Goal Setting With The Moon
And just like that, 2024 is nearly over and 2025 is about to begin. Are you feeling the pressure to set some New Year resolutions that you won’t stick to? What about a word for the year that will be forgotten in a week? All this ‘new year, new me’ nonsense gives me a headache. It’s actually refreshing to see on social media that I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’ve seen various posts encouraging ‘fun New Year resolutions’ rather than traditional ambitious goals, and words for the year such as ‘joy’, ‘flow’ and ‘pleasure’.
If you have been following me on social media, or reading my blogs, then you will already know that I don’t follow the traditional Gregorian Calendar, I follow the Solar Year (through the Wheel of the Year), and the Moon in lunar planning. The 1st of January means nothing to me. It’s just another day. It was on the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, back on the 21st of December, that I set my word for the year with my daughter. That word was happiness, and we set the intention to bring more of it into our home. She has done a brilliant job so far as we have spent the last week playing her new board game and laughing until we cried.
In the Solar Year, the Winter Solstice is equivalent to the New Moon, making it an ideal time for setting your intentions for the following year. This was followed by the New Moon in Capricorn on the 30th of December at 10.26 pm (GMT), so I spent the morning of the 31st writing down my goals for the year, quarter and lunar cycle.
Just in case you have zero astrology knowledge, ancient astronomers divided the night sky into 12 constellations and tracked the Sun, Moon and planets as they moved through them. If you are a visual person imagine that the Earth is inside a dome. On the surface of the dome are the stars and the planets move around that dome. Each planet follows its path, with the Sun’s path being called the ecliptic. Around the dome, parallel to the Earth’s Equator, is the celestial equator. When the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator, we have an Equinox. The most northern point of the ecliptic from the celestial equator is the Summer Solstice, and the most southern point is the Winter Solstice. These four points will be important shortly.
The 12 constellations make up the zodiac's 12 signs, each sign is connected to one of three modalities - cardinal, fixed and mutable. The Sun spends 30.43 days in each sign, with three signs making up a quadrant (quarter of a circle), or season of the year. When the Sun reaches one of the four points mentioned above, we have the start of a new season. This is also when the Sun moves into a new sign.
The three modalities represent how each sign expresses its energy, reacts to circumstances and navigates life. There are four signs in each modality, with each one representing a different element. (Fire, Earth, Air and Water) Each season starts with a cardinal sign, followed by a fixed sign and ending with a mutable sign.
The cardinal signs are the most goal-focused. They are the natural leaders of the zodiac, setting the tone for each season. They have great vision and are able to tolerate change and new beginnings. These are the signs that make things happen. They are entrepreneurial, enterprising, independent and creative. They are also very active, self-motivated and restless. Perfect for getting stuff done. Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are the four cardinal signs.
The fixed signs follow the cardinal signs to essentially fix in place what has been started. They fall in the middle of the season. These signs are the most hardworking and dedicated. They are reliable and grounded, known for being steady and focused, keeping things stable. They are steadfast and persistent, trustworthy and able to action plans. They also tend to be stubborn and have trouble letting things go. Great for following through on the things you have already started. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius are the four fixed signs.
The mutable signs bridge the gap between the seasons and are the most flexible and adaptable. They can change their minds and go with the flow. They are very resourceful and can adapt to unexpected changes. These signs mark the end of a season and the completion of a cycle. Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are the four mutable signs.
On the Spring Equinox, the Sun moves into Aries and we instinctively take risks with our new goals. Taurus follows Aries to bring consistency and stability to the things we have started. Gemini comes next to fill in the gaps in our knowledge and redirect us.
The Summer Solstice is when the Sun moves into Cancer and we become protective of our goals, wanting to nurture them. Confident Leo follows blazing the trail for others to follow, with practical Virgo analysing the trail and determining where to go next.
The Autumn Equinox is when the Sun enters Libra and we take a calmer approach to our goals, seeking balance and beauty in life. Passionate Scorpio follows, obsessively following the plan. Then we have understanding Sagittarius looking for the next great adventure.
On the Winter Solstice, the Sun moves into ambitious Capricorn and we form a clear strategy for our big goals. Visionary Aquarius follows stubbornly making progress before gentle Pisces guides us back to ourselves.
