Tag: FullMoonGoals

Peaking around the corner at 2023: Gemini Full Moon Goals

So, we’re entered the full moon for December on the 7th, and I’m a couple days late in posting…This means that there are now only twenty-two days left in 2022. I have no idea how I feel about that fact, nor do I have any idea how I feel about 2023…other than hoping it goes (or at least ends) a little better than this year is going to be ending.

As I’ve been reflecting back on the past several years—there may be a ‘economic gap’ on my resume—it isn’t a ‘experience gap’—I have added in the science/medical/health content creation, blogger, and writer to my resume (and acknowledged the creative blog as well).

Before I get carried away in the direction of reflections and what I may or may not have accomplished this year (that will be the topic for at least one or two posts at the beginning of the year)—back to the topic at hand: December’s full moon.

Wednesday, the moon moved through the Gemini constellation, and there are questions that one can contemplate during the days surrounding that transition. If one looks at “Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, those five questions are:

Have I been gossipy, superficial, or flighty this month?

Have I been glossing over other people’s feelings?

Have I been too quick to change my mind, or too restless?

Have I been too much of a silver-tongued hustler?

Have I done enough reading to keep expanding my mind?

If I were to number the above questions one-to-five, my answers would be as follows:

  1. Well, I’m still self-isolating for the most part—so I don’t think I’ve been gossipy or superficial this month. Flighty…yeah, I’ve been a little flighty this month, but considering the ongoing family medical drama (that is still ongoing and acting like a roller coaster)…not surprising that I’m a little flighty.
  2. I don’t think I’ve been glossing over people’s feelings either this month.
  3. This depends on what we’re talking about—I haven’t changed my mind in terms of pivoting into remote/online/contract writing and/or data analysis position and trying to start my own freelance company. Being restless—maybe a little, but hey—dealing with a family medical issue (which has entered month four), the damn SARS-CoV2 virus is here to stay, and I’m not sure which way is up anymore.
  4. Nope.
  5. Working on this—I’ve realized this year that I go through cycles when it comes to reading non-fiction. I have enough non-fiction books that I really shouldn’t buy any new ones next year—or at least make sure that I’ve read at least three books for every book I think of buying.

So I’m also going to see what house the moon will be transition through during this time. Using my rising sign (which is Scorpio), the Gemini constellation is moving through my eighth house—the focus of this house on “death and rebirth, reinvention and transformation”.

Thanks to the SARS-CoV2 virus, I’ve spent majority of the past three years doing serious self-reflection and personal/professional development. I’ve decided the direction I want to head in for my career transition—remote science/medical/health communications, with the long-term goal of having a successful freelance business within both that realm and creative/hobby side as well. Therefore, I have allowed the ‘bench lab scientist’ to ‘die’ and I’m going to be reinventing myself in 2023 as a successful science/medical/health communicator.

So this is the time to try to find balance between slowing down, rushing to learn things, being real with people, money, and determining one’s self worth.

Therefore my small goal list for the last few weeks of 2022 (and the first few weeks of 2023), will include:         

  1. Setting up my master 2023 habit-tracking journal. I had fairly good success with the 2022 master habit-tracking journal (just had to remember to take time towards the end of each month to finish setting up the next month—especially towards the end of the year)
  2. Continue reading one of the many non-fiction books that I’d started during the last half of 2022
  3. Finish getting the second website/blog up and running, as it will be one of the major parts of my online portfolio for science/medical/health communications
  4. Get the ‘writing/working’ station setup in the bedroom…aka rearrange the room
  5. Figure out an schedule/calendar for various sites (LinkedIn, the creative blog/website, and the science/medical/health website), plus figure out the other social media sites that I want to use to promote both blogs

But above all, remind myself—that I’m making progress and that is what I should be striving for: progress over perfection, the ‘okay’ draft over the ‘polished/perfect’ never published draft.

Here is to the last full moon of 2022, and sending out happy thoughts and vibes to everyone, and fingers crossed that going into 2023 and beyond—things calm down, and we all figure out what our individual (and global) new ‘normal’ looks like.

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Balancing the coin between personal and professional development goals

So the moon entered its latest full moon stage last night (November 19; I’m a day or so behind in my writings). This means that there are only ten days left in November, and forty-one days left in 2021. Hopefully 2022 will be a slightly mellower than 2021 has been.

Since we’re into fall (or early winter), I will hopefully be getting a walk in this weekend—but remembering all camera gear, that way if I need the longer lens for the ducks in the middle of the lake, I’ll have them.

In terms of some self-reflection during this time, there are some questions one can ask themselves (taken from “Moonology: working with the magic of the lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland), and they are:

Have I been lazy or overly self-indulgent this month?

Have I been too obsessed with money or status symbols?

Have I been stubborn, jealous, or possessive?

Have I been doing too much comfort eating?

Have I done enough exercise?

