Today marks the start of The Chinese New Year of the Fire Monkey!

(Monkey vibes + fire-y vibes: I think you can get a pretty good idea of how this year is going to be.)

Monkey year means lots of monkey energy: 2016 will embody the good and not so good characteristics of the Monkey sign. Monkeys literally do monkey business. They get oh-so-excited about many different projects, but often get too swept away with a new excited impulse to follow through with anything.

SO for us this could mean lots of transitions, unpredictability and change. If we embrace this, Monkey energy can be our best friend when it comes to things like communication, innovation and enterprise. Monkey signs LIVE to talk: socializing and collaborations are effortless to them. They are quick, creative, sharp and inventive. This should be a very dynamic year compared to 2015’s Sheep energy – our lives, businesses, and global economics could start to gain a lot of momentum.

If we mix all this with the strong presence of the fire element, passion, fun, and inspiration may reach a whole new level this year.

What does all this mean for us?

Find balance.

Like all things, when we find ourselves going too far in one direction, we need to lean a little to the other side to find balance again.

Stay grounded.

Let’s keep any impulsive tendencies in check by grounding ourselves more so we don’t get swept away with our whims. It’s up to us to remember to direct our focus and be aware of this mercurial energy so it doesn’t get the best of us.

Take risks.

Let’s abandon our inhibitions, and take the risk to free ourselves from self-consciousness so we can embody Monkey’s dynamic, risk-taking enthusiasm. This could be the year to take risks and make things happen: it is going to be an active, ‘yang’ year. Let’s amp these qualities UP and make the most of this clever Monkey energy.

Tap into calm.

We should learn to keep our cool when fire energy heightens and heats things up a little too much. Too much of any one element isn’t great. Key word: balance.

Adapt and adjust.

And most importantly: let’s make a huge effort to be flexible, clever, quick and nimble. Let’s be like monkeys. An adaptable and opportunistic mentality is the key to keeping up with the pace and adjusting to change and unexpectedness without trouble. In order to thrive and survive under Monkey energies, we need to ask ourselves, how can we be a little more monkey-like?

Let’s work with this energy so we can reap all the benefits from cheeky spontaneity and evolve our ability to be flexible amongst all things unpredictable.

Here’s to an exciting start: Happy New Year!

Written by Isabella Gucci-Ruffalo xoxo