“Some days the most productive thing you can do is stop waiting on everybody else and put that energy into what’s actually yours.”

Well, here we are, early Wednesday afternoon, and I’m only just now sitting down to write today’s blog. Not because the day went sideways or because I’ve been putting out somebody else’s fires. Nope. I woke up this morning with a couple of projects I was genuinely excited to dig into, and when that kind of momentum shows up, I’ve learned not to argue with it just to stick to a routine. The routine will survive. The momentum might not. So the blog waited, and honestly, I think it’s a better blog for it.

The sun is out, the dogs are doing their usual dog things, and I’ve been parked at my desk knocking out my Backwards to Badass workbooks. They’re almost all complete. Like, ALMOST almost. If the rest of the afternoon goes the way the morning did, they’ll be done by the end of today, and I’ve already got time blocked in my calendar for recording the videos that go with them, starting tomorrow. For anyone who’s new around here, Backwards to Badass is the program I’ve been building to help you get clear on who you actually are and where you actually want to go, and then work backwards from there. It’s been sitting in various stages of “almost” for a while now, so watching it finally come together feels pretty damn good.

Part of the reason I’ve had this kind of time is that I’m waiting on some of my clients to send me their content homework. Once I have it, I can build out their content and get it published for the week. In the past, that waiting time would have turned into me hovering over my inbox, sending a reminder, checking again, and basically letting somebody else’s timeline decide what kind of day I was going to have. Not this week. For the last couple of days, I decided that instead of sitting around waiting, I was going to take that time and knock out my own shit. Imagine that! LOL.

And I have. I’ve updated my website and pulled down all the old offers that don’t fit where I’m going anymore. There are still a few tweaks I want to make, because there’s always something, but the main overhaul is done. Between the website, the workbooks being nearly finished and the recording time sitting on my calendar, the things that have been floating around in my head for months are finally turning into actual, tangible progress. Not another page in a notebook full of someday. Real things, actually done.

I’m also really trying to use this retrograde energy to my benefit, because believe me, I’m feeling it. Mercury has been retrograde in Scorpio since October 24th, Venus has been retrograde since early October, and both of them turn direct right around November 13th. If you’re newer to the astrology side of things, a retrograde is when a planet appears to move backwards from our point of view here on Earth. It isn’t actually reversing, but energetically it tends to send us back over old ground. Old conversations resurface. Old feelings come knocking. Stuff you thought you’d dealt with suddenly wants another look. And yeah, I’ve had moments over the last couple of weeks where I’ve gotten stuck in my feels and my thoughts and all of it. I’m not going to pretend I’ve floated through this one like some serene, enlightened being. LOL.

But for the most part, I’ve been turning that energy into something useful. What needs reviewing? What needs rebuilding? And where do I actually want to be when the dust settles? Those questions have been running in the background of pretty much everything I’ve done lately, from the website cleanup to the workbooks to the boundaries I’ll get to in a minute. Retrogrades get blamed for a lot, and I don’t automatically blame every little thing on the planets. But I do think they’re a pretty good prompt to slow down and look at what’s working and what isn’t, and that’s exactly how I’ve been using this one.

I’ve also been taking big chunks of time to get organized around the house and ready for winter. Because yes, the sun is shining and it’s above freezing today, and I am absolutely enjoying it. But that does not mean winter isn’t on its way, whether I like it or not. And I don’t. Anybody who lives in Alberta knows a nice day in November isn’t a promise, it’s a window, and you’d better use it while it’s open. So between the business projects and the house projects, I’ve found a pretty good rhythm this week, and I’m riding it for as long as it lasts.

Now here’s the big one I’ve had my eye on. Tomorrow, November 5th, Mars enters its pre-retrograde shadow. Every planet that goes retrograde covers one stretch of sky three times: once moving forward, once backing up during the retrograde, and once more moving forward after it turns direct. The shadow periods are the bookends on either side. Tomorrow Mars reaches 20 degrees Leo, the exact spot where it will eventually turn direct in the spring. From there it moves into Virgo on November 25th, slows down, and stations retrograde on January 10th, 2027 at 10 degrees Virgo. It backs up into Leo on February 21st, turns direct on April 1st, and doesn’t fully clear its post-retrograde shadow until June 7th, 2027. So while the retrograde itself is still a couple of months away, its energy starts creeping in tomorrow. That’s a seven-month story, and tomorrow is chapter one.

