So anyways, last week we talked about how to map your transits- something I do before deciding where to set my goals for the year.

If you’ve done yours, you should now have a fair idea about what houses will be your focal points for the year. If you need to refresh your memory on what they all mean, flick back through some earlier episodes of the Toolbox for those lessons.

You’ll end up with a map that shows you your “hot spots.”

I also do a quick and dirty sketch re the houses that the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars are moving through- as these will show you where the spotlight is as well- and could just trigger some of the potential promised by the longer, slower transits.

Ok, doing it for yourself:

Your transit map is full of Pluto

Perhaps your transit map is full of Pluto. Whether you’re setting goals or intentions, ensure they are honest, transformative, and eliminate anything that is no longer doing you good.

This is a good year to break down walls, structures and habits, and replace them with something powerful and healing. Remember also the laws of karma- do nothing that harms or impedes the free will of another…you know the rest of that one.

In Pluto years, you must dig deeply into whatever it is that scares you or holds you back, stare it down and either build from it or eliminate it. This is a year for using your power and ambitions wisely and with integrity. Set your goals accordingly.

Your transit map is full of Neptune

If you’re having a Neptune year, you’ll be needing the flexibility to go with the flow and allow your dreams to come rushing through.

Having a set of rigid goals won’t help with that- keeping a dream journal, a vision board, or a desire map- focusing on how you want to feel- might be more up your alley this year.

If you do set goals, ensure that there’s something in there about spirituality and inner peace. Ego driven achievements are not the end point of a Neptune year.

Make a deal with yourself to meditate more, perhaps take up yoga, help out at a charitable institution, selflessly care for another. Neptune transits are long and insidious, so it pays to give yourself up to them rather than waste your energy in trying to understand them.

Your transit map is full of Uranus

Having a Uranus year? Keep your goals individual, innovative and with enough room to move to allow for any unexpected surprises or mind changes.

Focus your aims on your Uranian lesson. What does it mean to be you? Who have you forgotten to be? Where are you compromising or apologising for yourself? Keep your goals authentic, self-centred and future focused. Uranus transits can be an opportunity to change your look, change your work, think outside the box. The warning is not to do anything purely for the sake of it.

Your transit map is full of Saturn

Regardless of whether you’ve done the goal thing in the past, you should set aside the time to do it now.

Take a realistic approach, keep them measurable, and schedule in time to check in or conduct mini performance reviews. When doing this, concentrate on what you have achieved and resist the urge to beat yourself up on what you haven’t.

This is a mountain climbing year. If you can’t do it physically, do it metaphorically and “kit” yourself out with the tools you need.

Saturn transits are all designed to help you face your fears, so look to your chart and the house position of Saturn as to what your Saturn lesson is.

Saturn transits- even the easy ones- will require effort and discipline, so you may as well get your head and acceptance around that now.

Your transit map is full of Jupiter

Contrary to popular opinion, this is not necessarily a “good” year. It is, however, a year of opportunities.

The thing about opportunities, actually, make that two things about opportunities is:

• You have to recognise them. Opportunities don’t necessarily show up wearing a t-shirt that says “pick me.” They could be hidden, disguised, heavily camouflaged, or arrive at the wrong time. It’s up to you to recognise them (or not), accept the timing (or not), and make the leap of faith (or not).
• Sometimes a door has to close, an ending has to happen, something has to be let go of in order for you to recognise the opportunity for what it is. Trying to keep a closing door open, often means you don’t see another door up the hall.

Instead of goals you might want to vision board. If you do set goals, make sure that they push your boundaries and comfort zones. Learn something that blows your mind, explore a new religion or philosophy, travel to a different culture and immerse yourself in it.

Jupiter is also about enlightenment and expansion. Think about what Jupiter rules in your chart- this is where you need to be enlightened in order to expand into the world. The area of life Jupiter is transiting is where you need to concentrate the efforts. Ask yourself where you are selling yourself short, and do something about it.

Generally speaking, there will be so much activity happening in this part of life that ignoring it is more difficult than recognizing it!

Jupiter transits will often show where you’ll get lucky. Just remember that often ‘luck’ comes from the hard work you’ve already put in.

And finally…

If you are setting goals, apply the SMART principles:

S Keep them specific

M Make sure that you can measure the outcome

A They should be achievable- with effort. What actions do you need to take?

R Realistic. Yep. Make it so.

T Set a date to achieve or check in on your goals

Don’t forget, if you want to stay on top of your daily forecasts, you can pick up a copy of the astro diary that I collaborated on, or you can bag yourself a copy of Sally Kirkman’s 2016 Horoscope*, or a copy of Yasmin Boland’s* comprehensive 2016 ebook.

*In the interests of full disclosure, I get a small proportion of all copies sold…