When we have a New Moon in a cardinal sign, we can set our goals for the quarter. Thinking about what you want to accomplish over the next 90ish days, we would use the cardinal energy to not only set those goals, but to map out the steps needed to accomplish them, and to initiate them. We would then continue to work on these with the next New Moon in a fixed sign. For this lunar cycle, we would be focused on continuing the things we have started, really focusing on and building our momentum.
When we get to the New Moon in a mutable sign our attention would move from taking action to assessing where we are. Reflecting on the things that are working, changing the things that aren’t. Making sure we are making the most of the resources available to us and understanding how everything is connected. And then the pattern would repeat with the next New Moon in a cardinal sign.
As we are at the start of a New Year, having just had the New Moon in Capricorn, we can set our goals and intentions for the year (cardinal earth energy giving us ambitious goals with a practical strategy). Once you have written down your goals for the year, you can break them down into smaller goals for each quarter. These goals can then be broken down again into goals for each lunar cycle.
When we get to the New Moon in Aquarius we will have fixed air energy to tweak the plan and keep moving forward. We can recommit to our goals set under the Capricorn energy (unless they really don’t align with you anymore) and continue to follow the plan. The following New Moon in Pisces is mutable water energy ideal for assessing how we feel about our goals. As this is the end of the quarter, we can decide what is and isn’t working, wrap things up over the lunar cycle and get ready for the next quarter and next big goal-setting New Moon.
Within each of these lunar cycles, we can also work with the Moon on a daily basis to keep us on track with our goals. The Moon spends 2 and a half days in each sign, roughly a week. While the Moon is in a cardinal sign, we set out goals for that week, make a plan and start taking action. When the Moon moves into the following fixed sign, we can ground that action into our daily life, focusing on our goals and how we are going to achieve them. When the Moon moves into the next a mutable sign, we reflect on how things have gone and decide what is and what isn’t working. Are we getting closer to our goals or not? Then as the Moon moves into the next cardinal sign, we reset our goals for the next week.
A lot of people like to set SMART Goals. This is a mnemonic acronym, which gives a guide to
setting goals that are meant to give better results. The goals that you set should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Sensitive. You can apply this acronym when setting your goals with the moon.
When making SMART goals, they become an effective goal-setting strategy because they are broken down into smaller, more manageable components. Just like I described setting your yearly goals and breaking them down into quarter goals and monthly (or lunar cycle) goals.
When setting your goals under a New Moon, they need to be Specific. Clearly write down what you want to achieve, how you will do it, and when. It also helps to write down how you will Measure them. How else will you know if you have made progress or if you've met your goal? I highly recommend using numbers to track as it’s so much easier.
Your goals need to be Achievable. Do you have the skills required to achieve it or will you need to learn new ones or develop existing ones? Nothing kills dreams faster than self-doubt, so make sure you believe you can achieve it and start small to build your confidence if you need to.
They should also be relevant. Do your goals for each New Moon align with your overall goals for the quarter? Setting the end of a lunar cycle is also a great way to make them Time-bound.
Of course, SMART goals don’t work for everyone and I find that HEART Goals are a great alternative. Whitney English writes about how HEART goals are a system for setting goals in stages.
Help yourself - putting your needs first with self-care
Empower yourself - once your physical needs are met it’s time to work on your mental, emotional and spiritual needs
All your people - now you have taken care of yourself, how can you help those around you and improve your relationships
Resources & Responsibilities - this is about making sure your day-to-day life runs smoothly and that you are managing your time and money
Trade & Talent - this is your business and career goals. Notice how this one comes last and that we are taking care of ourselves first.
The moon rules our moods, energy and emotions, making HEART goals great for setting New Moon goals. We can also use the daily moon to make sure we are meeting our self-care needs and assigning our daily tasks to get things done.
If you have found this week's blog helpful and are interested in using the moon for goal setting and planning, then a great place to start is with my weekly moon energy emails. They include an overview of the week to see how the energy will flow with each day is broken down with life, business and self-care tips. There are journal prompts for each New Moon, helping you to set your goals and productivity tips are also now included to help you get more done each day. You can sign up using the button below.
