years of entrepreneurial experience, which includes my own messy journey has taught me this. Your body and your energy already know the answers. Now, today I'm sharing insights from human design and please note that I am not an expert in human design. I'm going to be sharing from the lens of what I have learned. I have an amazing episode with Tegan Parkinson, who is a human design expert that you can scroll back and find her details, go find her on Instagram, ask her all of your big questions, but we are going to dive into decision making from this lens. And from my experience with it, we're going to share insights around energetic alignment and my own life to really help you unlock your intuitive decision making power. So I wonder, as I get into this topic, have you ever convinced yourself that you are following your gut, only to realize later that it was really misaligned and it was actually fear all along? When I was earlier in my career, but particularly earlier in this business, there were things that I wanted to launch. There are things that I wanted to achieve, but something was saying to me, it's not the right time. It's not the right time. And I thought that was intuition. I was like, Oh, I'm intuitive. I'm connected. That's just my intuition telling me that it's not the right time for me to do this. When I actually look back at this particular situation for me in my business, it wasn't not the right time. My body was being urged to do this. I was having a full blown sacral yes to doing this thing. It was actually fear that was holding me back and the stories in my head that was holding me back. So this fear of failing, this fear of being judged, this fear of not delivering enough. And so instead of stepping forward, I held myself back. And then in this case, the opportunity passed. Now, fear often feels urgent and overwhelming because it's, there's a question of like, how do we tell the difference? And that is something that you really do need to explore and play with. Is it a conflict of interest within your own body? And if you do choose to look at it from the lens of your human design, which I will speak about in a moment. Looking at it from that lens of will, is this a sacral response for me. Is this an intuitive response? Or is there anxiety attached to this? Is it pressure attached to this? Is this even my idea to begin with? Because fear, as I just started saying before, will feel urgent and overwhelming, and it is going to push you towards action or inaction with a sense of scarcity, a sense of dread. Intuition, by contrast, feels really neutral. It feels steady, it feels expansive, and it feels safe. It feels like a natural next step, even if your mind is going, Oh, hello, this is not logical. This is something that is out of my comfort zone. We've never done this before, but there will be generally. And as I said, explore this with your own body, but maybe a nudge, maybe a pull, maybe it's something that you just know you just have an innate knowing, but there's generally more of a sense of neutrality around it and a sense of peace. So even if even if it's leading you towards something uncomfortable, into big changes. So from a human design lens, intuition is tied deeply to your authority. So you might have an emotional authority like mine. This is where you have a defined solar plexus. So intuition comes for me after riding out the emotional wave that I experience. When you are emotionally high or emotionally low, decisions often come from fear Or excitement, not from clarity. Again, we are looking for neutrality. So waiting for that neutrality ensures that your decisions are going to feel calm and aligned. And this is something that I have had to practice. And I still, sometimes I'm like, Oh, I've got that sacred response and I want to do it. And it feels like a gut. Yes. Like it's a hell yes response. And I'm going for it. And then I'm like, hang on a minute. I need to ride out that way. Even for me as an emotional authority in my human design. I will often write out that wave, come back to the thing, and not have that same pull to move forward with it. And then there is the sacral authority. Now, this is where you have a defined sacral and pastoral authority. And not a defined solar plexus at the same time. So you'll feel a gut yes or no response. And it's immediate and it's clear. It's not vital to overthink this initial response. If you've had a sacral yes and you don't have to run it through an emotional processing authority, move forward. Pay attention to your body. And then we have a splenic authority and this is your intuition. It's a whisper. It's often fleeting. I want you to trust your first instinct if you have a splenic authority. This is when you have a defined spleen without letting fear or logic actually override it. And I think that's the thing with any body led decisions, whether it be through your human design lens which again, I'm not an expert on, but I invite you to go deeper with that. In our mastermind space, we actually have taken, come in and coach people who have Every month on human design so that our ladies can be making these really energetically aligned decisions. But whether it is your own intuitive connection to your body, whether you know what that feels like already, and you have your own experiences with your intuition, we need to be trusting that first instinct because once the mind comes in and again, coming from that human design lens with me, I have an open head center. So once my mind gets involved, I'm looking