5 Intentions to Set for 2021 – a year of progress, growth, and freedom

2021 is just days away, which means it’s New Year’s resolution time. Let’s quickly step back before we go forward. 2020 tested our patience, endurance, and faith. In numerology, 2020 was a number 4 year. 4 years are about building a new foundation, and that’s what we needed to do. There’s nothing easy about 4 – it’s hard work all the way around. One reason 2020 was so difficult is that we experienced more of our thoughts manifesting in the material world. 4 years show us our ideas in form. We may not like everything we’ve created, but the great thing about tangible results is that you can see and then change them. Which leads us to 2021, a number 5 year. 5 years bring the energy of change and freedom from old habits and restrictions. 5 is also a number of prosperity and attraction. 2021 is a call to make more room for what we do want. For many of us, the gift of 2020 was a new relationship with time and space. It helped us get out of autopilot mode and take a new look at what we really need and what truly matters. That’s a foundation worth the effort. Now we get to figure out what to start building on that foundation; what to make for ourselves and our communities. In this blog, I’m sharing 5 intentions to set for 2021. They’re just suggestions, but maybe they’ll help you come up with your own. Knowing and focusing on what we want is the ticket to making it happen.

5 Intentions to Set for 2021

1) Do something good for community

One of the best intentions you can set this year is to do something good for your community. And, don’t do it to get something; do it because it’s a good thing to do. It’s hard to be a positive influence, especially when everyone’s on edge. It’s easy to stop doing thoughtful or kind things when they’re not reciprocated. And it’s equally easy to respond to negativity with more negativity. 2021 begins with a Jupiter-Uranus square on January 17, challenging us to work together in new ways. This transit puts stress on old social customs that don’t hold up anymore. So yes, things can break, but it’s better to find out they can’t hold their weight. Remember this is a 5 year that demands more freedom of thought and action. Just because we used to do something a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the best way now. This rocking of the boat will rattle cages because Uranus wants to break them; wants us to let ourselves out. During this time of change and uncertainty, step in and do what you can to build community. This doesn’t have to look any certain way, but whatever it is, do it freely, generously, and authentically. And remember, anything good you do for someone else is doubly good for you and benefits us all.

2) Start 1 new positive habit and stick to it for 28 days

As a 5 year, 2021 is an open invitation to explore, grow, and do things differently. We need to do this collectively, but the best place to start is individually. To do things differently, it helps to look at your habits. When you keep doing the same things, you get the same results. Habits are ruled by the Moon, which also rules memory and our reactions and emotions based on the past. You don’t have to keep following that old script, but it takes consciousness to change. We all do things that just perpetuate bad habits, and we keep doing them, mostly because what we know makes us feel comfortable. For this intention, don’t worry about the old ones. Just pick one new thing that you can do each day for at least 28 days or one moon cycle. Commit to one small new thing, and your life will shift. The best time to initiate new intentions is during the new moon phase, but you can do it anytime you want. If you want to sync with the Moon, the first new moon this year is on January 12, Pacific Time. It’s in the sign Capricorn, energetically supporting this intention because Capricorn is all about taking charge of your life, making things happen, and making them last.

3)  Reprogram your thoughts

Mercury turns retrograde about three times a year. 2021 is no exception, but this year all three of its retrograde periods are fully in air signs – one in Aquarius, one in Gemini, and one in Libra. All three air signs are intellectual and social, naturally aligned with Mercury, the planet of communication and perception. Mercury impacts almost everything in our day-to-day life, like thinking, conversations and interactions, learning, transportation, technology, and all kinds of connections. Maybe more than anything, Mercury is linked with how we see and believe things to be. Mercury Retrograde periods are times to reconsider and reevaluate all of this, especially our thoughts. Energy follows thought into form. What you think is creating your reality every moment. Mercury Retrograde periods lead us within so we can reboot our minds. It’s a good time to clear clutter, tie up loose ends, and find some new creative inspiration.

In air signs this year, retrograde Mercury will really push us to look at what’s in our heads – how it’s either helping or hindering our well-being and progress. The cosmos are sending a message. We need to work with our minds differently. We need to communicate with each other differently. We need to connect the dots differently. Best thing we can all do this year is mind training. We can all be the cause of something great if we reprogram our thoughts to focus on that great intention. As I mentioned before, focusing on what you do want channels energy in that direction. Same for all the things you say you don’t want. Where do you want the power to go? It’s your thinking that answers that question. If you keep bringing your thoughts back to what you want, you’ll get more of it. An easy place to start is to hold something like peace, patience, or abundance in your mind. Make that word like a prayer or mantra that you repeat silently as often as you can, especially during tough times.

4) Set limits to support your freedom

If you want more time and resources to do something new or just more of what makes you happy, you have to set limits on competing interests. This might be the year to really say no to things that don’t align with who you are and keep you trapped in “shoulds” and “have to’s.” One of the big astrological events of 2021 is the Saturn-Uranus square. The two will form an exact square 3 times in February, June, and December. This is an ongoing struggle between freedom and control. Uranus wants to liberate and Saturn is hard to move once rooted into place. The thing is, we need structure just as much as we need freedom. While it may seem like it, the two aren’t at odds, we just need to find a new balance. The Saturn-Uranus square will upset the status quo because we need to reinvent ourselves. Start reinventing yourself by choosing something you wish you were free to do or be. Then set limits on the things that stop you from doing it. Say yes to your heart and make it happen.

5) Be an ally with others and life 

Our relationships with each other need to change. If we don’t start playing on the same team, we won’t get far. One great intention to set this year is to be an ally with others and life. This doesn’t mean you have to be everyone’s best friend (or even like them). To ally with someone means to unite for mutual benefit. The Jupiter-Saturn Great Conjunction on December 21, 2020, was in Aquarius. It marks a new era of air energy that will continue for about 200 years. I’ve already mentioned the air element, but it’s such a big theme we’re back to it again. Planets in air signs want to share information, work together, be heard, and come up with better ideas. Great Conjunctions shake things up socially, politically, and personally. With Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius this year, collective change is upon us, and we need to be creative and objective about it. We spend so much time going against people and things. If we channel our energy into what we stand for and come together, we’ll make real progress. It starts with leaving the “us and them” behind and supporting the We. This is what Aquarius is really about – collective change for the good of all. Life is for you. Will you be for it?

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