Mars, for anybody who needs the refresher, is the planet of drive, action, ambition, anger, courage and how we go after what we want. It’s also tied to how we defend ourselves and where we draw our lines. When Mars slows down and starts backing up, a lot of people notice their energy and motivation going a little sideways, and old frustrations, unfinished fights and situations where we didn’t stand up for ourselves have a funny way of resurfacing so we can deal with them properly this time around.

And Mars runs pretty heavy in my chart. I have strong Mars placements, so I know this one is going to affect me. I’m not just guessing about that, either. I went back and looked at my past Mars retrogrades and what was happening in my life during each of them, and holy shit, did that open my eyes. Seeing the situations that showed up, the decisions I was making and how I was feeling during those periods gave me a much clearer picture of what I could potentially be looking at this time.

Of course, every retrograde has its own energy. Mars retrogrades come around roughly every two years, and each one lands in a different part of the sky, touches a different part of my chart and happens alongside a whole bunch of other transits. It’s one piece of the astrological story, not the whole book, and it doesn’t hand anybody a script. People are still responsible for their own choices no matter what the planets are doing. But looking back gave me a better grasp of what could come up, what could get stirred, and the kinds of emotions I might find myself sitting with as this cycle comes back around. It’s not about predicting every little thing. It’s about knowing my own patterns well enough that they don’t blindside me. If you’ve got your chart and a little curiosity, try it yourself. Look up the dates of the last few Mars retrogrades, think back to what was going on in your life, and see what jumps out at you. It’s a hell of an eye-opener.

Which brings me to the part I’m actually most excited about. I’ve made the decision that I’m going to focus on my business. Like, really focus on it. And part of making that decision real has been setting some serious boundaries over the last few weeks. Were they needed? Yes. Was I kind of pushed into them? Also yes. I didn’t wake up one morning feeling wonderfully empowered and decide to overhaul everything over coffee. LOL. Some situations came up that forced my hand. But I’m genuinely grateful for that push, because these are things I should have dealt with a long time ago and just hadn’t. Sometimes you need the shove.

So what’s on the table? My price structure, for one. My offers, for another, which is a big part of why the website got the overhaul it did. And my tolerance for people booking calls and appointments, missing them, not following through on what they said they’d do, and generally expecting me to keep making it work around them. Because I have been the person who makes it work. Need to reschedule? Sure. Didn’t show up? We’ll try again. Haven’t sent what I need to finish your project? I’ll follow up, and follow up, and follow up some more, while my own projects sit there collecting dust.

I’m done chasing. That’s really what it comes down to. It doesn’t mean I’ve stopped caring about my clients, because I care a lot, and anyone who has worked with me knows I’ll go above and beyond when we’re both in it together. But there’s a big difference between supporting someone and dragging them toward the thing they told me they wanted. The first one I love. The second one burns me out, and it doesn’t actually help them either, because nobody gets results from something they have to be chased into doing.

And given everything I just said about Mars, the timing makes a lot of sense to me. Mars is the planet of boundaries, of saying what you want and going after it, of standing your ground. Heading into its shadow with my lines already drawn feels a whole lot better than having the retrograde drag me back to them in January. I’d much rather walk into this cycle having already done some of the work than have it show up and do the work on me.

I’ve also decided that the right people will come to me when the time is right. That’s not me sitting back and waiting for clients to fall into my lap. I’m still building, still showing up, still putting in the work. It’s me deciding that I don’t need to convince anybody to want what they already said they wanted. The people who are ready will show up ready, and I want the offers, the programs and the systems in place to meet them when they do. Which is exactly why Backwards to Badass is getting finished today and not “someday.”

There’s something pretty fitting about spending my day finishing a program that’s all about working backwards from where you want to be, while I’m sitting here doing exactly that with my own life and business. I know where I want to go. I know what kind of work lights me up and what kind of people I want to do it with. And I know none of that requires me to put my own dreams on hold while I wait for everybody else to get their shit together. So I’m getting ready for the next best version of myself. I’m ready for this transition, shadow period and all. I’m ready to step into my power, and I’m ready to step into the person I know I’m meant to be.

The sun’s still shining, the dogs are still doing their dog things, the workbooks are on the home stretch and the client homework will show up when it shows up. Tomorrow Mars walks into its shadow and I hit record. I’d say the timing is pretty damn good.

Let’s go Do the Dang Thang!