I were to number the above questions 1-5, my answers would be:

  1. Yes, I have been slightly lazy and self indulgent this month, so far. I need to get back into a fitness routine, which means having the dogs and cats out of the room by no later than quarter after eight so I can do a twenty to thirty minute workout. I also need to quit spending money on the silly game I’ve been playing for the past couple of weeks as well. November is shaping up like March in terms of splurging.
  2. Looking back at last year’s answer: I’ve never really been one for status symbols. I’m not obsessed with money—though I’m now really thinking more on the direction(s) for my transition, since I’ve managed to run through a good amount of my savings during the past two years.
  3. Any and everyone would tell you that I’m stubborn. I freely admit to being stubborn—I think it is the one thing that got me through grad school (and all four positions afterwards as well). Last year I mentioned how I was only slightly jealous of countries that were handling the pandemic decently—and those are the ones I’m still slightly jealous of. The only thing I’m becoming slightly possessive over is my ‘me time’ or my quiet time—time where I’m really not having to deal with other people, and its one of the reasons I’m really leaning in the remote/contract/freelance direction—I can have my waking up time in the mornings.
  4. This is a yes/no question. No, in the sense I don’t like the phrase ‘comfort eating’. Food is meant to comfort and fuel us–calling it ‘comfort food’ can have a ‘negative’ feel to those who are trying to heal their relationship with food. Yes, in the sense that I’m eating foods that ‘comfort’ me–some may have a little more nutritional value than others.
  5. We finally got our Wi-Fi problem corrected. This means that I should be able to stream workouts, without there being constant buffering. I will probably start my second round of morning meltdown 100 on Monday.

Then I should also look to see what house it is passing through as well—and for me, Taurus passes through my seventh house—or my “love zone”. This is the time that we spend a little energy on other people, instead of making everything about ourselves.

For me, currently there are no romantic relationships (I’m still trying to get my life in some semblance of order), I’m still not working, therefore that means focusing on other relationships—(family, and friends).

In terms of trying to spend time with friends—we’re still in the middle of a pandemic and therefore it isn’t safe to really get together with anyone outside of family. In terms of family—it isn’t safe to try to visit anyone who is living out of state—that means I’m usually just around my parents (and my younger brother since he moved back to town).

This has been another weird year (we’re still in the grasp of the pandemic, even though vaccines are available for everyone over the age of five; we have competent people in the White House, but the world is still tumbling in a downwards spiral), and I acknowledge that I’m still trying to do the best that I can—even if it looks like I’m moving backwards in some areas.

So if I were to pick a couple of things to work on during the Taurus full moon period they would be:

  1. Start another round of Morning Meltdown 100
  2. Continue mending my relationship with food (start eating yogurt/fruits/nuts again for breakfast at least two days a week)
  3. Continue working on updating the blog/website to focus on the slight ‘swerve’ towards adding in more science/edical, health/wellness, and personal/professional development writing pieces
  4. Work on updating my LinkedIn profile to showcase my interest in moving towards more of a writing career (key words, companies to follow, and building up my network in those areas)
  5. Get back into a nightly meditation routine

In order to try to finish 2021 on the ‘right’ note—there is quite a bit of computer work to be done, and I know that if I start again with fitness (and getting in more protein), I will be able to get my anxiety and stress under control.

How have you been managing your stress and/or anxiety over the past year and a half?

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Time management plus planning, and more planning: Aries Full Moon Goals

So the moon will be entering its eleventh full moon cycle for the year tonight (or possibly tomorrow night or even last night—depending on where you are in the world). This means there are only eleven days left in October, and then only sixty-one days (two months) left in 2021. Considering how ‘bouncy’ this year has been—I’m leering to see what 2022 is going to be bringing.

So the moon will be moving through the Aries constellation—which means that astrologically we’re ‘starting a new year’ since Aries is the start of the Zodiac calendar. It is the time to reassess, redesign, toss, and make new goals if one is inclined.

So what are some of the questions we can reflect on during this time?

            Have I been hotheaded, selfish, or argumentative this month?

            Have I been going too fast or been impulsive this month?

            Have I been brash, blunt, or too competitive?

            Have I ignored other people’s finer sensibilities?

            Have I had enough fun?

So, if I numbered the above questions one to five, my answers would be as followed:

  1. I don’t think that I’ve been hotheaded, selfish, or argumentative this month. We’re still dealing with the pandemic—which means that for the most part, the only people I’m around on a continuous basis is family. I try to stay out of any and all ‘arguments’ on-line pertaining to anything related to science, politics, or just general life. The main reason is to protect my health (specifically my mental health).
  2. I don’t think I’ve been going to fast or being overly impulsive this month. While I have decided to go in the direction of freelance/remote/contract writing—I’m doing it at a slower pace, only to ensure that I don’t work myself to the point of almost having another mental breakdown.
  3. One thing I’ve realized over the past few months—there really is no need to be overly competitive with other people. You can be overly competitive with yourself (a nice way of pushing yourself to reach for the goals)—but there is enough success to go around for everyone. Since I’ve been self-isolating for the past eighteen months, I’ve been trying not to be as brash and blunt with people (unless we’re talking about how vaccines are good and they can help get us out of the pandemic—then yes, I will be as brash and blunt as needed).
  4. Again, I don’t think I’ve been ignoring people’s finer sensibilities—I actually think that it would be nice if people would start expressing a little empathy towards each other. There has been one thing that people keep saying is essential for moving forward with any career these days and that is emotional intelligence. One aspect of emotional intelligence is empathy—being able to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. That is something I think a good portion of the world needs to work on—developing (or expressing) empathy. I understand that the past eighteen plus months has been difficult for everyone—but if people sat at home like they were told last summer, we wouldn’t have as many deaths from the virus, and we’d be a lot closer to being done with the pandemic. Now, we’re just trying to stay one step ahead of the damn virus.
  5. I looked back at what I wrote for the Aries full moon last year (which occurred at the beginning of October)—the US only had a little over 7.4 million cases (now, we’re at just under 46 million—that means we’ve had basically 38.5 million more cases of the virus over the past year). We’ve surpassed the death total from the Spanish flu pandemic. Therefore, I’m still working on ways of adding ‘enjoyment’ into my day-to-day routine.

Looking back at what I wrote last year—while I stated that I’m ‘happier observing than participating’—that doesn’t really mean ‘wallflower’—it could also mean that I’d do well in consulting positions (where one needs to ‘observe’ to figure out the problem and brainstorm potential solutions). I’m still working on networking more—I’ve been ‘slow’ only because I’m trying to also be ‘focused’ and network in directions that I think I’d be interested in pursuing at some point in the future.

Aries is moves through my sixth house (or my daily work and health zone). This house is where we can sit and reflect on who we are (both in terms of professional/work and personal/health) and decide to work on those aspects that we don’t like.

Last year I had made the ‘commitment’ to push play daily on streaming workouts. This year—I’ve made the commitment to intentional movement. That is where I move around at least five minutes a day, and acknowledge the fact that housework can also be considered a ‘workout’. I’m slowly readjusting my relationship with not only food but movement as well. I’d also decided I’d renew my Beachbody-on-demand subscription at least one more year, and do some of those programs—but mixed in with other intentional movements. Therefore, I’m not going to beat myself up if I ‘miss’ a Beachbody workout—usually those days will either be recovery, or I’d decided to be outside doing some yard work or going for a walk.

This time last year, I stated that I didn’t feel like I was close to where I wanted to be in terms of my reboot break and transitioning into industry. I stated that part of the problem was the pandemic—but the larger part (and it was the part I was ignoring) was I still ignoring the fact I was burned out on everything.

I’m slowing coming to terms with the burn out, and figuring out ways of dealing with various warning signs of burnout—that way once I start really moving forward in terms of freelance/remote/contract writing/consulting/data analysis, I’ll be able to acknowledge and work through the warning signs instead of blindly ignoring them and almost hitting that ‘brick wall’.

While I know most people mean well with advice and everything—I’m also going to be trying to stay in my lane and only seek advice when I really need it. I have an good idea of what I need to be doing in terms of heading in the ‘freelance/remote/contract’ direction, and now it is a matter of realistically dividing those larger goals into more manageable goals—and not throw everything on the plate.

Last year I had the goals of continuous personal/professional development, reviewing/editing/reassembling my 150+ goal list, and writing/posting ‘notes’ to myself as a remind of when I felt I could check email/social media.

This year, my goals for the Aries full moon will include:

Better time management, by doing the following:

  1. Making use of the Self-Control App again. This is a time management app that allows you to block access to certain websites for a specific amount of time. I have it block me from social media (Facebook & Instagram) and the news.
  2. Put my phone on airplane mode for a set amount of time (particularly when I’m trying to do computer work [research/writing or working through an e-course), so that I can’t randomly check social media. Also have it set across the room.
  3. Have the kindle off and charging (again across the room). This way I won’t be tempted to read or play games.

Personal/professional development is a never-ending journey. Therefore, I will specify that I will work through the rest of the 30-day hand copy challenge from the write your way to freedom course, and hopefully also watch at least two-to-three other videos in at least one other personal/professional development course that I’ve bought over the years.

Finally, try to draft the ‘master plan’ that includes reworking the blog/website (for the remote/freelance/contract writing), hobbies, personal/professional development, and life in general.

The main ‘note’ that I will be posting on my laptop will be: ‘Progress over Perfection”

I’ve more or less stopped reading the last chapter of my life, so I’m slowly working on writing the next one (possibly with the bad habit of trying to ‘edit’ as I write).

What small steps are you going to take towards a personal/professional goal during this full moon period?

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Virgo Full Moon Goals

So the moon should be hitting its full stage by Monday night as it enters the Virgo constellation. That is making this week a really fun week in the US—we’re starting it by setting the clocks an hour ahead, then the full moon, and we end it with Friday the 13th. If I were a superstitious sort—I’d be planning on staying in bed all week. J

If you’re one who tries to understand how your mood changes or is affected by the moon—the Virgo full moon usually has people feeling finicky and anxious. Personally—I don’t need any extra anxiety in my life; I manifest plenty on my own. Though no matter what sign I go with (star, rising, or moon)—all three are able to handle the Virgo energy.

