Human Design | Chart Analysis | Projectors

On ADHD Coaching and Gentle Productivity

An interview with Tina Bowne Hart — ADHD Life Coach

It fills me with joy to share with you some interesting nuggets of wisdom I’ve learned through interviewing my colleague Tina Bowne Hart.

Tina and I belong to an authentic business mentoring group, and I appreciate that she has a really soothing and compassionate presence through our interactions together in the group.

More about Tina

Tina lives in Brenham, Texas with her husband of twenty-five years and part-time with their two college-age children.

She has an active coaching practice, providing ADHD Life Coaching to professionals and college students.

On her Facebook Page — Coaching with Hart, she says:

“I started Coaching with Hart to provide high-quality training, support, and accountability for professionals and college students who live with ADHD and anxiety. I am a master's prepared counselor turned board certified coach with over 30 years of experience in education and mental health.

Through the eight years that I’ve been in this practice, I have coached hundreds of students, parents, and adults who needed to increase their productivity while still enjoying their life.

My aim is to create a safe and nurturing environment for my clients to work through any shame they might have about their disorganized style and to learn to acknowledge, be responsible for, and ultimately celebrate the way their brain is wired.”

My questions are in bold, and Tina’s answers are under each question.

How did you get started with this work in the first place? What’s your big WHY?

I was a school counselor in a K — 8 parochial school and noticed some kids who were very bright but were not able to get good grades compared to some of their peers who were less smart.

After digging a little I realized they all shared an ADHD diagnosis so I began researching and training as much as I could and started a little before school 25-minute group before school started. Within weeks I saw a huge difference in not only having a more steady performance in their academic grades but more confidence and fewer behavioral problems.

These students were fun and loving and smart and I fell in love with them and this work. When I left that job it made logical sense to continue to serve this population through my private practice.

I took a quick look at your chart and could see how certain parts connect to your Coaching practice. Does what I have described so far resonate with you?

Tina’s Human Design chart shows that she is a Projector with Splenic Inner Authority, Profile 1/3, and 3 Defined Centers in her Throat, Identity, and Spleen Centers.

Here is my mini-analysis on your chart:

Firstly, I see that your Energy Type is a Projector* with a natural gift for guiding others. Perhaps this is why you have a gift in coaching others!

*There are five Energy Types and Projectors form approximately 20% of the world’s human population. The main gift and purpose of Projectors is to help guide and manage others.

You have six Open Centers (they appear as white geometric shapes) out of the nine Energy Centers in your Human Design Chart. With your sensitivity through your six Open Centers, you can connect with your students’:

• problems,
• minds (probably speed and energetic flow of their thoughts),
• emotions, such as sensing whether they are too excited at any point (Open Root and Open Emotional Solar Plexus),
• perception of value in their studies and personal life (open Will),

and guide them towards careers that are meaningful and satisfying for them (Open Sacral).

With your Defined Identity Center, they sense your love and empathy for them.

With your Defined Throat and with permission already given by your clients/students in your work, you can express and share from the depth of who you are and your intuition too.

Yes, everything you thought about me through my Human Design Chart is accurate, except I don’t really get into their career choices as much unless they already graduated from University with a degree they no longer want to use and need to pivot their job search to something more in aligning with their true desires.

Question: do you express yourself from the depth of who you are to your students/clients, and if so how are they responding to this vulnerable, soulful sharing?

I think I express the depth of who I am through my presence and my energy more than I do in words.

Emerging adults are at a tender time where they are evaluating everything they were raised with, all the values, expectations, sometimes even pressure from their parents to go to college, and to succeed based on the parents’ idea of succeeding.

I feel like as their coach it’s my job to give them a lot of space and ability to process the expectations that have been placed on them and decide if they fit with their own desires of their heart. I’m usually their parents' age or older so I am careful to not be another adult who shares too much about my path or thoughts and instead give them the tools and space to share about theirs.

One soulful expression I do is in my private meditation. I pray for each of my clients, holding them and their hardships and their frustrations in my minds eye asking for each of them to be blessed with and showered in love and understanding and for me to be given the right words to touch them deeply and initiate their healing.

I think many of us are addicted to social media (myself included) and thus have very short periods of focus. What strategies, techniques, mindset changes, etc would you recommend for Solopreneurs or self-employed adults who don’t have fixed structure in their daily schedule but want to start working on their businesses more consistently?

I too struggle with social media addiction, that’s why I’m seriously considering not using it in my own business development.

I think environmental controls along with a flexible structure is a good way to start. I try to check all my sites and then turn my phone off until lunchtime then turn it off again until 5 p.m. I also put a sleep mode on my iPhone so no notifications come through to me from text or calls between the hours of 10 pm to 7 am — that has helped tremendously.

I also am a huge fan of Focusmate. I use it 3–5 hours per week and it has kept me consistently creating content and workshops better than any other structure I’ve tried. I also love my business coach’s prompt to plan my week with intention and review for celebration or improvement, that consistency has been very helpful to me.

I teach my adult professionals the rule of three; create no more than 3 weekly goals per week. When you have a large goal, like building a website, break it down into manageable steps and prioritize one step after another in your calendar until it’s done.

The tortoise really does win the race as opposed to the hare who ends up grumpy and burned out.

What are your thoughts about Gentleness? Do you view Gentleness to be an important quality in your personal life and in your work?

Gentleness….I have a long history with Gentleness.

My culture growing up was not a gentle one, even the humor was hurtful teasing so when I was in my 20’s I was pretty aggressive. I had finished college and was feeling empowered and probably used aggressiveness more than assertiveness when assertiveness was all that was needed.

At some point I took on the mantra to be a kinder, gentler Tina. I was mimicking a USA President at the time who often said we needed to be a kinder, gentler nation. Over time, I did just that. I became kinder and gentler.

I’m still practising using assertiveness instead of aggressiveness. Daily meditation helps, having some age on me helps and holding the intention to be kinder and gentler helps but I’m very much still a work in progress. If I start to get burned out or do too much I can easily become irritable in hurtful ways.

Thanks for asking this question — it required the most vulnerable answer yet.

Bingz note: Wow, thank you for your vulnerable sharing Tina! Looking at your chart, with your Energy Type as a Projector being in the minority (20% of the World’s population) and being wired to be energetically sensitive to others through your six Open Centers, I can see how it must have been really challenging in your early years. Perhaps that aggression was also used to help you put up hard boundaries so you feel safer and less vulnerable.

I’m so glad to witness this kinder and gentler you.

I hope that you have enjoyed learning more about Tina Bowne Hart through this interview and that this inspires you to embrace who you are, including your energetic sensitivity.

Interested in connecting with Tina Bowne Hart?

Here are some of the ways you can connect with Tina:

• Website — https://coachingwithhart.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinaBowneHart/