I started pulling up those old career horoscopes, specifically the 2014 stuff for Virgos, because I was trying to figure out where things went totally off the rails a few years back. It’s funny how you can look at something years later and realize the stars were screaming at you, but you were too busy worrying about the little dumb things to listen to the big picture.
Back then, I was stuck. Just stuck. I was punching the clock for this company that was all talk and zero action. I mean, the pay was alright, but the atmosphere was a total drag—heavy, slow, and everyone was terrified of the boss. I went through the entire year of 2014 feeling like I was running a marathon on a treadmill. Lots of effort, zero forward movement. I remember thinking that year was gonna be the one I finally broke out of the rut, but nope. I did what I always do: kept my head down, polished my spreadsheets, and chased every tiny detail until I was exhausted. Classic, stupid Virgo move.
The Process: Digging Up the Old ‘Advice’
A few months ago, after things totally imploded with my old gig—and I mean imploded, the kind of meltdown that forces you to change your entire life setup—I started doing some digging. Not on the job market, but on my own history. I wanted to see what I missed. I pulled up archived monthly readings for that whole year, January to December 2014. It was wild, almost creepy, how spot-on some of the general advice was, even if I totally botched the execution at the time.
The theme that kept popping up that year? Communication and change. Every month, it was some variation of needing to speak up or preparing for an inevitable shift that would be uncomfortable but necessary. I was doing exactly the opposite. I was keeping quiet, meticulously documenting everything, and praying nothing would change.
Here’s what I found from the old reports—I swear it reads like someone was watching me and writing down the exact opposite of what I actually did:
- January/February: Focus on networking and making new contacts.
What I did: Ate lunch alone at my desk and avoided the office social hour like the plague.
- Summer Months (June/July/August): A big decision related to your primary income source is coming; trust your gut and detach from the need for perfection.
What I did: Stared at the computer screen for three weeks trying to perfect a presentation that three people would look at for five minutes, ignoring all the ‘red flags’ flying around the company.
- October: Be wary of a major relationship or partnership shift; a change in who you report to is highly likely. Use this time to establish clear boundaries.
What I did: My direct supervisor quit without notice. I spent the next month trying to cover his job and mine, and forgot I even had boundaries. I became the company’s whipping boy overnight.
Why I Know This and Why I Still Look at 2014
The thing is, I wouldn’t have even gone looking for this old junk if it hadn’t been for that one meeting in November 2014. That was the real trigger for everything that came after. That month, I was completely overwhelmed trying to cover two jobs. I finally asked for help, and my boss—not the one who quit, the one above him—told me, and I quote, “A Virgo like you thrives on detail; this is your moment to shine.” He laid a ton more crap on me.
It was a total set-up. A few weeks later, the new guy they hired to replace my old boss came in and claimed he found “major inconsistencies” in all the rushed work I’d been doing. Of course he did! I was sleeping four hours a night and drinking coffee straight from the pot.
They didn’t fire me outright. They did the slow, painful burn: stripped away responsibilities, moved my desk to a freezing corner, stopped approving my time off. I should have quit right then, but I kept pulling up those monthly reports, looking for a sign that it would all get better, like some idiot waiting for a mythical perfect moment to appear on the calendar.
It took two more years of pure misery and finally getting completely sidelined on a huge project—the one I designed, by the way—to finally grow a spine and walk out. When I did, I went back and looked at the archived 2014 report for the month I left. It was about “releasing the reins of control” and “starting a project that feeds your soul, not your wallet.” That was the final punch to the gut. The advice was always there. I was just too scared to follow it until I had nothing left to lose.
I quit, took a massive pay cut, and started this little venture of mine, the one where I actually get to write about stuff I care about, even if it’s digging up old advice columns from a decade ago. It’s a messy process, but way better than those sterile spreadsheets of ’14.