So what are some questions that one can ask during this full moon?

Have I been too picky, pedantic, or critical of myself or anyone else?

            Have I been humble to the point of underrating myself?

            Have I been of service to others enough this month?

            Have I been worrying and complaining too much, and thus attracting negativity?

            Have I paid enough attention to the details that I need to this month?

So if I were to number the above questions 1 to 5, my answers would look like this:

  1. I don’t think that I’ve been too picky, pedantic, or critical of others currently (though I have harbored critical thoughts of the world—but with the current political, health, and environmental issues going on—that isn’t too surprising). I will admit that I possibly have been a little too critical of myself lately—but it has allowed me to notice (and admit) certain habits and mindsets that really aren’t beneficial to me currently. Those habits and mindsets will slowly be getting corrected over the next couple of weeks.
  2. I probably have been a little too humble when it comes to thinking of what type of transferable skills I have for moving into an industry position. I’ve never really been one to toot my own horn on anything—as I really don’t like drawing attention to myself. But I do know that if I want to get a job in industry and then make it up the ladder—I will have to start tooting my own horn, as there isn’t anyone else who will do it for me.
  3. I’ve been helping out around the house a little more, and depending on how things go (namely how bad the coronavirus spreads over the next few months), I might try to volunteer at the library or find a part-time job or internship somewhere learning something new, but at the same being of help to others.
  4. I’m actually trying not to worry too much about things that I can’t control. I’m trying to catch any negative thoughts that I have and then slowly rephrase them in a more positive manner.
  5. So this one thing that I noticed that I’ve been doing—focusing too much attention on a certain task to the determent of everything else I had on my daily to-do list. Currently, it has been too much time trying to find companies and people to reach out to at those companies, and ignoring spending time on crafts, and meditation at night. This is something that I’m going to start correcting this week—to where I only spend thirty minutes to an hour at a time focused on anything related to my transition into industry, and then spend “X” amount of time doing something else (knitting, drawing, journaling/reading, walking the dog, going for a walk to practice my photography).

So one other thing people should look at is what house the moon is moving through as well. For me, the Virgo full moon also correlates to my 11th house or my friend zone. This is the time to try to focus on the other people in your life, and is also a good month for networking as well (so the universe is still trying to help nudge me along the path to a job in industry).

            Networking is something I have been trying to do more of over the past few weeks (there are actually a couple of webinars I need to go back, watch again, and take more notes on how to effectively network), and something that I need to keep doing basically until I decide what day/year I’m going to retire from whatever job I have—and then I will probably still be networking, just not as extensively.

So what are some things that I can and work on during the next month?

            Meditating nightly, and trying to reframe all negative thoughts to more positive thoughts.

            Setting up the best time schedule to where I’m spending time on different areas of my life (personal & professional development, health/fitness, crafts, spirituality) instead of being narrowly focused on one area.

            Have good notes for reaching out and networking more effectively.

Also remembering: Progress and not Perfection; Don’t fear failure, fear being in the exact same spot next year; and work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.

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February Full Moon 2020

So tonight is the second full moon of 2020—I totally missed last month’s full moon. I will fully admit that I told myself that I would get it done—I got it started, but never got it finished (and probably this was also due to the fact that I missed the full moon in December 2019 as well. So now, I’m going to recommit to my spirituality journey. I know that I’m never going to be perfect in my path—but it will be my path, and will be uniquely me.

The moon has moved through the Cancer constellation last month, and this month it is transitioning through the Leo constellation. So with going into 2020 (we’re almost a third-or halfway depending on the day, since it’s a leap year and Feb has an extra day), I’m going to recommit to different areas of my life—slowly, but I’m going to start moving out of the fear zone and into the learning zone.

What are some questions to reflect on during the first few days of the full moon?

Have I been too self-centered, egotistical, or proud?

Have I been treating the people around me like minions?

Have I been arrogant, vain, pushy, or pompous?

Have I been expressing myself creatively enough?

Have I shown myself enough self-love?

If I were to number the above questions 1-5, my answers would be as followed:

  1. Depending on what one considers being self-centered, egotistical, or proud? In terms of say my fitness and health—no I’m none of the above, I’m actually quite upset/depressed/irritated with myself for letting myself gain all the weight back. In terms of my career—again no, I would say that I’m only “self-centered” in the fact that I thought I knew what I was doing—with only realizing recently that I’ve been stuck in the “fear zone” for the past few years.
  2. No I have not been treating the people around me like minions—mainly because I’m at home, but when I work I treat everyone with respect (even if I’m not getting respect from them).
  3. No, I have not been feeling arrogant, vain, pushy, or pompous lately. Truthfully I have been feeling more pessimistic, down, and barely optimistic about everything.
  4. No I haven’t been expressing myself creatively, I’m going to work on improving this over the next couple of months (photography, knitting, doodling, jewelry making, and cross-stitching).
  5.  Again, no I haven’t been showing myself enough self-love. I’ve realized over the past few weeks that while I do some “self-care”—but I need to show myself more “self-love”—which is to make sure that I’m doing a workout daily, and also having my shakeology daily.

