Your Magical Guide to Prepare for a Badass New Year

Listen to the audio or read through — whichever way you like to learn best!

December 28, 2021 

So you want a more clear idea of what to focus on over the next year? And maybe even figure out the best tools for you to do that?

You’re in luck! There are a few different ways you can prepare for the year ahead using both analytics (masculine energy) and emotions (feminine energy).

The options below are meant to make your life easier. For example, planning works well for me because I enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, reflect on that to figure out a different system.

But to my fellow planners, read on. This is your magical guide to help you prepare for next year in a way that feels good for you.

You reflected on the past year… now what?

It’s a new year, a new start. What do you want to take from your reflection and bring with you into the coming months?

Maybe you want to raise your minimum pricing or take on fewer, higher-paying clients so you have more time to do the things you love. Whatever your intention, there are a variety of paths you can take to make it a priority.

How to prepare for the year ahead

Here are the 4 different ways I can recommend. Just remember to tune in, take what feels good, and leave the rest:

1. Do an oracle spread for each month of the calendar year or each quarter.

2. Focus on quarterly goals.

3. Tune into the lunar or astrological seasons (and do an oracle spread for each cycle).

4. Work backward from where you want to be to understand the steps to take from where you currently are.

Let’s break each of these down.

Oracle spreads

Into tarot or oracle cards? Pull a card for each month of the year (this is called a calendar spread) and add a 13th card as the overall significator. Use what comes up as your guiding energy throughout each month.

This was my tarot spread for my 30th birthday using the Chakra Wisdom Tarot deck.

Not into the magic of the oracle spread? A more analytical approach is to reflect on each quarter of the year.

Quarterly goals

What’s going on in the world or your industry during certain times of the year? How does Q1 typically go for you? What kind of projects do you want to take on? And most importantly, how do you want to feel each quarter?

I enjoy January because my birthday is on the 8th, so I see it as embarking on a new year of life. I tend to take it easy and focus on planning (especially since it’s Capricorn season, which is all about the big picture and getting your ducks in a row). I also do less outreach and more work behind the scenes.

Planning brings me joy and eases my anxiety. I’ve found whether it’s simple to-do lists or purchased planners like the Artist of Life one here, I get to break down all my big goals into smaller, achievable ones.

Figure out what each quarter looks like for your business. Or you can take a look at the world of astrology and see if anything lines up for you there.

Lunar or astrological seasons

Do you feel pulled to align your life or business with the lunar cycle or astrological seasons? Here’s how to do it:

Whip out your oracle cards and pull one for each astrological season (Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, etc.), reflect on how you feel during each, or combine these ideas with another tactic above to see what works best for you.

Looking for one more practical way to prepare for what’s to come?

Work backward

Before you write down where you want to be by this time next year, do a meditation or visualization to put yourself in that mindset and picture how it’s going to feel. Then, work backward from there.

Whether you want to make $75,000 or $750,000, how are you going to get there? Lay it out simply: “It’s going to take 4 mural projects averaging at $5,000 each to make $20,000.”

Get into the nitty-gritty details. Then get real with yourself.

I recommend you start with 3 business goals and 3 life goals. While you’re doing that, look at how the previous year went for you.

To give you a personal example, I don’t paint murals in Q1 (or Q4 typically) because most of my work is exterior and it’s too cold to paint here in Maryland. However, I need to book clients in Q1 to paint in Q2. I also need to think about how painting – sometimes for a week at a time – will affect some of my computer-focused work like coaching and design projects.

This idea is to plan for how you want to feel (feminine energy) AND set strategic goals for how you will get there (masculine energy). You get to determine what it all looks like.

A big takeaway I want you to have is that these are just OPTIONS. Tune into yourself, take what feels good, and leave the rest. With more clarity, you can now determine how to move forward.

How to keep the momentum going

You’re prepped and ready… now what?

Don’t go at it alone! Find an accountability buddy – one of my coaching clients links you up with one if you join her Quarterly Planning party – or ask for one-on-one support from a coach.

If you’d like me to help you stay connected to your why and prepare for the year in a way that feels good for you, get in touch with me on Instagram or via email. With my Capricorn energy, I’d love to help you plan for a magical year ahead!

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