This is just a quick post about how I will be setting intentions for 2024. This is likely to be my last post for 2023, but who knows… I’m as surprised as you are that I am even writing on this blog again.
I am going to start with some of the astrologers I like and follow regularly, because there are some astrological factors now (including Mercury Retrograde, which started yesterday and runs until New Year’s Day) and looking further into 2024 that play a role in planning right now and for your year ahead.)
Great Astrologers I Follow
I’m not getting into the details of 2024 astrology in this post, but here are some awesome channels that do a very good job of that.
My Favorite: Cosmic Astrology / Astrology by Heather
She has a great rundown every two weeks for each lunar cycle, but also just did a video for this mercury retrograde and for the first quarter of 2024.
Other good ones:
Chani Nicholas
I listen to her podcast every week. She also seems to have a very good app but I can’t speak to that because I have been trying to limit the number of apps on my phone so I have not tried it yet. But the astrology is top notch.
Sama / Practical Astrology
Sama’s niche is specifically financial astrology, but his overview of global is quite good when seen through the astrological lens that emphasizes global and personal finances, because that topic alone has such an impact on our personal lives and on how things shift throughout the world.
Ablas Roland Legrand
I started watching Ablas’s astrology videos at the start of the pandemic. If you go back to the videos in 2019 that he made, you will see that he very specifically predicted the pandemic. His accent can be hard to follow sometimes but his astrology videos are very good.
Lada Ducheva
This is a fun astrology channel to listen to but sometimes it goes a bit dark (predicting worst case scenario that doesn’t pan out) so I don’t listen to it as much. It’s good to have an awareness of what could happen but not to bring it about by worrying about it. Also, I listen to all of these channels while on the treadmill so I sometimes have trouble following with the accents, but the material is good.
Astrology Zone
Susan Miller has been writing astrology posts since the 1990s, I believe. I am putting this one last because sometimes these come out as much as a week late, but they are still usually very detailed and worth the read. They are often a bit rosier in prediction than I feel they should be when I compare to what actually occured in my life.
How to Use This Astrological Information
By watching a few astrologers you can hear what is happening translated by a number of different world views and ways of articulating what is coming down the pike.
All of this, mixed with your own awareness of what is going on in the world and your own intuition, can help you to work out an idea of what you’d like to get done, and what influences might help you as we move through the turning of the seasons.
They may also help you to get an idea of what themes you will be facing and what you will end of focusing on.
For example, I had one goal in 2024. And try as I might, I really feel that the astrology was up against me to NOT fulfill that goal this year.
My year was about something else and there was no changing that.
When I relented November and mourned this goal…
When I finally let it go and took a few weeks to mourn the future I had built in my mind…
The energy started to flow again.
The universe pretty much said, “YOUR LIFE WILL BE ABOUT THIS FIRST AND FOREMOST. DON’T BE OBSTINATE AND TRY TO PUSH AGAINST IT. YOU WILL FAIL.”
Hopefully the universe will not say that to you or me in 2024 because we’ve looked at the astrology factors first.
Use the advice with these wise astrologers to get an idea of 2024.
A Personalized Wheel of Life
In the past, I tried to fit my annual planning into a format with topics that were suggested by other people, often business gurus, that had categories of life that were not appropriate for me.
This forced me to create goals in categories I either didn’t care about or had nothing to do with my life.
One had something called “Business Centers of Power” which was basically a fancy way of saying a goal category about networking in the right places to excel one’s business.
At the time I was living in Los Angeles and so EVERYWHERE was a business center of power and I was already living in that just by existing. There was not goal that has to be created. I guess I could have gotten more specific and started hanging somewhere that I felt had more leverage, but it just did not seem appropriate. I was doing fine and by creating a goal there, it distracted me from goals in other categories that were more important.
It diluted the effect of creating a plan for that year and also created a lot of busy work regarding goals that I was only half interested in.
If you do your planning right, even just creating 4-8 goals for a year can be plenty to keep you busy for the year.
I learned this a few years ago from Michael Hyatt’s book Best Year Ever and that was the biggest take-away from his system.
So when you look at a wheel of life, it is best to personalize it.
There are so many versions of the wheel of life now, anyway, so you would do well to make it align with what your goals and life are about.
For example, I delete the “Kids” category and put “Dog”.
I’m happily single, so my “Primary Relationship” is the relative I care for, not a romantic partner.
Planning for 2024 with a Timeline
So with your 10 or less goals for 2024, based on both your own desires and the major themes that seem to be coming your way with the astrology, you can now break the year into quarters.
You can look at these quarters of the year and place your goals in the quarters you believe to be appropriate, as a general overview, but know that things may shift around a bit.
Base your timing on both what you feel should be first intuitively and then shift things based on any notes you may have taken from the astrology you watched before planning.
You may even want to consider the astrology of world events (like the shortages that might have played a role in your life in 2021) but overall, the most useful stuff is in your own sun sign, rising sign and moon sign, so pay attention to that the most.
Then break the quarters into months, and then maybe weeks, depending on bow consistent your life is.
Then look at this list of goals A LOT. That in itself will often get you to where you want to be by the end of there quite automatically.
Mercury Retrograde’s Role Right Now
Most of the astrologers I mentioned, especially Heather, said that this is a good time to be introspective and make that plan for 2024, with an emphasis on the INTROSPECTIVE part.
That is what I am doing right now. I am percolating ideas of possibilities and I encourage you to do the same.
In the first week of January (the first week after mercury goes direct), take your goals and plans and timing and fine tune them.
I often take a whole month to do this, anyway, because I am Aquarian and allow the time between New Year’s and my birthday to let the true focuses of the year come forth.
So December with Mercury Retrograde is a perfect time for looking back on the year, and doing holiday stuff that reconnects you with people from your past, remembering recipes (especially long-time family recipes), and closing up any unfinished business from 2023.
Conclusion and Tips
I have related mercury retrograde to your planning for 2024, but if you have not read my blog before, I will review some basics to make it through this period easier.
- Clear Your Energy: “All energy that is not my own, return to source with Love and Light. All PLANETARY ENERGY, return to source with Love and Light.” I especially love returning planetary energy because if the world is going nuts, you can preserve your own connection. Also if the planets are going nuts, you can have that be in least effect when sending away any excess that may have come your way, simply by contemplating the issue (like by reading this post).
- Ground Your Energy: I have been covering this is a lot of posts, but this is a good thing to focus on during this time. Remember to secure your roots to the core of the earth from your feet and the base of your spine. Breath this energy from the core of the earth…
- Breath and Slow Down: Just breathing deeply and slowly into the belly and slowing down with help with grounding. I wrote this post in one hour because that’s all I had, and immediately afterward spilt makeup all over the floor. These things happen to remind us to slow down. I took the universe’s advice and after I finish writing this added section, I will be doing a meditation specifically for this. Even 5 minutes will help.
- Exercise and Move Slower: I love taking the time to do yoga and tai chi during this time because this reenforces the clearing, grounding, breathing and slowness that helps the energy stay manageable.
- Assertion: “I am grounded. I am grounded. I am grounded. I feel my feet on the ground. I am connected strongly to the earth.” Or if you are driving, make sure your consciousness is feeling the connection of the wheels to the ground. “My wheels of my car are strongly and safely connected to the earth.”
How do you normally wrap up your year?
Do you make a plan for the next year or just “wing-it”?
Does this year’s mercury retrograde come into play for you?
What astrologers do you love and follow?
~ Peace ~
Indigo Leslie