So let’s get real about planning. That title popped into my head back in December 2020 – “Career Virgo 2021”. Yeah, sounds fancy. Truth is, I felt kinda stuck. Like, another year was coming, and I wanted it to actually feel different, not just flip the calendar. Figured I’d put my Virgo brain to work and share the messy journey.
Phase One: Totally Overwhelmed
Started simple, right? Wrong. Sat down with a notebook and instantly froze. “Best Year Ever”? How do you even start planning that? My brain went nuts listing everything I “should” do.
- Stared at a blank page for way too long. Coffee went cold.
- Felt pressure to make HUGE goals. Lose weight? Learn coding? Write a book? Panic set in.
- Tried fancy apps. Too complicated. Felt like work before I even began.
- Honestly, almost gave up. Seemed easier to just wing it like always.
Phase Two: Getting Practical (Virgo Style)
Took a breath. Decided to treat it like a project, ’cause that’s how I roll. Ditched the “BEST YEAR EVER” pressure. Aimed for “Actually Better Than Last Year“. Much less scary.
Step one: The Brain Dump. Grabbed that notebook again. Didn’t filter anything. Just splurged every single thing I wanted, worried about, or thought I should do in 2021. Work stuff, money stuff, health stuff, learning stuff, even just feeling less stressed stuff. Pages filled up. It looked chaotic.
Step two: Finding Themes. Looked at the messy list. Saw patterns:
- Serious need for better work boundaries (late emails are evil).
- Wanted to feel less broke and confused about cash.
- Had to move my body more (desk life sucks).
- Craved learning ONE new skill that felt useful, not just trendy.
- Major need for downtime that wasn’t just mindless scrolling.
Step three: Making it Real. For each theme, I asked: “What’s the smallest, dumbest step I can take RIGHT NOW that would actually move the needle?” Not lofty goals. Tiny actions.
- Work Boundaries: Turned off work email notifications on my phone after 6 PM. Simple. Immediate.
- Money Stuff: Logged into my bank app and actually LOOKED at where my money went last month. Just looked. No judgment yet.
- Moving Body: Searched YouTube for “15 minute morning stretch no equipment”. Just saved the video.
- Learning: Asked a friend what one tech skill helped their job most lately. Got a concrete answer.
- Downtime: Put my charger in another room so I couldn’t scroll in bed. Annoying, but worked.
That felt manageable. No grand resolutions. Just tiny, doable to-dos.
Phase Three: Actually Doing Stuff (Sort Of)
This is where the rubber met the road. And surprise, it wasn’t smooth.
- The no email thing felt WEIRD at first. Like I was slacking. But within days, my evenings felt longer. Less buzzing anxiety. Small win.
- Looking at bank statements? Ouch. Saw how much I spent on “quick” coffee runs. Embarrassing. But seeing it was step one. Didn’t change anything yet, just saw it.
- Did that morning stretch video… once. Then forgot. Didn’t beat myself up. Just tried again later in the week. Did it twice! Progress.
- Friend recommended Python basics for data stuff. Signed up for a cheap intro course online… and then ignored it for two weeks. Classic. Went back to it just doing 15 minutes, twice a week.
- The charger in the other room trick? Game changer for bedtime. Read an actual book for the first time in months.
It wasn’t perfect. Some weeks, I ignored the boring stuff (like money tracking). But the point was, I had these super concrete, tiny actions to fall back on, not vague guilt about failing some huge goal.
Phase Four: Keeping Track (Casually)
Didn’t want this to be a chore. Got a basic wall calendar just for this project.
Green dot if I did a tiny step related to any of my themes that day. Yellow dot if I kinda thought about it but didn’t act. Red dot if I completely forgot it existed. Seeing green dots cluster over time felt good, even if it wasn’t every day. Seeing red dots? Just reminded me to start again with the next tiny step. No drama.
How It Actually Went
Was it the “Best Year Ever”? Nah, let’s be real. Life happens. Stuff went sideways. But comparing it to previous years?
- I felt less frazzled about work because those after-hours boundaries stuck.
- By just checking spending every few weeks, I naturally started cutting dumb stuff. Saved more without a strict budget.
- Stretching became semi-regular. Still skipped days, but my back hurt less.
- Finished the intro Python course! Didn’t become an expert, but understood enough to automate a tedious work report. Felt awesome.
- Reading real books sometimes felt weirdly luxurious.
The real win? It felt sustainable. Tiny steps added up. Didn’t need insane willpower. Just consistent, small, realistic nudges in the right direction. My Virgo need for order got satisfied without me burning out trying to plan the “perfect” year. Turns out, the best year (for me) wasn’t about huge leaps, it was about finally figuring out the tiny right steps and actually taking them, messily.
Planning isn’t magic. It’s just choosing your tiny battles and showing up for them. Mostly. Sometimes.
