Since leaving my day job a couple of months ago I’ve struggled with daily structures and routines. Rather than being more productive with my writing, I’ve been less, and rather than using my time more efficiently, I’ve regularly found myself faffing about watching Hallmark Christmas movies when I should be doing something that will contribute to the life I want to build.

Sure, I’ve needed a break – much of 2023 was heavy going on the day job front and by the time I’d finished I felt mentally knackered – but in the immortal words of Hilary Duff, that is so yesterday.

With the Sun in Sagittarius and Christmas (and house guests) just a few weeks away even I’m not delusional enough to think I can hunker back into work mode just yet, but what I can do is begin some heavy-duty planning and goal-setting – and Mercury in Capricorn is perfect for that.

This makes sense – Capricorn is 11th house stuff for me, so it’s at this time of the year that I should be putting some structure behind and around and under my goals. It’s time to gather the results from this year, work out what I want to achieve, analyse the gaps and set some strategies. Put in place the tools that will help me make my dreams come true.

I published another three novels during 2023 and wrote another. This means that I now have twelve published novels out in the world. I’m not, however, selling anywhere near enough of them to cover the cost of publishing, let alone the cost to run my websites. The day job used to finance this, but I no longer have a regular pay packet so somehow I need to build my own income source.

The point of this is not to beat myself up for what I haven’t done, but rather to use the data and the lessons of the past to build a sustainable plan using the resources at my disposal more efficiently. I can’t expect to do what I’ve always done and expect a different result.

As a result, we’ve been brainstorming, white boarding and thought balling. We’ve tossed around ideas, set some blue-sky targets, taken a helicopter view of the situation, and gone for a stroll through the blame garden. We’ve confronted the variables of our economic landscape and recalibrated our thinking in terms of our client base moving forward. We’ve looked to reposition our offerings in line with the goals underpinning our mission statement, and with a view to nurturing and cherishing our ongoing commitment to excellence at every level. We’ve drawn a line in the sand and we have some clear visions regarding future proofing the company and generating passive income.

What does this mean? I made a cuppa and started to write some stuff down. Kali, my elderly cocker spaniel and partner in this enterprise snored beside me.

By the time I finished my tea, I might not have had what my hubby (who knows about this stuff) would call a business plan for next year, but I do have a heap of data and ideas that now need to be turned into strategic goals and ways forward.

Because the sun is still in Sagittarius and in my career house and because that part of my chart is ruled by Jupiter, my ideas are big and they’re definitely blue sky in nature, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

All those future driven ideas – the details of which I conveniently ignored with my big thinking big talking ways while Mercury was in Sagittarius – now need to have structure and dates put around them. Long term planning, schedules, risk registers, scope determination, criticals to quality… my Pisces Mercury is developing a headache just thinking about it! Yet, it’s these practical considerations that I’ll be concentrating on while Mercury is in Capricorn – and because Mercury will be retrograde in Capricorn there’s plenty of time to do that this time around – and to review and tweak them.

Doing it for yourself …

While Mercury is in Capricorn, we can take a little of this energy now to put our own lines in the sand and put some frameworks in place within which strategies can flourish, risks are mitigated, resources are managed, and targets achieved. 

This influence will, of course, be best utilised in the part of life that Capricorn rules for you. What do you have to learn in this area of life? What plans and strategies can be made? Do you need to adjust the way you think and communicate in this area of life?

If it’s your 10th house, have a think about what strategies you need to put in place to further your career or get the job you want. If it’s in the 7th, think about your relationships and relating. If it’s in the 2^nd, think about how you earn money and what resources you have at your disposal.

If you don’t have your chart, read this post on how to get one.

If you don’t know what the houses mean, check out this post.

If you don’t have any idea about your birth time, or can’t be faffed working it out, you can follow the solar guide:

• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Capricorn, Mercury will be transiting your 1st house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Aquarius, Mercury will be transiting your 12th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Pisces, Mercury will be transiting your 11th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Aries, Mercury will be transiting your 10th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Taurus, Mercury will be transiting your 9th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Gemini, Mercury will be transiting your 8th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Cancer, Mercury will be transiting your 7th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Leo, Mercury will be transiting your 6th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Virgo Mercury will be transiting your 5th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Libra, Mercury will be transiting your 4th house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Scorpio, Mercury will be transiting your 3rd house.
• If your Sun or Ascendant is in Sagittarius, Mercury will be transiting your 2nd house.

Mercury will be in Capricorn until February 5, 2024. All dates and times are based on AEST ie Brisbane, Australia.