So with being truthful with myself—“self-love” is going to start with doing a workout daily (varying between Barre Blend, LIIFT4, Morning Meltdown 100, Yoga Booty Ballet), have my shakeology daily, and reading at least 1 hour a day of non-fiction, plus listening to podcasts.

Looking at my chart—the Leo full moon is going through my 10th house, which is also my career zone. Now this is a interesting area, since I’m in my reboot break and trying to figure out what it is exactly I want to be doing during the second half of my life.

I’ve been looking at my transition plan and notes, and realized that I need to try to focus on determining the path that will let me focus on my strengths (learner, intellection, input, achiever, deliberative/ideation, curiosity, appreciation of beauty and excellence, fairness, and creativity), while also trying to improve several of my “lower” strengths and also build a life around some values: vitality, synergy, flexibility, adroitness, cognizance, dignity, openness, creativity, evolution, relationships, intuition, and empathy.

So what are my goals for the Leo Full Moon?

  1. Getting back into a workout routine
  2. Working on my transition plan for moving into industry from academia
  3. Spend time working on crafts (knitting, photography, and doodling)
  4. Meditate, tarot/oracle readings—getting back on track with my spirituality.

And of course remembering: “Progress over Perfection”

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Aries Full Moon Goals: A few days late

So the moon is (or actually has) entered it’s latest full moon stage, and has moved through the Aries constellation. I’m going to be a day (or two, maybe three) late in posting, but that seems to be on par the past couple of weeks in my posts. By the time I post this, October will be halfway over, and that means there is only two and half months left in 2019. Somehow, time speeds by when one wants it to go slow, and crawls when we want it to speed past. I’ve realized that one thing I need to focus on during these last few weeks of 2019 and going into 2020—time management, and productivity.

So Aries is actually the start of the Zodiac calendar—which means astrologically speaking—it’s starting a new year, so goals can be reassessed, redesigned, tossed, and new ones made if one wants to.

So during the full moon, there are a series of questions one can ask themselves regarding the full moon in different constellations. So in regards to the full moon in Aries, one can ask themselves the following questions:

Have I been hotheaded, selfish, or argumentative this month?

Have I been going to fast or been impulsive this month?

Have I been brash, blunt, or too competitive?

Have I ignored other people’s finer sensibilities?

Have I had enough fun?

So if I were to number the previous questions 1-5, I think my answers would be as following:

  1. I don’t think that I’ve been hotheaded, selfish, or argumentative this month as all—though I’m sure that there are some people who will disagree with me on the selfish part (since I turned in my letter of resignation for my current position [and who knows when it will be filled]). I’m actually trying to put myself first at times (especially in terms of my mental health). I usually try to avoid being argumentative at work (it doesn’t seem to do any good, other than make a situation worse).
  2. No I haven’t been going to fast or being impulsive this month either—if nothing else, my problem is that I’m usually going in the opposite mode—to slow and being overly cautious. I’ve realized that I’ve actually worked myself into a stage/period of “motion paralysis”, and this is something that I’m actually going to be working on moving/getting out of over the next few months (especially once my reboot break starts).
  3. Again, no I don’t think I’ve been brash, blunt, or too competitive—I’m more likely to stand back and let others be in the spotlight. I’m quite content to be in the background doing things.
  4. I don’t think that I’ve been ignoring other people’s finer sensibilities.
  5. No, I probably haven’t been having enough fun lately. This is something else that I’m going to be trying to correct over the next few months. I know that it shouldn’t be trying to find a “balance” between work and home—but trying to enjoy and find something “fun” in what I do between the hours of eight and five (or nine and six—or whatever the work hours will be). Plus, once I’m better at time management—spend some time in the evenings working on crafts, photography, and/or writing.

So I can safely say—that I’m quite boring, dull, and more than willing to be a wallflower. Traits, that won’t be helpful in terms of networking, and job searching—so there are things that I will need to work on over the next few months. But before one can start making their full moon goals, one should also look to see which house the full moon is moving through—and what they may need to take into account there.

So Aries is moving through my sixth house—or my daily work and health zone. So this is one nice thing about the moon—it moves through the houses several times each year—but there are two times (new & full) that we can sit and reflect on how we’ve done with each house. This is the house, where we can sit and reflect on who we are (both business/work wise and health/fitness wise) and decide to work on what we don’t like.

I find it amusing that the sixth house has popped up approximately a month before I’ll be leaving my job, and a little over a week before I do a free health assessment. I know that there are numerous things that I need to focus on in both areas of life (work/business and health/fitness)—that I’m going to go slow, and the goals may carry over into goals for both November and my reboot break/transition plan goals.

Therefore my goals for the Aries full moon will include:

            Working on my reboot break/transition plan. This may include working through some of the personal development courses or starting to read some of the personal development books (particularly the ones that have numerous journal prompts).

            Trying to back into meditating nightly—this has been an on and off endeavor the past couple of weeks. I know that when I manage to do it for at least a couple of minutes—I do sleep a little better at night.

