Man, December 2018. I remember it like it was yesterday, even though it feels like a whole lifetime ago. Work felt… heavy. You know that feeling when the year is winding down, everyone’s talking holidays, but your desk is still piled high and you just can’t seem to catch a break? Yeah, that was me. I’m a Virgo, right? So I’m usually all about getting stuff done, being organized, ticking off boxes. But that year, by December, I was just drained. I was scrolling through some random newsfeed, probably procrastinating, and this headline popped up: “Your Virgo December 2018 Career Horoscope Revealed: Boost Your Work Now!”
My first thought was, “Pfft, horoscopes. Really?” I mean, I’m not really into all that cosmic stuff, but hey, I was desperate. If it even gave me a sliver of an idea to get out of this rut, I figured, why not? So, I clicked it. I started reading, half-expecting it to tell me to just “be patient” or “follow my heart,” typical vague stuff. But then some bits actually kind of hit home.
It talked about how Virgos needed to really focus on organization and tying up loose ends before the new year kicked in. It said something about clearing the decks, both physically and mentally, to make space for new opportunities. And here’s the kicker: it mentioned speaking up, making your ideas heard, and not shrinking away from the spotlight. Apparently, an “unexpected connection” or a “chance conversation” could open a door. I remember scoffing at the “spotlight” part – me? In the spotlight? Not my jam at all.
Taking the Plunge, One Step at a Time
But the “tying up loose ends” bit, that really stuck with me. I looked at my desk, covered in half-finished notes, old reports, and a stack of emails I’d been meaning to reply to for weeks. It was a mess. My digital files weren’t much better. So, I figured, “Alright, horoscope, let’s test this out.”
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I started with the physical stuff. I literally just grabbed a trash can and started chucking old papers. Then I pulled out every single file, old notebooks, everything. I went through them, one by one. I tossed what I didn’t need, scanned what needed to be kept digitally, and filed away the important stuff. It took me a whole afternoon. My office looked like a war zone before it looked clean, but man, when I was done, it felt lighter, you know?
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Next up, the digital mess. My inbox was a nightmare. I hate emails. I really do. But the horoscope said “clear the decks,” so I committed to replying to every outstanding email and archiving anything that was done. I flagged the critical ones, archived the others, and unsubscribed from a bunch of junk. My inbox went from 300+ unread to under 20. It felt like I’d won some kind of tiny battle.
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Then came the harder part: “speaking up.” I’m usually the quiet one in meetings, just absorbing info. But there was this one project, a new proposal we were working on, and I had a pretty strong opinion about a particular feature. I usually just keep it to myself, thinking “someone else will say it.” But that horoscope phrase, “don’t shrink away from the spotlight,” echoed in my head. In the next team meeting, when the topic came up, I actually raised my hand and articulated my concerns, suggesting an alternative approach. My voice was a bit shaky, but I got it out. To my surprise, a couple of people actually nodded, and the project lead said, “That’s a good point, we hadn’t considered that.”
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The “unexpected connection” part? That one felt the most out there. But a few days later, I got an email about an informal company mixer happening after hours – something I usually skip without a second thought. My first instinct was to delete it. But then I thought, “What if this is the ‘chance conversation’?” So, I actually went to the mixer. I felt awkward as hell at first, just standing there with a drink. But then I bumped into someone from a different department, someone I’d never really talked to before, and we just started chatting about a shared interest. Nothing work-related at first, just casual stuff. By the end of the night, we realized we actually had similar backgrounds in a niche area, and we exchanged cards.
And Then, Things Shifted
I didn’t expect anything big to come from any of this, to be honest. I just felt like I was doing what the silly horoscope told me, just to prove to myself it was all nonsense. But then, a week or so later, things started clicking.
That alternative approach I suggested in the meeting? The project lead actually pulled me aside, telling me they’d discussed it internally and thought it was a solid idea. They asked me to lead a small sub-group to flesh out that specific feature. Me, leading a sub-group! I was pretty chuffed, I gotta say.
And that person from the mixer? A couple of weeks after December ended, she emailed me. Turns out, her department was starting a new initiative that needed someone with my exact niche background – the one we’d talked about. She remembered our conversation and thought of me. She literally connected me with her manager, and the next thing I knew, I was being asked to contribute to this brand new, exciting project, completely outside my usual duties. It was a huge opportunity, something I would never have even known about, let alone gotten involved with, if I hadn’t gone to that mixer.
Looking back, was it magic? Was it the stars? Who knows, right? All I know is that reading that horoscope, silly as it felt, gave me the kick in the pants I needed to actually do things I had been putting off. It made me tackle the mess, speak up when I usually wouldn’t, and step out of my comfort zone to make a new connection. It wasn’t some grand cosmic intervention; it was just a nudge to take some concrete action. And those actions, for some reason, really did boost my work that month, and set me up for a way better new year.