for certainty and I'm never going to get certainty. And so that's where my fear, my logic, the overthinking, the thoughts that lead to over processing and anxiety, they will guide me away from what my body has already said. No, this is how it's meant to be. So I want you to pay attention to any body led decisions that you are making. If your head is saying different, what is that actually about? And maybe. You might even like to journal about a recent decision and ask yourself, was this driven by excitement, dread, or calm, clarity? What was driving this decision? Was it something that you knew? Or was it something that had a bit of ew, about it and your head came in and was like, oh no, we're going to overthink this. We're going to allow these beliefs that we have, these core beliefs, that I'm not good enough, that I'm not worthy, that I'm not deserving, that I this, whatever your beliefs are, we're going to come in and allow that to override what we innately know is good for us. The thing is, your body doesn't lie, but you're probably not listening to its signals. A client of mine was stuck deciding whether to pivot her business and every time she thought about staying on her current path, she felt tension in her shoulders. Her breathing went shallow. She had all of this anxiety agonizing back and forth. Should I do this? Should I not do this? Should I do this? Should I not do this? Every time she thought about continuing in the pathway that she was on, she was having a physical response, a big no. But she still overthought it. Thinking about the pivot, it brought this sense of lightness. Thinking about a new unknown pathway felt exciting. It felt expansive for her. Her body knew what her mind couldn't yet articulate and what her mind couldn't logic. This alignment was calling her to change. Because here's the thing, your body is an incredible compass. And alignment, it feels open and it feels light and it feels expansive. Whereas fear is going to manifest physically. Tightness, heaviness, discomfort. Anxiety. I know, that's where I sat for a really long time. Not listening to my body. Highly anxious. Not saying, what is this trying to get my attention about? Not even paying enough attention to my body to know that the pathway I was on did not feel good because I was just so stuck in the day to day doing of life. I was doing and I wasn't being. So I want you to notice in your own body when you are making decisions, when you are visualizing, imagining, putting yourself forward into the pathways that you're choosing in your business, but also in your life. What is your chest doing? What is your throat doing? What is your gut doing? Notice where the tension arises because that is often fear. And that is going to hold you back because that fear will go, Oh no, better stay over here. This is, this new is not safe, but sometimes we can also feel those things when we are wanting to change. We can feel that tension. And that tension is an indication that we are not on the right pathway. So sometimes it can be a fear of change, but sometimes it can also be a big loud message that you're probably not listening to. So then from a human design lens, you're not self themed. Is another way to check in with this. And this is where we look more emotionally. So for manifesting generators and generators, if you're feeling frustration, then it is a sign that you are out of alignment. Frustration will come when you are saying yes to things that don't light you up. When you're ignoring your gut for projectors, you're not self sign is bitterness. And this arises when you're chasing opportunities instead of waiting for recognition, waiting for an invitation in some people's case. This leads to decisions that are driven by fear of being overlooked. And for manifestors, if you are experiencing anger, then you might be forcing or reacting instead of initiating from alignment. Reflectors, pay attention to your disappointment, because disappointment points to the decisions that are made without giving yourself the time and the space to reflect. So when you're making your decision, can you pause and scan your body? Stop that fast pace, I need to know this now, I need to have this answer now, and actually pause and notice what feels tight, what feels heavy, what feels closed off, what feels light and open. And let your body guide you through your decisions. Did you know that the clearest decisions often come from when your emotions are calm? There was something that I once rushed into, something. There was lots of things that I have rushed into out of excitement. It feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's, and that's scarcity marketing as well. It's going to end. You've got to get this like quick opportunity, grab it now before it goes. Oh my gosh. If you knew how many parcels have been delivered to my home. Oh my goodness me. These opportunities though, come from me having these like impulsive moments. And as I told you before, I'm supposed to write an emotional wave. So then when that wave passes and the dust settles, and I realized that this decision hasn't actually come from alignment, it's not aligned with my values. It's not aligned with my long term goals. And I've done this in my business too. So many times, Oh, let's act on this really quickly. Let's move forward. And that's, Oh yeah, I've had an emotional wave. I've run that through that. No, we haven't. And then I'm going bang, making these super fast decisions. Only to get to the other side and be extremely frustrated