            Not touching my phone after I turn off the lights and start reading (I have the light dimmed on the e-reader, but haven’t figured out how to dim the light on the phone). Try to be meditating by no later than nine, and reading no later than twenty after nine.

            Continue trying to plan out the next couple of months, and look into different programs that allow you to block certain apps/web pages to help increase my productivity and work on my time management skills.

And always remember: Progress over Perfection.

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Aquarius Full Moon Goals, a few days late…..

So the moon has transitioned into its full moon stage (either last night or the night before last—depending on where you live in the world). This means that we’re half way through August, and pretty soon we’re going to be entering the last few months of the year. I’ll be happy when the temperatures cool down—I’m getting tired of the triple digits combined with the high humidity.

So the moon has transitioned into Aquarius, and there are questions that one can ask themselves during this time (again, all questions come from “Moonology: Working with the magic of lunar cycles by Yasmin Boland).

Have I been pragmatic to the point of losing the romance of life?

Have I been living too much in my head and not enough in my heart?

Have I been trying to do things my way, just for the sake of it?

Have I been trying too hard to befriend people, and for the wrong reasons?

Have I allowed myself to move forwards this month?

So if I were to number the above questions 1-5, I think that my answers would be as follows:

  1. Have I been too down to earth or rational lately? It depends on what one is talking about—how I see the world? Yes, I’m way to pragmatic in seeing that the world is going to hell in a hand basket right now. I’m sure that there are people who say that I’m not being rational in how I’m handling my career transition (taking a reboot break), especially since there are signs that a recession could be coming. But I’ve always been a rational person, who likes to have an idea of any and all outcomes before deciding on doing something (hence why I’m still at home and working at my alma mater—I overthink and become paralyzed and stuck).
  2. This is a toss up—I’m usually over cautious (being in my head), but at the same time I’m trying to do more things that I enjoy (and that currently don’t pay the bills—photography, reading, being outdoors).
  3. This depends again on context—what are we talking about. With my job—I do things as written in the protocols. With my life—everything is up in the air, and it’s hard to do something a certain way if you have no idea of what you’re doing.
  4. I’m not someone who makes friends quickly, so I can safely say that I haven’t been trying to befriend people for any reason lately. I know that networking is an important part of job searching and career advancement. While I have an extensive network, I know that I need to actually start putting the work into those relationships—and this something that I’m going to focus on during my reboot break (though I will start doing a little more daily beforehand).
  5. I am slowly making progress on planning my reboot break, and am proud that I’m sticking firm with stating that I’m not signing an extension contract for my current position. I know that there is something more out there, I just have to be willing to move forward to find it—and the best way to move forward is to intentionally “close” a door—that way you have no choice but to move forward.

The Aquarius full moon is a time to find balance between having a few real relationships and being the super person of the month. It is also the time to reflect on things, and figure out how to let go of the things that are no longer helpful or nurturing.

In addition to being within Aquarius, it is also important to see what house the moon is passing through as well. Currently it is moving though my sixth house, or my daily work and health zone. Again, it will be time to reflect on things and figure out how to strike a balance that will bring some peace to one’s life.

Things that one can contemplate during this time:

            Giving up bad habits.

            Restarting an exercise routine.

            Going slow and steady at work.

            Fix the habits/routines that are no longer working for you.

            Start meditating.

            Take up yoga.

So it is fitting that I’m passing through the daily work and health zone—I know that I’ve let my fitness and health routine fall short a lot (I know I’m eating way to many sweets), and I know that there are a million other things I need to be working on as well. If I were to make a small list of goals for the Aquarius full moon they would include:

            Evening meditations—I’ve been good at managing at least two to three minutes. I’d like to work back up to doing five to ten minutes. Also I should try to figure out a way of meditating during the day (instead of going for a walk to buy chocolate, I should try to find a quiet spot to just sit and be for awhile).

            Getting back into a workout routine. While I may not be able to manage a daily workout—I’ll aim for trying to workout two or three days a week, and work up to doing a daily workout.

            Work on my reboot break and transition plans—journal any and all ideas. I have to remember that this is my path to walk, and what may seem strange to others may just work out perfectly for me.

No Comments AstrologyFitness ChallengesFull Moon GoalsLifestyle ChallengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspirituality

Sagittarius Full Moon Goals

So the moon will be transitioning into the Sagittarius constellation today, and entering it’s full moon phase as well. This marks the approximate halfway mark for the month (though it is a few days off), and come the end of the week—we’ll be hitting the summer solstice (aka the longest day of the year). Somehow we’ve almost made it halfway through 2019.

So once again one can turn to “Moonology: working with the magic of lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland to see what questions one can ask themselves during the Sagittarius full moon.

Have I been too flippant, or carefree to the point of being careless, irresponsible even?

Have I been letting myself down by allowing myself to get distracted and bored?

Have I been overconfident to the point of arrogance, or too preachy?

Have I been a commitment-phobe, to my own detriment?

Have I been seeing the bigger picture?

