Actioning your target plan
A core purpose of Living With The Moon is to break life into small, achievable steps and give a sensible timeframe to action your plans. Alongside the LWTM Goal Planner, this two-part system supports a more effortless way of planning and creating.
By working with the moon’s rhythm — roughly two weeks of visualising followed by two weeks of implementation — planning becomes clearer and procrastination less likely.
The Symbols ‘Create//Brainstorm a Target Plan’ (Waxing Moon) and
Create new ideas/concepts/ be inspired and turn them into achievable, actionable steps.
‘Action your Target Plan’ (the corresponding symbol during the Waning Moon) work hand in hand. Put the above ideas/concepts into practice.
The Waning Moon supports action, working out how to best achieve what you dreamed up. There is no action without an idea, and any idea that is not followed through remains fruitless.
How to use it:
Take out the list you prepared during the Waxing Moon and try to find a solution. Sometimes these timescales may blur if an action is urgently needed. This is a rough guideline to make a 2 weeks moving forward – 2-weeks consolidating
Here are the steps again:
Brainstorm solutions and alternatives with your work colleagues, friends, and family
Develop concepts and plans, and put them to a vote
Turn inspiration into clear, achievable steps, for example, creating a vision/mood board (for a creative project)
or a bullet point/ visual presentation for work, your charity, or your club.
Remember: This is foremost a time to think broadly and creatively, without pressure to act immediately. You only need to present when you are ready. But it should give you an impetus to innovate.
Walking in step with nature’s rhythm and being given the freedom to create, plan, and act accordingly has been a real lifesaver for me. It has stopped me from overthinking and procrastinating. I now have a timeframe of 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, and I found myself getting a lot more productive following this cycle.
Separating planning from doing
Normally, we think and immediately execute. This is good for small, non-consequential tasks. But anything complex is better served by separating the planning stage from the execution. The buffer makes both more effective.
If new ideas arise during the Waning Moon, simply note them down and return to them during the next Waxing Moon phase. Likewise, if action is required during the Waxing Moon, respond as needed — this system is a guide, not a rigid rule.
Brainstorming
This process can be applied to business, as well as running a busy family home. It is all about the system and the ways you structure your life. Sometimes routines become inefficient and uneconomic. It is time to ‘rethink’ how you present and manage your life.
The American advertising executive Alex Osborn mentioned the term ‘brainstorming’ for the first time in the 1950ies. Nowadays, we think about a group of people coming up with bizarre ideas. But what this term really means is ‘becoming unstuck’ and bringing a new, innovative solution to an old problem.
The best technique to ‘brainstorm’ is to take out a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. Write your problem in the middle and circle it. Then create solutions all around it – and circle them. This is called a mind map. Just write down anything that comes into your head, unfiltered. Then put this paper away and look at it again the following day. You will be amazed how many new solutions have come up. Your unconscious mind has been at work ever since and is now ready to present new ideas.
Think of it as drawing a bow
First take aim and prepare (Waxing Moon), then release and follow through (Waning Moon).
Used together with New Moon goal-setting, this rhythm helps create clarity, momentum, and sustainable progress in your work, home life, and personal projects. Why don’t you give it a try for a few moon cycles and adapt it to your needs?
Both of these symbols give you an impetus to draw your bow and fire your ideas, and subsequently catch them and make them happen.