and wonder how I got so misaligned. Excitement has clouded my clarity more times than I care to admit. And now that I have learnt the power for me of aligning and waiting with my emotional wave, making a decision from a space of emotional neutrality, I make so much more wise and aligned decisions. I feel so much more at peace, so much more satisfaction within my body. So for those of you with an emotional authority in your human design, this is key. Emotions fluctuate and the decisions that are made in the highs or the lows, they are often reactive. The decisions that are made because we are trying to prove something. There's so many different aspects of our design that we can look at. If you are trying to prove something, if you are waiting for certainty, If you are taking on somebody's defined head and you have an undefined head and it's this is how it's supposed to be. There are so many different not self ways that we can make decisions. So waiting for your wave to pass or coming back into your body and checking in with your own navigation system, your own internal, yes, no, your own internal way of knowing brings clues when you get the clarity. That is how clarity emerges. So this isn't just for emotional authorities. Everybody benefits from waiting out the urgency, depending on what energy is behind your decision. If you are a, if you are a sacral and you are having that fast yes, I'm ready to move forward, let's do this. You have that go ahead. But check in with that energy behind it. Am I looking at this because I'm, trying to prove something? Am I doing this because it is something that I think I should be doing? Have I actually had a yes to this? Or did I just imagine it? Am I really actually connected to my body right now? And this practice of connecting in with your yes and your no, whatever that might be for you, as I said, it doesn't have to be through a human design lens, but understanding what your body's yes feels like and what your body's no feels like. This is going to help you find so much clarity. And here is a tip for clarity. If a decision feels like it has to happen now, Then it's more likely fear talking, because alignment, it really demands that immediate action. So I want you to practice pausing. When a decision feels urgent, take 24 hours, reflect, journal, tap into your emotional state of being before acting. So then you can actually look at, are you moving forward? Or are you spinning the same patterns? Because decisions from alignment create ease even when the path is challenging. Fear based decisions, however, are going to lead to cycles of doubt, procrastination, overthinking, and it's like walking through quicksand instead of stepping onto solid ground. So again, we're going to go with a little bit of human design insight. Very, basic. For generators and manifesting generators, alignment builds satisfaction and momentum. Decisions out of frustration For projectors, aligned decisions lead to invitations and they lead to recognition. Fear based choices feel heavy and exhausting. For manifestors, alignment amplifies your impact. Decisions from fear can lead to burnout or resistance. And for reflectors, aligned decisions will feel like natural unfolding of your environment's energy, but a fear based decision will feel like rushed and feel uncertain. So I would really encourage you to reflect on where you feel stuck in loops. What is one small aligned decision that you can make today to shift that momentum? And as we bring this episode to an end, I'm gonna leave you with some reflection questions and I'm going to pop these in the show notes for you. Where in your life do you feel expansive clarity? And where do you feel tightness and hesitation? And can you use your body signals to check in with your next big decision? And what does your not self theme tell you about where you might be misaligned? And are you paying attention to it? If this episode has resonated with you, I would love to hear. Pop over into my DMs and why don't you come in and ask me actually about a very special offer that I have dropping in very, shortly that is going to help you transform your internal world to ignite your business growth, help you step into your confidence as the aligned leader that your business needs you to be. No more doubting yourself. No more questioning your prices. No more going back and forth over your social media posts, but stepping into a place of full trust and confidence and alignment. And I am opening up the wait list. So pop in, Ask me about that program and I will pop you on the wait list. I would love also to hear your takeaways from today's episode. If it resonated, please come over and tell me, have you connected to your intuition? Do you know what fear versus intuition feels like within your own body? This is something that I work deeply with, private clients. So maybe that's a pathway that you'd like to explore because alignment is not about getting it perfect. This is about listening to your inner guidance and trusting your body and making decisions that honor your unique energy. Because fear will always show up, but it only has the power if you give it. So choose alignment today and watch your life expand in ways that you never imagined. I'll see you next week.

21:31

That's a wrap on today's episode. Feeling inspired to explore your inner world and reach your full potential? We'd love to hear from you. Subscribe for more, leave a review and share your takeaways on Instagram at jessica. reid. ilc. Until next time, keep thriving!