If I number the questions 1-5, I think that currently my answers would be the following:

  1. I don’t think I’ve been either flippant or carefree lately—because if I had been, my anxiety wouldn’t nearly be as high as it currently is. While I’m not happy with my current job (and probably would be willing to quit at the drop of a pin), I still strive to do my best at what I was hired to do. There are numerous other issues at play in terms of my nine-to-five job and the only thing I really have control over is my reactions. Yes, there are a few things that I should probably have brought up sooner—but when you’re told money is tight (numerous times and without even mentioning things), you try to make things work and do so in ways that others don’t realize that there are problems (not the best way of handling things—but that is how I’m currently handling things).
  2. Yes, I have been letting myself down by allowing myself to be distracted both by my nine-to-five job (I don’t feel comfortable trying to figure out my life when I’m on the clock), and the fact that when I do get home at night—all I want to do is unwind and recharge so I can do the whole show again the next day. I know that I need to step outside of my comfort zone to figure out what I want to do with my life—but I need to do it in a way that won’t send me into a full-blown anxiety/stress attack.
  3. I don’t think that I’ve been overconfident about anything lately. If nothing else, I’ve allowed myself to slide into the depth of negative thinking about quite a few things lately.
  4. This question could go in so many different directions—but I’ll look at it from the aspects of both my personal health (physical and mental) and career. In answer to the question in both regards, is yes I have been a commitment-phobe and it has been to my own detriment. I know that I need to work on myself and I have to make the time for it (no one else will), but due to feeling totally blah, and down in the dumps in regards to my current nine-to-five job—I don’t have the energy to do so at the end of the day. This is something that I need to work on over the next few months.
  5. Have I been seeing the bigger picture? I honestly don’t know how to answer this—as I’m not sure what the bigger picture should look like yet. I thought I knew years ago, what my bigger picture was—but that wasn’t what I should be doing and I feel like I’m staring through a unfocused camera lens at my new bigger picture. I don’t know if I just need to focus, and zoom out—or if I should focus, and slowly start zooming in.

I just realized that my answers are pretty close to what I had written during the last Sagittarius full moon—at least I realize that I’m stuck in certain areas, and that pretty soon I’m going to have to make a drastic change in order for things to start moving forward again.

I should also take a look at the house that the Sagittarius full moon is moving through—and it would be my second house (or the cash, property, and values zone). So this zone refers to both your money and property, but also your values (feelings, ideals, and how you feel about yourself). This is the time to reflect and be aware of your self-esteem (do you feel good or bad about yourself), as it’s thought, “your self-esteem will affect how much cash you attract”.

In addition, the full moon period is also the time to start figuring out what isn’t working anymore and start moving away from it (releasing it from your life), and also realizing that there is going to be a slight tug-of-war going on as well.

Looking at both (the moon and the house)—I see that I need to strive to find the balance between both speaking up for myself (and possibly going to far) and staying in a job for the money and quitting (to work on figuring out what I want to do with my life).

So the goals for this period are going to include:

            Setting up July’s budget.

Scheduling a time to talk with the TIAA representative about my retirement account (and what to do with it when I leave my current position)—it depends on the times that are available.

            Working on my “reboot break” plan. I realize that I need to “reboot” myself before I can properly focus on working on my transition from academia to industry.

            Focusing on writing more content for the blog, and working on myself (yoga and meditation to begin with).

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May Full Moon Goals: The actual Scorpio Full Moon

So today marks the full moon for May, and it is actually passing through the Scorpio constellation. So I guess that I will be doing a double Scorpio goal period (since that is how I treated last month).

The questions that I would need to be answering are the same ones that I answered last month, but I think that my answers now are actually slightly different from what I had written last month.

So looking at the book “Moonlogy: Working with the magic of the lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, for questions that one should be asking themselves during this time the questions would include:

Have I been jealous, vengeful, suspicious, or otherwise behaved toxically?

Have I been living out of fear rather than joy?

Have I been brooding and dark: focusing on the negative rather than the positive?

Have I been cruel or cunning?

Am I having the sex I need to feel good about myself? (Of course, some people need no sex at all!)

If I were to number the questions one to five, my answers would be:

  1. This depends on what how one defines toxic—towards other people or toward oneself. I don’t think that I’ve been acting toxically towards other people—I try to be polite and cordial at work and at home (yes, I probably have unfriendly thoughts towards others, but I try not to act on them). Have I been acting toxically towards myself—I’d have to say unfortunately yes I have been. I know that I should be eating better and working out more, but I haven’t been and I’ve been allowing myself to use really lame things as excuses for both bad behaviors.
  2. Depending on how you would define both terms—but yes, I have been living out of fear rather than joy quite often. I know that I should probably just quit my job so that I have more time to focus on job searching (namely networking and figuring out the exact path that I want to pursue), but I haven’t since most people usually try to have the replacement job lined up before they quit their current one.
  3. With the way the world is currently going, it is sometimes hard not to dwell on the negative. I do try to look for the positive daily, though sometimes this is hard to do (especially when one is in a job that is less than fulfilling).
  4. No I haven’t been cruel or cunning—that takes too much work and effort. Currently I’m more apathetic and at times I really don’t care too much about what is going on—I just try to get through the day without losing my temper or my cool. This answer hasn’t changed at all from last month.
  5. As the second statement says—Some people need no sex at all to feel good about themselves. I’m in that boat currently—I have no time for a relationship (especially since I’m planning on leaving the state & I really don’t have the time to try to do a long distance relationship), and I’m not really the type for just having random hookups. Again, this answer hasn’t changed from last month either.

So this month marks the moon moving into Scorpio, and actually moving into my first house as well—this is our image zone. This is where one can reflect on both one’s personal and professional lives, and determine if there are things that could be worked on and changed. Getting to go through this zone “twice” is helpful, as I need the reminder that I should be trying to put myself first every so often, and that there really aren’t that many people looking out for my best interests (job wise and personal life wise).

So goals for this full moon period are going to be slightly similar to the ones from last month and include:

            Getting my fitness and nutrition routine back on track (I haven’t done a full week’s worth of workouts in over a month, and I need to start cutting back on the sweets, this will also help me save money as well), but also remember that I only need to try to be better than yesterday—progress over perfection. Hopefully I can figure out better ways of handling stress than buying sweets on campus, and since the cable/wifi problem has been fixed I should be able to stream my workouts in the evenings.

            Professionally I need to continue working on both my professional transition plan, and my “reboot break” plan. I’m also going to try to finish reading “The Renaissance Soul: How to make your passions your life” by Margaret Lobensteine & “Designing Your Life: How to build a well-lived joyful life” by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans. Having finished reading “Reboot Your Life: Energize your career & life by taking a break” by Catherine Allen, Nancy Bearge, Rita Foley, & Jaye Smith I’ve realized that taking a break is needed and needs to happen before the end of the calendar year.

            Continue trying to work on a daily meditation and tarot/oracle card reading. I’ve noticed that these do help with trying to wind down at the end of the day, and I sometimes sleep better after having done them.

So the goals are similar, but a little different from last month—sometimes the major difference is just acknowledging that we are in a self-destruction loop and trying to step off that track just a little to readjust ourselves and get back to the healthier habits.

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April Full Moon Goals.

So the full moon was this past Friday (April 19th), and technically it was back within the Libra constellation (making it the second Libra full moon)—but since I’m a couple of days late in getting my post in, I’m going to address it like it is the Scorpio full moon (as Scorpio would be the next constellation that the moon would move through). It might not be a totally full moon, but full enough for my purposes of trying to figure out my life.

So if I were to look at the book “Moonlogy: Working with the magic of the lunar cycles” by Yasmin Boland, for questions that one should be asking themselves during this time the questions would include:

Have I been jealous, vengeful, suspicious, or otherwise behaved toxically?

Have I been living out of fear rather than joy?

Have I been brooding and dark: focusing on the negative rather than the positive?

Have I been cruel or cunning?

Am I having the sex I need to feel good about myself? (Of course, some people need no sex at all!)

If I were to number the questions one to five, my answers would be:

  1. No, I don’t think that I’ve been behaving toxically. I know that at times I have what are probably toxic thoughts—but in the current day with the current global political arena that isn’t all that surprising. I do try to limit those thoughts and reframe them at times when I realize that I’m having non-pleasant thoughts.
  2. This is a hard one to say—I probably have been living out of fear rather than joy, in that I haven’t quit my current job (which has absolutely no room for growth, and is a dead end position) and I’m probably overthinking things in terms of trying to find my next position.
  3. This one goes slightly hand in hand with the previous question—I probably have been focusing a little more on the negative rather than the positive (especially in terms of trying to job search, network, and figure out my life).
  4. No I haven’t been cruel or cunning—that takes too much work and effort. Currently I’m more apathetic and at times I really don’t care too much about what is going on—I just try to get through the day without losing my temper or my cool.
  5. As the second statement says—Some people need no sex at all to feel good about themselves. I’m in that boat currently—I have no time for a relationship (especially since I’m planning on leaving the state & I really don’t have the time to try to do a long distance relationship), and I’m not really the type for just having random hookups.

The tight transition between the constellations of Libra and Scorpio also has this particular moon moving into my first house—or my image zone. This is the time when one should also reflect on one’s personal and professional lives as well. So again this moon transition is happening at a good time for me—as this is something that I really do need to focus on—myself. I realize that at times I jump to help a little too often, and I don’t necessarily put myself first at time when I should be putting myself first. So goals for this full moon period are going to include:

            Getting my fitness and nutrition routine back on track (I’m in the habit of doing workouts for a week and then going back to only walking for a week or so—this is a routine that I need to break), but also remember that I only need to try to be better than yesterday—progress over perfection.

            Continue working on my transition plan (try to finish reading “Next Gen PhD” by Melanie Sinche) and really figure out both the types of positions and then possibly the companies that I would like to work for (which will be about five steps ahead of where I was last year).

            Find and practice happiness daily (look for the uniqueness in each day and try not to complain about the things that are out of my control—control how I react to something instead of just reacting to something).

No Comments AstrologyFull Moon GoalsPersonal Developmentprofessional development